Based on Kathryn Stockett’s #1 New York Times best-selling phenomenon, and one of the most talked about books in years, “The Help” stars Emma Stone (“Easy A”) as Skeeter, Academy Award®–nominated Viola Davis “(Doubt”) as Aibileen and Octavia Spencer as Minnie—three very different, extraordinary women in Mississippi during the 1960s, who build an unlikely friendship around a secret writing project that breaks societal rules and puts them all at risk. From their improbable alliance a remarkable sisterhood emerges, instilling all of them with the courage to transcend the lines that define them, and the realization that sometimes those lines are made to be crossed—even if it means bringing everyone in town face-to-face with the changing times.

Mary J. Blige has recorded a song inspired by the film called “The Living Proof.”  You can see her talk about the song and her inspiration in recording it here:

 
And watch the trailer for the film too!  THE HELP opens in theaters on August 10.  Make plans with your girlfriends to see it!

AKA: An Ingenious Excuse To Get Your Book Club Together More Often

For our Rebel Book Club this month my ladies and I have chosen, Water For Elephants. Yes, we know, the book originally came out in 2006 and many of us have already read it but we have an ulterior motive. In April, the movie Water For Elephants was released, based on the bestseller by Sara Gruen. When I brought up the idea of reading the book, seeing the movie together and then meeting later to discuss, well, the vote was almost unanimous. More girl time? Yes, please!

 Hollywood doesn’t always do a book justice. In fact, I have friends who are adamant about never watching a movie based on a novel because the characters rarely live up to the images they’ve created in their minds. Although I can’t imagine anyone being disappointed with Vivian Leigh as Scarlett O’Hara. But I digress.  

As excited as we are about watching Reese Witherspoon (a blonde Malena Lott look-alike) strut around in sequins and Robert Pattinson as a non blood-sucking Jacob Jankowski, we’re positively giddy about the movie premiere of another NY Times bestseller, The Help.

Shut the front door, you say? I will not. In case you haven’t heard, the brilliant debut novel by Kathryn Stockett comes to life in August.

The novel, tied with Saving CeeCee Honeycutt as our favorite of 2010, is set in Mississippi in the 1960s. The story follows newly graduated college student, “Skeeter” Phelan as she sets out to give a voice to the black nannies and maids, the forgotten women of the south. With an A-list cast like Allison Janney, Cicely Tyson, Sissy Spacek and Octavia Spencer as the sassy Minny Jackson, I’m hopeful the movie will be as poignant and moving as the book. I’m taking tissues just in case. You can watch a trailer for The Help below.

   http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi809278745/

 The books and movies alone are entertaining but when shared with a group of lit sisters they’re like Goobers and popcorn, absolutely delicious. I adore the ladies in my book club. Getting to see them twice in one month is a rarity. A delightful rarity.

 I had the pleasure of meeting Beth Hoffman on her book tour for Saving CeeCee Honeycutt. During the audience Q&A,an excited reader asked if she had been approached for a movie deal. She has. Before you get all squeally like we did, Beth said no. . . for now.

I understand why authors want to hold their novels close and protect them for awhile, but Beth, when you decide to let Hollywood have their way with your creation, we’ll be there to watch.

Hello All,

As we are still getting to know each other, I thought a list like this might interest you. Let’s face it, readers like lists!!! As a reader and a librarian, I love compiling them.

What I gathered here has been weeded from longer lists for each year, which was a challenge. I wanted to share books that really affected me, lead me to a new author, taught me something amazing, or just thrilled the reader in me.

Something else I need to point out: I have no particular criteria for choosing a book to be a favorite—it is usually one that I want to talk with others about, or tell others to read right now, or that I just love and want to cherish the reading experience the book gave to me.

Favorite Books by the Year I Read Them (date listed is not the publication date!)
Plainsong by Kent Haruf (2001)
Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson (2002)
Miracle and Other Christmas Stories by Connie Willis (2002)
Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand (2003)
Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (2003)
The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (2004)
Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta (2005)
The Narrows by Alexander Irvine (2005)
Still Life by Louise Penny (2006)
Madame Secretary: A Memoir by Madeleine Albright (2006)
Truck: A Love Story by Michael Perry (2007)
Earthly Delights by Kerry Greenwood (2007)
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick (2008)
These Is My Words by Nancy E Turner (2008)
Graceling by Kristin Cashore (2009)
Paper Towns by John Green (2009)
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson(2009)
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (2010)
Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (2010)
The Help by Kathleen Stockett (2010)

To follow up; Plainsong by Kent Haruf (2001) was a wonderful story of small town Colorado where lives intertwine in interesting ways. Terrific fiction, and I felt as if I’d never read anything like it before.

Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon by Spider Robinson (2002) is a book I don’t recall why I picked it up, but I haven’t regretted it. It’s humorous science fiction, which is one of the best kinds. Miracle and Other Christmas Stories (2002) is one of the perfect Christmas books; I loved it so much I gave it out to family and friends the following year at Thanksgiving time so that they could all read it during the holiday season.

2003 brought three books to me that I consider favorites of the decade. Seabiscuit by Lauren Hillenbrand was wonderful narrative history, one of those books I was surprised I enjoyed as much as I did. Mystic River by Dennis Lehane is just brilliant. I was one of those who loved The Time Traveler’s Wife, a terrific story that lead me to read more books that include time travel.

The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell (2004) is flat out one of the most stunning books I have ever read. It is science fiction at its finest, while asking questions about discovery and exploration.

Tonight I Said Goodbye by Michael Koryta (2005) is one of the best debut mysteries I’ve read; it’s a classic private investigator novel, with terrific lead characters. The Narrows by Alexander Irvine (2005) I discovered by reading a review in Locus Magazine. The review was good, the book better, and it took place in Detroit in the 1940s (my hometown). It brought together the racial tensions of the city, the stress of World War II, and elements of fantasy that was hoped would help bring the war to an end.

Still Life by Louise Penny (2006) is the other debut mystery I consider to be the best. It takes place in Three Pines, Quebec, where a murder takes place and detectives from Montreal are sent to investigate. Madame Secretary by Madeleine Albright (2006) is a book that brought reading to halt for me (for a very short time). What an amazing life Secretary Albright has lived, and this book tells it well.

Truck: a Love Story by Michael Perry (2007) was another unexpected good one. It’s the true story of two brothers rebuilding an old truck, and the love is not only for the truck, but brotherly love, and Michael himself finds true love with a terrific woman. Earthly Delights is the beginning of a mystery series by Kerry Greenwood (2007) where the voluptuous main character has quit the corporate life to open a bakery; between the personalities that inhabit the building she lives in and those who come in the bakery’s front and back doors, she has a lot on her hands. And then, of course, there’s a body…

In 2008, I was searching for a new job in a new state, and read a lot of children’s and teen award winners and nominees to “catch up” in those areas of fiction. One of the best was The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick. It is a 500+ page book that looks intimidating, but includes many, many pages of beautiful illustrations to tell Hugo’s story. These is My Words by Nancy E Turner was Arizona’s One Book, One Arizona in 2008, and as a new resident, I thought I should read some historical fiction set in my new state. Excellent book, and a great choice for One Book, One Arizona.

At the end of 2008, I was hired as a young adult librarian, which took my reading in a different direction for 2009. While many readers loved The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Graceling by Kristin Cashore was the one that I fell harder for. I liked its fantastical elements, mainly the one where many are given a gift of an ability, and how those gifts are used. The main character was another strong young woman, who met the world on her own terms. Paper Towns by John Green is a good mystery where a young man’s best (female) friend disappears, and he follows clues he believes were left for him to find her. This book also includes a hilarious road trip. We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson is a stunningly beautifully illustrated book on the Negro Baseball League. I think when I first looked at it, my jaw was dropped for several minutes as I paged through it.

Finally, 2010 was my year of many challenges, chief among them being my divorce. Reading was my solace, and books by and for women (not being sexist, just how I felt at the time) were just what I needed. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Eat Pray Love; I needed this kind of book about a woman in transition. Saving Ceecee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (2010) is a heartbreaking yet humorous book that brings an aunt into a young girl’s life devastated by loss, and sweeps her into the South of the 1960s. Ceecee learns a lot, mostly about the strength of women supporting one another through thick and thin. Finally, The Help by Kathleen Stockett—what a wonderful book told in several voices. I enjoyed this book immensely, and learned from each character.

That’s my decade of books, even though it’s not a short summary. I hope you find books you might like here, and I’d love to hear suggestions of more to read.

Happy Reading!
Patti

Q: Thanks for being a part of our Summer Sizzle Saturdays. What’s your favorite summer activity and favorite summer destination?
A: My favorite summer activity is reading–although that’s definitely trickier with a 14-month-old running wild–and my favorite summer destination is my home in Hawaii, on Oahu where my man lives and operates his surf school. We do this crazy bi-coastal life (Seattle and Honolulu), but in summer we all get to be together in our beach house.

Q: Tell us briefly about the writing process for this book.
A: She’s Gone Country is probably one of my favorite books I’ve written due to the characters, conflict, and Texas setting, but I wrote it in the first 5 months after my son’s birth which was grueling. Mac had severe acid reflux as an infant and couldn’t keep anything down, and therefore couldn’t put on weight. He was always hungry, crying, wanting more and I was trying to write and nurse on months of next to no sleep. I wouldn’t want to do that again!

Q: We’re ready to have a pool party with your characters. Give us your main character’s names and a one-line definition for us to get to know them at our pool party.
A: Shey Darcy and Dane Kelly grew up in rural Texas on neighboring ranches and have always had a strong connection but life, work and family have kept them apart, but Shey’s now back in Texas as a single mom of three teen boys, and there’s a lot of unfinished business between them.

Q: Book End Babes is all about girlfriends and great reads. What are some of the themes we could explore in your book?
A: A lot of my books have connected characters–girlfriends who went to school together or grew up together or now live near each other–and this one is no exception. As a single mom grappling with lots of life changes she neally needs her girlfriends and the women in her family’s moral support. Probably my favorite theme in SHE’S GONE COUNTRY is that of empowering women and using your strength and success to help girls achieve their dreams, too.

Q: What is a “must read” book in your beach bag this summer?
A: I’ve got The Help tucked into my beach bag and it’s wonderful. It’s the one book I really want to read this summer!

Thanks, Jane. I’ve always been a big fan. Babes, BUY THE BOOK HERE or at your favorite retailer. Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of SHE’S GONE COUNTRY.

Website: www.janeporter.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/authorjanep

CHAPTER OF THE WEEK: Chapter 19 from the Oklahoma City Metro
queenB: Jill

Members:
Christi (Twitter @cwoodworth; Blog http://cnotes.typepad.com
Non-tweeting members: Nicole, Angela, Ali, Holly, Jenny, Julie, Leslie, Lindsay

Their book club selections for the year:
March: Lovely Bones
by: Alice Sebold
April: The Emperors Children
by: Claire Messud
May: Mennonite in a Little Black Dress (A BEB February Top Pick)
by: Rhoda Janzen
June: Hunger Games
by: Suzanne Collins
July: Chasing Fire
by: Suzanne Collins
August: Wuthering Heights
by: Emily Bronte
Sept: Are You there Vodka, its me Chelsea
by: Chelsea Handler
Oct: The Help
by: Catherine Stockett
Nov: Redeeming Love
by: Francine Rivers
Dec: Dune Road
by: Jane Green
Jan: The Necklace
by: Cheryl Jarvis

Ready to join Book End Babes? See the about page for more info. New queenBs receive a tote bag, free book and bookmarks for your book club!