Books I Read in March

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

I finally got around to reading this book after Scott's aunt lent it to me at Christmas!  If for some strange reason you haven't ever heard of this book or the movie version (could that be anyone in the whole world?), it follows two black house maids and a white woman, who is an aspiring writer, living in Mississippi in 1962.  Perhaps my favorite thing about this novel was Stockett's incredible telling of the story through all three of their voices - each one distinct and unique, humorous and heartbreaking.  Minny, Aibileen, and Skeeter are all fighting to break the boundaries that unjustly surround them in their daily lives, and the story is quite moving (again, which I'm sure you know by now due to both this book and the movie!).  I very much enjoyed this book, but did anyone else feel like the ending wasn't quite the walking-across-the-football-field-fist-pumping moment you wanted it to be?  I'm sure in reality, the triumphs made by the people in this movement were gradual and small at first, but I felt so invested in these women, I wanted their victories to be even bigger!

 Sweethearts by Sara Zarr
I loved this book as a 27-year-old woman, but if you know of any teenager who is struggling with being true to him/herself, or finding real friends who love them the way that they are, or standing up for things they know are right, recommend this book to them.  Our two main characters, Jennifer and Cameron, have a shared (and traumatic) past from their early childhood, and are forced to deal with these mutual memories years later in their late teens.  At its heart, this is a story about what it's like to be a genuine friend to someone, no matter what either of you have gone through separately or together, and how to love yourself as who you were born to be, not who you think you should be.  I read it all in one day, and I laughed and cried in mostly equal measure.  Fabulous.

Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? by Mindy Kaling

If you are a female between the ages of 22 and 34, and you feel any connection whatsoever to any of the following chapter titles:
 
I Forget Nothing:  A Sensitive Kid Looks Back
I Love New York and It Likes Me Okay
The Exact Level of Fame That I Want
Someone Explain One-Night Stands to Me
Non-Traumatic Things That Have Made Me Cry
These Are the Narcissistic Photos in My Blackberry

...just go read this book this weekend.