Sometimes I forget that people actually read my blog… Sorry Mel!
Here’s what I’ve been reading:
The HelpKathryn Stockett
I really liked this book. It was an interesting and honest glimpse into the lives of women and what they had to deal with in the south in the 60s. I thought it was brilliant. It really made me think about what my prejudices may be. In this book there are some women who really believe that black women are simply not capable of being as intelligent as white ones. They don’t think they are being prejudiced, they just think they are stating facts. So it makes me wonder what I believe as fact that in reality is just blind prejudice. And how would you ever know it?
I thought the author did a good job of showing a lot of different angles and sides to the stories. She also had diverse characters, and I don’t just mean racially. I appreciated the fact that there wasn’t just a “white woman” type and then a “black woman” type. She showed that whatever your race we are all individuals with different challenges and different dreams. We all handle situations differently and think different things are funny. None of that has to do with the color of our skin.
I also appreciated the fact that the author showed multiple prejudices. Obviously the racial one was a major player, but she also showed how women judge themselves and how even among members of a similar race there are people who are acceptable and those who aren’t.
I highly recommend this book to anyone. I really really liked it.
And Then There Were NoneI decided to go with something outside of my usual reading genres next. Mystery. I had never read anything by Agatha Christy before, and I thought it was about time I gave her a try.
I have to admit that I have a thing for finding out how it ends. If I’m flipping channels on the TV and I spend any more than about 5 minutes on a show like CSI or Law and Order… I can’t stop. I can’t do anything else until I find out who did it. No matter how terrible the show is. And I also always make a prediction. After the first 10 minutes of the show, you can be pretty sure that you’ve seen the killer already, so I like to make a prediction about who it is. See if I can guess it right before all the evidence comes in. (Sorry if this annoys any of you who watch TV with me.)
That’s sorta what happened with this book. I was absolutely hooked once I got just a few pages in. I liked the way that the story was told – from all different perspectives. But it got a little frustrating because you were seeing into all the characters’ heads and you still didn’t know who did it. I kept waiting for someone to think “wow, I can’t believe they haven’t caught me yet.” But I really enjoyed the way that the plot was outlined at the very beginning of the story. The characters start dying off in the same way that the little Indians do in a poem that is read early on. So it was kinda fun trying to figure out how they were going to make it all work.
But then (I won’t spoil it for anyone who’s interested in reading it) the end came completely out of left field! I was mad because I’d made my prediction early on, and it turned out I was right… but it was really frustrating. You’ll just have to read it to see why. (Ohhh, a little teaser for you there.)
Over all, it was entertaining, but I was upset that there was no way to have figured it out on my own. The author didn’t give enough detail until the reveal at the end to make it remotely possible to even make an educated guess. But still a fun read.
The Screwtape LettersI have obviously read this book before. But when I first went through what I am simply calling “My Book List” I decided to not just mark it as already-read or need-to-read but also to include an absolutely-must-read-again-because-I-was-way-too-young-when-I-read-it-the-first-time category.
I love the way that this book is written. The whole thing is backwards, if you think about it. The author is trying to help us be better people, so he does into the ways that the adversary works to stop us from doing that.
If you haven’t read this book, here’s the premise: Screwtape, a master Tempter and Devil, is writing letters to his nephew, a young Tempter on his first assignment. He gives him lots of advice on how to coerce his subject into falling away from God.
I tried to explain how wonderful this was to a friend of mine who’d never read it, and she said it just sounded creepy. But it’s not! It’s a brilliant commentary on the little tricks and methods that Satan has perfected over the years to keep us away from the straight and narrow.
I could go on forever. Basically, if you have read this book you know exactly how amazing it is. If you haven’t read this book, go do so immediately because it’s fantastic and will honestly make you better.
The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance A coworker/girl I’ve know from church for 10ish years (even though she’s never actually gotten Baptized…) came up to me at work about a month and a half ago. We were just chatting the way coworkers do, when she was like “oh, you would appreciate this. I saw this book at the store and I had to buy it.” She started telling me about this book. She was hesitant to recommend it to me, because as much as the title may be misleading this book probably won’t be sold at Deseret Book (in fact, I’d be shocked if they did). But she made it clear that it wasn’t “anti.” So I told her to bring it in, and I’d love to read it. I read it that night and had it back to her by morning.
This is one girl’s memoir on her life as a single Mormon living in New York. She struggles with a lot of things (her weight, men, actually believing that the church is true…) and she’s very honest. There are some hilarious things (like the way she describes the titular dance… we’ve all been there.) and there are some really emotional things (like her struggles with her relationships) and there were times that I found myself wanting to yell at her “No! Don’t do it! The Church is really true, I promise! You’ll regret that in the morning!”
She’s a bit of a mess when it comes to guys, but I think we can all see ourselves in little pieces of her story. Expecially for me, being a single Mormon way longer than I ever meant to be, I appreciate some of the things that she feels. At the beginning when she freaks out about kissing, I’ve totally been there. Over annylizing everything too. But maybe it’s just a girl thing.
I have always known that the Church is true. It’s one of my spiritual gifts, I believe. (See D&C 46:11-14) It's a huge blessing. But at times it makes it hard for me to really understand people who don’t have the same level of faith that I do. This book helped me to gain better insight into the struggles that some, probably most, people have to go through to gain a testimony.
The really frustrating part is: She never gets it. I’m going to ruin the end for you, but it basically comes down to her saying that she knows the church is probably true, but it’s too hard to live like a Mormon, so she’s probably just going to stop trying. But her thought process and the journey she takes to that completely inconclusive end is still worth a read I think.
Be aware that this book has some language and compromising situations in it. Don’t be thinking that since it’s got Mormon in the title that it’s something you could have your little sister read. That said, I do recommend this book. I think it’s interesting reading and gave me a lot to think about. I’d love to discuss it with people.
(It was really cool to discuss with the friend who loaned it to me, especially because she’s pretty much in the same boat – she came to all four years of early morning seminary, she’s been to church more than a few members I know, she’s currently engaged to a Mormon… but she won’t make the real commitment by actually being baptized. But then, she was raised by the same parents who named her Ruby Tuesday Rock and Roll Griffiths. No joke.)
The Poisonwood BibleI found this book intriguing… but mostly boring. When I think back on it, I find I’m kinda glad it’s over. There were some interesting themes and family dynamics. But I felt like I was trying to finish it just so I could say I had rather than because I wanted to read it.
So I won’t go into it much more than that. Good book. Long winded. Maybe if I knew more about South African history I would have followed it better. I didn’t really connect with the characters.
Cards on the TableI just finished this one last night. Another mystery. I find that I don’t think I like Agatha Christie very much. I remember watching old british TV shows that starred her iconic character Hercule Poirot. But I didn’t like him in this book. Actually, I just didn’t like this book. But, of course, I had to find out what happened.
There’s a whole lot of bait and switch going on between the author and the reader here. There are basically 4 people who could possibly have committed a murder. And since they’ve all committed murder before, it’s supposedly impossible to know which one would be more likely to have done it. The author leads you to believe that you’ve figured it out with each one of the people before finally saying “ha! Just kindding. It was actually this one!” Which, as with the one I read before, I found really annoying rather than interesting or unpredictable. You literally are convinced that it’s one person for the last 20 pages (because Poirot has said it’s true) and then he changes his mind on the last two pages. I just about threw the book.
And that’s what I think of that.
PersuasionJane Austen
I can’t really say that I’m reading this book exactly… I’m almost reciting it at this point. This is absolutely my favorite book of all time. I have read it more times than I can count. I got a fancy new phone last month and now I have Kindle capabilities at my fingertips… so this is what I read when I have to wait around for some reason.
As a side note, this is the first book I've talked about (in any post) that I haven't been able to find a picture of the exact cover for the book I had in my hand. But that's because I have seen or own so many copies, I couldn't pick.
But since I was reading it today I thought I’d talk about why it’s my favorite book. And since it’s not the most popular Austen novel, I feel I need to explain myself.
I am Anne Elliot. This is probably the closest I have ever been to really really identifying with a character in a book. A lot of Jane Austen’s other heroines are more outgoing or charismatic or just stuck up and dumb (I’ve always disliked Emma Woodhouse). But Anne is quiet. She’s content staying in the background. Her goal in life is to make everyone around her comfortable. But she’s not weak. When it matters, she does not back down from what is important. Every time Austen describes Anne’s feelings or thoughts I feel myself thinking “oh, my gosh. I know!”
Aside from the heroine, I love Austen’s commentary on the role of persuasion and influence in our lives. When does being mindful of the wishes of others become a weakenss? When does being strong willed turn into disregard for others or recklessness? Is it possible to live life without being influenced by others? What if you use your influence to hurt other people? Captain Wentworth is so upset by Anne’s submission to the will of her friend that he believes for a time that he wants a woman who will never be influenced by others. When he finds this woman, she nearly kills herself because she will not listen to him when he tells her she’s jumping from too high up for him to catch her. He, and hopefully the reader, learn throughout the story that you must make your own decisions in life, but if you ignore the advice or needs of the people around you, you will never be happy.
I could go on for days. But this post is far too long as it is…
Please leave me your thoughts and comments.
Next on the list (though, I may not have time to read for a while):
-The Book Thief
-1776
-Peace like a River
-Little Women (also on the need-to-read-again list)
