Summer Reading

As previously mentioned, I just finished reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo for book club.  It was incredibly loooooonggggg and detailed, but I really enjoyed it.  I want to see the Swedish movie, but I feel like something might get lost in translation with the English subtitles.  Lucky for me, it looks like they are remaking it in the U.S. with none other than Mr. Brad Pitt:  http://alturl.com/am7t  Now that’s exciting!

For June, book club decided to move on to The Help.  I just got it in the mail today, and it is kind of a beast – but I’m really looking forward to reading it.  I’ve heard it’s a bit like the Million Little Pieces of 2010.  (Not in the storyline, of course, but the fact that everyone is reading it poolside.)

Here’s the Q+DD on The Help:

The Help is a 2009 novel by American author, Kathryn Stockett.  It is about African American maids working in white households in Jackson, Mississippi during the early 1960s.  The novel is told from the perspective of three characters: Aibileen, a middle aged African American maid who has spent her life raising white children and has recently lost her only son; Minny, an African American maid who has often offended her employers despite her family’s struggles with money and her desperate need for jobs; and Skeeter, a young white woman who has recently moved back home after graduating college to find out her childhood maid has mysteriously disappeared.  These three stories intertwine to explain how life in Jackson, Mississippi revolves around “the help;” yet they are always kept at a certain distance because of racial lines.  The novel is Stockett’s debut.  It took her five years to complete the book, which was rejected by at least 45 literary agents.  The Help has since been published in 35 countries and in three languages.  (www.wikipedia.com)

Simultaneously, I’m reading Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Jhumpa Lahiri’s, latest book, Unaccustomed Earth.  She is my one of my favorite authors, and I’m absolutely tearing through UE!  If you liked Interpreter of Maladies, you will love UE.

Here’s the Q+DD on Unaccustomed Earth:

After Interpreter of Maladies, Jhumpa Lahiri’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Unaccustomed Earth is her second collection of short stories.  Much like her other books, Unaccustomed Earth is also a reflection of life with two separate cultures, and how people cope with one and the other.  It made number one on the New York Times Book Review list of “10 Best Books of 2008″ as chosen by the paper’s editors. (www.wikipedia.com)

She’s so pretty, too…

you are brilliant.

AND, without further adieu, here’s a picture of our adorable book club:

nerds

Happy reading! 

xx, L