December Book - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

Well I think we all really liked The Glass Castle, and it provided a lot good discussion material. Many thanks to Sandra for hosting and providing some yummy treats!

Here is the new book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I read it a couple months ago and loved it. Amber E. has a copy that is being passed around, and Amber S. said that at Barnes and Nobles it is on sale for about $9, IF you have a membership. If you want to pick it up but don't have a membership, Amber said anybody is free to use their membership, you just have to give them her husband's phone number at check out. If you want to do this, email Amber so she can give you the phone number. Unfortunately the library waiting list is pretty long so hopefully a few people will buy a copy to pass around. The library does have a downloadable audio version, and Jessica said that the audio versions is really good.

So....we'll see you January 12th at Allison's house.

The February book is still a little up in the air - since it's February (Valentine's day!) some people wanted to do a love story. I suggested a book by Cecelia Ahern (author of P.S. I Love You), either A Place Called Here or If You Could See Me Now. They are both great. So I'm going to make a poll and you can vote on either of those two books or suggest a different book. Whichever gets the most votes wins! And here are some descriptions of the two books:

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A Place Called Here:
How can I describe this place? It’s an in–between place. It’s like a grand hallway that leads you nowhere, it’s like a banquet dinner of left–overs, a sports team made up of the people never picked, a mother without her child, it’s a body without its heart. It’s almost there but not quite. It’s filled to the brim with personal items yet it’s empty because the people who own them aren’t here to love them.

Since Sandy Shortt’s childhood schoolmate disappeared twenty years ago, Sandy has been obsessed with missing things. Finding becomes her goal – whether it’s the odd sock that vanished in the washing machine, the car keys she misplaced in her rush to get to work or the graver issue of finding the people who vanish from their lives. Sandy dedicates her life to finding these missing people, offering devastated families a flicker of hope.

Jack Ruttle is one of those desperate people. It’s been a year since his brother Donal vanished into thin air and the sleepless nights and frantic days aren’t getting any easier. Thinking Sandy Shortt could well be the answer to his prayers, he embarks on a quest to find her.

But when Sandy goes missing too, her search ends when she stumbles upon the place – and people – she’s been looking for all of her life. A world away from her loved ones and the home she ran from for so long, Sandy soon resorts to her old habit again, searching. Though this time, she is desperately trying to find her way home...

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If You Could See Me Now
Readers and critics alike adore Cecelia Ahern for her lighthearted yet insightful stories about modern women and their often unusual situations. In If You Could See Me Now, she takes that theme a step further, offering us a heroine who is entirely believable, and the new man in her life who is, well, slightly less so.

Elizabeth Egan’s life runs on order: Both her home and her emotions are arranged just so, with little room for spontaneity. It’s how she counteracts the chaos of her family -- an alcoholic mother who left when she was young, an emotionally distant father, and a free-spirited sister, who seems to be following in their mother’s footsteps, leaving her own six-yearold son, Luke, in Elizabeth’s care. When Ivan, Luke’s mysterious new grown-up friend, enters the picture, Elizabeth doesn’t know quite what to make of him. With his penchant for adventure and colorful take on things large and small, Ivan opens Elizabeth’s eyes to a whole new way of living. But is it for real? Is Ivan for real?

If You Could See Me Now is a love story with heart -- and just a touch of magic.

Happy Reading!