Absolutely Awesome!!!

I like to read -pretty much all kinds of things from the newspaper, to magazines, to books.

No, that statement is actually incorrect. I LOVE to read! But if you'd see the list of books I've read over the past two years, you probably wouldn't believe that sentence about loving this pastime, but it is -or at least -was the truth. Up until about 2 years ago when I got so wrapped up and involved in this embroidery thing that I virtually forgot all about -or almost all about -my first love, which has since I was a young child, always been books!

I've always attributed my love of reading to my Grandpa because he totally loved reading and anything he loved, I took on as my love too. Throughout my school years, I always had a book around that I was reading -often much to my mother's chagrin as she would frequently chastise me about how I read so much I was going to ruin my eyes and when, at the age of 12, I had to get my first pair of glasses, she began pointing out to me how accurate her prediction of oncoming blindness was. When, by the age of 17, the eye doctor told my Mom and me that my vision in my right eye was so bad that it was virtually on the edge of my being blind as a bat in that eye, she couldn't wait till we got in the car to come home and tell me "I told you this would happen!"

In later years, I was informed by a psychologist brought in to test my older daughter for problems because of her issues with reading and how difficult it was for her to do, that I was her problem because I expected her to read the way I had. I was furious and told him in no uncertain terms that he wrong there as I didn't expect that from her. All I wanted was for her to be ABLE to read, hopefully to read well enough to understand the enjoyment, the pleasure of a good book and not regard it as a hateful chore to be done. My ex-husband and I both shared the love of reading a good book and we both tried over and over to emphasize this to her, telling her she could take a trip around the world and never leave the comfort of being curled up in a good chair in the living room by simply reading a book! It took several years of prodding before she finally did begin to see the logic of that statement and today, she is an avid reader, albeit still a slow one and one who often calls me to ask how to pronounce a word, or what does this or that word actually mean. Not that I am a walking dictionary, but she does know and respects that I do have -or at least I used to -a pretty extensive vocabulary -much of which I attribute to being a lover of reading.

For many years some of my favorite books have been "Gone With The Wind, To Kill A Mockingbird, Catcher in the Rye, Catch-22" for openers. In the past couple of years now, my daughter (Mandy) and I have both become addicted to books by Jodi Picoult and we've both read every book she's had published thus far. As a child of nine, I read "Not As A Stranger." Have you read that book and seen how many pages are in it? Do you have any idea of the story line in that book and how much of it would be comprehended by a nine-year-old child? Not all that much but I read it and I loved it. I also re-read it two more times after that by the time I turned 17 and it was absolutely amazing just how much more I understood each time I read it and how much I still loved the book too. Same thing with "Gone With The Wind" which I first read when I was about 14 or 15 and polished in off in about 2 days flat!

About 6-8 weeks ago, I picked up a copy of the book "The Hotel at the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" and read it in about two days. Shouldn't have taken that long to read it because it's not near as large as many other books I've read, but I had a lot of interruptions in that reading but I totally enjoyed the book. Excellent piece of work was my opinion of it and I've subsequently loaned my copy to a couple of my friends too.

But no book had captivated me near as much, not as quickly, not as completely, as the book I purchased yesterday and started reading around 4 p.m. I finished it today shortly before noon! With the exception of the time it took me yesterday to cook supper and eat, I read for about 10 hours before my eyes finally told me around 4 a.m. it was time to give up the ghost and go to bed. I got up around 9 a.m. this morning and picked the book back up and began reading again but this time, I didn't stop, didn't put it down -because I COULDN'T put it down -until shortly before noon when I finished it.

And what book might that be, you ask?

I was "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. I had seen part of an interview a few weeks ago on either Leno or Letterman with one of the actresses who has a lead part in the film based on this book -wasn't really paying attention at the time so I couldn't even begin to tell you who the actress was but the film's trailer they showed did pique my interest a bit. Then last week, a cousin of mine told me in a phone conversation to be sure to find and get this book. Earlier this week on of my best blogger buddies - Terri-asked for some book recommendations and some one had posted back to her suggesting this book too.

So, yesterday after my appointment at the Cancer Clinic to have my port flushed when I stopped by Wal-Mart and saw this book on the shelf there, I picked it up and put it in my cart and bought it. I only debated about the purchase a few minutes mainly because I knew I probably shouldn't be buying a book right now because this month is going to be more than a bit tight on my budget but then, I decided to take my chances and cut back on a something else between now and September 3rd, when my next check arrives!

Having now -obviously -purchased this book and read it -cover-to-cover -in less than 20 hours time is a purchase I can say here and now I will never, ever regret! It is truly the most awesome book I have ever -and I do mean EVER -read!

What is this book, you ask, that has me so hepped up, so excited I am practically hyperventilating as I try to tell you a little about it?

Well, it's this one! "The Help!

And if you don't believe me, don't take me at my word, then just go here to this website to read this review about this book!

Trust me when I tell you this, you WILL. NOT. REGRET. IT!!!