The Help by Kathryn Stockett

          A friend passed this novel along to me with a high recommendation. I took her advice and found her advice fairly well founded. Stockett presents Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s from three main character’s perspectives: two African-American maids, Aibileen and Minny, and one white recent college graduate just returned home, Skeeter.

The novel plot is pretty straight forward and easy to follow, but often heart-breaking especially in the second half when Skeeter organizes the maids, “the help”, and compiles their stories for national publication.

What I found most interesting about the novel was Stockett’s ability to create three complex protagonists that never seem to over power one another even though each has her own crisis she is dealing with.

I have passed it along to another friend who also thoroughly enjoyed it so that’s three votes in its favor. Oh, and it’s also a certified best seller.

I give it 3.5 out of 5 supernovae. This meaning, it’s good, but not amazingly life changing. 

The Wait is Over: Come One, Come All!

            For various and uncomplicated reasons I’m finally giving into the peer pressure and starting a blog of my own and I want to invite you all to take this strange, but hopefully wonderful, journey with me.

            When I first thought of starting a blog, I quickly dismissed the idea because I couldn’t imagine what anyone would really want to hear me “talk” about. I was coming up with a blank for subject matter. Don’t get me wrong, I love to talk, and write, but I don’t think people surfing the web genuinely wish to hear about the mundane oddities of my life.  So, I thought and thought off and on when I probably should have been doing something more productive and eventually had an idea I considered worth keeping.

So, without further ado, this blog is going to be my sounding board for what I’m currently reading (does the title make sense now?) In essence, my own version of the New York Times Book Review except, you know, without the prestige or paychecks so don’t set your standard too high. I’ll give my reading recommendations and you can give me (and everyone else) yours. Sound exciting, doesn’t it?

Disclaimer: I’m not promising I won’t branch out into other topics of my personal interest such as sharing an intriguing story or voicing an opinion so all you die hard book reviewers out there can just calm down if/when this happens.

In general, blogs have always sort of felt like an usual way to air your opinions, but everyone and their sister seems to be doing it these days so there’s got to be something to it, right? And then it hit me: who says anyone is ever going to read this? Well, if I’m going to do this I figure I need some kind of a game plan (even if I choose to completely abandon it later--because I’m Cetoria and I do what I want). Hopefully, someone besides me enjoys this endeavor, but there’s really no guarantee that’s going to happen so here goes nothing. Hope to see back soon!

-Sincerely Cetoria