The Help

Title: The Help

Author: Kathryn Stockett

Date Finished: September 6, 2011

Personal Book Count: 32 out of 75

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Genre/ Subject: fiction

Why did I pick this book?: after all the buzz surrounding it, I tried to read this book. I couldn't get into it. So when I heard about the audio version, I wanted to take another shot at it.

Summary and Review: taken from the author's website-

“Three ordinary women are about to take one extraordinary step.

Twenty-two-year-old Skeeter has just returned home after graduating from Ole Miss. She may have a degree, but it is 1962, Mississippi, and her mother will not be happy till Skeeter has a ring on her finger. Skeeter would normally find solace with her beloved maid Constantine, the woman who raised her, but Constantine has disappeared and no one will tell Skeeter where she has gone.

Aibileen is a black maid, a wise, regal woman raising her seventeenth white child. Something has shifted inside her after the loss of her own son, who died while his bosses looked the other way. She is devoted to the little girl she looks after, though she knows both their hearts may be broken.

Minny, Aibileen's best friend, is short, fat, and perhaps the sassiest woman in Mississippi. She can cook like nobody's business, but she can't mind her tongue, so she's lost yet another job. Minny finally finds a position working for someone too new to town to know her reputation. But her new boss has secrets of her own.

Seemingly as different from one another as can be, these women will nonetheless come together for a clandestine project that will put them all at risk. And why? Because they are suffocating within the lines that define their town and their times. And sometimes lines are made to be crossed.”

Wow! As I said up above, I really didn't like the book, but the audio? It really brought it to life! This wasn't the type of audio where you sit and listen to someone read from the book. This one had three different voices (actresses?) to represent each of the characters. And not only did they read, it felt like they were acting it out. For me it really made the story interesting. The plot, once the story got going, was great. I could really get into it and feel for the characters. It more than tugged on my heartstrings. I fell in love with the setting. The incredible writing really makes me want to take a trip to the south (if not that time in the south). Interesting to me, that the story even caught DH's attention one night. He sat with me for quite a while listening, and then for days after, I had to keep giving him updates. When this one was over, I wanted more! I used to listen to audio books all the time when I worked at my desk. Then I took a year off work, and in that time, I forgot how much I enjoyed them. This has reminded me, and taken me on a hunt for more. So even if you have read this book, or had trouble getting into it like me, the audio version is definitely worth a listen.

What is a great book you have listened to lately?

Agree? Disagree? Recommendations? Any insights, suggestions, or comments on the book or format, or blog at all are most welcome. If you have read this and/ or review it yourself, please let me know. Can you think of any books like this? Give me a recommendation! =D