Reading: The Help

This week I'm reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett.  This book was a New York Times best seller and was recently made into a movie with popular actress Emma Stone.  The book takes place in

  Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s.  The book is mainly written from three people's point of view.  Aibleen is a maid who has raised many children and most that were not her own.  Minny is known as the best cook in the entire town but her sharp tongue gets her fired often.  Skeeter is a white girl who is not very pretty and wants to be a writer while her mother just wants her to get married.  Skeeter is the one who actually writes this book from the point of view of the women who are employed in the households.

Aibleen works for Miss Leefolt and does most of her cooking and cleaning and also takes care of her seventeeth child Mae Mobley who is Miss Leefolt's daughter.  Miss Leefolt completely ignores her daughter and doesn't even change her diaper after Aibleen goes home for the night.  When Mae Mobley irritates Miss Leefolt trying to get attention Miss Leefolt yells at Aibleen for letting her baby bother her. 

The lady Minny had been working for had gotten so old that it was time for her to go into a nursing home.  The only reason Minny had worked for that woman for so long was because the woman was almost deaf and could not hear Minny's rude comments.  Minny finally found a job working for Miss Celia.  Miss Celia was very pretty but she was also very lazy.  Miss Celia did not want her husband to know she was hiring a maid.  Minny had to clean the very large house Miss Celia owned and give her cooking lessons.  Minny was paid $2.00 and hour working for Miss Celia which was twice Minny was getting paid before.  The strange thing about Miss Celia for this setting and the situation was how she treated Minny almost as an equal.  Minny still has not figured out why Miss Celia is that way and honestly thinks the situation is weird.  So far the book is great and the dialect really helps the story come alive. 

Currently

I Am America (and so can you!), Stephen Colbert

This week: 161 pages

Sentences of the week:

1.  "Red means stop. Green means go. Purple means Wednesday." I Am America (and so can you!)

2.  "I find the problem I have with most books is that I didn't write them." I Am America (and so can you!)

Both of the sentences this week came from the same book.  The second one showed how arrogant in a funny way Colbert tends too be.  The first sentence was my favorite because of how random it was. 

Reading: I Am America (and so can you!)

After the first couple of chapters, this book really started to become bland.  Colbert talks about topics like religion, sports, Hollywood, and animals to name a few.  Within the first chapter about his childhood and family in general Colbert's bias came across a lot funnier and less rude than his jokes have progressed to become.  He set such a high bar for himself within the first few pages that it just went downhill from there.  With that said, there is no denying that Colbert can be funny at times but he needs to make sure he does not wear out the joke by taking it too far.  The jokes almost get annoying. 

Besides the first chapter and the introduction, the funniest section was where Colbert talked about animals.  Colbert tells how he was unimpressed with the zoo when he went. If he went to another event where what was paid for to see was asleep, he would get a refund.  His solution for boring zoos was to put all of the animals in one big enclosure.  He also gives a list of endangered animals and explains why God made them endangered.  Almost ironically at times, Colbert uses God a lot in this book.  The first few times he uses God as a support to his argument it was funny but got old fast.  The way he writes little sayings and comments in a smaller font in the margin is an interesting writing style that works for this type of book.  The only problem with that I have is that you can have too much of a good thing.  Only the really funny and necessary lines should be put in the margin instead of having two or three on every page.  Since I have read the assigned number of pages for the week, I do not think I will end up wanting finishing this book.

Reading: I Am America (and so can you!)

The first book I am reading for the school year is called I Am America (and so Can You!) by Stephen Colbert.  I was stuck with this book because I ran out of time to run to the library.  This book was in my sister’s room and was probably the only one in her room that was not about hippies, the sixties, or some sort of classic rock band.  Stephen Colbert is most commonly known for his late night comedy show The Colbert Report.  Having never seen his show, I could still get a sense for his character and humor within the first few pages.  He is a very opinionated person who makes fun of everyday issues and groups.  Many of these issues can be related to popular political topics.

Colbert uses a unique writing style in this book.  Mainly to keep people entertained and interested.  Many times there will be small phrases written in red in the margins.  These phrases are often funny or completely contradicting what he just said in the actual paragraph. I may not agree completely with every idea in the book, but it is not off putting enough for me to want to stop reading.  Colbert also tends to throw in content that has little connection to what is going on in the chapter.  For example one line is, "Red means stop, Green means go, Purple means Wednesday."  That was one of the arbitrary rules that parents should use to keep the respect and authority in their families.  Colbert stays serious throughout this whole book too even when giving ideas he knows is ridiculous.  So far this book has been enjoyable to read!