The Help by Kathyrn Stockett

OMG I am going to get kicked out of Book Club for my lack of attention to the blog. I'm going to play the pregnancy card and leave it at that. It seems to be the best excuse in the book. Anyway...

Asheley's pick for the month of August is "The Help" by Kathyrn Stockett. Go figure Asheley would pick a hard back during the recession.

"The Help" is about 3 women struggling with racism in Mississippi during the early 60's. I must say if this book doesn't bring out some interesting opinions, i don't know what else will. I am truly interested to know every one's thoughts regarding this book and if in the shoes of either of the 3 women, how they would have felt and even survived.

Casting? Not sure on that yet; though, i believe this is the type of book that should go to the Big Screen in order to help the younger generations understand what the South was like for everyone during this time. It seems so long ago, but quite frankly it really wasn't and should have been abolished long before the 60's. I am sure these memories still run deep for all those who were involved during this volatile time.

The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan

For the month of April Shannon has picked a tear jerker to follow up our raucous conversations from "Sweet Potato Queens". "The Middle Place" is about Kelly Corrigan's love of family and battles with cancer, her own and her father's. I have about 20 pages left in the book and I swear to you that I am reading them one at the time so the book won't end.

I am looking forward to many wonderful conversations about family, crisis, and survival, not to mention Kelly's amazing take on the joys and hardships of motherhood.

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be Courageous and quite frankly it has nothing to do with her survival of breast cancer. It's about the way she elegantly told the truth about herself, her feelings, and what it is really like to be a mom, wife, and daughter.

The Sweet Potato Queens Book of Love by Jill Conner Browne

After a long and very intense page turner in February, Ms Amie is pulling out a classic! Well, i use classic lightly, but it will be a giant detour from Bridge of Sighs and i know it will elicit many laughs and highlight our Southern charm and wit. We've already started talking about it and we haven't even read it yet. Apparently the Queens have the art of negotiation down to a science (cough cough).

Casting this book should be a breeze. Take every southern actress known to man, throw them in a red wigs and majorette boots and you have your award win rear stuffed cast. Julia, Reece, Emily Proctor, even Kristen Davis will do.

If there are any comments i feel comfortable publishing after book club i will. Although i think i will end up blushing more than typing...

Bridge of Sighs by Richard Russo

For February and bleeding into the first week of March the Belles are tackling a 600 page monster. Bridge of Sighs is of course coming to us from our 2nd most intellectual book club member, Asheley Potts aka THE FOUNDER. She always likes to challenge us with literary masterpieces. If we all make it through this one I doubt there will be much casting. We would need an Oscar worthy cast, so we can't use our fav pop culture icons to plump up our always uber hot line up. Maybe we will take on this new challenge and see if we can come up with an award winning cast that matches this award winning author. Stay Tuned.

The Red Tent by Anita Diamant

This month the belles are delving into the Biblical story of Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. It's a very interesting choice for the Belles and should lead to major discussions on parenting, women in society, and even, you guessed it, religion. I don't see us casting this one, but you never know. I mean hollywood did put out a moving about the story of Easter.

I guess we should go ahead and cast Mel Gibson as producer. He's got the experience for religious movies. And too bad we aren't in tune with the Bollywood actors, then we really would be able to cast it a lot easier!