The Help

So, I took a little detour from the list. I made a last-minute substitution.

I was persuaded by this article : http://www.more.com/kathryn-stockett-help-best-seller to add  The Help by Kathryn Stockett to the top of my list. And I'm glad I did.

I wasn't planning to read it. I know, every single book club in the country read it and loved it last year. What can I say? I was busy last year.

But then I read how Stockett was turned down by 60 literary agents, and just kept going because she believed in the story she had to tell. And I'm glad she did.

1984

The Uglies, The Hunger Games, Unwind, Matched—any of those titles sound familiar? 


If not, just wait a few years. Half of the teen dystopian novels lining bookshelves today will be tomorrow's Hollywood blockbusters. It may surprise you to know that authors have been writing about this for decades—about what happens when you mix a corrupt government and complacent society and give them both a good twist.

I'm not sure how I managed it, but somehow I graduated high school without reading one of the early heavy-hitters of  dystopian fiction, the book that coined the phrase "Big Brother": Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell.

So here goes #98 on my list...I'm looking forward to this!

I Capture the Castle

Who knew?—Dodie Smith, the author of #99 on my list also wrote The Hundred and One Dalmatians.


I think I've seen the movie (of Castle, that is) but I'm not sure. All I know is that this book has been making the rounds in my friends' YA reading lists and adult book clubs. So it's time for me to see what the buzz is about.


Upon the novel's reissue, the LA Times had this to say:
"It is an occasion worth celebrating when a sparkling novel, a work of wit, irony and feeling, is brought back into print after an absence of many years. So uncork the champagne for I Capture the Castle."


Santé. Cheers. Here we go. 

The Book Thief

"Its just a small story really, about, among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery..."


Yes, my copy of The Book Thief by Markus Zusak has finally arrived. And no, I wouldn't call it a small story. 


But I think it's pretty telling that a book published in 2005 still has a steady holds list at the local library. Not to mention, it's a Prinz honor book and one of my good friend Meg's favorite books of all time. 


Anyone reading with me? I'll stop back by to let you know what I think...