Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year Book Bites readers!!! Yes indeed the December book is A Mercy by Toni Morrison. It had been changed since the order had not made it in time. I had almost forgotten that Toni Morrison's writing would stretch my mental muscles. The book is short but I have to take my time so that I won't skip an important detail. The December meeting has been pushed forward into January with the holidays and all. The meeting will be on Friday, January 7 at 4 pm.

Book Bites Meeting Rescheduled

The Book Bites November meeting for The Help has been rescheduled for December 3 at 4:00. Same time, same place, new facilitator for both the online and in-person book clubs. I'm Kenya Johnson and I'm very excited about coming on board with the Book Bites book club. I have enjoyed reading The Help and can't wait for the in-person discussion on Friday.

See you there!!

Heartbreakingly Real

The fact that segregation in the South was horrible and inhumane is not something new. But Kathryn Stockett writes The Help in such a way that we are there, with these poor black families, in the midst of the Civil Rights movement. Walking in Aibileen's shoes and hearing just how cold and vicious the white people were, shocks me over and over. I am ashamed to be one of the majority!

Aibileen and Minnie's plight - to stay safe and employed - is fascinating. Miss Skeeter and her budding romance is amusing and uplifting. Poor Miss Celia, who provides one of my favorite storylines in the book, worries me. Oh and Skeeter's mother, she worries me to no end . . . this is not going to end well, is it?

And - THE FOOD!! Fried okra, pork chops, caramel cake, peach cobbler, chicken and dumplings . . . the book makes me miss my grandmother's kitchen so much! Do things like this draw you in, as well?

Introduction to The Help by Kathryn Stockett

In The Help, Kathryn Stockett uses her voice to create three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own forever changes a town. These ladies also change the way women — mothers, daughters, caregivers, friends — view one another. There is Skeeter, a white college graduate, whose search for answers brings together some unlikely friends. Aibileen, a proud black maid who is raising her 17th white child for her employer's family. And lastly, there is Minny, Aibileen's best friend, a short sassy woman whose tongue continues to get her in trouble despite her amazing culinary skills. These women weave together a deeply moving novel about the old South and the women who lived in it, through good times and bad. The Help is filled with poignancy, humor, and hope.

Let's give it a try, everyone :)

Book Bites Meeting Canceled

I apologize for the in-house Book Bites meeting being canceled on Friday, October 29th. Staff scheduling is constantly fluctuating at the library and this has necessitated a change in mediator for our book club in-house. I will still be in charge of the Book Bites Blog and Book Bites on Facebook but another librarian will be taking over meetings held at the library. Next month's meeting, on Friday, November 19th at 4pm, will be held as scheduled.

We can't wait to see you there!