Working on a Goal and in walks "The Help"

At the beginning of this year, I was challenged to set some goals that I would like to accomplish by the end of the year. Some of the goals included saving money, traveling abroad and running a half-marathon. I'm happy to say that I'm well on my way to accomplishing a few of them. I'm still trying to get my mind wrapped around running a half-marathon but it gets a little easier to digest with help from Nike Plus goals and my dear friend Lindsey who has signed my name to her dotted line. Lord knows, I can't let a girl down. Haha.

Anywho, one of my favorite goals is to read 5 books for fun this year. It sounds like slim picking but the key words are "for fun". During the school year, I would love to get in the habit of reading to Higher Ed trends and articles to keep my head in the zone. Certainly, I could probably do both but reading for pleasure just seems like a difficult task during the school year. No one said I couldn't exceed my goal of 5 books after all. I sure hope to!

Ok... so to the point. So far this year, I've read the following...

And now, I'm in the midst of reading...

Jess Morgan warned me about this and it held true! All I can say is that this book has rocked my world. I can't tell you how many times I have had to put the book down because I'm just speechless. I have to be honest. Some of the characters, if I met them in person, I'd probably turn fire red in the face and think of something to say like "I curse the day you were born"... more than likely I would think of something more poignant to say to them because that's my nature but somehow Sex in the City's Charlotte said it best when she kept it simple.

It's funny. I just can't help thinking about what criticism is out there about this book. It is likely to spark conversations from all perspectives. Blacks, whites, northerners and southerners. I think it is rather interesting that I haven't seen it pop up in Essence yet even with the movie coming out in August. There's so much I want to talk about with this book. It makes me wonder what my grad school cohort would do with a conversation about this book. Goodness! The discussions!

Anyway, I can't put it down...unless I have to walk off being upset at the characters. I love a book that can get me worked up and even better its a book that is rooted in historical events. I may have to give Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult's books a rest and look for more books that provide a history lesson amidst great storytelling.

Needless to say... The Help is rocking my world... and you should let it rock yours too.