Books

I love, love, love to read. It's funny because back in school I hated to read. I then found books I was actually interested in once I was out of school and read for fun and I would fly through them, surprising myself! I started with thrillers and mystery and then branched off to paranormal which then lead to my new passion, romance especially historical romance - and no, I'm not ashamed to admit it - I love romance novels. Give me a damsel in distress any day or even better, a highlander novel and I'm all over it! I love Nora Roberts, Julia Garwood, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Karen Moning, Christina Dodd etc.

Anyway, A friend of mine told me about a book called "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. It's a well known book supposedly, a national bestseller, yadda yadda. Usually I don't read these kind of books even though it's a novel and all especially since it's gotten so much good press...weird, I know but usually things that get a huge hype just aren't my type (especially movies!) So I pick it up anyways since she tells me how fast she read it and how she thinks about it everyday even after finishing it.

So, I finished it last night and I have to say, it is a story that will stick with you. I won't go into the whole plot but it's basically about racial complications in the 60's. It's based around the black house keepers and the relationships between them and their white employees. It goes from three different women's prospectives, 2 black housekeepers and one white woman. It makes you stop and think and I just love books that make you do that. It made me think about a lot of things. One small thing was, what should I tell Lillian everyday to make her know that she is special and loved? That comes from Aibleen and Mae Mobley.

I will tell her that she is beautiful inside and out. That her mommy and daddy love her and that she is the light in our lives. I will tell her that she can be whatever she wants to be and we will stand by her and help her become that. I will teach her to be kind and respectful. I will teach her that we are all the same on the inside and it's our differences that make us unique and interesting. And I will always give her a big hug and tell her that I love her and that she the most important part of my heart.

Another thing it made me think about towards the end was what I would've been like had I grown up in the 60's. Here I am, a white girl that grew up in the south and we were pretty well off. Would we have had help in our household? And how would we have treated them? And would they have raised me? My momma didn't have any help that I know of even though she grew up in the 60's and lived in Hickory, NC which is pretty durn country.

Most importantly though, I wonder if I would treat people the same way I treat them these days? Or would I have been sucked into the majority of society and hated a person because of the color of their skin. I certainly hope it is not the times that I grew up in, but the way my mom and dad raised me - and I would hope that they would raise me the same regardless of the times. It's a never ending cycle in my mind. Am I the way I am because of society or because of the way I was raised? Isn't that the age old question of nature vs nurture? I think so. And fancy scientist can't even come up with an answer yet.