September Book List

Sorry this is a little late. September was a quality-over-quantity month - three of these books were five-star reads!


Grace For the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life by Emily Freeman
It's hard for me to talk about this book concisely, yet I can't stop talking about it in general. I am a Good Girl in the bone, and this book highlighted truths that God has already taught me through experience, as well as lots of things I'm still learning. It is freeing, encouraging, and life-changing. I want to hand out copies to every woman I see. I'd like to write a few posts about it, if anyone is interested.

Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart
I don't often judge a book by its cover, but this gorgeous cover drew me in. While I enjoyed the story - about two adult sisters and their cousin, and the new priest at their historic church - and the charming setting of Charleston, something about it was a little disconnected. One of the sisters suffers from the most extreme case of postpartum depression I've ever heard of, and it's never fully explained. The main romance takes place almost entirely "offscreen." Things happen abruptly. I almost got the feeling this was written for NaNoWriMo or something.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett
I'm pretty much the last person to read this, so just add my praise to the chorus. What an excellent and inspiring story. I think the book and/or the movie should be part of the curriculum in modern US history classes - they really brought the day-to-day realities of the civil rights movement to life for me. The strength of Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter will stick with me for a long time. Amazing.

Goliath by Scott Westerfeld
The perfect ending to a perfect trilogy. I believe the Leviathan books are destined to be classics. There's something brilliant, unique, and timeless about them that people of all ages can enjoy (although the whole fabricated beasts thing might be too much for young kids to grasp :)). As I said recently, I think they have a well-rounded, Princess Bride-ish quality. Goliath is also very romantic in a wholesome way, and I teared up at several points. (True, I am very emotional, but if you don't feel something at that ending, you are MADE OF STONE.) It may be the final push for me to write a post about relationships and "marrying your best friend" that's been percolating for a while. I also want a Bovril of my own, although my cat Gandalf is pretty perspiscacious himself. Anyway, I will love these books forever. And maybe we can look forward to a movie someday - for any Westerfeld fans who haven't heard, the Uglies movie is finally happening!

Books for September: 4
2011 year to date: 59