Angie Windheim

I love using tie dye frosting to dress up cakes and cupcakes. They never look the same twice, but they always look cool. You check out my tips on eHow.

It was unanimous. All of the Lit Ladies Book Club members LOVED The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.  Any complaints? Well,  yes. We all wanted more. We became so attached to Skeeter, Minny, Aibeleen, etc that we would love the story to carry on. She brought each character to a satisfying conclusion, but like life, the story wouldn’t end there.  Doubtful we’ll get our wishes granted.

For May we’ve selected the The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society: “The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet’s name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book’s epistolary circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories.”   I’ve been wanting to read this one for a long time. Yay!  But first, I must finish The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest.

The Help, by Kathryn Stockett, is quite simply the best book I’ve read from the Lit Ladies Book Club. In fact, it sits right up there on my pedestal of favorites of all time. I loved the writing style, the story and the message.

The novel takes place in 1960’s Mississippi. At the center is a young college graduate and wanna-be-writer nick-named Skeeter. She returns home to the pressures of a mother and friends bent on marrying her off and to the puzzle of her missing, beloved maid Constantine. The story weaves into the lives of Minny and Abileen (the help) and unites all three of them in a secret project that will changes and potentially risks their lives.  Each of them is trying to break free of the stereotypes and segregation and “rules” that limit them at every turn. It digs deep and gets very personal. I really became attached to and cared about each of the characters.

The Help is fantastic. Read it.

Monday: 7,108

Tuesday: 10,438

Wednesday: 13,843

Thursday: 9,988

Friday: 9,190

Saturday: 5,511

Sunday: 11,183

Total for Week: 67,261

Daily Average: 9,608

I’m pretty satisfied with the step count this week. I’d like to average above 10,000 steps per day, so I’ll have a little more work to do this week.  Unfortunately, this uptake in my exercise did not result in any weight loss. I actually gained a pound. But, I’m not really surprised since I was pretty free with my eating this week. I purposely took a break from calorie counting to focus on the steps. This week, I’ll count calories with my iPhone and steps with my pedometer and hope for a better report next Monday.

Walk on!

The Lit Ladies Book Club has been going strong for over a year. We’ve had fun at our meetings whether the books were good or oh-so-bad. The discussions about the “bad” books are usually the most entertaining 🙂

Most of us Lit Ladies read more than just our monthly assignment and are always looking for the next book. I recently passed along the idea of the group joining Goodreads.  I’ve really enjoyed my experience with this virtual book club. And with more friends joining, I’ll have an even better source of reading material.

On Goodreads member share a list of the books they’ve read, rated and reviewed. It’s pretty easy to do and you can make the reviews as long or short as you want or just click how many stars you’d give the book. In just a few minutes, I can find dozens of books that sound great and have a personal recommendation from someone I know.  You can also search reviews on thousands of other books that other folks have read (just like Amazon). I’ve even used Goodreads to find book ideas for my kids.

Another fun feature of Goodreads just popped up this week. The author of one of my favorite books The Little Giant of Aberdeen County was available for question and answer session online through Goodreads. It was pretty cool to submit a question to her as well as see the discussions between her and other readers. Can’t wait for her next book!

Goodreads has hooks into Facebook as well. I’ve built up my reading list with both Lit Ladies and miscellaneous Facebook friends. If you are a reader or want to be, this is a great way to expand your to-read list. Another perk? You could possibly even save some money on books with some organized borrowing from your Goodreads “library” of friends.