Marianna's Book Club, Part II

This weeks book is The Help, by Kathryn Stockett.

When I was first handed this book I was told "It's great, but the ending will make you mad". I tell you this up front because it is the number one thing I took away from this book, fantastic but the ending made me mad.

The Help tells the story of African American maids and their white employers in 1960's Mississippi. The stories for two maids and one white woman weave together to create a fantastic story. The book obviously touches on race relations, but also gender roles and socioeconomic relations within the same race.

The ending didn't make me mad because it wasn't necessarily happy. While I hoped that this book would have a happy ending where black maids and white employers all sat down for a cup of tea to discuss their differences I knew that wouldn't be the case. What I didn't like was the lack of closure. Major story lines were practically dropped. Story lines that were supposedly building up to a major revelation fell flat. I wondered if I was missing pages because the book simply ended with no form of resolution whatsoever.

I still recommend it if only for the fact that until the end it makes for a satisfying read. The story is solid enough to keep you interested but refrains from throwing in too many extraneous plotlines. Overall solid lead, needs a much better ending.

Let's move on the more important subject, I still need a name for my book club. I tried being incredibly uncreative and googled "Funny Book Club Names" but what I came up with was this

"One of the best ways to come up with creative or funny book club names is to think about what makes your group unique.

A club that meets at lunch could be called the Lunch Bunch. One that meets over dinner could be the Restaurant Readers. One that meets at the library could be the Library Ladies. A group of teachers might call themselves the Teacher's Pets.

A reading group that likes to laugh a lot might be named the Giggle Girls or the Laughing Ladies. One made up of all men could be called the Mighty Men, while a club of all women might be the Wonder Women.

Many clever book club names also play off of book puns. For example, the Book Wormers or Book Marks"

Gag. Well it was worth a shot.

What direction should I take the naming process in? I love puns, so I would like to include a pun in there, but I don't want it to be too corny. I want it to be different, but not so different that people don't understand the humor in it. Not too much irony, I'm not a fucking hipster. No references to obscure Russian authors from the early eighteenth century, there's a reason I didn't major in English. Same goes for references to 1960's feminist writers.

With that being said, I'm making this a contest for my readers...all 6 of you (so your chances of winning are pretty high!) Name my book club and I'll make you president. It's as simple as that. You will get to choose our next book and perhaps, if I'm feeling crafty, get a personalized bookmark to commemorate your success. So get to work. I'll get my scissors out and start working on your bookmark, you start working on the names. Together, we will create something epic.