Monday, January 25, 2010

My Husband Makes Me Smile

On Christmas morning, I reached for a present and Greg got nervous. Before I could rip the wrapping paper off, he explained over and over again how he had gone out on a limb with this gift and he's so sorry if I don't like it. I could not imagine what might be in the package to get him so crazy nervous. Then, I opened it and saw these:


I laughed a little and I guess the look on my face said, "Hey crazy man, why would you think that books are a 'gamble' of a present." I love to read, so I love getting books. Then, he went on to explain how he went to the bookstore and explained to the sales woman what I like to read. To paraphrase his own words to this poor woman who happened to be working at that moment: "She really likes books about real events where the people are really oppressed. She just loves to read about WWII concentration camps and stuff like that."

I have only read "Snow Flower" about the horribly oppressed women that lived in a small village in China near the beginning of the 19th Century. There was much detail about foot binding and class struggles and war and famine and illness. I loved it! I am anxious to get started on "Peony in Love."

For my birthday, Jen gave me this:

She picked it up for me and read it first herself. (I can't tell you how much I love that she did that. We gave Maddie a movie for Christmas - one that she requested. We hadn't seen it, so we opened it and watched it before we gave it to her.) Anyway, her excitement after reading the book was overwhelming. I started and it had me hooked from the first page. I was up until 12:30 (or later) every night last week while I read and forced myself to stop. It is set in 1962 in Jackson, Mississippi and addresses the complicated relationship of white women and their maids. Stockett has a gift for gripping your attention and then making you wait (most impatiently) for the resolution. But, by the time you reach the resolution to one "story," you are caught up in the middle of another one. She is a fabulous writer. I highly recommend this book.

I was reading in bed one night when Greg came up and started getting ready for bed. He was in the bathroom getting his toothbrush ready, asking me about my book. He asked me if I liked it and I quickly, but adamantly, exclaimed my love for the book. He said, "Is there a lot of oppression in it?" I smiled and answered, "Tons!" He smiled and said, "Good." After he brushed his teeth, he popped his head out of the bathroom and asked, "Does it have more oppression than my book?" I laughed and told him that it didn't. He was so thrilled that he won!

He cracks me up!

6 comments:

Andee said...

I love this post! I just read the Hunger Games and I was trying to explain how I really loved it but it had some gore and it was kind of depressing...and that I don't like that necessarily...it was just a really interesting book. So I should just admit I like that kind of stuff! I've also heard the The Help is really good. And by the way thank you SO much for taking the time to respond to my last post. It really helped and you have a really good point about the challenges of being a first child. He's actually the first grandchild on both sides so yeah, he gets a LOT of attention and feels that everyone should be at his beck and call. I'm going to read Love and Logic. Hope you guys are doing well! We really miss the ward.

Alexie said...

I'm sorry i gave you chocolates instead of oppression to make your birthday happy. Next time, I'll research with greg. :o)!

Jana said...

The Help IS the perfect book for an oppression lover! I'll take partial credit for that one since I told Jen about it. Oh yeah.

Fauset Photography said...

LOVED IT with all my HEART!

Christine said...

Aw, I love it! He is such a good husband to know what you like to read! Hee!

Jackie said...

Can I borrow The Help if you're done? I was wanting to read it but the library had like a billion holds on it... I have started a few books but just can't get into them. This one sounds like a good one.