.if i were pulitzer, it'd be prized.

if you were stuck on a deserted island (wish it was desserted...yumm) and you could only bring three things with you, what would they be? we've all heard this question before and most of us have probably put at least a few minutes of thought into answering it. the point of the question if we are honest with ourselves is to see where our priorities lie. forgoing living creatures of any sort, just things...one of mine would be my personal library.

what? the question didn't say the 'thing' had to be lightweight. if i have a good book, i wouldn't ever really be alone. i'm even one of those types that can re-read my favorites and get lost in the story as if it were the first time. one such book that promptly placed itself at the top of the 'books i love' hierarchy is 'the help.'

kathryn stockett's 'the help' was the type of story that had me turning pages with fingers that forgot they were attached to my hands. in fact, i'm not even sure how they were told to do so because i was not in my home or with my body, but in that book. it left me breathless from giggles and tears. in fact, i had a battle with myself at the end.

one half of me couldn't look away from those pages while the other half forced myself to put it down. you see, i have a quirky habit with books i truly love. i don't want them to end and so i rip through them in record time and then force myself to put them down during the last couple of chapters over a series of days in order to stretch out what time i have left with the story. it's an ugly battle with my own neurosis.

i want aibileen and minny at my thanksgiving table, just wouldn't let minny bake the pie. i want to name my future daughter skeeter, think my husband would go for that? i literally closed the last page of the book and held it against my chest in the hopes that somehow it would sink in and live right there in my heart forever. i loved it and i think you would too.

i'm hopping back in forth between thrilled and anxious about the movie release of 'the help' next month. while i'll be one of the first ones in line to see it, i just hope it doesn't destroy the beauty of the story. more to come on that...

in the meantime, make your deserted island list, read the help or bake a pie. surely one of the three will make your heart happy.