Nightstand Reads with Marcellus Turner, our new city librarian!

Editor’s note: Marcellus Turner, the city librarian for The Seattle Public Library, will be checking in with us occasionally to let us know what he’s reading. We’ll turn it over to M.T. now!

So, here am I, trying to write a “Nightstand Reads” when in truth, nothing around me evokes the comfy feeling that one gets when under the covers with a good book. First off, that’s because my nightstand is a box full of “I-don’t-know-whats” because I have the “I-don’t-want-to-looks.” You see, I’ve just moved to Seattle and, well, everything that could fit was thrown in the box and placed on the moving truck. But everything didn’t come to Seattle at the same time so in turn, you make a nightstand out of whatever is nearby and fits the bill. In this case, a box full of stuff that I probably need to find. Please don’t ask me what makes a bed.

But while I waited for the rest of my goods to arrive last week, I saw the movie “The Help,” the Southern telling of domestic employment by the maids of, yes, my home, Jackson, Mississippi. The movie made me pick up Kathryn Stockett’s book again (yes, I’d read it before) to verify the accuracy of the story (why do we always want to prove something wrong?). As is sometimes the case, this movie closely followed the book. Things like how Constantine, Skeeter’s maid, was portrayed; Minnie’s hilarious mind-hashing through the events and consequences of her employer’s husband discovering they had “help” in their home; and the great reveal of Minnie’s pie. Pretty soon, I was re-reading the book. It’s just that good.