I would read fiction all the time if I could, but I try to change it up some to, you know, better myself and stuff. ;) So, these two books I'm about to share with you all are POLAR opposites. One is reminiscent of The Help and the other is all about photography. Maybe there's something in here for you? The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom. I don't give many books five stars on GoodReads (I'm one of those people who takes the rating system VERY seriously) but this one was worthy of all five. The story takes place in the early 1800s on a Virginia plantation and bounces back and forth between a slave's point of view and the story of an Irish girl who was brought to the plantation after she was orphaned on the trip to America. The story is so suspenseful, and I think it's an important one to read. If you liked The Help, I think you'll like The Kitchen House. (*****)

Fine Art Wedding Photography by Jose Villa. Before I even started it, I might have been a little biased about this book because I think Jose Villa is absolutely brilliant. For those of you who don't know, he shoots film, which I am in awe of, and he gives lots of tips about that process and how he gets his signature photos. If I ever start to shoot film, I will reread this book because it'd be super helpful for a beginner. I even learned a lot as a digital shooter, and I think it's always helpful to get inside another photographer's head and see how they do things. I will say that I was a little turned off by how flippantly he talks about "making portraits." He makes it sound like there's nothing to it, which is not true at all, but I guess he a) doesn't have enough pages to really dive into the nitty gritty and b) has to make it his work seem effortless. Those you that read this book, what did you think? (****)