The Secret Life of Bees

"The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd

"I'll write this all down for you," I said. "I'll put it in a story."
I don't know if that's what he wanted to ask me, but it's something everyone wants--for someone to see the hurt done to them and set it down like it matters.

Lily Owens lives in South Carolina with her cruel father and her substitue mother, Rosaleen. After the Civil Rights Act is enacted, Rosaleen and Lily head for town so Rosaleen can register to vote. After Rosaleen insults three heckling bigots she is thrown in jail. Lily's father comes for her, but Rosaleen is left in jail and beaten. Lily returns to town and helps Rosaleen escape from the hospital where she is getting stitches but is still in custody.

The two of them head to Tiburon, where Lily believes her mother once was. Following a clue on the back of a picture of a black Madonna, Lily and Rosaleen find haven at the home of three black women who raise bees. Here Lily learns to live with the secrets of her past.

This was a delightful book. Being a Southern girl myself, Kidds writing brought back memories from clidhood. Hot summer days, waterhose fights, potluck funerals. I just flew through the pages, but the images are still with me.

Here on Earth

"Here on Earth" by Alice Hoffman
As one of the comments in the front cover says "Here on Earth" is a "Wuthering Heights" for the 90's. Trouble is I didn't much care for "Wuthering Heights." March's father found a young boy during a trip to the city and brought him home to raise. March gets a crush on him. Big brother Alan is jealous and hateful. Dad dies. Alan is king of the castle and treats the boy, Hollis, like a servant. Hollis leaves town. March gets married. Yup..."Wuthering Heights."

March Murray and her 14-year old daughter return to March's hometown for a funeral. Hollis squirms back into her life. Much more from me and you'll know Rosebud is a sled.

Anyway, the book kept my interest. I read it in one day. I was curious about what would happen to the characters but I didn't care for them. The book left an unpleasant aftertaste. But I liked Hoffman's writing enough to give her another try. So I'll be looking for good recommendations.

BookAwardsChallenge


I've found a book challenge that fits me to a T. I visited Stephanie while playing The Blogroll Game and there it was. Meets so many of my needs, you'd be amazed.

1. I found a site that offers to-do lists for you to complete. The Pulitzer and National Book awards are two of the lists I've chosen. And this challenge will take 5 off of the Pulitzer list.

2.
I've set the goal to read all 100 of the books listed in "The Book of Great Books" and "The Good Earth" and "The Grapes of Wrath" will come off that list.

3. I've needed an excuse to reread a couple of my favorite books. These are "The Executioners Song," Lonesome Dove" and "Flowers for Algernon."

4. I'm in a book club and I've decided to read everything they read before I joined. This includes "Gone With the Wind."

5. And finally, I've decided to read two of my favorites from childhood. "From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler" and "Up a Road Slowly" are two that I remember enjoying. They very likely started me down the path that led to my love of books. Who knows?

So, all-in-all, this is the challenge for me. So far between this challenge and recommendations I've picked up from the Blogroll Game I've got 17 more books to buy. I seriously need another book shelf.

Vanishing Acts

"Vanishng Acts" by Jodi Picoult

"Vanishing Acts" is the story of what happens to the world around Delia once the fact she was kinapped as a child comes to light. Delia makes a living finding missing people with her search-and-rescue dog never dreaming she's been missing for 28 years. Her father took her, changed their names and moved across country. As Delia plans her wedding, memories cause a chain reaction that causes her to question her entire life. After his arrrest, her father is extradited to Arizona where Delia meets the mother she was told was dead.

I really enfoyed this book. I read it in one day. It was a normal day at the office were I was. The good news is the office girl there is going on vacation next week. I'll be there 55 hours and I'll probably only have to work about 10 of them. I'm hoping to get at least 3 books off my TBR books next week. Plus overtime.

Moby Dick

"Moby Dick" by Herman Melville

After finishing "In the Heart of the Sea" by Nathaniel Philbrick I decided to read "Moby Dick" while I still had all of the whaling terminology in my head. I needn't have bothered. As the blurb on the Barnes & Noble edition tells you, the book is a virtual enyclopedia of whales and whaling. Melville doles out the whaling life in mind-numbing detail.

The first quarter of the book was fast reading. The middle lost me.
The last quarter went quicker, but by then I just wanted to finish. But, it's on my Book of Great Books TBR list. So if I set a voluntary goal for myself I have to just bite the bullet and take the good with the long, drawn-out. Not one of my favorites.

Blogroll Game

Fun for all!!!

PS My button didn't come out, but if you hit the x you can still get to the game.

Nevermind. I fixed it.

Update

I haven't been here in a while. I haven't finished anything worth talking about. I stalled out with Moby Dick and read a historical romance mystery and a contemporary mystery. Both were OK but not worth sending my Internet buddies searching for. But now I've gotten back into Moby Dick and will finish it this week. Probably today or tomorrow. I'm also about 99% dome with the afghan I'm doing now. When it's done I'm going to make my daisy kitchen curtains. I've had the material around 9 months. It's time dont'cha think?

Anyway, my job has blocked alot of my favorite sites so I stay off the web at work. I tried both of my TCC links and found them inaccessible. So I quit trying before I got to Blogger. I don't know if I can get in or not but I don't think it's a big deal. I'll just do it from home.

However, they didn't block my Spanish lesson sites. So, to see the glass half-full aspect, I'll be using my free time at work to learn Spanish. It'll pay off in the long haul.