Ryan_G wrote:
Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling
I have another giveaway going on right now:
http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2012/07/charlott
e-markham-and-house-of-darkling.html
Thanks Ryan, for those of you who haven't read Ryan's blog click on he's a great blogger and you could be a winner too 
DenisM wrote:
“The Secret Life of Bees”
“The Secret Life of Bees” is a fictional novel written by popular author Sue Monk Kidd. Published in 2002, and a New York Times best seller, it tells the story of 14 year-old Lilly Owens. Lilly is a young women whose mother was killed when she was a child. Unfortunately, she has no idea why or how. Her father, T-Ray is abusive, cold hearted and bitter. He treats her terribly. So, in an effort to find herself and seek answers about her mother, she uses what little information she has in hopes of discovering the missing pieces to her puzzle. Her journey takes her to South Carolina during the civil war movement where she meets the Boatwright sisters. Along the way, she learns who she is though laughter, heartache, and most importantly the bond that develops between the four women. In the end Lilly learns that the sisters cared for her mother when she was young and she also learns that she was responsible for her mothers death. Ultimately, the answers may not be what she had hoped for but she gained one important thing: Closure.
The theme of this novel can be summed up by one of the major characters, August Boatwright when she states, “Most people don’t have any idea about all the complicated life going on inside a hive. Bees have a secret life we don’t know anything about” (148). Essentially, the author is using the bees and their hive as a lesson for Lilly that life cannot always be simple and the answers are not always what you expect them to be.
One of the major components that makes the story so inspirational is Sue Monk Kidd’s use of symbolism and emotion filled life lessons. The bees are a metaphor for life and it’s trials and tribulations. August states, “Well if you have a queen and a group of independent-minded bees that split off from the rest of the hive and look for another place to live, then you’ve got a swarm.” (93). This quote is symbolic of how Lilly feels. She feels like she is looking to make sense of her life and she is constantly in search of something.
The mood of the novel is serious but it comes with the most inspirational outcome. The seriousness is conveyed when Lilly faces both verbal and physical abuse at the hands of T-Ray and when death is confronted twice in the novel. The first incident is when May one of the sisters commits suicide as a result of her emotional instability. The second incident is when Lilly finds out that she is actually responsible for her mother’s death when T-Ray states, “It was you who did it, Lily. You didn’t mean it, but it was you (229)”. This is also the point at which the novel comes full circle. In contrast, the mood is also uplifting and inspirational due to the fact that love, family, and the importance of overcoming life’s hurtles is emphasized.
Sue Monk Kidd sums up her take on life best when she states, “The world will give you that once in awhile, a brief timeout; the boxing bell rings and you go to your corner, where somebody dabs mercy on your beat-up life.”
You see, The Secret Life of Bees is about more than just a confused, emotional girl trying to piece together the missing pieces to her hectic life. It has an important message. Life is a journey and there is a long road ahead. You can dwell on the past or take the lessons and look forward at the beauty in front of you.
Through Sue Monk Kidd’s personal experiences and imagination, The Secret Life of Bees conveys a story that any reader would find moving and exciting.
A very good and touching review Denis, thank you.
I am a big fan of Sue's and have enjoyed all of her works- these are my favorites
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter
Thanks for the post and I hope you'll be back to give us more of your opinions and views
I wish there was a nonfiction board on here, but the Current Events/History board seems pretty much dead so I guess I will have to recommend this book here.
I just posted a review of Eat the City by Robin Shulman, and I loved it. It was an intereting look at the past and present food prodcution within the city of New York. It's given me the curiosity to research the food history here in Wichita, so I'm eager to see what I find out.
Here is my full review, which also has a giveaway with it: http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2012/08/eat-city
The Gospel According to the Fix
This is one of those book that I don't think I could ever recommend enough. It was a fun, quick read for those who are into poltics a lot, like me, or just dip their feet in.
If anyone would like to check out my review, you can find it here. You may be able to get your own copy by coming over as well.
- last edited on by
dhaupt
I recommend Sophie Kinsella's "Can you keep a secret?" although it's written in the style she's well known for, it's fresh and has as usual an unimaginable twist to it. All in all I think it's a good read. I also finished reading Mayor of Casterbridge (Barnes & Noble Classics Series), which i hope to review on my blog soon..
bookfunkid wrote:
I recommend Sophie Kinsella's "Can you keep a secret?" although it's written in the style she's well known for, it's fresh and has as usual an unimaginable twist to it. All in all I think it's a good read. I also finished reading Mayor of Casterbridge (Barnes & Noble Classics Series), which i hope to review on my blog soon..
Hi bookfunkid, thanks
for the nice review of Can you keep a secret, be sure and put your review on the B&N site too, the viewers really appreciate that.
I hope you'll visit often and let us know what you're reading and reviewing too and I hope that you'll find suggestions from us to your liking also.
LynneSpreen wrote:
Hi Deb! I'm in! I installed Firefox on my computer. Now I have three browsers! Explorer, Chrome, and FF. What a world we live in, huh?
Lynne, Welcome to the board, Finally
Peeps, Lynne has a guest blog that I'll be putting up on Monday and she's going to hang around and chat with us for a while too.
Most of you who know me know that I love multiple genres and crime drama is one of them
PJ Tracy is one of my favorite author(s) in the genre, their Monkeewrench novels are some of the most terrifying and satisfying out there today, here's the latest
you can enjoy my review on the product page linked below or you can view it on my blog here
Off the Grid (Monkeewrench Series #6)
If Tom Clancy and Dan Brown had a book baby, it would be SHATTERED ALLEGIANCE. Look it up, read it, like it! Check us out on Facebook and send a message.
bama_coastie wrote:
If Tom Clancy and Dan Brown had a book baby, it would be SHATTERED ALLEGIANCE. Look it up, read it, like it! Check us out on Facebook and send a message.
The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them. ~ Mark TwainShattered Allegiance is the first book in the captivating trilogy that sets our country on its end, and then opens the door for the New World Order. "Imposed Order" is the second book in the series and details the conquests of an American vigilante and his discovery of a worldwide imposition. Events take an unnerving turn in "Fatal Allegiance" as the world is brought to its knees.
Here's the link to the B&N product page
for the novel
Ryan_G wrote:Kathy,
Thank you and I hope you like it. It was one of those rare books that really moved me.
KathyS wrote:
Ryan_G wrote:I don't normally read a ton of books that breaks my heart, this is one of the few. Here is my full review:
http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-abso
lutist-by-john-boyne.html
Ryan,
I decided to get this book. If a book can suck you in the way this one seemed to do, I know he must be a decent writer.
Kathy
Ryan, I just finished the last three pages of this book this morning. I didn't cry, nor did I hold onto the same feelings that you did. I didn't invest myself in it the way that you must have. The sadness was there, I could feel it the whole way through, and wished it away, but I knew I couldn't. I've lived on the edge of life, my whole life, and I know these emotional feelings.
I probably won't be writing a review of this book, but I will say a few words here.
This story intrigued me from the onset, as the first relevant circumstances gave me a clue, a feeling I knew of what was to come of this character, Tristan. I just wondered why so many years went by, before it came to this ending. In a way, this may sound cruel.
The story is mainly about homosexuality, the setting is just another period of time in which these characters come to life. The story gives us a look into the lives who experience and live it, and those who don't.
The turn of the century, during the Great War, reminds me of the battles of past, and the battles of all the wars after, and those yet to come. It's all a metaphor..... It's heartbreaking, in that no one should have to fight a war, where the enemy looks exactly like you. For those of us on the outside looking into these battles, or looking into these lives, we make our judgments from someone else's experiences, from Tristan's, from Will's, and all the men and women who were there.
This writer gives a good account of war. Insanity under pressure, which recalls what is going on in our current age of wars. It's just a different time, and a different piece of land we're standing upon. War is war. Blood, sweat and tears are all the same. Heartbreaking and senseless. I've witnessed this on a personal level, of people in my life.
You try to form your opinions as you read along in this story. You change your mind as you go. It's hard to make sense of war. It's hard to make sense of the minds who form their negative views against homosexuality. We all look alike, we just don't all wear the same uniform.
The white feather was significant in this story. It would behoove anyone who reads this book, to look up what this means before you read on. As I said, the ending was predictable for me, I just wondered why it took Tristan eighty some odd years to come to it. But, you wouldn't have gotten to hear his story, otherwise. There was a disconcerting time lag in the end, in which some circumstances weren't made clear to the reader. The circumstances were mentioned, but were never discussed by the characters. It's as if this writer thought they were not significant enough to make the effort.
All in all, It was well written-----all but one thing, which drove me nuts. I wish this writer wouldn't have all his characters biting their lip. It distracted me, and weakened my flow of reading. I thought, OMG, not again! It's such a trite character movement, and an empty throw-away line.
And on that note, I'll bid adieu.
I wish you all happy reading,
Kathy
It wasn't really the way the book ended that broke my heart, it was the waste of life and the promise of life that I found to be the most upsetting.
This is the last paragraph of the review I wrote for the blog:
I can pretty much tell you in one word the motivating factor for most of what happens, fear. Fear of the unknown, but more importantly, fear of self. It's the fear of allowing yourself to be who and what you are, that sets everything else into motion. Neither one of these men can fully accept or deal with what they are feeling or what they did as a result. It's the waste of life, both physical and emotional, that moved me in a way few books can manage. It's what happens to both these men as a result of fear that broke my heart and forced me to think of the what might have beens in my own life. It's not a reaction I want to have from every book I read, but when it does happen, I'm grateful for it.
KathyS wrote:
Ryan_G wrote:Kathy,
Thank you and I hope you like it. It was one of those rare books that really moved me.
KathyS wrote:
Ryan_G wrote:I don't normally read a ton of books that breaks my heart, this is one of the few. Here is my full review:
http://wordsmithonia.blogspot.com/2012/07/the-abso
lutist-by-john-boyne.html
Ryan,
I decided to get this book. If a book can suck you in the way this one seemed to do, I know he must be a decent writer.
Kathy
Ryan, I just finished the last three pages of this book this morning. I didn't cry, nor did I hold onto the same feelings that you did. I didn't invest myself in it the way that you must have. The sadness was there, I could feel it the whole way through, and wished it away, but I knew I couldn't. I've lived on the edge of life, my whole life, and I know these emotional feelings.
I probably won't be writing a review of this book, but I will say a few words here.
This story intrigued me from the onset, as the first relevant circumstances gave me a clue, a feeling I knew of what was to come of this character, Tristan. I just wondered why so many years went by, before it came to this ending. In a way, this may sound cruel.
The story is mainly about homosexuality, the setting is just another period of time in which these characters come to life. The story gives us a look into the lives who experience and live it, and those who don't.
The turn of the century, during the Great War, reminds me of the battles of past, and the battles of all the wars after, and those yet to come. It's all a metaphor..... It's heartbreaking, in that no one should have to fight a war, where the enemy looks exactly like you. For those of us on the outside looking into these battles, or looking into these lives, we make our judgments from someone else's experiences, from Tristan's, from Will's, and all the men and women who were there.
This writer gives a good account of war. Insanity under pressure, which recalls what is going on in our current age of wars. It's just a different time, and a different piece of land we're standing upon. War is war. Blood, sweat and tears are all the same. Heartbreaking and senseless. I've witnessed this on a personal level, of people in my life.
You try to form your opinions as you read along in this story. You change your mind as you go. It's hard to make sense of war. It's hard to make sense of the minds who form their negative views against homosexuality. We all look alike, we just don't all wear the same uniform.
The white feather was significant in this story. It would behoove anyone who reads this book, to look up what this means before you read on. As I said, the ending was predictable for me, I just wondered why it took Tristan eighty some odd years to come to it. But, you wouldn't have gotten to hear his story, otherwise. There was a disconcerting time lag in the end, in which some circumstances weren't made clear to the reader. The circumstances were mentioned, but were never discussed by the characters. It's as if this writer thought they were not significant enough to make the effort.
All in all, It was well written-----all but one thing, which drove me nuts. I wish this writer wouldn't have all his characters biting their lip. It distracted me, and weakened my flow of reading. I thought, OMG, not again! It's such a trite character movement, and an empty throw-away line.
And on that note, I'll bid adieu.
I wish you all happy reading,
Kathy
