Rating: 
Summary: A Honey of a Book!!
Review: I put this on my Christmas list after reading Amazon's readers reviews. I'm so glad I did! Even though I had no idea what it was about, I was able to relate to this book on a personal level ie: (Mother died young,no father,raised by Grandmother figure, was in school during racial tension years.) But aside all of that, this is a story told in a most touching way. The author could write a sequel and have a following of readers, although I don't think it is in her plans to do so. So easy to feel the characters, it was hard to put down, and I was sad to reach the last page.
Rating:
Summary: This is more than just about bees
Review: Did you know that bees create their own bee air conditioning? Thousands of bees use their wings to fan the air to cool down a hot hive and when they do it gives the sound of an orchestra. Each bee plays an important roll in the colony such as the Mortician bees whose job it is to rake the dead bees out of the hive and keep things clean. The Nurse bees feed the baby bees. Field bees gather nectar and pollen and the male drones sit around waiting to mate with the queen. The queen is the mother of all and lays eggs all day long, week in and week out. The attendants feed her, bathe her, and keep her warm or cool.I love books that teach me something and still have a lively and entertaining story. The Secret Life of Bees did just that. Lily is a fourteen year old living with an abusive father in the south during the 1960s. Her tragedy is having shot her mother during a confrontation with the father. She was only four years old at the time and then lived in a fantasy world believing she had a wonderful mother and has a driving need to learn more about her. I loved her can do spirit as she helped her black nanny, Rosaleen, escape from jail for having spit on a white man's shoes. Her father, T. Ray, told her that the man would probably kill Rosaleen and she just could not let that happen. They travel to a city to find out more information about her mother and end living up with three black sisters, May, June and August. Don't you just love those names? I did. August has a beekeeping business and this is where we learn all about bees. The story centers on the sisters, bees and a Black Madonna. Lily and Rosaleen gain the love and comradeship of the sisters and their friends. Lily ends up with eight mothers who all care for her and love her. This is a good story that covers social, religious and family issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Much buzz that didn't deliver
Review: I had bought this book because it was recommended for people who liked The Life of Pi. I am probably doing this book a big disservice because I read it right after Pi, a tough act for any book to follow, but I had such high hopes after reading the rave reviews about it. It was a lot of buzz about a book that was good rather than great. Three weeks after reading both books, Pi has stayed with me; Lily hasn't. I didn't find it fresh and new - it was more like a rehash of other authors' works, as many of the reviewers have noted with better comparisons that I have. Although it started out okay, the rest of the book didn't match the beginning of the novel. I didn't find any of the characters particularly compelling. For one thing, Rosaleen seemed like a cardboard cutout of Mammy or other similar characters - the woman who nurtures instead of, and better than, the parents. Was Rosaleen brave or just ill-informed in her actions? We are never given enough information to figure that out. The three calendar ladies raised some interesting questions, like what happened to July in the order, but were pretty interchangeable. As for her father, he is never given enough depth of character to understand why he seems to be more than one person rolled up into one. He is more of a plot device than a well-rounded, even though despicable, character. Change his name to Bubba or Jim Bob, also stereotypes, and it won't change a thing. I kept looking for more depth in the people. As for our main character, I found her very inconsistent. When I first started reading, I thought she was about 10 or 11 years old. After I found out she was 14, I was surprised. Then later in the novel, she comes out with insights that makes her seem much older. However, her temper tantrum and confusion made her seem like the age that she was. I never got a clear picture in my head about what any of these characters looked like, something that helps fiction cross that leap-of-faith boundary. By comparison, I knew what Scarlett O'Hara, Anne of Green Gables and Huckleberry Finn looked like before seeing any movies about them. There were good things in this novel - the honey label was described so well that I could see it in my mind, the pink house, the Black Madonna, tha hats, the wall. These were infused with genius. The underlying theme of the bees was quite well done, too. I am glad that I read it because it was worthy; however, it is like the rocks that Lily sucks, meagre sustenance that I won't read again.
Rating:
Summary: ENLIGHTENING, ENGROSSING
Review: Simply put, TSLOB is a great book. I highly recommend that it goes on the "must read" list
Rating:
Summary: Engaging but predictable
Review: Traveling this holiday I saw at least a dozen women reading this book on trains and planes. It is a sweet story, but caters too carefully to it's audience - creating a world of women-centered spirituality and family without enough reflection or insight. The bee metaphors get, forgive me, sappy, too.
Rating:
Summary: Riveting
Review: This book was absolutely amazing. Ms. Kidd's sensitivity to the feelings of human beings was shocking. The feelings Lily, May, Rosaleen, August, June, and Zach shared with each other were described with such detail it felt as if Ms. Kidd was describing you yourself. An amazing author, Ms. Kidd is someone to watch for if you like emotional and politically correct books, just as The Secret Life of Bees was.
Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Book
Review: I am a frequent reader, and hadn't heard anything about this until a stranger walked up to me after seeing me looking through the books at Costco. She pointed to it, and said that she loved it so much she wanted to pass that along to anyone else that might enjoy it too. I thanked her, and bought it just because of the strange circumstance. I have to say that I truly loved it. Right from the start, it gets your attention. I hate books that you have to be patient with to "get into" like The Poisonwood Bible. It's a fairly easy read too, so it's great for commuting (which is when I read) or any place you can't sit and really concentrate. But overall, this is just a great book that gets you thinking. There is a lot going on, both in the story line, and psychologically. When I find myself looking forward to reading more, that's when I know it's a good book, and I definitely felt that way about this one. Get it, and enjoy.
Rating:
Summary: a secret world revealed
Review: What fascinated me about this book was its tantalising glimpse into the hidden world of voodoo and its references to the Black Madonna. A really excellent book I've recently discovered is Vodou Shaman by Ross Heaven, which really set the whole of The Secret Life of Bees into context. If you enjoyed Kidd's book it's worth buying Heaven's too as the latter really enriches and adds depth to the first. A really great present to yourself!
Rating:
Summary: the not-so-secret life of a well-written book
Review: THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES easily ranks as one of the best reads I've encountered all this year, and one of my favorite books ever. Many friends and coworkers had read it as a book club selection, and talked constantly about how much they liked it, loved it, couldn't wait to see the movie, etc... Now that I've read it, I can tell you all the good things you've read are true. Sue Monk Kidd has a real way with the English language: the book has many passages that you find yourself going back to read a second and even third time before moving on. There were even just expressions or a metaphor that caught my eye, and made me think how richly the words convey the story and draw the reader into the lives of the book's characters. As a few hundred people have already written reviews, I won't waste time summarizing the plot or character descriptions. Just click the "ADD TO CART" or "BUY WITH 1-CLICK" button now on the upper right-hand corner of the page! My edition of the book included an interview with the author. One question asked her if she is going to write a sequel to SECRET LIFE OF BEES and she says she has considered it, but has not made a decision one way or the other just yet. I hereby cast my vote for her to continue the story sometime if not right away. This is simply a terrific book and a great example of "new" or "modern" Southern literature. Don't waste time reading the reviews comparing it to Harper Lee's TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: I am quite certain that Ms. Kidd didn't have that book in mind when she set out to write SECRET LIFE OF BEES. It stands on its own as a wonderful Southern Novel. I should know--I grew up in Alabama! :)
Rating: 
Summary: This book is overrated
Review: I bought this book to read on the airplane. It's light and entertaining but I expected more given all the talk about it. I was surprised at how one dimensional the characters were, particularly the black women who live to nurture white children. The bee theme was initially interesting but only served to delay the realization that this was a boring story.
| 
