Month: January 2019

Book Review – The Secret Life of Bees

The Secret Life of Bees is about Lily Owen’s quest to save herself while finding the truth about her mom. Set in 1964 South Carolina, Lily and her stand-in mother, Rosaleen, make their way to a sisterhood of beekeepers in Tiburon, South Carolina where they learn not only how to keep bees, but the importance of motherly love and the truths about Lily’s mom.

One day I got a message from a friend, “Have you read The Secret Life of Bees?” When I answered in the negative, she replied, “Ok, I’m grabbing it for you.” Months later, I’ve finally read it, and I feel a little bit like I showed up late to a party.

Book 4:
The Secret Life of Bees
by Sue Monk Kidd

Genre:
Historical Fiction

Published:
November 2001

Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, The Secret Life of Bees is about Lily Owen’s quest to save herself while finding the truth about her mom. Set in 1964 South Carolina, Lily and her stand-in mother, Rosaleen, make their way to a sisterhood of beekeepers in Tiburon, South Carolina where they learn not only how to keep bees, but the importance of motherly love and the truths about Lily’s mom.

Favorite Quote(s):

“You know, some things don’t matter that much, Lily. Like the color of a house. How big is that in the overall scheme of life? But lifting a person’s heart–now, that matters.”

“If you need something from somebody, always give that person a way to hand it to you.”

“And when you get down to it, Lily, that’s the only purpose grand enough for human life. Not just to love–but to persist in love.”

“… every living creature on the earth is special. You want to be the one that puts an end to one of them?”

– Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Life of Bees

Awards (based upon my brief research):
Orange Prize Nominee for Fiction Longlist (2002)
Book Sense Book of the Year Award for Paperback (2004)
Lincoln Award Nominee (2005)
Missouri Gateway Readers Award Nominee (2005)

Pages:
336

My Overall Rating:
4 – Think The Help meets Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, because that’s immediately where my mind went while reading this one. I can’t be certain how I managed to make it so far before even hearing of this book. For a book that shows the value of motherly love and the power of sisterhood (biological or not), I think this is a must read for women. While, personally, I enjoyed The Help more, this is one I will hold onto until my own daughter is old enough to appreciate the story.

Book Review – Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive

Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive is about Stephanie’s attempts to break the cycle of generational poverty as she raises her daughter on her own. Between cleaning houses and government assistance, Stephanie struggles to provide for her daughter and longs for a day when she can follow her dreams without the stress of financial concerns.

January’s Book of the Month choice was a no-brainer for me. I love a good memoir and this one all but screamed at me when I saw it because of its relation to my line of work. I knew I had to read this book. It was just a bonus that I could get it through Book of the Month.

Book 3:
Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive
by Stephanie Land

Genre:
Autobiography, Memoir

Published:
January 2019

Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive is about Stephanie’s attempts to break the cycle of generational poverty as she raises her daughter on her own. Between cleaning houses and government assistance, Stephanie struggles to provide for her daughter and longs for a day when she can follow her dreams without the stress of financial concerns.

Favorite Quote(s):

“Recovering from the trauma was also vital, maybe the most critical, but not only could no one help me with that, I didn’t know yet what I needed. The months of poverty, instability, and insecurity created a panic response that would take years to undo.”

“We were expected to live off minimum wage, to work several jobs at varying hours, to afford basic needs while fighting for safe places to leave our children.”

“The most frustrating part of being stuck in the system were the penalties it seemed I received for improving my life.”

“It was the secrecy that fascinated me, the amount of energy she put into appearing perfect and clean.”

– Stephanie Land, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive

Awards (based upon my brief research):
None yet.

Pages:
288

My Overall Rating:
4 – I love a good memoir. There’s just something about reading the everyday doings of another person that teaches you a lot about yourself. Stephanie’s story is one of strength, courage, hope and a ridiculous amount of hard work. I’m so grateful for her transparency as she explained what it’s like to live reliant upon the system. I think a lot of us have messed up opinions of people in her situation and it saddens me to have read the things people said to her at times. She was dealt a tough hand to play yet she played it like a card shark.

Stephanie is such a talented writer, and I hope the opportunity she received to publish this book is a springboard into the life that’s to come for her and her daughters.

Book Review – Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything

Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything is about Aly’s road to success and the obstacles she had to overcome along the way. Aly is a two time Olympic athlete, and a highly accomplished one at that. What does it take to be in her shoes? What does her life look like post-Olympics? How does she use her platform for good?

This past birthday/Christmas, I got gifted some really great books, and this is one of them. Despite my feelings toward Simone’s book, Courage to Soar, I went into Aly’s book with high hopes. I just have a tremendous amount of respect for her. She’s so mature and accomplished and poised. And, also, I just love memoir-type books, so…

Book 2:
Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything
by Aly Raisman

Genre:
Sports Autobiography, Biography

Published:
November 2017

Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything is about Aly’s road to success and the obstacles she had to overcome along the way. Aly is a two time Olympic athlete, and a highly accomplished one at that. What does it take to be in her shoes? What does her life look like post-Olympics? How does she use her platform for good?

Favorite Quote(s):

“My parents focused on being parents and left the coaching to the professionals. They never pushed me, but they saw the value of being part of something that made me leap out of bed, excited for the day.”

“It gave me an even greater appreciation of the Olympics, a place where the whole world and people of all nationalities came together to support one another.”

– Aly Raisman, Fierce: How Competing for Myself Changed Everything

Awards (based upon my brief research):
None noted, but obviously Aly’s raked in a few “awards” herself…

Pages:
368

My Overall Rating:
4 – This book features two things I love – the Olympics and gymnastics – plus my favorite athlete. Aly is a remarkable woman. Her dedication to her sport is admirable, but her dedication to being a good person is commendable. From the moment I first watched her compete in 2012, I knew I liked her as a person. She’s calm and collected, yet unquenchably fierce. Though I already knew much of her story, her telling of it is so beautiful and only further solidifies my respect for her.

Aly’s writing was mature. She was transparent about the obstacles she faced, how she handled them and how they made her feel and grow. Her road to success was nowhere near easy, yet in performance, an onlooker would never suspect that. At each step along the way, she’s carefully decided on how to use her platform for good, and I loved reading her thought process in some of those questionable steps.

Still, I have to say, if you are not obsessed with the Olympics or if you do not have a deep love for gymnastics, this is probably not your book.

Book Review – The Wife Between US

The Wife Between Us is about Vanessa’s (Nellie’s) failed marriage, her replacement and her battle in deciphering right from wrong. The story reveals the truths we’ll ignore when in love and the lengths we’ll go to in attempts to destroy someone’s happiness.

At it again, but back to square one (or book one, rather)! Book 1 of 2019 is Book Club’s January choice, and one I borrowed from the library, myself. 

Book 1:
The Wife Between US
by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Genre:
Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psychological thriller, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction

Published:
January 2018

Synopsis According to Mandi:
Without spoilers, The Wife Between Us is about Vanessa’s (Nellie’s) failed marriage, her replacement and her battle in deciphering right from wrong. The story reveals the truths we’ll ignore when in love and the lengths we’ll go to in attempts to destroy someone’s happiness. 

Favorite Quote(s):

“I was happy, I think, but I wonder now if my memory is playing tricks on me. If it is giving me the gift of an illusion. We all layer them over our remembrances; the filters through which we want to see our lives.”

– Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Awards (based upon my brief research):
Nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards Best Mystery & Thriller

Pages:
353

My Overall Rating:
2.5 – Written by the same authors as An Anonymous Girl, this one disappointed me. It claims to be a suspense/thriller, but I didn’t get those vibes until the last tenth of the book or so. The first nine tenths felt like a chick lit that wasn’t really going anywhere.The characters were believable and I think the plot had potential, I would have just preferred to have more time spent on the actually thrilling part of the story.