From the Bookshelf of Bound Together…

The Honey Bus: A Memoir of Loss, Courage and a Girl Saved by Bees

Meredith May

Start date: November 2, 2019

Finish date: November 23, 2019

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What Members Thought

Nov 12, 2019 Diane S ☔ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 5000-2019, lor-2019

There is no doubt that a book one identifies with has more meaning, but I had no clue how close this book would come to mine. Like Meredith, I was five, and though I did not have a you get brother, I did have a you get sister, when my parents divorced. Like Meredith's mother, mine too took us to live with my grandparents, but luckily my mother was nothing like Meredith's. She did leave us during the week, taking a train into the city to work, returning only on weekends, but she was a loving moth ...more

106 likes · Like · see review

Dec 03, 2019 Chrissie rated it liked it

Shelves: bio, usa, audible-uk, life-stages, 2019-read, fauna, philo-psychol

In my view, the cover, the title and the book description are misleading—the tone conveyed is too upbeat, too sunny, too happy. This book is about a dysfunctional family, the author’s family. When Meredith May was five and her brother three, her parents divorced. The kids were taken by their mother across the country from Rhode Island to Carmel, California, to live with their maternal grandparents, but their mom is depressive and seriously, mentally ill. She puts herself in her bed, in her room, In my view, the cover, the title and the book description are misleading—the tone conveyed is too upbeat, too sunny, too happy. This book is about a dysfunctional family, the author’s family. When Meredith May was five and her brother three, her parents divorced. The kids were taken by their mother across the country from Rhode Island to Carmel, California, to live with their maternal grandparents, but their mom is depressive and seriously, mentally ill. She puts herself in her bed, in her room, and does not come out. Not for merely a few days, or a few weeks or months but for years. When she eventually does leave the room, what she does and says to others is so cruel, so scathing, it seems a pure miracle that her two kids have survived. She physically and mentally abuses the kids, particularly Meredith. It is not uncommon for such behavior to pass from one generation to the next, and it is this that we observe here when we learn about the other adults in the family.

Meredith speaks of her childhood, from the age of five through her teen years, the details more and more sparse as she grows older. She learns how to get by until the day she can leave home, escape.

Her grandpa is the one beacon of light in her life. Actually, we come to learn that he is her step-grandpa. It is he that is the savior of both her and the book. Without him, the book would simply be just too grim. He is kind. He is down to earth. He takes the time to listen to her when she needs to talk. He is there for her, and no one else is. He is a beekeeper. He loves bees and in them he sees how people should behave, but don’t. He shares what he has learned from bees with her. In doing so he gives of himself. As he shares with her all that he knows about his beloved bees, he teaches her not only about bees but about life itself. As he instructs her about bees and beekeeping, we learn too.

Although I am glad her step-grandfather reached out to her, and he did it in the only way he felt he could, I do wish with my whole heart that he had taken the initiative to bring in outside help. The family sorely needed help, both psychological counseling and financial aid. I believe it was his kindness that got Meredith through. Kindness is a powerful tool.

What the reader learns about bees is fascinating!

In this memoir the author relates how she remembers feeling. Now an adult, she is looking back on her childhood. Some of the thoughts expressed are those of an adult. Other thoughts are those of a child. The mix of the two is at times jarring. Particularly the thoughts attributed to the author’s three-year-old brother seemed too mature to me.

The sole aspect of this book that is heartwarming is the relationship that develops between Meredith and her step-father. I found the book to be primarily a disturbing, depressing, sad read.The information about bees is interesting, but let’s be realistic, they offer no immediate solution to this family’s serious problems.

I didn’t expect this book to be so depressing! I do not like this book, but I have found it to be reasonably well done.

The audiobook is read by Candace Thaxton. She uses different intonations for different speakers. When expressing Meredith’s thoughts and words, each sentence, and often even separate words which she wants emphasized, end on a high note. The result is a singsong cadence that sounds superficial and unnatural. Unfortunately, a large portion is read in this manner. The other intonations are much better and the words are always easy to hear, so I have given the audiobook narration three stars. ...more

37 likes · Like · see review

Oct 22, 2019 ☮Karen rated it really liked it

Shelves: hear-hear-on-bt, read-in-2019, hoopla, nonfiction, audio

3.5 stars.

This is a sad memoir, not just because of the dysfunction in Meredith May's childhood caused by her depressed mother, but because it focuses in on what will happen if we don't pay attention to our waning honeybee populations. Wake up call. This is a crisis we all need to be worried about as it's not going to fix itself.

Meredith's grandpa was a fifth generation beekeeper and taught her how to care for the bees and assist him in every way. He was a fount of knowledge and she learned well ...more

25 likes · Like · see review

Mar 08, 2020 Martha☀ rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobook, library, biography

Meredith May tells the story of a few tumultuous years of her childhood and she does so with such drama and feeling that it comes across as a fictional tale. But it isn't.
When Meredith's parents split in 1975, her mom took her and her brother across the country to Big Sur, CA to live with grandparents. Her mother then locked herself away in the bedroom for years, leaving the two children to fend for themselves and have their basic needs met by prickly Granny. If it wasn't for Grandpa and his ge Meredith May tells the story of a few tumultuous years of her childhood and she does so with such drama and feeling that it comes across as a fictional tale. But it isn't.
When Meredith's parents split in 1975, her mom took her and her brother across the country to Big Sur, CA to live with grandparents. Her mother then locked herself away in the bedroom for years, leaving the two children to fend for themselves and have their basic needs met by prickly Granny. If it wasn't for Grandpa and his gentle loving manner, Meredith would have fallen into a deep depression herself. But Grandpa was there and taught her all the life lessons she needed when she takes on a role as his beekeeping helper. Caring for 100+ hives in the valleys of Big Sur, Grandpa shows how the bees work as a family; caring for the young, building and cleaning the hive, bringing home nectar and pollen for the colony, distancing themselves when they are sick, etc.
But life is rocky for Meredith as she learns some of life's truth - such as when she finds out that her father has sent letters and tried to keep in contact, as she makes friends and witnesses the kinds of loving relationships that other families have, as she withstands neglect, verbal and physical abuse at the hands of her mother, as she switches off her tolerance for her mother and decides that getting away from her is her only hope.
I especially loved the many references to retro-fashion, toys and foods that I enjoyed myself in the 1970s, many of which had fallen out of my memory until this book.
I listened to the audio version of this book and really enjoyed it. The narrator has an unusual voice which works perfectly as the voice of 5, 6, 9, 15 year old Meredith as well as the narration parts. I read somewhere that someone considered this to be a Young Adult story but I disagree. Although there is definitely a 'coming of age' aspect to Meredith's life, the concepts of mental illness, depression, neglect and abuse are all treated in a very adult way. ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Dec 14, 2020 Donna rated it it was amazing

Shelves: autobiography-memoir, non-fiction

I didn't know this book was nonfiction until just now as I write this review. As I listened to this one a couple of days ago, I wondered if the author had experienced similar abuse (as her MC) because she described the little details that one would only know if they had experienced it themselves. So now I know the answer is YES because this is actually her memoir.

I was impressed with a few things with this one. First the title. Often times similar titles have a gimmicky feel to them that have m ...more

1 like · Like · see review