Devon Book Club discussion

Three suggestions have been put forward: The Secret Life of Bees; Drive and The Blue Afternoon.
I've put up a poll.
I did suggest that may be we shouldn't vote for our own suggestions, but as I feel sure that we'll have more than three votes, I don't really think it matters. Poll closes midnight on Friday, so we'll have most of November to read it before we start exchanging views on, say, 1st December.

B J wrote: "Three suggestions have been put forward: The Secret Life of Bees; Drive and The Blue Afternoon.
I've put up a poll.
I did suggest that may be we shouldn't vo..."

I tried to delete last year's poll but cant find a way to do so - Make sure you vote in Poll #2 everyone!

There is only one vote separating the two leaders. Your vote could be decisive - and you have until midnight to cast it!

B J wrote: "There is only one vote separating the two leaders. Your vote could be decisive - and you have until midnight to cast it!"

The tension mounts

Oh yes - this could be more exciting than the books!

The clear winner was The Secret Life of Bees.
May I suggest that we don't start chatting about it until 1st December. I'll start a new thread then.

B J wrote: "The clear winner was The Secret Life of Bees.
May I suggest that we don't start chatting about it until 1st December. I'll start a new thread then."

Excellent. Look forward to reading it and the discussion that follows. I've also posted to Facebook to encourage people to join the discussion on Goodreads. Thanks to BJ and Rosyln for getting this idea moving. Oh, and I've just added the book to our group bookshelf. Happy reading everyone

Several people have posted on Facebook saying what a great book this is so I look forward to reading it and discussing it in a few weeks

It's 1st December, so we can now start sharing our views of The Secret Life of Bees.
If you haven't read it, but think you may do so, don't read any more of this thread as (I hope) it will be full of spoilers.

I am currently about two thirds of the way through this novel, and really enjoying it. Lily's authorial voice comes across as being very authentic as the 14 year old main character. I gather that a film adaptation was made in 2008 - it will be interesting to see how that compares. Looking forward to seeing other comments on our first shared book. I'm off to put the kettle on and read another chapter now!

I read this a few years ago and really enjoyed it. I think it's a perfect book-group read: heart-warming without being whimsical. Didn't know there was a film version - will have to watch and see how it compares. Cx

I did enjoy the book and was really fond of Lily. What a terrible childhood she had! I was so hoping that the ending would show that she wasn't responsible for her mothers death. Think I missed the full significance of the little quotes about bees at the beginning of each chapter. Might have to revisit those.

I read the book in three sessions - which is usually a good sign. At first I was quite enjoying it, but by the time I'd reached the end I was feeling disappointed. This is a book with nearly 600 ratings on Amazon of 4* or 5* and with that sort of reader response I expect something a bit special, but when I thought about it afterwards, more and more irritating weaknesses came to mind, rather than good bits to remember favourably.
It is supposed to be written by Lily in later life, but we are told absolutely nothing about the older Lily. Apparently, her teacher told her (on zero evidence as far as I could see) that she could become a writer or professor - but did she?
I thought it was patronising towards black women (Rosaleen in particular being painfully stereotypical), and there was something uncomfortable about the cultish worshipping of Black Mary. The all-women community as a beehive comparison was contrived. I wasn't sure whether the queen bee was August or Black Mary.
The middle part of the book was tediously slow and I found T. Ray's sudden bout of mental derangement (when he confused Lily with her mother) unconvincing.
I think I'd better stop. The more I think about it, the more faults I find, and yet at the time it didn't seem too bad.

I listened to this as an audiobook a while back and really enjoyed it - I thought it was well written and transported me into a world beyond the housework I was invariably doing at the time.

Some of the descriptive passages were excellent, really capturing the feel of a stiflingly hot Carolina summer.

B J wrote: "I read the book in three sessions - which is usually a good sign. At first I was quite enjoying it, but by the time I'd reached the end I was feeling disappointed. This is a book with nearly 600 ra..."

B J wrote: "I read the book in three sessions - which is usually a good sign. At first I was quite enjoying it, but by the time I'd reached the end I was feeling disappointed. This is a book with nearly 600 ra..."

Thanks BJ this is exactly why I wanted to share a read! I quite enjoyed reading it but your comments really made me think about the book. I agree about the stereotyping of some of the characters and the weird worshipping of the Black Madonna - all that honey rubbing! I was dissatisfied with quite a lot of the book as there were lots of bits of the plot that just didn't work, like the scene at the end with Lily and her father.

Sorry to have been silent so far this week. My PC is in dock so I'll post more when I get it back. I agree with BJ that some aspects are contrived and I also found Rosalee stereotypical. But, I did enjoy it overall. It wasnt a challenging read, which was good because my brain is a bit addlex at present, and the plot moved with a gentle pace. I liked that Lily took time to disclose her thoughts and feelings. That felt authentic, when I think of my experience with children who have suffered abuse, although it was a bit predictable and the section with her father at the end was far from convincing. I highlighted a number of passages on my Kindle, so Ill review those and post more when I get my PC back.

Hi Wendy. The advantage for me of joining in with a shared book read is that I get to read books that would normally pass me by - like this one. I knew absolutely nothing about it before starting to read. I thought I was really in for a treat at the beginning. The bees in Lily's bedroom make me think it was going to be a Neil Gaiman-type novel set in the real world, but with fascinating elements of fantasy. Sadly, they turned out to be real bees behaving naturally.
Yes, the honey rubbing sounded like an unpleasantly messy business, rather than a spiritual experience.

B J wrote: "Hi Wendy. The advantage for me of joining in with a shared book read is that I get to read books that would normally pass me by - like this one. I knew absolutely nothing about it before starting t..."

Oh dear, BJ, the more you think about the book, the less you like it! Funny. I saw the honey rubbing as quite a sensual, shared activity. Interesting how we read the same thing differently.

My vision of trying to rub anything with a substance as sticky as honey is far from sensual, I'm afraid. Still, whatever turns you on, Ian!

Just finished this book, and thought it was great, just what I needed: an easy read, with a host of lively characters, some wonderfully evocative descriptions, a well paced plot that held my attention throughout, and some wise observations about life. On the strength of this one, I would happily read another novel by this author.

I read this a while ago with my book group, rather enjoyed it. As Ian says it's not a demanding read so I went along with it in a fairly un-analytical way.There are weaknesses certainly but generally interesting.Made a nice film too.
Ley