The Secret Life of Bees

Though just only starting to read The Secret Life of Bees, by Sue Monk Kidd, it is so far one of the most captivating books I have read in a while. It all starts out in the year 1964 in Lily’s bedroom. 14 year old Lily is waiting for the colony of bees that have begun to live in the walls of her room to return. Lily, who lives alone with her father and nanny, Rosaleen, then thinks about her father, T. Ray. T. Ray is an abusive father who she believes does not deserve the title of daddy, so she calls him T. Ray. He is the type of father who is strict, uses cruel punishments, and does not show love or compassion to his kids. Next Lily switches over to talking about her mother who dies when Lily is only four. Lily describes her mother as smelling of cinnamon and the one who took care of her with genuine love. Because Lily was so young when her mother dies, the only memory she has of her was on the day of her death. Lily’s mom was packing up, putting her belongings in a suitcase, when T. Ray walks in. They begin to yell at each other and Lily’s mom pulls out a gun. Next thing Lily remembers is seeing the gun on the ground and picking it up. When she is older, people tell her that she was the one who pulled the trigger, the one who killed her mom, but it was all an accident.
Though sad to say, this is all I have read in the book due to the long, stressful process of moving into our family’s new house.

When analyzing this novel I keep looking back at one comment Lily remembers her mom saying the day she dies. “The closet floor vibrated whenever someone climbed the stairs below it, which is how I knew T. Ray was coming. Over my head I heard my mother, pulling things from the hangers, the swish of clothes, wire cling together. Hurry, she said” (6.) Why was Lilly’s mother leaving and why did she want to get away before T. Ray came? All of this is a mystery to me, but I made some assumptions. Maybe T. Ray was abusive to Lilly’s mother; maybe she was trying to leave with Lily to a safer place away from T. Ray. There was also one more subject Lilly described that I couldn’t help but wonder about. When T. Ray is woken up by Lilly wanting him to see the swarm of bees, T. Ray says, “’You wake me up again, Lily, and I’ll get out the Martha Whites, you hear me?’ Martha Whites were a form of punishment only T. Ray could have dreamed up. I shut my mouth instantly” (5.) I know harsh punishments and beatings were considered normal back in older times, but when saying only T. Ray could have thought up something as the Martha Whites, I can’t help wondering if T. Ray was too cruel on his child, and if that tied into Lily’s mom trying to leave him. I also can’t help wondering what the Martha Whites punishments were!

Reading this book, I’m glad my group members and I chose it. The Secret Life of Bees is a suspenseful, unique novel that I can’t wait to read more about. Though just starting it, I highly recommend for you to pick up a copy of this novel and read it!

The Bermudez Triangle

Keely Corrigan
Novel by Maureen Johnson
[Pages: 81/370]

Let's be honest: I am reading a chick flick. I will try to dignify that label by stressing the complexity of the situations within the novel-and the controversial and current topic that drives the... drama.

I would also like to say-upfront and honestly- that this novel is a controversy. It has been banned in some areas as it deals with sexuality- specifically the ever potent homosexuality. This novel is risky, but something I am willing to gamble with.

At first, I found the friendship trio that is the skeleton of the novel to be cliche. Nina, Avery, and Mel have been best friends since they had the emotional and physical capacity to make friends blah blah blah. A first glance left me thinking of the trio as overused, unoriginal and frankly boring; but when an affair between two of the three girls begins to unfold behind the other girl's back this story becomes utterly delicious. This plot has me caught in its web, I am thirsty for more.

Though the characters can be stereotypical (one is a driven, bossy, 'leader'; another is a free-spirit who refuses to let anyone or anything control her; the last being a classically and spellbindingly beautiful red head who instills blistering crushes unto any boy she meets) the author is able to create depth through the actions of the characters. The author has allowed the characters to develop their own depth rather than establish them as being profound. (A porfound chick flick, imagine that!) This is highly appreciated. A story is much more interesting with dynamic characters than with static ones, obviously. Johnson also gives the third girl a love interest, this seems both fair and logical. Not only does this third party add spice to the novel, it creates an better balance to the overall dynamic between the girls. The fact that the love interest is a tree hugging, bicycle riding, Birkenstock adorning stud from Oregon doesn't hurt either. To add even more spice the author created this relationship only to doom it to a 'long-distance-trying-to-make-it-work' sort.

My only complaint towards the novel would be the utter disregard for reality when dealing with homosexuality with her characters. By page 50 or so- and only one homosexual encounter- Johnson has already had one of her characters stamp a large, bold, red LESBIAN across her forehead. Really? Can someone truly define their sexuality after only one actual sexual/romantic encounter? This to me seems dreadfully unrealistic and disappointing. I feel that the author disregards that difficult realization as nothing more than a 'I-think-I'll-dye-my-hair-blue' decision.

I look forward to reading further and witnessing the drama unfurl between the girls.

"The Testament"- By John Grisham

Robert Xu, Honors English A1 Progression: Page 250

I originally wanted to be a part of Gary Gates's Grisham Group(ha-ha), but that fell-through due to the decision to read The Chamber, a book I had already read.

I was thrilled when I discovered online that there was a novel by John Grisham that I hadn't torn through yet. I immediately rushed to the library and claimed my book for the independent reading project. The Testament begins with billionaire Troy Phelan pondering about the division of his life earnings in his will. He comes to the conclusion that even 11 billion dollars in collective assets would not last very long in the hands of his deficit-spending children. This led him to the event that set the platform for the rest of the plot, he left all his money to an illegitimate child working as a missionary in Brazil. Troy Phelan's former right-hand man sent out Nate, a washed up corporate lawyer straight out of rehab to locate the missionary.

First off, I respect John Grisham for trying to move out of his comfort-zone of courtroom-dramas and small-town life in the cotton strip. The story flipped between the hunt for the missionary in the jungles of Brazil, and the catastrophic effect of Mr. Phelan's monumental will back in civilized society. What I personally disliked about The Testament was that it did not focus enough on the latter. While I love when authors try to move out of their comfort-zones, at the end of the day the reason that people buy John Grisham's books are his court-room dramas and vivid descriptions of small town life.

John Grisham had spent too much time writing about Nate's experiences in a developing country, that the novel lost its focus. I personally felt that he should have sticked to developing and centralizing his plot around the mess created by 11 billion dollars in contemporary society. To be fair, he did attempt to equally ration the amount of pages between the two plots, but I found myself debating whether to skip all the pages narrating Nate's day-to-day experiences with Native Americans and the Brazilian culture.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is a large audience of people that love reading about different cultures, and lewis-and-clark big out-door adventures, but I'm not one of those people. I dislike having to reiterate this, but obviously long-term fans of John Grisham do not continue to purchase his books for his vivid descriptions of the jungle, but rather the vivid descriptions of the courthouse. On a purely literary level, Nate's experience traveling through Brazil was quite painful to read through. The dialogue, or at least lack of meaningful dialogue made Nate's adventure so far, excruciatingly tedious to read through. The book was very uneventful, and after the novel shifted gears into Nate's Brazilian expedition, I found myself more and more reluctant to sit down and continue reading the novel.

I might have sounded critical of John Grisham's novel in this post, but I will give credit where it is due. There are a few parts of the novel where you feel like resting your eyes for a few minutes, perhaps a few hours, but the court-room drama aspect, like always is impeccable. All and all I'm only on the 250th page of The Testament, and I sincerely hope John Grisham brings more of the writing style that fans have come to know and love.

The Glass Castle

To not have a legitimate home, to be raised on the move for the formative beginning of one's life, sounds utterly chaotic. To be constantly settling down in a town, then moving to the next, leaving behind friends and possessions, would be crazy enough to rattle anyone's idea of normal life. Furthermore, a three year old living this way? Yet, as author Jeannette Walls describes her childhood, I find certain aspects to be quite preferable to suburbia.

The novel begins with a story that seems to be set in the present. The very first line of the book is so saturated with irony, and it sets up the story perfectly; "I was sitting in a taxi, wondering of I had overdressed for the evening, when I looked out the window and saw Mom rooting through a Dumpster" (3). As the author worries she is too elegant, her own mother is wearing rags. Walls is well-to-do, and she doesn't want to be associated with the homeless woman on the street. She turns her head to avoid her mother's gaze.

After the bold introduction, the tense switches to the past. Jeannette Walls is three years old, unattended, cooking hot dogs over the stove, and she catches on fire. After a three week long stay at the hospital, her father comes, picks her up, and essentially "Dines n' Dashes" from the hospital. In this manner we are introduced to the authors father, Rex Walls, who plays possibly the largest role in her life. I have to work hard to limit what I write about to the first fifty pages, and keep myself from raving too much about the rest of the book (I'm almost to page 300).

I can see two possible ways to read and enjoy this book. The first: reading the novel like a story. If one were to keep a closed mind, they would be shocked by how different this family is. "A father who encourages his children to play with fire?! That's crazy!" This person would really enjoy the book, as the lifestyle of the Walls's is indeed very different. But the literary route I have chosen requires more depth of thought. I want to focus on the way this family thinks, and how the children are effected by living the nomadic life they were born into. In the first fifty pages alone, I can name five major life lessons learned by the author (by the age of three) that many people never learn.

I love this book. It will definitely be on my list to re-read whenever I am between books. The anecdotes are hilarious, and the matter-of-fact way that Walls writes makes them even better. I feel like I am reading the diary of an oddly literate three year old, because the author somehow remembers so many details of her childhood and how she felt at the time. The middle of the book grows less humorous, but the beginning just emulates the care-free way that she and her family lived, going wherever the wind blew them, then cutting ties and moving again. It is a seriously intriguing prospect.

The Hunger Games

This book is bloody, depressing, and has a fittingly somber tone. Other than that, I can't think of anymore ways to compliment it. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, is a book which follows the path of Katniss Everdeen in her dystopian world of Panem. Once modern day United States, the nation of Panem has no similarities with its former self except that it is run by a capitol city, deemed The Capitol. The Capitol bears a grudge against the (now twelve) surrounding districts that once striked a revolution to overthrow the government. As a punihsment, The Capitol now holds an annual event called the Hunger Games, where one boy and one girl from each district are placed in an arena in The Capitol and are forced to fight one another to the death. The perception of the games varies from district, while some believe the games to be a place to prove oneself, most districts understand it as a death sentence. This is what Katniss views it as when she is picked to represent the poorest district in the nation, district twelve, along with the boy tribute, Peeta Mellark. Unfortunately for Katniss, she keeps finding herself in debt to Peeta which does not bode well when a fight to the death is enforced. Just when Katniss feels that her odds of winning the games have hit rock bottom, Peeta Reveals his feelings for her which complicates her plans all throughout the games.

In the first book of this thrilling trilogy, find out how Katniss overcomes adversity and manages to stay alive against kids who have trained there entire life to win the games. Many real life tensions are implemented into this book, such as the rich vs. the poor, and love vs. humanity. It's nonstop action that you cannot miss, and things heat up in the end as the amount of tributes dwindle. Remember, only one person can win the games- will it be the baker, Peeta, or the small but saavy huntress, Katniss? Read The Hunger Games and discover the truth.

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook is the ultimate example of just how horrible human beings can see. If Thomas Hobbes was looking for proof that human beings are inherently evil, he would simply need to open this book and read. Ben Mezrich may be telling a true story, but this tale is an almost unreal example of the constant greed, evil, jealousy, and fighting that humans are capable of. If this book is an example of true human nature, the world is doomed.

The first tidbit of bad human behavior occurs immediately in the first chapter. Right away Eduardo, a main character, is lying about his abilities to make himself more likely to get into a fraternity. The lying is one thing but changing who he is just to find acceptance among his peers seems like a negative example of human nature. Eduardo understands Social Darwinism and knows that only the strong can survive, so he makes himself strong even though it costs him his values. While this does not seem like a big deal, this little act sets the scene for later behavior in the story.

The further along the story gets, the crazier the behavior becomes. Soon after Eduardo's impressive lying, Mark Zuckerburg hacks into the computers of every fraternity and sorority in Harvard. This displays that human greed trumps all and that Mark was willing to let his own desires become more important than the privacy of others, the school rules, and even the law.

Later on Mark lies to the entrepreneurs that hire him and he tells them that he is incapable of making their website. A few days later he launches his own website that is almost identical to theirs. Mark is not above lying and stealing to get ahead in life, a tendency that shows the evil that humans have managed to achieve. Later on the entrepreneurs that had originally hired Mark decide to take legal action against him; they try to fight for justice. When they take their case to the president of Harvard they are completely ignored, showing that humans are willing to ignore injustice because it is easier than fighting injustice head on.

Once Thefacebook gains success Sean Parker wants to be part of it so he can get rich. Like parasites that attach themselves to stronger beings to survive, humans try to link themselves to success even if they had nothing to do with the success.

It may sound pessimistic to call humans greedy, evil, jealous creatures, but The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook has definitely not given any evidence to contrary views. Ben Mezrich has painted his cast of characters to be some of the most evil beings on the planet. The story may be dramatic, but maybe there seems to be some truth in Ben Mezrich's take on human nature.

Armor- John Steakley

On Wednesday I decided to finally start reading Armor by John Steakley for the independent reading project. The weekend was busy so I have only been able to read until page 60 of 430 but so far a lot has happened. So far it has been an interesting book. It has a really unique setting and story line that are unlike anything I have ever read before. The novel is more reminiscent of a futuristic videogame rather than a typical fictional sci-fi novel.

After reading a decent portion of the book, this book can only be classified as a "military science fiction" novel. I am usually not a fan of of fantasy novels, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised by the way the book doesn't have much of an introduction and just cuts to the chase so the reader can experience some "military science fiction" action. The story begins by introducing Felix, the main character. He is a young man who is a military trainee for a interplanetary army. The novel begins while he awaits his first "Drop" or deployment onto a planet to fight aliens. After only nine months of training to fight, he is finally ready to try on the suit in which the soldiers use to give themselves superhuman characteristics. The suit makes them virtually indestructible. It is made of a material called "plasteel", which is probably a combination of plastic and steel. It makes the soldiers very strong: they can pierce through a skeleton and metal with a single punch or kick. The suit can also make them run at a hundred kilometers per hour.

Felix is deployed in a strange planet with poisonous air and water. He and the rest of his blockade must fight thousands of nine-foot tall ants with rock hard exo-skeletons. Out of hundreds of scouts, he is one of only a couple of people to survive. He meets a woman named Forest who helps him find civilization again, and he meets up with three very experienced soldiers, Obel, Yin and Bolov. Then they will start a new tactic for their battle against the ants.
They will climb atop a mesa which can only be climbed by a narrow trail to prevent their army from being further destroyed.

So far the novel is quite interesting and is a good challenge for the reader. I look forward to finishing it up in the coming weeks.