Book for December

Well, as of right now, there are no comments on The Secret Life of Bees (including no comment from yours truly, though I did finish the book). I know that the holiday season gets really busy for everyone, but we're still going to do a book for the month of December, albeit a short and easy read. The book is:
Christmas Jars by Jason F Wright

If you read The Secret Life of Bees (either this time around, or sometime in the past) go and make a comment. The post isn't going anywhere, so we've got lots of time for some discussion.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Discussion on The Secret Life of Bees

Here's some discussion questions for The Secret Life of Bees (questions found here):

1. How would you describe Lily's feelings about her mother? Did they change throughout the novel? How did hearing that her mother left her affect her perception of her mother?
   
   
2. Do you believe T-Ray's account of what happened when Lily's mother died?
   
   
3. Did your opinion of T-Ray change when August told Lily about how much he used to love her mother? Does Deborah's abandonment explain or excuse T-Ray?
   
   
4. Do you agree with Lily that people would rather die than forgive? Does she forgive her mother? T-Ray? Herself?
   
   
5. What do the bees mean to the story? What is "the secret life of bees?"
   
   
6. Do you think race was portrayed realistically in The Secret Life of Bees? What do you think Sue Monk Kidd was saying about race in this novel?
   
   
7. Why did Rosaleen spit on the men's shoes? What are the ways the characters in the novel confront injustice? How do you think we should deal with injustice? Do these kinds of prejudices still exist today?
   
   
8. What was your reaction to Lily's relationship with Zach? What do you think happened to them in the future?
   
   
9. Talk about the sisters. Who was your favorite? Do we all need a wailing wall, like May? Why do you think June was cold toward Lily? How would you describe August?
   
   
10. What role did the Black Madonna play in their community? What do you think about the legend of the Black Madonna?
    
    
11. Rate The Secret Life of Bees on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being low and 5 being high).

Obviously, you don't need to answer all of these questions, but leave a comment on as many as you would like. Or just leave a general comment - anything to spark some discussion. I thought the book made for a very interesting read.

Interview with Meyer

Here's an interview with Stephenie Meyer. It gives me hope that Midnight Sun is not dead ... just shelved for a while! I love love love Stephenie and can't wait to read whatever she comes out with next!

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20234559_20234567_20238527,00.html