Ruby, Bees, and TB
The month of May brought bees to our gardens and our bookshelves:
Book 1: The Happiest Man on Earth by Eddie Jaku
This memoir doesn’t mess around, despite its title and subtitle (The Beautiful Life of an Auschwitz Survivor). Eddie Jaku, survives the horrors of the Holocaust and manages to build a fulfilling life for himself and his family.
Like a kindly grandpa, Jaku offers advice to his readers so that they, too, can live a beautiful life.
Book 2: Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
This is such a good book!
Author John Green is admittedly obsessed with tuberculosis. In this book, he tells the history of the disease, also known as consumption, and how it shows up again and again in world events. (In Gary’s family, it nearly prevented a marriage.)
Green also tells a very personal story of a TB patient, who struggles for years with the disease. It’s a fascinating book, and one which will bring shame to those who turn their backs on curable diseases.
Book 3: The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
While reading The Secret Life of Bees, I kept thinking how Mom would have loved it, too. I sure hope she read it when it came out.
This novel is the coming-of-age story of Lily, who escapes her abusive father and sets off on a journey to discover the past of her long-lost mother.
I’m so glad our daughter-in-law Aubrie loves to read, too. I passed along The Secret Life of Bees as a recommendation. Her family has kept bees and bottled honey for years, so this story should be extra meaningful to her.
Book 4: Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges
We’ve probably all seen the Norman Rockwell painting of brave little, cute little Ruby Bridges heading into a grade school in 1960 New Orleans, surrounded by Federal Marshals.
The story of Ruby Bridges and school integration is so much more than that one-sentence description. It was fascinating to learn how she was chosen, what she experienced day after day, the teacher who loved her dearly, and the aftermath of the experience that most of us would have run away from that first day.
The book reminds me of something Life magazine would have put together long ago, with loads of photos and stunning quotes from those who were there.
Book 5: The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Intrigued by the concept of Joan Didion calling the year following her husband’s death “magical thinking,” I gave it a try.
This was my first Didion title and it won’t be the last. May have to give her writer husband, John Gregory Dunne, a try, too.
Book 6: A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
Another great crime mystery from Josephine Tey.
A murder right up front, as it should be. Then it’s off to the races to figure out who could possibly have done it.
What does the title mean? It’s a clever line from the murdered actress’s will. (I’d brag if I figured out the murderer, so it’s only fair that I confess … not this time.)
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