book club: the secret life of bees.

Last night was book club night and we had a lot of fun discussing our book for June The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Set in South Carolina in 1964, this is the story of fourteen year old Lily Owens who leaves home in search of freedom from her oppressive/abusive father and answers about her mother who was killed when Lily was four. She ends up in Tiburon, South Carolina after her stand-in mother/black nanny insults three very racist men from her hometown. In Tiburon she meets the black beekeeping Boatwright sisters, August, June, and May. Lily discovers the worlds of beekeeping and honey, the Black Madonna, and the power of sisterhood. This is a novel that inspires and makes you feel good.

One of the topics we discussed last night was how prominent race issues were in the book but how, at the same time, it didn't feel like Sue Monk Kidd was shoving the issue into the spotlight. Instead she artfully and subtly weaves issues of race in South Carolina in the 1960s into the story line. As a reader, you are able to feel the injustice of race politics even more strongly because of how she shows you the difficulties, she doesn't just tell you about them. That is the mark of a great author.

We also discussed the importance of sisterhood and community and how difficult it is feeling like you do not belong anywhere. We also spent a lot of time talking about T. Ray, Lily's dad (but as she says "I called T. Ray because 'Daddy' never fit him). We talked about who he truly was, if he ever told the truth, and if he was more involved in the killing of Lily's mom than he ever lets on in the novel. We also spent some time discussing what happens in the future for Lily, Zach, August, and the Daughters of Mary. It was really fun imagining beyond the story together. Shelley did a great job leading the discussion asking really interesting and poignant questions that really got us thinking.

Overall, this was a great book club night sitting out on the balcony - because it was just too stinkin' hot inside - with iced tea, lemonade, and great discussion. For the month of July we are reading The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (a Burlington, Ontario based writer, so close to home). Feel free to join us while we aim to read it by August 3rd. Did you read The Secret Life of Bees with us or have you read it before? If so, what did you think of it? What did you love and what did you not? Leave your comments below.

book club: the boy in the striped pajamas.

Happy Monday! I hope your weekend as as fun as ours - two barbeque parties, baseball, and a movie night.

This week I want to start off by introducing a new recurring section of Brown Boots, the Book Club. Starting back in January, me and a small group of my girlfriends have regularly got together to discuss a novel we've all read. The Good Book Club, as it's officially known, has a few very simple rules: 1. We only read novels, 2. Whoever picks the novel for the month is responsible for leading the discussion, and 3. Official snack of the book club is brie, a baguette, and chocolate. (Unofficial rule number 4. We always try to watch the movie of the novel, if there is one, to see how it compares.)

I thought it would be neat to share with you all the different novels that we're reading and let you know what we're reading for the next month, in case you'd like to follow along.

For the month of May we read The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. This is a story of nine-year old Bruno and his friend Shmuel (said like shmole). The setting is during World War Two, although Bruno doesn't really know that. Bruno's dad is a high-ranking soldier and he has to move to a place called Out-with because the Fury told them to. One day Bruno is out adventuring around their home and comes upon a fence with a boy behind it. They develop a great friendship that transcends fences and prejudice. I won't spoil how the book ends (you should read it to find out!). Boyne does a marvelous job at not making this a book specifically about the Holocaust, but about any and all places in the world where there are fences (real or metaphorical) dividing people from one another.

One of my favourite questions that Mel asked us was about whether there are any places in our lives where we experience fences. Our fences are not as serious as the one in the book - where a genocide is occuring - but can be as simple as not understanding the deep poverty experienced by those living in the east end of Hamilton. Or, not making an effort to get to know new immigrants to Hamilton. We definitely left feeling challenged to surmount the fences in our lives and work at understanding people better.

We also watched the movie following our discussion, and even though it is only an hour and a half, we all felt that it stayed true to the novel (unlike some movies where they change the ending and spoil the story!).

For the month of June we are reading The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. Feel free to join us!

cover and colour by book.

Kathleen over at Twig & Thistle has recently created projects and posts that are right up my alley. So, pardon me for blogging about all the great things she's doing over there, I just can't help it, they're so perfect!

Today I am liking her book cover and bookmark post. She shows how simply covering a book and inserting a cute bookmark makes a great favour/place card for a wedding. I love this idea because I love books and I think it would be so sweet to give your favourite book or collection of stories/poems to everyone you invite to your wedding. (And it would even be better if you and the fiance had a favourite book together.)

But, it is not only a good idea for a wedding. I've ocassionally thought over the past year about covering all the books I own in cream coloured sheets of paper or else in coordinating paper as seen over at Twig & Thistle. Right now my books are organized by colour (but do not look quite like the image below). I think that creating shelves of books with the same cover and then writing in pencil down the side the title and author would be visually appealing as well. I think I'll wait to try it until we get a home with cream coloured book shelves because it probably wouldn't look too good in a dark brown bookcase.

twig & thistle personal library kit.

I know I just blogged about bookplates a few weeks ago, but I just have to share this update with you. Twig & Thistle (who I know I just blogged about yesterday, but really, she has some good stuff going on over there) has shared some free downloadable library card pockets and checkout cards she designed that you can print at home, package up, and give as a gift or keep for yourself. Such a sweet idea. To download the two part package and to see her post click here.

Hope you have fun making your book collection beautiful.

bright star.

This afternoon I watched the movie Bright Star. Written and directed by Jane Campion, Bright Star shares the love story between Fanny Brawne and nineteenth-century poet John Keats.

Everything about this movie is beautiful. The setting - the London countryside - is resplendent in every season. The costume is period appropriate and the use of colours and attention to detail is wonderful. The music is just right - strings and some vocals. Of course the actual story is magnificent as well - even more so because it is true. Overall, for about two hours you feel captivated and fully involved in a story, a mark of success for a film.

I highly recommend it. And, if you read poetry, like I've been trying to do recently, pick up a book of Keats' work. It is romantic and sweet and lovely all at once.

See, for instance, this excerpt from his poem Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil

And she forgot the stars, the moon, and sun,

And she forgot the blue above the trees,

And she forgot the dells where waters run,

And she forgot the chilly autumn breeze;

She had no knowledge when the day was done,

And the new morn she saw not: but in peace

Hung over her sweet Basil evermore,

And moisten'd it with tears unto the core.

bookplates.

Just like Miss B over at The Blah, Blah, Blahg I love all things library. So today I want to share with you the library bookplates that she designed back in December 2008 to download for free and use for your own personal library or as a sweet gift for a friend, I don't think she'd mind.

You can download these beautiful bookplates from her post here. Bookplates seem so hot right now. At Christmastime I received this cute personal library kit, and recently Design*Sponge has also featured bookplates. I definitely want to jump on this band wagon and design a set of my own to share. In fact, I'm in the process of designing some and figuring out how to make them accessible to you. Enjoy whatever you're reading today.