The Books and the Bees

Not everything about these times is bad - sometimes I have to remember that there is beauty and hope out there, and things I am able to do.

One of those things to do is being able to spend more time outdoors, even if it is watching squirrels, birds and insects in my yard.

 I even got to see a cardinal and get its picture.  Not a great one, but....

At least I have a yard and a place to sit.  I'm grateful for the little things. 

I'm grateful for having a spouse who gardens while I work from home, and doesn't laugh at me too hard when I compose a "still life" of some of the vegetables of his labor.

Then, there's reading.  I'm fortunate to be an introvert who is also a bookworm.  Perhaps less so than in my youth, because now I'm more impatient.  I toss more books on my "DNF" pile (did not finish) than wade through.  Even now, in the pandemic.  Maybe especially now.  A book has to be good for me to finish it.

One of the "never may have happened except for the pandemic" was, as a resident of New York State, being given the ability to download the E Books app of the New York City public library and take out virtual books.  For the first time, I'm really enjoying e-books.

So far on my "Did Too Finish" NYC library e-book list: Educated, by Tara Westover, Homegoing, by Yaa Gyasi, The Testaments, by Margaret Atwood, and The Lost Husband by Katherine Center.  There are several more books which are "reserve" only.  I must have good taste.

I've also read several books from the local library.  It's so frustrating to do curbside pickup only, but I've managed.  (Thank you, Your Home Library librarian Emily).

However, a couple of days ago I was able to download "The Bees" by Laline Paull, and I haven't been able to put it down.  (In fact, I don't want to blog anymore; I want to get back to it!)  It may not be a good book for you, but part of the attraction is - my spouse kept bees once.  No, not here in New York State. Years ago, when we lived in rural Arkansas.

We (and I do mean "we" because I talked spouse into it) kept bees because we thought we should.  And therein, as the saying goes, lies a tale.

Maybe I'll even blog about it one day.  No promises, though.

Author Laline Paull was fascinated by bees, and found that learning about their lives and habits was so fascinating that she ended up writing a fiction book about the life and times of a worker bee. (All I did was agree with my spouse that we weren't cut out to be beekeepers.)

I was immediately swept into the story of a creature who communicates by scent, by dancing, by reading signals in the hide with her feet.

The Bees is a dystopian story.  I was drawn in by its honey and was hooked from the first page.  That's not usual for me nowadays.  It's not cute, and there is a lot of death in it. The bees have enemies within the hive and without.   But, for every death, there are poetic passages that take your breath away.

 I send my thanks to the New York Public Library for letting me share your collection.  I hope that continues once you physically reopen all your branches.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I'm making a beeline for my iPad, so I can get this wonderful story finished tonight.  Maybe I'll ever reread it before it is due, and vanishes from my iPad.

Have you increased your reading during the pandemic? Have you found new authors, new favorite books?