My decision to read this book isn't actually part of the 2016 reading challenge. That's right, after so many years of barely reading, I'm reading an extra book on top of the 12 that I've decided to read this year - before I've finished the challenge! I'm definitely loving reading more often.
Back in early July (or maybe it was the end of June?), I checked out several books from the library. My library is only about two or three blocks away (although I don't actually walk on the streets - it's much faster if I cut through the series of parking lots between my apartment and the library). Sort of on the way home from the library is Roosevelt Square, a quaint little plaza with a Co-op grocery store and a few restaurants and even a movie theater. (Have I mentioned how much I adore the community in which I live?) Right outside the grocery store is one of those Little Free Libraries - a small kitchen cupboard unit where people drop off unwanted books, and hopefully pick up a book or two in return.
So as I was walking home from the public library, I decided to check out the little free one. After all, I'd just returned two books, so why not pick out one or two more? There were more books in the shelf than I expected. Most of them didn't really appeal to me, but this one did.
Bee Season by Myla Goldberg proved to be... an experience. Based on the description on the back, I was expecting it to be on the lighter side and mostly kid-friendly. But, wow. The first few pages (the book doesn't really have chapters - just line breaks with asterisks to denote a scene change/time passing) were mostly what I was expecting. After a few scenes, things started to change. I don't want to say enough to spoil it, because I'm definitely going to recommend that you read this book. But... let's just say that because the book is written not just from Eliza's perspective but from the whole family's, things get emotionally heavy. Much more so than I would ever have understood or liked as a kid. We get insights into Eliza's parents' struggling relationship, into Eliza's brother's struggles as an unpopular 16-year-old, and Eliza's struggles to understand what is going on with her family. Towards the end of the book, things get REALLY intense.
There weren't many lines in the book that stood out to me as profound, but there was one very early in the book that I really liked. As we learn in the beginning of the book, Eliza has never been particularly smart or special at anything. Her fourth grade class is divided into two reading groups: she is placed in the Racecars group, while the other is called the Rockets. At first, Eliza enjoys being a Racecar, until she learns the name of the other group. "... [S]he can't get it out of her head that, while she is speeding around in circles waiting to be told when to stop, other kids are flying to the moon." (p 7).
Something about that line just really struck me as special. Picturing a child, proud of herself for being a speedy race car, suddenly feeling less than special because her classmates are rocket ships, made me smile sadly.
The climax of Bee Season was very intense. It felt more like an actual climax than most of the books I've read this year, which was super satisfying. For really only the second time this year (Cursed Child being the first), I was completely unable to put the book down until I finished it. Dinner ended up being a little bit later than usual that night. Derek reminded me that it was 5:00, but I had a few pages left and didn't want to put the book down yet. (Yeah, we eat super early. I often start cooking at 4:30ish because we're apparently 60 years old.) To be honest, it kind of felt like the book ended during the falling action. It was like climax, some falling action, and not really much of a resolution. Then again, I was always terrible at figuring out the exact moments that define the story arc.
Don't get me wrong, it was a good ending. It's just that the emotions were so high and so much was happening at once until just a few pages before the end. Still a satisfying ending, but I kind of wished there was a little bit more to it, you know? I guess that's partly because I like a perfectly rounded, happy-for-everyone ending. When a book ends on a sort of "will it work out or won't it?" note, I'm like "show us that it will work out!" I know that's not realistic, but that's what I like and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. I think I've matured enough that I can still enjoy a book (or movie) that doesn't end with the sentence "All was well," but I still generally wish it was there.
So, what's next? I'm hoping to check off the book chosen for me by a BFF category next. A friend of mine at my crochet group is distantly related by marriage to the author of a successful fantasy series, but I'm on a waiting list at my library for the first book. If that takes too long, I might skip to a book that I previously abandoned. Of course, there's a HUGE plethora of amazing books that were published before I was born, but I have to figure out which one of them I want to choose for the challenge! And, I've preordered all 3 of the new Pottermore Presents books on the Google Play Store. They're all super short but I'm definitely going to read them, though they don't count for the 2016 challenge.
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