The Bees

The Bees. A book with a great premise, the tale of a sanitation bee called Flora, loosely based on the Indian caste system (it's this element that drew me to the book in the first place). A worthy book, we were all glad we read it, except for one of the group who admitted defeat. The author's in-depth research earned our admiration but The Bees could not be described as a page turner. Many points were verified by one of the group who had taken a bee keeping course, although she was able to confirm there were some elements of artistic licence. It may have been the same person who wondered if the work had been sponsored by the Bee Society - I for one feel a bit worried now about eating honey in case I traumatise a bee colony...

Of course, with the imminent release of Go Set a Watchman, we had to talk about Harper Lee. Whilst some in the group were going to preserve their memories and avoid the sequel of To Kill a Mockingbird, others were looking forward to the much anticipated offering by Lee. It will be good to hear from others in the group who weren't able to attend what their stance will be on the topic.

It was mentioned that Sarah Moss was featured in the Times Top 10 historical novels. The other reading group on campus will be reading Bodies of Light shortly, and we look forward to hearing what they made of the book.

Other titles we discussed included:
Do No Harm by Henry Marsh
A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
The authors Kate Mosse, Victoria Hislop and the nature writer Robert Macfarlane
The Perfect Son by Barbara Claypole White
The Photographer's Wife by Nick Alexander
Discussed Iranian literature and Bitter Lake (on the iPlayer).　

Next time:
H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald
Tuesday 8th September 2015