June 2022 Book Choice

Our June book choice was the debut novel by author Abi Dare, "The Girl with the Louding Voice"

Here is a selection of the NY Times 2020 book review: 

"Abi Daré’s debut novel, “The Girl With the Louding Voice,” is told in a prose style that will sound unfamiliar to many readers, particularly Western ones. But the effect is as vivid as the sassy, strong-willed narrator’s pidgin. Though occasionally challenging, Adunni’s brave, fresh voice powerfully articulates a resounding anger toward Africa’s toxic patriarchy.

Fourteen-year-old Adunni lives in a Nigerian village with her lay about, alcoholic father and two brothers. The novel opens on the morning her father informs her she is to become the local taxi driver’s third wife in order to support the family. Adunni’s is a poverty-stricken world where girls kneel to their fathers and address them as “Sah” without looking them in the eye, where a paternal summons portends nothing but heartache. The subjugation and sexual objectification of girls and women are recurrent, ably handled themes throughout the novel. Throughout her harrowing coming-of-age journey, told with verve and compassion, Adunni never loses the “louding voice” that makes Daré’s story, and her protagonist, so unforgettable."

Alayna hosted the dinner at her charming home we ate inside then sat outside for the Zoom component 

June Summer Reading 2021

 First in person beehive gathering since February 2020 

The Book Choice: Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui. 

Here is part of an overview by Kirkus Reviews 2020: 

A study of swimming as sport, survival method, basis for community, and route to physical and mental well-being.

For Bay Area writer Tsui  swimming is in her blood. As she recounts, her parents met in a Hong Kong swimming pool, and she often visited the beach as a child and competed on a swim team in high school. Midway through the engaging narrative, the author explains how she rejoined the team at age 40, just as her 6-year-old was signing up for the first time. Chronicling her interviews with scientists and swimmers alike, Tsui notes the many health benefits of swimming, some of which are mental. Swimmers often achieve the “flow” state and get their best ideas while in the water. 

Her travels took her from the California coast, where she dove for abalone and swam from Alcatraz back to San Francisco, to Tokyo, where she heard about the “samurai swimming” martial arts tradition. In Iceland, she met Guðlaugur Friðþórsson, a local celebrity who, in 1984, survived six hours in a winter sea after his fishing vessel capsized, earning him the nickname “the human seal.”

Drawing on personal experience, history, biology, and social science, the author conveys the appeal of “an unflinching giving-over to an element” and makes a convincing case for broader access to swimming education (372,000 people still drown annually).

An absorbing, wide-ranging story of humans’ relationship with the water.

Gathering was hosted by Lori at her lovely home with an inviting swimming pool.

Perfect way to kick off Summer! 

June 2020 Book Choice

And still in lockdown masks and social distancing to flatten the curve. The school year is coming to an end and book group is continuing with Zoom meetings. Nice to see everyone's face and connect.  Our May book choice was "Love and Other Consolation Prizes" by Jamie Ford. This was our 3rd book by Jamie Ford that we have selected-the Corner of Bitter and Sweet and The Songs of Willow Frost. 

Here is part of the review posted by Kirkus review Oct 2017:

Ernest has already lived a lifetime of surprises and indignities. After his starving Chinese mother secured her only son a spot on a freighter to America, Ernest, only 5 years old, had to learn swiftly how to navigate a world that denigrated him not only for being an orphan, but also, and perhaps worse, for being of mixed blood. Ernest never knew his white father, but his youth and mixed heritage enabled him to make friends with both the Chinese girls on the ship and the lone Japanese girl, Fahn. Once Ernest survived a month captive in the hold of the ship, not to mention a near drowning, he became a ward of the state in Seattle and eventually attracted a wealthy sponsor, who sent him to an exclusive boarding school, where he endured racism and discrimination, and then, when he has the temerity to tell her he would rather go to another school, she has him raffled off at the World's Fair. Surprisingly, life in the bordello is exciting, not least because there Ernest meets Madame Flora’s tomboyishly charming daughter, Maisie, and reunites with Fahn. Falling in love with both, however, can only lead to heartache, since life in a brothel exacts certain prices.

Alternating between Ernest’s past and present, Ford captures the thrill of first kisses and the shock of revealing long-hidden affairs.

A lively history of romance in the dens of iniquity, love despite vice.

June book choice 2019

For our early summer read we selected "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
Here is a small sample of the NYTimes book review 2018

The book is divided into three sections — “Becoming Me,” “Becoming Us” and “Becoming More” — that sound like the bland stuff of inspirational self-help. Which isn’t to discount how useful empowerment can be; Obama emphasizes how important role models are, especially for young women of color in a culture that isn’t changing fast enough. But this book isn’t all unicorns and rainbows. By the end of it, she ultimately champions endurance and incremental change; she will probably be lauded and lambasted accordingly." 

Kim hosted the Beehive Ladies at her lovely home. Wonderful food, and a great discussion ! 

Look at this spread