Traded a book for this one at the KOA Campground in Manchester, Tennessee.

An engaging coming of age story, set in 1964 South Carolina. Of course you'd be right to expect that the title has a double-meaning. The book is a beautiful analogy of how a beehive is like a group of women.

I particularly loved how the author is just going along, telling a normal story and suddenly there's a great bit of imagery weaved in. For example:

"We walked into the woods beside the pink house with her stories still pulled soft around our shoulders. I could feel them touching me in places, like an actual shawl."

or:

"...trying to step around a great big pile of T. Ray's nasty mood but usually landing right in it."

This book is peppered with fun lines like that, making it impossible breeze through it. I was glad for the chance to mull things over, especially the beekeeping tidbits that preface each chapter.

I take away a greater understanding of bees, but what will hopefully stick with me forever is August's example of how to live your life in a peaceful, purposeful, joyful, graceful way.

Borrowed from my sister ... adding to TBR

I can't believe I've never read this book before - I really loved it. The story is compelling in itself, but the characters are so enchanting, it really makes a wonderful story overall. After years of "finding the symbolism" in all the books we were forced to read in high school, I really dislike books with tons of hidden meanings -- but the nice thing about this book is that the analogies weren't too obscure or hidden, and they were quite enjoyable. Like my sister, I also loved all the imagery (I laughed out loud at the "great big pile of T. Ray's nasty mood, too :), which I thought was weaved in artfully, yet meaningfully. An excellent read.

Listing as AVL until I figure out what to do with this.

Passing this along to my sister Moody-Blue

Too good not to share. I'll be passing this along to our mother.

Mailing to my mother in Arizona.