The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

"Living on a peach farm in South Carolina with her harsh, unyielding father, Lily Owens has shaped her entire life around one devastating, blurred memory - the afternoon her mother was killed, when Lily was four. Since then, her only real companion has been the fierce-hearted, and sometimes just fierce, black woman Rosaleen, who acts as her "stand-in mother."

When Rosaleen insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily knows it's time to spring them both free. They take off in the only direction Lily can think of, toward a town called Tiburon, South Carolina - a name she found on the back of a picture amid the few possessions left by her mother.

There they are taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters named May, June, and August. Lily thinks of them as the calendar sisters and enters their mesmerizing secret world of bees and honey, and of the Black Madonna who presides over this household of strong, wise women. Maternal loss and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness entwine in a story that leads Lily to the single thing her heart longs for most."--Taken from Barnes and Noble.com

I really liked this book. I thought the sisters were such interesting and diverse characters. Lily's interaction with each of them makes her learn so much about herself and how everyone's lives aren't what they seem. It's such a wonderful story about women and what they are capable of.

The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

The Five Love Languages has been a topic of conversation many times in my house since I moved in. We use them in our friendships and in our dating life. It seems to help understand the people in our lives as well as ourselves. Every person has a love language or how they feel loved. They are Quality Time, Words of Affirmation, Receiving Gifts, Physical Touch, and Acts of Service. It is important for everyone to learn the language that their spouse or friends are in order to make that person feel loved. This could be a great benefit for all relationships. Even though you may be doing things for someone that is you showing you how much you love them, if it isn't in their love language they won't recognize it.

The structure of the book explains each love language and delves even deeper into different dialects for each language. This is to help you in deciding what your love language is. Then it gives some stories in how to use your knowledge of each language to determine your significant other's language or to make them aware of your love language. I liked this book (I know shocker, me liking a self-help/relationship book). It made a lot of sense to me. I learned that my love language is quality time followed by receiving gifts. I've always known that Words of Affirmation was my last. Words don't mean anything to me really, sometimes depending on the occasion. But actions definitely speak louder for me. Check this book out and figure out what your language is and the people who you have relationships with. Maybe it will be make those relationships even better.

The Alchemist by Paul Coelho

This book is about a young shepherd who is pointed on a path to achieve his own Personal Legend. Everyone has one but not everyone achieves it. The shepherd goes through many hardships and even gets stalled on his journey but he perseveres. This book was interesting to read and though it was pretty much a self-help book in story format, the story kept me going. I liked how it illustrated that even though when we try to achieve our dreams that some things get in the way and if we let it can block our path forever. But if we have the desire, once the opportunity arrives again we will return on our journey to fulfill our Personal Legend. Here are some quotes that I liked:

"Everyone seems to have a clear idea of how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own."

"that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. That's the world's greatest lie."

So I hope everyone will be inspired to fulfill their Personal Legend after reading this book. I know that I am definitely in a stalling period so hopefully I'll find my path again soon.

Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

I finished this book a while ago but haven't gotten around to writing about it. This was my pick for the September book club book. It was given to me as a gift for my birthday and so I thought what the heck. I loved the movie. It was chilling.

Anyway, Rebecca is about this young woman (her name is never revealed) who falls suddenly in love with an older man in France while she is working as a companion to an older lady. Maxim de Winter is moody and serious and the narrator is willing to leave his past in the past (once she has heard that his previous wife, Rebecca, had died a year before). After a week or so they elope and spend a few months honeymooning. But the romance seems to be over once they return to Maxim's home Manderley in England. It is a grand home with lots of history. Here the past seems to catch up with the current wife as Rebecca's touch is all over the house. Mrs de Winter constantly compares herself to the late wife (as does everyone else) as she is put into her shoes and is not assertive enough to make any changes. Maxim's attention changes once they are back home and she believes he will never love her as much as she loves him, which she is willing to live with. Obviously, he loved Rebecca very much as did everyone else but he is unwilling to discuss his past or how Rebecca died. A mystery creeps in to destroy the peacefulness of the house and a loyal servant to Rebecca is determined to make Mrs. de Winter's life in the house miserable.

The feedback I'm getting from those who are reading the book is that it is very hard to get into. I didn't really find that but most of these people haven't seen the movie like I have so I kind of knew what was coming even though it has been a while. Though it was interesting to see the expanded view of the story, I feel like I liked the movie better. The book does move slowly and I found myself getting irritated with the main character rather than sympathizing with her. I just wanted her to grow a backbone already. It was frustrating. It is meant to be a suspenseful book so maybe if I hadn't seen the movie and knew that something was coming it would have been good. I like du Maurier's writing style, however, and that made reading the book enjoyable for the most part.