Secret Life of Bees

Summer, 2009:

When we were planning for our long car trip to Steamboat this summer, I went to the downtown library to check out a few books on tape. I figured that could fill some of the 22 hours we'd be spending in the car (there and back, of course!) Anyway, I grabbed a few books that looked like they'd appeal to a car full of three teenagers and two forty-somethings. The first book on tape was quickly ejected, due to the sappy music, the next book (The Secret Life of Bees) was nixed due to the girlie subject matter. We settled on "City of Bones", which we soon realized was a complete and utter rip off of the highly popular, Harry Potter series. We were just bored enough that it filled the car ride through flat Kansas, and when I was returning the audio tapes to the library, Reese asked if we could keep "Secret Life of Bees".
Since I'd read the book a few years ago, I quickly agreed, because I knew how much I had enjoyed it. I was hoping that Reese would, too! As it turns out, our whole family liked it! Reese and I listened more often than the others, but we'd fill them in on parts they'd missed. When it was over, we rented the movie, and we all watched that, too!