Of Bees and Mist

Initially, I struggled to read Of Bees of Mist.  An original fairytale following the life of Meridia, who upon marrying, leaves her childhood home full of mysterious mist and discord between her parents, only to find that life with her husband's family is not the safe haven she first believed it to be.

Once I reached the core of the story I began to really enjoy Erick Setiawan's debut novel.  I liked how Meridia grew over the course of the book, and that although it is a modern fairytale, nothing explicitly supernatural happens, anything unusual, like the bees, can be taken as analogies of events that occur in everyday life.  I also liked the ending, as it stayed true to each of the characters individual journeys.  Most of all I liked the timeless nature of the story. 

Week Ahead 23/07 - 29/07

The three books I aim to read by the end of this lovely sunny week.

Having read Janet Evanovich's Wicked Appetite earlier on in the year, I was happy to find it's sequel Wicked Business waiting for me on a library display.

Lizzy Tucker's once normal life as a pastry chef in Salem, Massachusetts, turns upside down as she battles both sinister forces and an inconvenient attraction to her unnaturally talented but off-limits partner, Diesel. 
  When Harvard University English professor and dyed-in-the-wool romantic Gilbert Reedy is mysteriously murdered and thrown off his fourth floor balcony, Lizzy and Diesel take up his twenty-year quest for the Luxuria Stone, an ancient relic believed by some to be infused with the power of lust.  Following clues contained in a cryptic nineteenth-century book of sonnets, Lizzy and Diesel tear through Boston catacombs, government buildings, and multimillion-dollar residences.  On their way they'll leave behind a trail of robbed graves, public disturbances, and general mayhem.
  Diesel's black sheep cousin, Gerwulf Grimoire, also wants the Stone.  His motives are far from pure, and what he plans on doing with the treasure no one knows...but Lizzy Tucker fears she's in his crosshairs.  Never far and always watching Grimoire has a growing ,vested interest in the cupcake-baker-turned-finder-of-lost-things.  As does another dangerous and dark opponent in the hunt - a devotee of lawlessness and chaos, known only as Anarchy.
  Treasures will be sought, and the power of lust will be unmistakable as Lizzy and Diesel attempt to stay ahead of Anarchy, Grimoire, and his medieval minion, Hatchet, in this ancient game of twisted riddles and high-stakes hide-and-seek.

Next is Lolita byVladimir Nabokov.   This was a spur of the moment pick, and the copy I have is part of the Penguin Essentials collection that are pocket sized with beautiful covers.

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, frustrated college professor.  In love with his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter Lolita, he'll do anything to possess her.  Unable and unwilling to stop himself, he is prepared to commit any crime to get what he wants.
  Is he in love or insane?  A silver-tongued pet or a pervert?  A tortured soul or a monster?  Or is he all of these?

Last up Of Bees and Mist by Erick Setiwan.  This is the first book I've ordered based on a recomendation through Good Reads.  If it's any good, I may have to try more of their suggestions!


To Meridia, growing up with her father Gabriel, who vanishes daily in clouds of mist, and her bewitching mother Ravenna, the outside world is a refuge.  So when, as a young woman, her true love Daniel offers her marriage, it seems an escape to a more straightforward experience.
  Yet behind the welcoming facade of her new home lies a life of drudgery and a story even stranger than that she left behind.  Aged retainers lurk in the background; swarms of bees appear at will; and, of course, there's he indomitable mother-in-law, Eva, hiding secrets that it will take Meridia years to unravel.  Surrounded by seemingly unfathomable mysteries, can Meridia unlock the intrigues of the past, and thus protect her own family's future?


Happy Reading! x