Book #41 - The Bean Trees

The Bean Trees
Barbara Kingsolver

Blurb: Clear-eyed and spirited, Taylor Greer grew up poor in rural Kentucky with the goals of avoiding pregnancy and getting away. But when she heads west with high hopes and a barely functional car, she meets the human condition head-on. By the time Taylor arrives in Tucson, Arizona, she has acquired a completely unexpected child, a three-year-old American Indian girl named Turtle, and must somehow come to terms with both motherhood and the necessity for putting down roots. Hers is a story about love and friendship, abandonment and belonging, and the discovery of surprising resources in apparently empty places. (from Goodreads)

Length: Short - 232 pages

Notes: I knew of Barabara Kingsolver from one of her popular books - The Poisonwood Bible. It's on my "to read" list, but after reading some reviews, several people said that her earlier books were really good, if not better, than The Poisonwood Bible. So I thought I'd start at the beginning and read her first book. I actually checked this out on CD back when we went to New Mexico for my grandpa's funeral, but we never ended up listening to it. This was a good book. Not a great one, but a good one. It kind of reminded me of "Where The Heart Is", not necessarily because of the storyline, but the tone was similar, and they were both about young girls who are out on their own, finding friends and learning things in unexpected places. I don't know if it was good enough that I want to run right out and read all of Barbara Kingsolver's books, but I'm sure I'll read them eventually.

Random quote : "In a world as wrong as this one, all we can do is make things as right as we can."

Recommend: Maybe - This is where it's hard to just give a yes or no answer. I didn't love this book, but I didn't dislike it either. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to recommend it to someone, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it, either.

Have you read this book? Share your feelings!