JOYCE'S CHOICES: BOOK GROUP RECOMMENDATION...OR NOT (04/08/2013)

I always pay attention to book group choices, especially the West Hartford Book Group. Bev G, a long time member, brought me up to date on their latest choice, Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver.

I'm not a Kingsolver fan and a book about climate change, Butterflies, global warming didn't attract me...at first. Yes, there is so much more, I am told..."It's quite a compelling read" say most reviewers.

Here's a summary of the West Hartford Book Club discussion:

Bookies enjoyed a lively discussion of Barbara Kingsolver's "Flight Behavior", an artful melding, in the opinion of many, of the personal and the global. Some found the melding awkward, some found the story contrived and straining credulity. Others believed strongly in central character, Dellarobia's innate intelligence and desire to enlarge her world making her perfectly capable of overcoming limited formal schooling and a restricted Appalachian environment.

The plight of the beautiful, endangered monarch butterflies awakened an ardent desire to save them and transformed her life.

Here's what Amazon had to say:

The extraordinary New York Times bestselling author of The Lacuna (winner of the Orange Prize), The Poisonwood Bible (nominated for the Pulitzer Prize), and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver returns with a truly stunning and unforgettable work. Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths. Kingsolver's riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and how her discovery energizes various competing factions—religious leaders, climate scientists, environmentalists, politicians—trapping her in the center of the conflict and ultimately opening up her world. Flight Behavior is arguably Kingsolver's must thrilling and accessible novel to date, and like so many other of her acclaimed works, represents contemporary American fiction at its finest.

Here's what I think:

This book was released in 2012 and I haven't read it yet, but it will appeal to many and is a popular book club selection..(The Butterfly slant is holding me back....)