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| Tussie-mussie or a nosegay |
April
showers bring May flowers and flowers convey messages in “The Language of
Flowers” by Vanessa Diffenbaugh, referring to a Victorian dictionary of
flower meanings. However, the real story is about Victoria who, after a childhood
of foster-care, struggles to create a life using her one talent – creating
bouquets with flowers, that send messages and wishes.
Like
flowers in the breeze, Victoria's story moves back and forth between the
present and the past, giving meaning to her choices and pulling readers into
the tangle of her life. From living in a secretly planted garden in a public
park to pushing against and yet drawing near to friendship and love, Victoria
both overcomes challenges and succumbs to her doubts and mistrust.
This is a beautifully written story and readers will cheer, cry and curse at Victoria but stay with her to the end. This will likely be a popular book club selection.
May
brings Mother's Day and there are many different kinds of mothers as evidenced
in Sue Monk Kidd's "The Secret Life of Bees." Lily, 14, flees
her emotionally abusive father with nanny and surrogate-mother Rosaleen and
searches for answers about her mother, shot dead when Lily was four.
A
cryptic image of a Black Madonna left by her mother leads them to a small
southern town and a family of black sisters, beekeepers bottling Black Madonna
honey. The sisters take them in and the oldest, August, provides the
mother-figure for both her sisters and the visitors.
As
Lily discovers her parents' past, she comes to understand her father's actions
and finds the true meaning of being a mother. Another well-written book,
weaving life lessons around the art of beekeeping with love.
Space exploration continues with amazing photos of take-offs and landing and amazing videos of Perseverance on Mars. Videos coming from the International Space Station remind us that people are living in space. But what is it really like to live in space? Mary Roach, in her usual combination of facts and humor, tells all in "Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void."
Roach researches and explains the human challenges of
space travel: eating in space, bathing and body odor, zero-gravity elimination,
and the psychological challenges of living with others in a small space with no
exit door. There's enough here for both the scientifically curious and trivia
buffs.
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Lavender stands for luck, purity and undying love.
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