Let's Bust a Recap : The Beekeeper of Aleppo

And so begins my personal campaign to get everyone to forget about The Kite Runner and read Christy Lefteri's The Beekeeper of Aleppo instead. 

(But first, can you spot the actual bees in my little picture over there? We have two of these lovely trees in our yard and they have been positively buzzing this past week.)

Now, back to The Beekeeper of Aleppo. Christy Lefteri's 2019 novel was born of her experience volunteering in Athens at a refugee center over two summers in 2016 and 2017. Born to parents who fled Cyprus after the Turkish invasion in 1974, Lefteri grew up in England knowing something of the devastation wrought by war and death and displacement which was what prompted her to help in Athens and, eventually, to bring The Beekeeper of Aleppo to life. 

In The Beekeeper of Aleppo, we meet Nuri Ibrahim and his wife Afra who have just made it to the UK after fleeing from Syria and are going through the process of applying for asylum. The Syrian civil war has wreaked its havoc in their lives, taking their young son from them, and they have traveled for months trying to make it to the UK to be reunited with Nuri's cousin and business partner Mustafa who has started to rebuild his family's life in England and has even started beekeeping again with the native black bees. In each chapter of the book, Lefteri uses one word to connect their present situation in the UK to the recent past in which we follow them on their journey to get out of Syria and make it all the way to England. With a deft hand, Lefteri paints a haunting picture of the ravages constantly going on throughout the Middle East but with a sensitivity and ultimate hopefulness that kept me turning the pages. The refugee crisis in Europe has been such a huge issue for so much of my adult life that it's overwhelming to even think about it, especially being somewhat removed from it over here in the US. But as TIME magazine insightfully points out in its praise for The Beekeeper of Aleppo, "Lefteri shows that in order to stretch compassion to millions of people, it helps to begin with one." 

To be honest, I was a bit apprehensive when I drew this title out of my TBR jar. I wasn't sure I was ready to be confronted with the reality of the still ongoing Syrian civil war. I wasn't sure how graphic The Beekeeper of Aleppo would be, and I was concerned this novel might throw me into some rough waters emotionally. But Lefteri handled her subject matter with such a gentle and compassionate voice, I found myself drawn into the lives of Nuri and Afra Ibrahim and rooting for their healing. I appreciated how Lefteri hinted at the horrific things they lived through rather than exhaustively detailing them, giving me as a reader the space to process the trauma without inflicting it on me. I also loved the notes and photos from the author included in my edition of this novel showing the time she spent volunteering in the refugee camps in Athens. Really, just a beautifully and exceptionally well written work. I would highly recommend The Beekeeper of Aleppo to anyone. 

Is there a book on your shelf you're hesitant to open because you know you'll be confronted with something difficult?

Let's Bust a Recap : Bucket List Family Travel

Okay, so I discovered the Bucket List Family back in 2019 while I was trying to decide if I wanted to have an Instagram or not (*SPOILER* I decided not to have one) and I've been following them ever since. I was mesmerized by their beautiful videos visiting the most amazing places all over this globe, and I came to have a real affection for this sweet family. Social media is really weird that way. There are people on this planet that I have never met and probably never will meet that I feel are friends. Like, my fictional book friends but they're real. It's weird. 

Anyway, last summer they announced that Jess (the wife/mom of the family) had partnered with National Geographic to create this Bucket List Family travel guide and that the preorders would be opening to purchase it prior to its February 2024 release date. I immediately preordered and as a result, I got a signed copy! (Which has only reinforced this fictional friendship I have with this family in my head.) I fully expected this to be a beautiful coffee table book with lots of gorgeous photography and maybe a little travel inspiration from the 50 promised itineraries. 

And it is. What I was not expecting was to actually read every single word in this book from cover to cover. Which I did. Every caption on every photo, every word of all 51 itineraries. I read it all. And loved it. 

I have been privileged in my life to do a fair amount of traveling, and while I'm nowhere close to the Gee family's impressive 90+ countries, I'm up to over fifteen now spanning five of our seven continents, and Cody and I have started our own Bucket List journey of visiting all 50 of these United States. 

But about the book itself: it starts with a very sweet foreword from Jess's husband Garrett and then an introduction from Jess. After that, the book is divided into three parts: Planning, En Route and on the Ground, and Where to Go. The Where to Go section is made up of 51 itineraries of amazing places to go and is the biggest chunk of the book—well over half. The book is wrapped up with a small epilogue and acknowledgements page. 

I immediately felt a connection with Jess as I was reading her thoughtful book. We're about the same age and have a lot of the same values. I really appreciated how she incorporated the theme of service throughout the book and included organizations that they have worked and volunteered with in the different countries they've visited. My first international trip was a missions trip with my church and a lot of my international travel has been centered around service projects. 

Another thing I appreciated about the Bucket List Family Travel guide is how down-to-earth and transparent Jess is. She doesn't try to hide the fact that her family's unique circumstances have afforded them the ability to do things that a lot of people will never get to do in practicality, and she doesn't skirt around the fact that their lifestyle is not attainable for everyone. She also doesn't apologize for it, and she still gives common sense advice and tips and tricks for how to travel according to your own tastes and budget. Her 51 itineraries include trips for all budgets, all over the globe. Even though my husband and I do not have children, I found a lot of helpful advice in this book and would recommend it to anyone looking to get into international travel. You can benefit from Jess's travel experience whether you are single, married, with kids, or without kids. I like that her itineraries included several U.S. destinations along with destinations all over the globe so that no matter where you are in the world reading this book, one of these trips is probably attainable for you. 

And the photography! I fell in love with this family through their amazing youtube videos, and with every turn of the page reading this book, I got to look at beautiful, full-color stills from their awe-inspiring travel. This book is sure to be a treasure for their own family, but it is visually stunning for everyone else too. 

I would highly recommend the Bucket List Family Travel guide to anyone who likes to travel or who is looking to get started with more intentional traveling whether internationally or domestically. Since discovering this family, it's become a personal bucket list goal of mine to swim with whales which I did not know was even possible but I'm now obsessed with. In all actuality, I may never get to do it but I will continue to live vicariously through the Gees every time they go to Tonga and get to be in the water with those magnificent creatures. What a beautiful world we live in!

Jess, if you ever find yourself reading this little blog post, consider this your family's official invitation to crash our home anytime if you find yourself in our neck of the woods. We live in Western North Carolina in the land of waterfalls and would love to show you around! Thank you for sharing so much of your family with the world and bringing us along as you swim with whales and walk with penguins. ❤️💙💚

Let's Bust a Recap : The Merchant of Venice

Look at me, coming through on my promise and posting my recap of The Merchant of Venice just three weeks after my recent recap of The Tempest. Are we proud of me? Are we? 

But all joking aside, The Merchant of Venice is a doozy and even though I don't usually do this, we're going to talk about some pretty problematic elements of the play before we get into it. I'm not the most politically correct person living my life out here, but even I was a bit uncomfortable reading about poor Shylock and did I Google "was Shakespeare an anti-Semite?" upon completing my reading of this play? Yes. Yes I did. 

Debate still exists to this day on whether or not The Merchant of Venice is, at its core, anti-Semitic, but after reading it for myself, I'm coming down hard on the side of: it DEFINITELY is. Forcing Shylock to convert to Christianity was the final nail in the coffin. If that hadn't been his unfortunate end, I might not feel so strongly about it, but yikes. This play is not a good look for Shakespeare no matter how we try to spin it. It shouldn't even have to be said but let me just go on record right now and say anti-Semitism is awful and has led to horrible crimes against humanity. I will not tolerate it and would appreciate you keeping that in mind as you read the rest of this post. 

Are we clear? Do you feel me? The unfortunate nature of Shylock's character aside, I enjoyed The Merchant of Venice and I'm ready to get into it. 

The play opens on sad sack Antonio (our titular merchant of Venice) moaning about how depressed he is for no good reason to two of his buddies who are trying to cheer him up but are finally just like, "Peace out, bro, you're a total drag." Right as they're leaving, Bassanio arrives to hit up Antonio for some cash because he's broke as a joke and needs some capital to go woo Portia, this total hottie that he's completely in love with. And Antonio is all, "Of course, my guy. I don't have the cash, but I'll figure it out and set you up, no problem." 

Meanwhile on Portia's estate, she and her maid Nerissa are busy roasting all the suitors who have recently come trying to wife Portia up. As it turns out, Portia's dead dad left a twisted little caveat in his will requiring any marriage prospects she has to choose one of three caskets he left behind, and if they manage to choose the one with Portia's picture inside, they can marry her. 

Because that seems reasonable. 

But the crazy apparently doesn't fall far from the tree because Portia has one-upped her dad by also requiring any aspiring suitor to promise never to marry at all if they don't get to marry her. So right off the bat, we know Portia likes to play mind games. Like, sis is not a catch. Why are all these guys losing their minds over her?

Back in Venice, Bassanio and Antonio are making a deal with the Jewish moneylender Shylock to get a loan that Antonio will repay once his ships come in. Shylock hates Antonio because Antonio is basically a horrible human being, but agrees to loan the money to Bassanio on the condition that if Antonio can't pay up on time, Shylock can take a pound of his flesh instead. (His heart, guys, he totally wants to carve Antonio's heart out of his chest and watch him die. Kindof psycho, but okay.) Bassanio feels some kind of way about this, but Antonio assures him it's all good so Bassanio skips off with the cash to go court Portia. 

So that's Act I. 

In Act II there is a lot going on and Shakespeare is setting a lot of stuff up so try to stick with me here. 

First of all, the Prince of Morocco has shown up seeking Portia's hand in marriage so she takes him to the three caskets—one gold, one silver, one lead—and he picks the gold one, but inside is a skull and a note that says "All that glisters is not gold." Bummer, dude. 

We also have a scene with Shylock's servant Launcelot who gives a whole speech about how awful Shylock is and how he wants to run away from him. We get it, Shakespeare, Shylock is your villain. (But is he, though?)

We also meet Shylock's daughter Jessica in Act II, and she piles on even more with how she's ashamed to be her father's daughter and how she hopes her beloved Lorenzo will keep his promise to marry her so she can become a Christian instead of being stuck as a filthy Jew. (Like, wow. Okay already.) She commissions Launcelot to take a letter to Lorenzo secretly detailing a plan of how they can run away together. 

So, it gets a little muddy through this part with all the details of a masque that's happening that night, but basically Lorenzo gets the letter and then goes and gets Jessica who is dressed as a boy—shocker. Can we even have a Shakespearean comedy that doesn't involve cross-dressing? She's embarrassed about how she looks, but Lorenzo is all, "No baby, you're still hot to me." Neither of them have any shame whatsoever about stealing a bunch of Shylock's gold and precious jewels though. Whatever.

Back at Portia's, the Prince of Belmont is next in line to play "Pick the Casket" and he chooses the silver one. Inside is a mirror. You're out, my guy. (I should add at this point that each coffin has a message on top and the silver one is basically "if you open this you get what you deserve" which makes the mirror thing pretty funny actually.)

So that's pretty much all the important stuff for Act II. Oh, except for the fact that when Shylock discovers his daughter has run off with Lorenzo, he's more concerned about the gold she took than the fact that she ran off. More stereotypical profiling, blah blah.

In Act III, we learn that all Antonio's ships are lost and he's not going to be able to pay back Shylock. His friends are with Shylock and ask him if he really plans to take a pound of flesh from Antonio. Shylock's like, "For sure." And they're like, "Yeah, but what good will it do you?" To which he responds, "I'll use it to bait fish." Stone cold, my man. Antonio's friends keep pressing him to which he gives an impassioned, and kind of beautiful, monologue about how he's human too and Antonio has always treated him like scum so why shouldn't he have his revenge. (This monologue is why the whole anti-Semitism debate exists. Is Shylock a sympathetic character or not??)

Back to Portia: Bassanio has shown up and is ready to play "Pick the Casket" but Portia is reluctant to let him because she actually likes him. He's all, "No, let's do this mother because putting it off is torture." She contemplates cheating, but finally decides against it and takes him to the caskets. He picks the lead one and everyone is happy that he gets to marry Portia. She gives him a ring and tells him never to lose it or it will ruin their marriage. Nerissa marries his buddy Gratiano and follows suit giving him a ring of her own. (Do you remember how we talked about Portia playing mind games? Remember this bit about the rings.) They're all partying hard when Lorenzo and Jessica show up with a letter telling them how Antonio is in jail and probably going to die because Shylock's ready to make good on their deal to take a pound of Antonio's flesh. Portia basically offers her entire fortune to her new husband Bassanio to go save Antonio's life. (And now we know why all these men were trying for her hand: sis is loaded.)

So Bassanio and Gratiano leave to try to rescue Antonio while Portia leaves her estate in the care of Lorenzo and Jessica telling them she's going to a monastery to pray for her husband. As if. Naturally, she has come up with a plan for her and Nerissa to dress up as men and go to the trial themselves. And then we have like a whole page of Portia bragging about what a hot guy she is. So there's that.

Meanwhile in Venice, Antonio is in prison and Shylock is vowing to cut his heart out. Everyone's like, "The duke will not stand for this!" But Shylock is all, "He better uphold the law or Venice will riot." I mean, Shylock is not wrong, you guys. He's psycho, but he's not wrong. 

There is also a completely random scene in Act III where Launcelot is teasing Jessica about how awful it is that she's a Jew and it'd be better if Shylock wasn't her dad to which she responds that then she'd be a bastard and have just as much reason to be ashamed of her mom. Like a damned-if-you-do-damned-if-you-don't type thing, and then Lorenzo walks in and informs Launcelot that he got some poor girl in Venice knocked up before he left. Which has nothing to do with anything, y'all. Like, sheesh. 

But moving on to Act IV. 

Now we're at court and every single person in the play is begging Shylock for mercy and he is like, "I will have my revenge." Bassanio has offered literally any amount of money to pay off Antonio's debt but Shylock is not having it. Antonio has given up all hope of living through this. And then a young doctor of the law (aka Portia) and his clerk (aka Nerissa) show up to judge the case. Portia then proceeds to also ask Shylock for mercy—he continues to adamantly refuse—and then she gives a speech about how the court cannot force Shylock to show mercy. They have to cut out Antonio's heart. 

Shylock is all, "Finally."

Then as he is literally pulling out his knife to carve out Antonio's heart, Portia pipes up with, "If you spill one drop of his blood, you are a dead man." 

What?! 

She points out that the bond states he can have a pound of flesh, but it said nothing about blood and if Shylock—a foreigner—sheds one drop of Antonio's blood—a native Venetian—then the law says the state can confiscate all his land and goods. 

Bruh.

So Shylock gives it up and says, "Fine, I'll take the money instead." To which Portia is all, "Nah, bro, you already publicly refused that offer." And, to add insult to injury, since they just proved that Shylock did all this as a plot against Antonio's life, the state can confiscate all his goods anyway. According to the law. 

Antonio then tells Shylock that if he promises to leave everything to his daughter Jessica when he dies and if he will convert to Christianity, then he can keep his stuff. To which the duke then adds, "Take the deal or die." 

So I mean, Shylock takes the deal. Woof.

But that's not all. Next, we have Antonio and Bassanio and Gratiano basically groveling at Portia and Nerissa's feet asking how can they ever repay them, and naturally, they ask for the rings from Bassanio and Gratiano. At first, Bassanio is like, "No, my wife made me promise to keep this ring forever." but then he gives it to Portia (in disguise as a man, remember?) anyway. 

So as Act V opens, we see Lorenzo and Jessica basically in the middle of a game no-I-love-YOU-more when everyone shows back up. Portia and Nerissa mess with their husbands heads for a while before finally revealing the whole story and then they all live happily ever after. Except for poor Shylock who has been done dirty once again by all these insane Italians. Even Antonio gets news that all his ships are actually safe so he's rich again. 

I mean.....yikes, yikes, yikes. If Shylock's ancestry had been left out of it and he was just your basic bad guy, this would have been a super-fun play, but as it is? I just can't. Shakespeare, my guy, what's up?

Have you ever seen or read The Merchant of Venice? What's your take? Do you think Shakespeare meant for Shylock to be a sympathetic, nuanced villain, or was Willy just a straight-up hater?

Let's Bust a Recap : Riding Freedom

I recently pulled this middle grade book out of a Little Free Library in my brother's neighborhood in LA. (I also went to The Last Bookstore and ended up having to ship all the books I bought back home to myself because I couldn't fit them in my luggage, but that's neither here nor there.) While most of the books I acquired on my trip will probably sit on my shelves for a while before I get around to reading them, this one I brought home specifically to read out loud with my niece and nephews so I found myself reading it this past weekend a mere week after I added it to my library. 

And it was so good. When we finished the last chapter, I looked up at my niece and exclaimed out loud, "That was such a good book!" 

First of all, Pam Muñoz Ryan dedicated her excellent book "To Women of Substance" and proceeded to name six such women. If you've been around any length of time, you know a good dedication will get me and this one did. The subject of her 1998 fictional biography is Charlotte "Charley" Darkey Parkhurst who lived from 1812 to 1879 and is thought to be the first woman to cast a vote in a presidential election in the United States—a whopping 52 years before women were afforded the right to vote in federal elections in this country. Running away from the boys orphanage she was raised in when she was about twelve years old, Charlotte spent the rest of her life posing as a male in order to live independently and became one of the finest stagecoach drivers on the West Coast during the Gold Rush era of our country, despite losing the sight in one of her eyes after a horse kicked her. She managed to keep her female identity a secret her whole life and was only found out when her neighbors came to lay out her body for her burial. 

I really appreciated Pam Muñoz Ryan's note in the back of the book explaining the facts we actually know about Parkhurst and what she added to flesh out her short novel. I was so pleasantly surprised by this book and enjoyed getting to learn about this little known historical figure who led such a mysterious and interesting life. My niece and nephew loved it too, especially looking at the illustrations by Brian Selznick that are sprinkled throughout the book. I grabbed this book thinking my niece would be interested in the horse storyline and ended up being fascinated myself by One-Eyed Charley and her brave life. I would have actually liked it to be longer, but given how little we actually know about Parkhurst, I think Muñoz Ryan did a wonderful job keeping it factual and to the point. I had so much fun reading this aloud with my niece and nephews, but would honestly recommend it whether you're reading it with kids or not. Great story, great piece of history. 

Has a good book ever opened your eyes to a little known piece of history you wouldn't have learned about otherwise?