The Bean Trees

I read this book months ago, but lost the notes I took while reading it. I'm an avid margin marker when reading traditionally, but when I listen to books, I still feel the need to take notes so that my thoughts can be better organized in my post-reading pondering. Luckily, after searching high and low, I finally ran across the notes I took about this awesome novel and can now share them with you.

The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a free-standing story that is related to other pieces of her fiction. As always, Kingsolver's use of entertaining storytelling makes this novel not only literary in value, but accessible to all levels of readers.

Images and themes to consider while reading this are:

• Whatever you want the most is probably the worst thing for you
• Thoughts begetting action; if you're bad enough to think it, you're bad enough to say it
• Jesus' role in the everyday; Jesus Is Lord Used Tires
• Feeding each other with long spoons, or starve trying to feed oneself with a long spoon
• Sanctuary
• Birds: building a nest in thorny bushes, exotic quetzal bird always dies in captivity, dead crow in the road (can't hurt a dead bird)
• Caste system: untouchables can interact with each other
• Patriotism: unpatriotic to feel sorry for anyone anymore
• Can't own children: they are loaned out and you can only hope you don't kill each other and that you like each other
• Once you hit rock bottom and survive, you know you don't need an ace in the hole to save you in the future