I love Barbara Kingsolver's writing; however, I thought the story a bit "preachy." Her agenda about global warming and environmental changes was far too obvious and overstated in my opinion.

When Delarobia discovers an amazing phenomena in the forest above her family property in the Appalachian mountains of Tennessee, it leads to a set of events that not only have a profound effect on Delarabia's life but also expose a dire situation that is potentially of global significance.

Caught in an uninspiring marriage & living a marginal farming existence, Delarobia's life is propelled into the world beyond her narrow borders as the significance of her find is gradually revealed.

This book, with its climate change themes, explores the reactions to ecological events, as it deals with the dedication of science to find the answers, the trivialization by the media & the apathy of the individual.

Kingsolver creates a rich & insightful tale of a woman struggling in a claustrophobic world of child raising, domestic chaos & making do, who emerges, like the winged creatures (the Monarch butterfly) of her forest, into a new day, prparing to take on the challenges of a new life.

This is now a Ray...

The usual rules apply. Please, when you receive the book, journal your acknowledgement of receipt, make every effort to read it ASAP, then journal your thoughts and send it along to the next reader. Thanks all for joining.

Here's the line-up:

1. Lauraloo29 (Canada
2. Glade1 (US)
3. judygreeneyes (US
4. Sarahmangan (UK)
5. Vekiki (UK)
6. Lil037fee (Germany)
7. Sedna5213 (France)
8. Book-a-neer (Australia)

Wow! I had forgotten I had signed up for this. :) I've just started another ring, and I'm going away for a few weeks soon. I will keep this book moving. :)

Thank you.

I took this book on vacation with me. Couldn't get into it. I will send it on its way this week. Thank you for sharing.

Received in the mail yesterday. It is behind a few others I have promised but I'll get it read as soon as I can and pass it along. Thanks for including me in the ray.

Finished this one yesterday. I enjoyed it. I know others have found it too in-your-face about the environmental issues, but I was forewarned and I didn't find the tale to be overly preachy. I know Kingsolver is a biologist and environmentalist and I think it's perfectly acceptable for a novel to have a social agenda. I still found the writing to be good and the story kept me interested. I liked the juxtaposition of the upper middle class, well-educated, professional attitudes against the lower-income, blue-collar point of view and the author's way of showing hope that there can be harmony between the two. This is not the best of Kingsolver's novels, in my opinion (that would have to be The Poisonwood Bible), but it was certainly entertaining enough. This author has a wonderful facility with language and I love her beautiful turns of phrase. A few passages that stood out for me as beautiful or meaningful:

Whoever was in charge of weather had put a recall on blue and nailed up this mess of dirty white sky like a lousy drywall job.

"It's like I'm standing by the mailbox waiting all the time for a letter. Every day you come along and put something else in there. A socket wrench, or a milkshake. It's not bad stuff. Just the wrong things for me."

It was hard to feel the remotest sympathy for any of the different fools she had been. As opposed to the fool she was probably being now. People hand on for dear life to that one, she thought; the fool they are right now.

...Dellarobia stopped being amazed that Ovid had turned into someone new, and understood he had become himself in the presence of his wife. With the sense of a great weight settling, she recognized marriage. Not the precarious risk she'd balanced for years against forbidden fruits, something easily lost in a brittle moment by flying away or jumping a train to ride off on someone else's steam. She was not about to lose it. She'd never had it.

If you're new to Kingsolver, you might want to try The Poisonwood Bible or The Lacuna before this one, but if you enjoy this author you could do worse than to spend a weekend with this story!

I will get an address for judygreeneyes but will have to wait for payday to mail this off. Thank you for including me in the ray, valpete!

Sent to judygreeneyes via Media Mail today. Enjoy!

Yay!! This book showed up in the mail yesterday! Thanks all for sending it forward. There is nothing so special as a new Barbara Kingsolver book. I may need a couple of days just to look at it unopened so it retains its mystery :)

I have a huge problem with books by Barbara Kingsolver. I am bereft when they end. That really makes me angry. This story was no exception.

This is most certainly a cautionary tale, and so much what I expect from this incredible author. She writes about global climate change in a way that makes it so personal. In a tiny Tennessee town, millions of monarch butterflies make their appearance to stay the winter for the first time. The science woven into the story is compelling and of course well-researched and explained. In the mix also is the story of a small-town couple who married young due to pregnancy. The main character, the wife, Dellarobia, feels stuck and unfulfilled, married to a man she didn't love and who is not her intellectual equal. She is trying to make the best of it, but she also has in-laws next door who run her life and 2 kids she loves. The scientists who show up to study the monarchs take her into their world, teaching her about climate change and butterflies. This view into a new world of knowledge and meaning sparks a beginning for her, of new desires and goals. The personal story is as interesting as the more global scientific one.

With such beautiful directness and finesse, Barbara Kingsolver takes on climate change and tells us what is really at stake right now, not at some nebulous point in the future.

This book is headed across the pond to Sarahmangan in UK. Enjoy!

Sorry - I forgot to journal this when it arrived. Thanks for sending it to me - started reading it today. :)

I really couldn't get into this book. I found it hard to believe it was by the same author who wrote The Poisonwood Bible and The Lacuna! I think my main issue with it was I just couldn't get past how irritating Dellarobia was. I finished it, but it took a long time - sorry. Will get it posted on to Vekiki ASAP. Thanks for including me in the ray - even though I didn't like the book it's interesting to hear others' views on it.

Forgot to say - I posted this off to the next reader on Friday. Thanks again for including me in the ray.

arrived today, perfect timing for taking away with me on my week off next week :D

thanks also for the lovely parcel of jewellery bits for crafting - this thanks comes from all the WarHorse girls as I opened the parcel up at work and a fair few items got nabbed :)

popped in the post to the next bookray reader

Thank you- the bookray arrived today and will soon be read.

In this book Barbara Kingsolver writes about two topics: Firstly, global warming with its devastating consequences for nature, on the other hand, the personal fate of a redneck family in the American South.
Dellarobia was probably the only young girl in her home town in rural Tennessee planning to go to college. But an unplanned pregnancy and the circumstances of her live (poor school system, little recognition for academic performance, early death of parents) let this dream fail. Now being 28 she lives in a marriage with decent, but not brlliant Cub, their two children and little money.
Then she discoveres a huge colony of Monarch Butterflies on their property. What at first looks like an orange wonder is a disaster in reality. Usually the butterflies hibernate in Mexico and it is unclear why they settle so far north.
This discovery, Dellarobia´s momentary fame and now coming scientists change the life of the Turnbow family.
The author certainly has sympathies for all of her protagonists and brings understanding and respect for their different lifestyles. Even Hester, Dellarobias mother in law, who initially appears relatively unappealing, becomes familiar and her behavior, her way of thinking quite understandable.

Barbara Kingsolver verarbeitet in diesem Buch zwei Themen: Zum einen die globale Erwärmung mit ihren verheerenden Folgen für die Natur, zum anderen das persönliche Schicksal einer Redneck-Familie im Süden der USA.
Dellarobia war als wohl einziges junges Mädchen ihrer Heimstadt im ländlichen Tennessee smart und ehrgeizig genug um aufs College zu gehen. Doch eine ungeplante Schwangerschaft und auch die Umstände ihres Lebens (schlechte Schulbildung, wenig Anerkennung für intellektuelle Leistungen, früher Tod der Eltern) ließen diesen Traum scheitern. Nun ist sie Mitte 20 und lebt in einer Ehe mit dem anständigen, doch wenig brillianten Cub, ihren zwei Kindern, wenig Geld und anstrengenden Schwiegereltern.
Da entdeckt sie eine riesige Kolonie Monarch-Schmetterlinge auf ihrem Grundstück. Was zunächst wie ein oranges Wunder aussieht, ist in Wirklichkeit eine Katastrophe. Die Schmetterlinge sollten eigentlich in Mexiko überwintern und es ist unklar, warum sie sich so weit nördlich niederlassen.
Diese Entdeckung, Dellarobias momentane Berühmtheit und die Wissenschaftler die zur Untersuchung kommen ändern das Leben der Familie Turnbow. Konfrontiert mit anderen Werten reflektieren auch Dellarobia und ihre Angehörigen ihr Leben.
Dabei hat die Autorin durchaus Sympathien für alle ihre Protagonisten und bringt Verständnis und Respekt für die verschiedenen Lebensentwürfe auf. Selbst Hester, Dellarobias Schwiegermutter, die zunächst relativ unsympathisch erscheint, wird im Lauf des Buches vertraut und ihr Verhalten, ihre Denkweise durchaus verständlich.

Das Buch ist nun tatsächlich angekommen! Vielen Dank für den 2. Versuch!

The book arrived in Berlin. Will try to read it as soon as possible. Thanks for sharing!

Enjoyed the book a lot. I do like Barbara Kinygsolver's novels a lot.

The book started its migration to the South.

Book arrived safely in Australia. Will try to read it after the new year. Thank you.

I don’t know why but it wasn’t my kind of read.

If you have found this book please know that it is a travelling book. It is not lost. You see, we at bookcrossing, love our books so much that we like to share it with the world. Read it if you think it's interesting enough and/or pass it on to someone who might enjoy it as well.

This is one very well travelled book, started its journey in California a decade ago. Caught today at Riddik Cafe. It can rest a while in Templestowe before continuing its journey.

The topic is climate change and at the core of the novel is the migratory patterns of the bright orange Monarch butterfly, usually seen only in Mexico. There is a message here that encompasses the interconnectedness of all nature’s creatures as well as our place in the universe. Food for thought.

To the finder of this book -
Bookcrossers are generous folk who send books in to the world for strangers to find and enjoy. Sadly we rarely hear any more of their whereabouts. Please let us know you have found this book, you are under no obligation to read it and Bookcrossing is completely anonymous. By doing this you will be encouraging Bookcrossers to continue to spread the joy of coming across a free book.

This book has come a long way and let us keep it moving!
Tired of living on a failing farm and suffering oppressive poverty, bored housewife Dellarobia Turnbow, on the way to meet a potential lover, is detoured by a miraculous event on the Appalachian mountainside that ignites a media and religious firestorm that changes her life forever.

Release #124 for 2024...

Back with me, caught today at Cafe 130.