2025 Reading Challenge discussion

This thread is to discuss The Beekeeper of Aleppo by Christy Lefteri

Pages: 317 pages

Length: 1 month (August)

Participants: Lorraine, Denise, Beth

Everyone reads at their own pace during a Buddy Read. Because participants can be at different parts of the book at different times, it is extremely important to mark spoilers so that the book is not ruined for someone who is not as far along as others!!!

Mark spoilers by placing {spoiler} before the text and {/spoiler} after the text but use the < and > instead of the { and }.

I will start this on schedule on August 1

I should also start around August 1st.

I started last night and already plowed through 75 pages. Beautifully written but heartbreaking novel

It's a little disconcerting to have started this novel and learned about the existence of places like the B and B the characters are staying at in England...i didn't;t know they had these refugee "safe houses"...and then learn that rioters have burned and vandalized some of the then irl....

I have read that this book can be magical realism...do you think it's magical realism or mental illness/PTSD that causes Nuri (view spoiler)[ to see Mohammad, and mistake what's on the trees, and see wings on Diamonde's back (hide spoiler)]?

I will have to start later this week because of the readathon. Curious about your question though. .

Finished. My question is pretty much answered. I thought it ended abruptly but I won't say more until you get a chance to read it

I don't think I will get to this until closer to the end of the month.

Finally starting today!

It's difficult to say I enjoyed this book due to its subject matter and content. I appreciate the story it told, and I'm extremely glad I read it.

I admit to knowing little more than broad strokes about the Syrian war and refugee crisis. This book helped me understand what some of the refugees experience; I can't begin to imagine having to leave my home with next to no possessions and try to set off for a new country against terrible odds.

I really like how the book was laid out, as well as the shift between reality and the past. It took a little getting used to at first, and I was a few chapters in before I got my bearings. I'm glad I read this book; I think I would have been absolutely lost with listening to an audiobook narration.

My edition has a few discussion questions in the back, so I'm putting a couple here with my answers.

1. What about this book surprised you? Did you learn anythinga bout Syrian refugee crisis that you hadn't previously read in news stories?
I hadn't ever known about the safe houses for refugees in the UK. It is a blessing they exist, and I'm sure they must be amazing for the people once they arrive after what they've been through so far. I was surprised overall by how much stopping and starting they went through, how long they wound up at any given place, how really really tenuous their day-to-day lives are.

2. The author intended for the bees to symbolize hope and life. How do you see that play out over the course of the book?
Bees brought Mustafa and Nuri together and gave Nuri a path to a different life than he would have otherwise have lived (taking over his father's business). Later, the wingless bee that Nuri finds manages to survive and even thrive with Nuri's care and attention. The new apiaries the Mustafa starts in England and the beekeeping lessons his gives give both he and Nuri a tangible goal and hope to hang on to as they navigate their new lives after leaving Syria.

3. After finishing the book, describe how you feel in one word.
affected

Thank you to whoever suggested this book!

I cannot get into this book right now. I will try again in a few weeks.

Beth wrote: "It's difficult to say I enjoyed this book due to its subject matter and content. I appreciate the story it told, and I'm extremely glad I read it.

I admit to knowing little more than broad strokes..."

1. I knew about the Syrian crisis and the refugees and the safe houses, but this book humanized them more rather than the abstractions from the news. It reminded me of another book I loved, No Land to Light On, which partially follows a refugee deported back to Syria

2. I felt the bees were more hope. The wingless one Nuri rescues represents that he CAN save life, not just see death all around. And he hopes to set up business again in England getting his papers sorted out

3. Wrecked