Did T. Ray really love his wife? Who’s the queen bee in the story? And who should play August, the chief beekeeper, in the movie?

If "book talk" was the goal of Shreveport’s first citywide read project, it’s already meeting with success. Why, it had me talking halfway through the designated book -- "The Secret Life of Bees" by Sue Monk Kidd -- wondering which friends and co-workers had already read it and what they thought.

Few had, which tells me citywide buy-in to this summer project leaves something to be desired.

That it’s met with any success is due to Tannie Lewis Bradley, who conceived the project, won the mayor’s endorsement -- and dug into her own pockets to finance refreshments for the press conference and buy books for City Council members.  Members of the Sistahs Book Club that Bradley founded five years ago have since reimbursed her some of the $298 she spent.

Why such an effort? "I wanted to promote a sense of community and literacy," said Bradley, who grew up on a farm near Keithville and eagerly anticipated the visit of the bookmobile every two weeks. She and her sisters used to exchange books and share their enthusiasm. "Reading takes us out of ourselves, takes us to other places."

"The Secret Life of Bees" takes one to small-town South Carolina in 1964. It explores the heartache of a 14-year-old girl and her search for a mother’s love, finding a rich metaphor in the complex civilization of bees. And yes, it is hard to put down.

Sue Monk Kidd is a great storyteller, Bradley says. "I think she honors the craft of writing because she tells such a great story."

The 2002 book has been a topic of discussion at 12 local events so far this summer, at branches of Shreve Memorial Library, at book clubs and at Southern University. Bradley, Sistahs and other Citywide Read participants are already anticipating how they can build on this modest beginning next year, hopefully with business partners and other sponsors.

In this small but meaningful way, Shreveport is bucking a national trend: a sharp decline in literary reading. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, less than half of adults choose to read novels, short stories, plays or poetry --  those forms of reading that best foster imagination, active attention and engagement in the community.

I prefer the way August the beekeeper puts it in "Bees": "Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here."