I did the rounds of Didcot's charity shops today.

Was left on the table at the meet-up.

In Hemma today to pick up some Scottish Referendum buzz as the bar is near the Scottish Parliament Buildings and yes there are media faces, camera crews, and tourists in profusion. Also, of course, I'm here to pick up some BookCrossing books, from the shelf upstairs, to distribute while on the BookCrossing BOOK BLITZ RELEASE WALK to be made by some of Edinburgh’s BOOKCROSSING community, on Saturday afternoon, 20th of September.

…Though I can see it's highly likely I’ll read this in which case it might not make Saturdays ‘release’ walk… watch this space.

I’m including the book details here in my journal entry as I use BookCrossing as a book-log and I've scribbled a hasty review below that:

ONCE IN EVERY LIFE by KRISTIN HANNAH (1992)
ISBN: 0449148386 / 9780449148389 (USA Mass Mkt PB)
Publisher: Ballantine Books (Aug 1993)

From Fantastic Fiction: Tess Gregory's brilliant career as a research scientist hides her longings for husband and child. Though deaf, she is a free spirit -- a woman full of life and love. She is struck down all too soon. But for Tess, a new life begins at her death, in post-Civil War America. She is now Amarylis Rafferty, wife and mother of three -- and she can hear. Shocked and disoriented by her new surroundings, she is drawn into the savage heartache burdening the family, especially her husband, Jack, a man who fears himself capable of anything.
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***SPOILERS*** OK though I’ve tossed some plot spoilers about here the key to the fascination of ONCE IN EVERY LIFE is the fraught psychological topics Hannah covers and the compassionate manner in which she writes. A deliberately careful unfolding of the tense issues highlighted and the solutions resolved upon by Tess with the help of the family and friends make this compelling reading. Solutions not immediately transferable into one’s own life but yet the airing of the subjects gives rise to thought on them and could be a spring-board for discussion.

“Moments after her death, contemporary deaf woman Tess Gregory is reincarnated into the body of Amarylis Rafferty, a hearing woman living in post-Civil War America.” So a dash of time travel, a capable but deeply lonely woman from the twentieth century, flung into 1873 with a family in crisis; all enduring years of excessive passive-aggressive bullying; a young child, Katie, facing the confusions and challenges of dyslexia; a twelve-year-old child, Savannah, having taken on the role of family carer; and a bedevilled father (in fact, suffering post-traumatic-stress-disorder) who feels he must protect his beloved family from himself but in the process has almost lost himself in his isolated stance made for gripping reading. I enjoyed this, thanks lyttletonwitch. You make no comment did you not enjoy it or did you run out of time to read it I wonder…?

Thrilled to be able to ‘wild release’ this for another reader to ‘discover’ sometime in the course of Saturday afternoon, 20th of September a planned BOOK BLITZ RELEASE WALK made by some of Edinburgh’s BOOKCROSSING community.
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Hello book finder, if you aren't familiar with BookCrossing – WELCOME! I hope you will enjoy this book and make a little journal entry! You can leave notes anonymously. When you are done with it, perhaps you will send it on its way. Check out BookCrossing - it's a fun community of readers - HAPPY READING!

PS And if you find yourself liking BookCrossing, EDINBURGH has an active group of BookCrossers who meet [at least] twice monthly: every first Thursday of the month at 7.30 pm and also every third Sunday of the month at, 2pm. Venue: Hemma, a Swedish bar near the Scottish Parliament in central Edinburgh on 75 Holyrood Road, EH8 8AE Come join us! For more information, see our Meet-Up Group http://www.meetup.com/bookswapedinburgh