The usual mixture of humor and mayhem I've come to expect from Moore. It is a bit short compared to his more recent books, so sometimes I feel he rushed over things he would have liked to spend more time on. But at any rate, it is the perfect antidote for those of us who exprience Holiday Overdose.

Released on Monday, October 25, 2004 at about 2:00:00 PM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at White Flint Post Office in Rockville, Maryland USA.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to fizzfred. First stop on the bookring.

Yey, I cannot wait to read this. I'm sure I'll get through it fast, but first I need to finish another bookring. :P I'll journal again once I finish.

When I read "Theiphilus Crowe's mobile phone played eight bars of Tangled Up In Blue in an irritating electronic voice that sounded like a choir of suffering houseflies, or Jiminy Cricket huffing helium, or, well, you know, Bob Dylan..." and found myself already laughing out loud on just page 6, I knew I'd enjoy this book. :) You are right, whokyles, it did seem like Moore rushed over things though. What really was Tucker's story. And the bat??? I could hang with Molly though. She is one cool warrior babe! This book was another fun romp from Mr. Moore. Thanks so much for sharing, whokyles. I'll send it to roadrunner as soon as I get the address.

I got it in the mail to roadrunner today. Enjoy!!!

This arrived yesterday. I'll get to it asap and then send it on. I leave on vacation tomorrow and may take this with me - it has "vacation book" written all over it!

This is one seriously funny book. This is my second Moore book (I read the Fluke bookring) and the silliness continues. I wish I had read some of the other books that these characters had appeared in before I read this. It probably would have made this even funnier. This will be leaving tomorrow via Media Mail. Thanks for sharing the Christmas joy, Whokyles!

this just came in the mail. i'm going away for christmas so i will take this book with me and read it!thanks!

What a fun book. This is the first book of Moore's that I've read and I am going to add his other books to my wishlist. This was just so funny. Thanks so much for sharing!

Released on Friday, January 07, 2005 at about 10:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Postal realease to fellow bookcrosser eriko1908 in Golden Valley, Minnesota USA.

RELEASE NOTES:

This one just arrived in the mail. YEA!! Will read and pass along VERY soon - seeing as how I've already got the book started it won't take long...Thanks for sharing whokyles!! :O)

Okay – I can claim to have laughed earlier into this one than fizzfred. I was laughing at the Author’s Note before Chapter 1 began. Though I did find myself laughing throughout this one at the images that were drawn with Moore’s wonderful combonations of words – I feel as if Moore has lost his “freshness” for me – it seems sometimes as if he is trying a bit too hard to be funny. I have read all of his other work, except for Lamb, which will be coming up soon. I loved the dead talking in this one – I mean how do we know that this isn’t the way it really is? I loved Skinner & his thought process & I loved Chapter 16!! Just when I thought it was going to get bad…Anyways – before I give anymore of this away than I already might have, I’m going to say, thanks for sharing this one with all of us!! It will be mailed out tomorrow morning via Media Mail to EvaLowrain in Kentucky – Hope everybody else enjoys it!! :O)

The book arrived, well packaged and in good shape. I'm in the middle of a bookring book, which I should finish soon, so I'll be starting this next week. Thank you!

I LOVED this book. Okay, it was "just another Christopher Moore" book for a bit: Quirky, puzzling, humorous. Same ole same ole. But then, just when you think you know all his tricks, he pulls out










ZOMBIES!

Genius. Simply genius.
Mailed Monday, Feb. 8.

Arrived today. It's going to the top of Mount TBR, to be read as soon as the current book is finished.

From page 163:
_____Winter denial: therein lay the key to California Schadenfreude—the secret joy that the rest of the country feels at the misfortune of California. The country said: “Look at them, with their fitness and their tans, their beaches and their movie stars, their Silicon Valley and silicone breasts, their orange bridge and their palm trees. God, I hate those smug, sunshiny bastards!” Because if you’re up to your navel in a snowdrift in Ohio, nothing warms your heart like the sight of California on fire. If you’re shoveling silt out of your basement in the Fargo flood zone, nothing brightens your day like watching a Malibu mansion tumbling down a cliff into the sea. And if a tornado just peppered the land around your Oklahoma town with random trailer trash and redneck nuggets, then you can find a quantum of solace in the fact that the earth actually opened up in the San Fernando Valley and swallowed a whole caravan of commuting SUVs.

_____Moore’s got this right—and lots more, besides, in this book. It’s a great deal of fun. Thanks, whokyles, for starting this bookring.

_____This is heading off to LaurieS on Monday.

Monday, 21 February: Dropped in the collection box tonight at the Mount Bethel post office, Marietta, Georgia.

The Stupidest Angel arrived today & I'll be starting it soon!

We are in the middle of yet another snowfall so I delayed my morning by peeking into this. I'm loving it already. The warning bit about "tasteful depictions of cannibalism" told me I was in for something good. Moore has a way at making the absurdities of the modern day world hilariously funny. "Bulges" health clubs (Curves seem to be taking over every strip mall in my area) and annoying cell phone tin songs that drive me nuts are only a few of the things that made me grin already.

Hmmm, I have a bizarre hankering for some brains ;) This book was fabulous from beginning to end. I'd much rather see a film version of this at holiday time than Grisham's ho-hum "Skipping Christmas". PMing gorydetails for a drop-off location or mailing address.

RELEASE NOTES:

I'm mailing this off to gorydetails when I leave work today.

The Stupidest Angel arrived safely in today's mail; many thanks! Am trying not to see any spoilers before I dive into this one, but I already knew there were going to be zombies - kewl!

Loved everybody else's comments and quotes - hope I'm not repeating too many of them here, but then you know how I do love to ramble on!

First: if you're reading this and have not read The Stupidest Angel yet, note that while it isn't essential to the enjoyment of this book that you have read Moore's previous novels, it does enhance the experience considerably. Furthermore, as this book does reveal some of the outcomes of previous books, reading it first could spoil many surprises. [If you don't want any spoilers at all you should probably skip my review as well, although I won't give away any who-survives or who-ends-up-with-whom tidbits.] I'd recommend saving this one until you've read all of Moore's other books - or at least Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal, Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, and Island of the Sequined Love Nun, which cover the majority of the back references.

OK! That said, I thought this was hilarious, with a nasty-shark-toothed-smile here and there. I was delighted to meet so many old friends again (especially Roberto), and I found the mixture of traditional-Christmas-story elements and Moore's twisted humor very enjoyable indeed. There are hints of "Gift of the Magi" and "Our Town" and assorted action movies, and some sections with heavy guy-to-guy advice for the lovelorn [I didn't say it was good advice, mind] - oh, and an ever-so-subtle influence from "Night of the Living Dead".

Hint: when reading a Moore book, start at the very beginning. Even before page 1, I mean. You never know what you'll find in the "acknowledgements" section, for example; and then there's his "author's warning":

If you're buying this book as a gift for your grandma or a kid, you should be aware that it contains cusswords as well as tasteful depictions of cannibalism and people in their forties having sex. Don't blame me. I told you.

And the first line of the novel itself sets the mood perfectly: "Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, and sleigh bells, oozing eggnog, reeking of pine, and threatening festive doom like a cold sore under the mistletoe."

As soon as this comes out in paperback I may make this another of my now-traditional winter-type-holiday releases, along with Terry Pratchett's Hogfather (which, though in a completely different style, also has a lot of fun with Yuletide traditions). Thanks for sharing this one!

p.s. Now that I've read it, I can listen to the audio version (I'm a subscriber and addict at Audible.com). Or should I wait until the first Christmas carols appear in the malls next fall? Hmmm....

p.p.s. The book will be on its way to BCer CheriePie in MA on Monday, for the next leg of the bookring [see whokyles' profile for the list]. Hope you enjoy it!

[Update, 2007: I was amused to find this book featured in this Unshelved Book Club comic strip; check it out!]

Received this in the mail today, along with 2 other bookring books. Doesn't it always happen that way? Nothing for a month, and then a bunch come in at once. LOL In any case, I plan to read this one before the other 2 Artemis Fowl ones I also received today, so I should be able to get it read and on its way within a month.

BTW, in her review, GoryDetails recommends having read Lamb, Lust Lizard, and Island of the Sequined Love Nun before this one. Unfortunately, though I've read Lamb and Lust Lizard, I haven't read Love Nun yet, but I am on another bookring for it. So hopefully reading this first doesn't ruin that book for me when I finally get it.

Woohoo! Another great read in the realm of Moore's Pine Cove characters. I liked this just as much if not more than Practical Demonkeeping and The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Grove, but perhaps that's simply because it's more recent in my mind. In any case, I whipped right through it... reading that is. :)

I hadn't read Island of the Sequined Love Nun yet which would've filled in the blanks a little more on the story of Tucker and his fruit bat Roberto. But I think having read Demonkeeping and Lust Lizard prior to this one definitely added to the story since I was more intimately familiar with certain characters through their tales in those novels.

This will be going out to SandDanz in Friday's mail.

Recieved in today's mail. After having read the other journal entries I'm going to try to read "Island of the Sequined Love Nun" and "Lamb" quickly before starting this one, but I will try to hurry!

Update 5/14 - Finished Island of the Sequined Love Nun and am part way through Lamb... trying to hurry but have had a lot going on the last few weeks in my personal life. Sorry for the hold up! :(

Update 6/28 - I started on this book on the 26th finally. I'm loving it so far! Sorry again for taking so long to get to it. I had a hard time getting through Lamb... I think it was the fact that I was missing all of the religious jokes. This book is going much more quickly! :) Hopefully can get it back on the road again soon!!!

Well, it took me FOREVER to get through Lamb, but this book was awesome!!! I loved it! I am really glad I took the time to read Lamb and Island of the Sequined Love Nun first though. I wouldn't have enjoyed the characters in this book as much if I hadn't already read those.

Thank you so much for sharing this book and being patient with how long it took me to get to. I will contact the next person and get this out ASAP!!!

RELEASE NOTES:

This one is now off to MollyGrue... enjoy! :)

Looking forward to this one. Thanks!

I loved this book. :) I think I like this book best of all his books, even though it is a danger sign when the author starts bringing in characters from other books.

Reserved for the next reader. :D

RELEASE NOTES:

Raziels' on his way home. :)

DC# 03022940000169566155