This has been on my wishlist for a while. I've always loved the idea of time travel, so this book really apeals to me. I bought this copy with book vouchers I was given at Christmas :)

This is Niffenegger's first published novel and looks at the complexities of love and time travel! Set around the likeable characters Clare and Henry, who met when Clare was 6 and Henry was thirty-six. The twists in time fascinate me throughout this book. Reading early part of the book gave glimpses of events to come, without giving too much away.

At one point, Henry is teaching his younger self to pick-pocket and uses a young mother with a toddler as his 'target'. All through the remainder of the book, I was waiting to see the scene from 'the other side of time' - expecting the young mum to be someone important in Henry's future. But, unless I missed it, this isn't the case. What this conjures in the reader (well, me anyway!) is the feeling a time traveler may have - meeting people in a future that isn't yet his, not knowing if the people you are interacting with have already met you, or even know you well, as was the case with his first meeting with Clare.

A fascinating love story spanning many intertwined decades, culminating in Clare waiting for her Henry once again.


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Book Ring (Closed)
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1. coolboxuk UK
   
2. Molyneux UK
   
3. Lauraloo29 Canada
   
4. yourotherleft USA
   
5. dicentragirl USA
   
6. Jengif USA
   
7. bugandbean USA
   
8. MysteryMish USA
   
9. Bunnybee USA
   
10. Moimeme Australia

----> Return to MaisyMay


Ring Rules!

1. Please journal the book to say you have received it.
2. PM the next person on the list for their address.
3. Read the book within one month (or PM me if you need longer)
4. Post to next person on list.

Any problems, please PM me.

Received today and is next on my list after finishing what I'm on now. Thanks a lot for sharing, MaisyMay. -- coolboxuk

A most unusual book I would say. Found it a bit difficult to get into at first although it starts "straight in" - I think the constant change of places, times and ages was confusing, particularly as I couldn't keep reading for long passages at a time due to our ongoing move... It got better as I got into the story more, and found it quite compelling then, although the ending is rather sad and wished I could have somehow stopped before it - but there's no stopping: you just want to know!
It's a very uncommon fantasy piece, not your usual medieval setting with sorcerers etc but something entirely different, I would say a hybrid between fantasy and science fiction.
Thanks for sharing! -- coolboxuk

Handed to me by coolboxuk at the BOSH bash last night - thanks Petra! I have been wanting to read this for ages - thanks MaisyMay for arranging this ring.

I really enjoyed this book - thank you for sharing it with us!

It was so sad but a very compelling read! What an amazing subject to write about - this author has an amazing imagination!

Off to Lauraloo29 now.

Arrived today. I have a couple of rings before it, but I will keep the book moving. Thank you!

I'm struggling with this book. I started it this morning on the bus to work. The perfect day, as we under a heavy snowfall warning. My 30 minute ride stretched to 60 minutes. Passing cars in the ditch. At one point we almost were in an accident. (Today would be a day I wish I lived where they had "snow days" and I could stay home, but no, we Albertans persevere!)

I'm glad bookcrossing gave me the opportunity to read this book, but I shall send it on its way on Thursday. Thank you for sharing!

This came in the mail yesterday. I'll read it and pass it on as soon as I can. Thanks!

This was a great book. At first I was afraid that it wasn't going to live up to all the hype, but it definitely did. The whole premise of the book is very creative and very well executed. It was really believable. Clare and Henry were both lovable characters, and seeing their love for each other through the narrative was beautiful.

Thanks for sharing, MaisyMay. Sorry for holding it up for so long! I'll be mailing it on to dicentragirl within the next few days.

Just got this in the mail last night. I have 2 other books ahead of it (in progress), but will get to it soon. I don't even remember giving yourotherleft my addy! *shrugs* Oh well! I've been looking forward to reading this one. :)

Would you want to know your future if you could? To find a love like that... WOW! I'm a big sap for romance, so I got sucked right in. :)

There are all these comparisons on the cover to the Lovely Bones, but I thought this book was so much better! I don't usually like books that skip around in time, but in this case it was needed to make the story work.

I loved all of the literary references. I've never read Rilke, so now I'm going to have to look into HIS stuff! (doh! I thought he was a girl! *blush*)

I thought some of the places he ended up (trying not to post spoilers here!) were brilliant! And there were other parts that were just downright heartbreaking.

I already have Jengif's addy, so the book will be on its way this week. Sorry for taking so long!

The Time Traveler's Wife arrived safely in Virginia. Unfortunately, I just started reading a 900 page book two days ago so it will be at least a week before I can start this.

Wow! I loved this book. Interestingly enough, I almost didn’t read it. I was really into George R.R. Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire and didn’t want to stop. Since it was a Booking book though, I felt obligated to at least give it a try. I’m glad I did. I don’t usually read love stories and if I’d known that at its heart the Time Traveler’s Wife is a love story, I definitely would not have read it. Man would I have missed out. Clare and Henry’s story is inventive and compelling. I didn’t cry too much when I finished the book last night, but when I woke up this morning, the tears really started to come as I replayed passages in my head. What an amazing story! I will recommend this book to everyone I know.

Sent media mail to MysteryMish in Santa Monica. Bugandbean asked to be skipped.

Got this today in the mail. Looking forward to reading it.

Loved it! Before reading this book, I thought the time travel would be really confusing, but it was not. Because Clare does not time travel, her age is always correct given the date. It is Henry's age that is sometimes different from what the date would indicate. I found it easy to follow and logical, without some of the logic loops you might expect.

The love story was great. A true, real, love with all of the expected ups and downs. A romance with gusto, not at all like a lot of sappy romance stories.

Mailed to bunnybee, 12/23/05. Thanks for sharing!

Arrived yesterday! I've heard so many good things about this book. I started on it last night. Thanks for the ring, MaisyMay!

Finished reading it last night- finally! It took me the whole month to read it, but part of that is because I'm trying to read about 4 books concurrently, rather than just one. A bit hard to follow at the start, because the time kept changing and the ages of the characters kept changing, depending on 'when' you were reading. But it surely had its moments of tension and excitement sprinkled through the book.

Intellectually, I loved the whole concept of time travel and seeing how the author makes it work. I've always loved conversations about what others thought time travel would be like, if it really could happen. I would wonder if you could exist in the same time with yourself- and in this book, you could. Like if you're 30 and traveled back in time to when you were 10, you'd see yourself there, as a 10-yr old. Other times I thought that you couldn't exist in the same time- so that if you traveled back to when you were 10, the '10-yr-old-you' would have to disappear for as long as the 30-yr-old-you was there.

I found it kind of dull for the most part though, through the majority of the book. But I kept reading because I had that sense that something will happen, that all these seemingly random parts will come together, building to form the whole story. And by the end, I was bawling!!! Literally crying over the letter Henry wrote. Crying over all the longing and yearning and loss that Clare has to live through and live with. But also crying at the beauty and strength of the love they had between them. I want to have that kind of love one day. But at the same time, I fear that I will also have to have that kind of longing and yearning and loss as a result of having that kind of love. I hate it that the book (and life) can have such a big overwhelming feeling of yearning of things that you can't ever have. And that even if you do find that yearning fulfilled... eventually you WILL have to face loss- because death is just a fact of life.

It leaves you to question whether all that hurt is worth the love... and I have to say that it just HAS to be. It must be worth it because people all over the place are still loving fully. We HAVE to keep loving the way Henry and Clare loved, and having faith in each other even though things can go nuts and we have to face losses often. It's just sad that Clare had to spend so much of her life missing Henry and just yearning for the times when she could be with him. You just ache for them both.

My favorite part of the book was the part where Henry meets Alba at the museum... I absolutely loved that. I'd tell more about just what that is about- but I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it yet. And if you've read the book, you know exactly what scene I'm talking about. Such a happy scene- but then it ends with Clare being left with more longing.

Anyway, I didn't think it was the best book as I was going through it, but when it all comes together at the end, I just want to go back and re-read the whole thing again, knowing what I then knew. I will re-read this again some day, but for now I will pass the book along to Australia! It will be mailed off today or tomorrow.

Thanks for the bookring, MaisyMay!!

Arrived today. Just in time, I finished the book I was reading yesterday night!
I'll start it right away!

What a great book! I really loved it. I kept trying to find flaws in it, but couldn't. Really loved the music references (Clare is about my age!) and the love story (cried like a baby yesterday near the end of the book). Thank you so much MaisyMay for the opportunity to read this. Since I'm closing the ring can you please send me your address so I can send it home.

Included in a bookbox offered on freecycle.