The Lovely Bones

by Alice Sebold | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0330485385 Global Overview for this book
Registered by rem_ZET-734626 on 3/3/2005
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8 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by rem_ZET-734626 on Thursday, March 3, 2005
Edit 03/17/05 - Well written, full of promise yet, in my view, falls just short. I felt the ending fizzled bit.

Journal Entry 2 by rem_ZET-734626 at from UK in By Mail, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, March 22, 2005

Released 19 yrs ago (3/22/2005 UTC) at from UK in By Mail, A RABCK -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to literarylover.

Journal Entry 3 by literarylover from Miami, Florida USA on Saturday, April 30, 2005
Thank you so much for sending this to me! I'm sure I'll enjoy it, and I'll release when Im done.

Journal Entry 4 by literarylover from Miami, Florida USA on Monday, May 23, 2005
I started reading it, but didn't finish the book. It was well written, and a good story... but I just couldn't get into it because the book's views of heaven and religion are very contrasting to my own views, and it was distracting. I'm going to pass it along to "dospescados" as part of a relay.

Journal Entry 5 by dospescados on Tuesday, June 7, 2005
thanks!

from the back cover:

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973. My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer.

This is Susie Salmon, speaking from heaven -- which looks a lot like her school playground, with the good kind of swing sets, counselors to help newcomers adjust, and friends to room with. Everything Susie wants appears as soon as she thinks of it -- except the one thing she wants most: to be back with the people she loved on earth.

Watching from her place in heaven, Susie sees her happy, suburban family devastated by her death, isolated even from one another as they each try to cope with their terrible loss alone. Over the years, her friends and siblings grow up, fall in love, do all the things she never had the chance to do herself. But life is not quite finished with Susie yet...

copyright 2002 (p2003), 328 pages, trade paperback

Journal Entry 6 by dospescados on Friday, March 31, 2006
Since I'm not going to get a chance to read this before I move in June, or anytime soon after that, this book is going out on a ring...

Shipping order (subject to change):

deepdowne (al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia - int'l)
day-zee (Winnipeg, MB, Canada - int'l pref.)
stacyinthecity (New York, NY, USA - US pref.)
bluesneak (Atlanta, GA, USA - US pref.)
pigsooie (Fayetteville, AR, USA - int'l) <----------here
home to dospescados in Bloomington, IN, USA

"stand-by" (waiting for other readers to sign up):
c-a-m (Sydney, NSW, Australia - Aus. only), Teacher-Trudy (Rockhampton, QLD, Australia - Aus. only), Mochagirl (Oxford, England - UK pref.)

I have no set time period that I ask you to read this in -- I understand there is life beyond Bookcrossing! -- but just be considerate to your fellow ringmates waiting ever so patiently for their turn and keep it moving in a timely fashion. Media/surface mail is fine for shipping. Don't hesitate to let me know if you need to be moved farther down the list or removed altogether.

Journal Entry 7 by harriscochin from Dubai, Dubai United Arab Emirates on Saturday, May 20, 2006
just today , i received this book by post. i'll start reading it right away. thanks dospescados.

Journal Entry 8 by harriscochin from Dubai, Dubai United Arab Emirates on Monday, May 29, 2006
i have finished reading this book. it has been a much applauded book, but, to be honest, i couldn't find it much interesting though. or maybe i missed the point.
anyway, the book is ready to be passed on to the next person. and i've pm'ed day-zee. waiting for her address to ship.
(others in the list, please don't be let down by my comment on the book. tastes may vary)

Journal Entry 9 by harriscochin from Dubai, Dubai United Arab Emirates on Thursday, June 1, 2006
i have shipped the book today. hope it will reach day-zee safe. enjoy!

Journal Entry 10 by day-zee from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Thursday, June 15, 2006
How fun it was to get a package from Saudi Arabia this morning!

This is a book that I've been wanting to read for some time now. It has been recommended by a number of people that I chat with about books.

I have a couple of books that I just started to read so that I can finish them to release for a challenge, and then this one is the next on my list.

Thanks for the opportunity dospescados!

Journal Entry 11 by day-zee from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Saturday, August 5, 2006
I really enjoyed this book!
Tugged on my heartstrings, but had just enough supernatural to keep it from being super-cheesy.

It was a great escape for me over the busiest month of my life! Perfect timing! I'm about to wrap this one up, PM stacyinthecity, and send it on it's way.

Thanks again for including me dospescados :)

Journal Entry 12 by stacyinthecity on Monday, August 28, 2006
The book arrived over the weekend, and I got so excited, that I've already started it! It is wonderful so far and I'll probably finish soon! Thank you for sharing this book!

Journal Entry 13 by stacyinthecity on Monday, September 4, 2006
The book started out wonderfully. I could hardly put it down. Actually, the entire book was a page turner, although in the end it was more because I was hoping that the ending that I wanted would be right around the corner. It never was.

Its not a problem that books don't end the way you expect them. Sometimes it can be a wonderful surprize. And who wants to guess the endings to all the books they read anyway? But it was more that the ending of this book was deeply unsatisfying.

First of all, her vision of "heaven" was not heaven at all, but rather some sort of purgatory. I can handle differences in theology from my own, after all, this is a fictional novel rather than a discussion on a Biblical Heaven. But she still seems unhappy there. How can that be heaven?

Spoiler alert, so please do not continue reading unless you've already read it or don't mind knowing the ending.







Having her come into her friend's body to have sex seemed totally out of sorts. It didn't make sense at all. Wouldn't she have wanted to tell her family that it is ok? To live their lives and not fall apart? Also, in so many ways, she seemed stuck as a little girl, that she didn't age in heaven. For example, she would play on swingsets in heaven and so forth. A little girl having sex just seemed so wrong.

Her father never found out that he was right about the killer, and the killer got away with murder, literally. Him being killed by the icicle was terribly unsatisfying and the connection between that and her sister's prize for "how to get away with murder" was weak. It was not connected at all, but rather a meaningless coincidence.







Spoiler over.

Over all, I thought that there was a lot of promise in the book, and I think it would have been a much more satisfying read if done another way.

I already have the address of the next person, and on Wednesday morning I will be able to ship it out.

Journal Entry 14 by bluesneak from Lawrenceville, Georgia USA on Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Received 9-12-06. Will read and pass along ASAP.

Journal Entry 15 by bluesneak from Lawrenceville, Georgia USA on Monday, September 25, 2006
This is only the 2nd time I've read this book, but it's already one of my favorites. So many poignant moments from Holiday finding Susie in heaven to the last line: "I wish you all a long and happy life."

On its way to pigsooie.

Journal Entry 16 by pigsooie from Fayetteville, Arkansas USA on Saturday, September 30, 2006
Recieved & will start reading this weekend!

Journal Entry 17 by pigsooie from Fayetteville, Arkansas USA on Friday, October 20, 2006
This was well written, but too depressing for me. It definately got better towards the end! Thanks for letting me read this one!
Now back home to it's owner!

Journal Entry 18 by dospescados on Saturday, November 4, 2006
This made it home last week. Thanks to all!

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