Amazon.com
"When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.... When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out."
Set in the small Southern town of Maycomb, Alabama, during the Depression, To Kill a Mockingbird follows three years in the life of 8-year-old Scout Finch, her brother, Jem, and their father, Atticus--three years punctuated by the arrest and eventual trial of a young black man accused of raping a white woman. Though her story explores big themes, Harper Lee chooses to tell it through the eyes of a child. The result is a tough and tender novel of race, class, justice, and the pain of growing up.

Like the slow-moving occupants of her fictional town, Lee takes her time getting to the heart of her tale; we first meet the Finches the summer before Scout's first year at school. She, her brother, and Dill Harris, a boy who spends the summers with his aunt in Maycomb, while away the hours reenacting scenes from Dracula and plotting ways to get a peek at the town bogeyman, Boo Radley. At first the circumstances surrounding the alleged rape of Mayella Ewell, the daughter of a drunk and violent white farmer, barely penetrate the children's consciousness. Then Atticus is called on to defend the accused, Tom Robinson, and soon Scout and Jem find themselves caught up in events beyond their understanding. During the trial, the town exhibits its ugly side, but Lee offers plenty of counterbalance as well--in the struggle of an elderly woman to overcome her morphine habit before she dies; in the heroism of Atticus Finch, standing up for what he knows is right; and finally in Scout's hard-won understanding that most people are essentially kind "when you really see them." By turns funny, wise, and heartbreaking, To Kill a Mockingbird is one classic that continues to speak to new generations, and deserves to be reread often. --Alix Wilber

Excellent book! Excellent movie too.

Bookring instructions:
1. SIGN UP for this bookray by sending me a Private Message. Order of participants will be juggled between geography and date of request. Late additions may be added to the end of the list.
2. When the person before you on the list finishes reading the book, they will send you a Private Message for your postal address. If you are experiencing an RBC (Reading Backlog Crisis) or no longer wish to read it, let them (and me!) know and I will move you down/off the list.
3. WHEN YOU RECEIVE THE BOOK please make a journal entry so everyone knows it has safely arrived.
4. WHEN YOU FINISH THE BOOK, make another journal entry telling us what you thought - did you like it? Did you think it was well-written?
5. CONTINUE THE BOOKRING by sending a Private Message to the person after you on the bookring list and request their postal address. Please check back here for the latest distribution list. If the person doesn't respond within 7-10 days, please PM the next person, and then me, so I can update the bookring list.

Participants - AU/NZ only:
leeny37, VIC
piemunga, NSW
catsalive, NSW - back home 26/11/5.

Posted to leeny37 on 15/9/5.

Received today, thanks catsalive! :) I have heard of this book for as long as I can remember, and I'm glad that I finally have the opportunity to read this classic. Will share my thoughts when I'm finished.

Unfortunately, I could not finish this book, which I am fairly disappointed about as I really wanted to be able to enjoy this classic. I found it really hard to read; it's difficult for me to explain but the "old" style of the writing felt clunky to me. I didn't particularly enjoy the dialogue either as it was peppered with the South colloquialism, which I found tough to read as well. I may have to seek out the movie for this one :(

I have piemunga's address so this will be mailed out shortly. Thanks anyway catsalive for the opportunity to read this book, I'm sorry it didn't turn out very well for me!

RELEASE NOTES:

My lovely boyfriend dropped this off at the post office for me, piemunga should receive this early next week.

Thank you thank you! This is third in my TBR pile!! I shall get to it as quickly as I can! I PROMISE!!

I'm so glad I finally got to read this! Unfortunately I missed out on it at school because I left early, but maybe that would've ruined it for me anyway(?). I always used to find over-analysing books at school killed them for me. Thanks so much catsalive!

Back home, safe and sound. Thanks.

Wishlist book sent to L1nda for January 2011 SCBE.

oooh thanks catsalive, I've heard so much about this book, I look forward to reading it