Picked this hardback up at the Scholastic Warehouse Sale today for half price. I will offer it to Rrrcaron to replace her bookring copy that was lost in the mail on its way to me. From the cover:

When four-year-old Teensy Whitman prisses one time too many and stuffs a big old pecan up her nose, she sets off a chain of events that leads Vivi, Teensy, Caro, and Necie to become true sister-friends. Told in the alternating voices of Vivi and the Petites Ya-Yas, Siddalee and Baylor Walker, as well as the voices of other denizens of Thornton, Louisiana, Ya-Yas in Bloom shows us Ya-Yas in love and at war with convention. Through crises of faith and hilarious lapses of parenting skills, brushes with alcoholism and glimpses of the dark reality of racial bigotry, the Ya-Ya values of unconditional loyalty, high style, and Cajun sass shine through. Necie's wise credo, "Just think pretty pink-and-blue thoughts," helps too...

Update 12-22-05: I have not heard from Rrrcaron but will assume it's okay to move this along as a replacement for her copy. The original ring is here.

Here are the remaining participants:

becca-mo-Tennessee
MaryZee- Maryland
Ladybug01- Virginia
froggiepopple-Minnesota
arugh48187-Minnesota
silverstarry-California
ldpaulson-California
BlueAmazon-California
rebeccaljames-Ohio (added 4-18-06)
mellion108- Michigan
doris-Canada
tyvmdear-Canada
gaspimper 891-Canada
wordster- Scotland
Trivia-UK
Icila-France

Hope this copy survives the travels!

Even though this is the third installment of Ya-Ya stories and they have a lot of similarities, I enjoyed this one. I imagine some folks will think this is tired ground but I always like to spend time in the land of the Ya-Yas. This story focuses more on the men in the family and gives a few glimpses into the way folks outside the Ya-Ya circle view them. It doesn't have the high drama and angst that the other two books have, since it concentrates more on the Petites Ya-Yas and their children, who--let's face it--don't have the pizzazz and unstability of the originals. But it is a nice visit with the folks of Thornton and has some touching things to say. Here's one passage I liked:

The nuns were always talking to us about prayer, but it never meant anything to me until then. Right then I understood: the right way to pray is not to beg, but to picture good things, to banish all bad things from your mind. To put up a huge wall of prayer so no bad thoughts can get in. To see what you want, and to feel the love that has been hiding there for your little brother, only you were too bossy to feel it before.

And I liked Baylor's thoughts about Saint Joseph and what masculine love is all about. My favorite line, though, was "Vivi was involved in a hit-and-run with the Savior of the World!" Pretty funny incident.

This book has more flaws, I think, than Divine Secrets. It tends to switch voices too much, from Vivi (one chapter, I think), to Sidda, to third person descriptions of the experiences and thoughts of Baylor and some miscellaneous characters. It doesn't have the cohesiveness of the previous books. It also lacks a real "plot," as the main dramatic event in the story takes place near the end. It's just another portrait of the same characters taken with a different camera.

All in all, I did enjoy this, but it still doesn't hold a candle to Divine Secrets, my favorite of Wells's books.

I have PMed becca-mo for an address to get this moving again. Hope everyone else enjoys it!

Update: Mailed to becca-mo via media mail on 2-1-06.

hmmm. Not what I was expecting. Rather than a continuation of the Ya-Ya story, this was more like snippets from the Walkers' lives. My favorite part, alas, was the very beginning: the chapters about Genevieve Whitman. She's my favorite!
On to the next reader

This arrived safely in today's mail. I'll start on this one as soon as I finish one of the two books I'm currently working on, probably over the weekend.

I'm over half finished with this book, and should finish it up in a few days.

I'm really enjoying it - always enjoy the land of the Ya-Yas. I'm so glad this is new stories. I especially enjoyed learning how the Ya-yas met, and the trip to see the Beatles was funny too.

I just had to make this post today - I was posting about this book in one of the "what are you reading now" threads earlier today, and I realized that exactly one year ago today I was reading Little Altars Everywhere. I remember because this is my daughter's one-year anniversary of her surgery, and that's the book I was toting around with me, and trying to concentrate on. I like this book much better, since that book was mostly a re-telling of the stories from Divine Secrets, but with a different point-of-view.

Ladybug01 asked to be skipped. Sent on to FroggiePopple on 3/17.

I received this a couple of days ago. I will pass it on to arugh48187 as soon as I finish reading it.

This was a pretty good book. It was probably my least favorite of the series.

RELEASE NOTES:

Found this one in my mailbox today. I have a couple of rings in front of it, but it shouldn't take too long. You can keep track of its progress via my bookshelf.

I was a little apprehensive about reading this book since I read the other two a long, long time ago and remember virtually nothing about them. Happily, my vague memories were not at all a hindrance. This book read more like a book of short stories than a novel. I am not usually a big fan of short stories, but these were pretty good. I especially liked the stories about the Ya-Yas meeting for the first time.

Thanks for sharing. This one will go out as soon as I have a recipient and an address.

RELEASE NOTES:

Silverstarry asked to be skipped, so this is off to ldpaulson. Happy reading!

This book arrived in my mailbox. Finally! The very first ring I signed up for since joining BookCrossing!

Alas, I am very far behind on my reading thanks to rings/rays hitting my mailbox simultaneously. I’m reading as fast as I possibly can between other life commitments and obligations.

I've been waiting to read this and the Ya-Yas, in typical Ya-Ya fashion, demanded to be read immediately. Lines be damned.

Although a big fan of Wells and her previous work, YA-YAS IN BLOOM was a collection of vignettes rather than a cohesive story. The differing viewpoints from within and without the Ya-Ya circle is quite interesting, although it would be nice to have a single viewpoint narrative. It's not difficult to eventually feel empathy for any of Wells' vivid characters, and that includes the boorish racist, George as well as the obviuosly unbalanced Spevey women.

And, thankfully for the other books piling up, this is a quick and satisfying read.

Being mailed today to the next participant. Enjoy!

A form letter from the United States Postal Service arrived in my mailbox today (July 24, 2006). Apparently, someone found the envelope I had mailed to blueamazon, empty. There is a form to fill out and other paperwork. Perhaps this book will be found. The form letter stated that the process of looking for a lost item typically takes eight weeks. I will share any information as soon as I have it.

Since I've heard nothing from the postal service, perhaps this book belongs on Lost Book Island.

I will begin the search for a replacement copy. Perhaps one or more copies can be located at a library book sale I know is happening after the holidays.

The postal service recently sent a cryptic form letter -- the same one on which I'd filled out all the details about this apparently lost book -- with no answer or information about how to further pursue recovering it. Exceedingly frustrating!

I've been trying to find a replacement copy. The local friends book sale (January 18th) yielded not a single Rebecca Wells title.

I purchased a new hardcover edition to replace the book that the postal service lost. Please see the new journal entry: . The other edition is sunning on Lost Book Island.

This book has washed ashore at the Lost Book Island after not being heard from for many months. This new arrival will be shown to a room and be allowed a bit of rest before being introduced to the many fun things to do here at the island.

All around there are books sipping cool drinks under shady palms while other books participate in a wide variety of beach sports. There is plenty of sand, surf and sun here for all of the lost and wayward books to enjoy.

It is always sad when we hear of books that are lost in the mail and the puzzling thing is always where do they go? It is hoped that one day this book will show up again with a journal entry tale to entertain us all.

Today (3/12/07) while trying to find the status of the book mailed to replace this copy, I gave, yet again, the BCID of this book to the customer service agents with the United States Postal Service. The person claimed that they would be looking into the status of this lost book as well as the replacement that I registered that is now in limbo.

But hey ... since this is STILL SUNNING on Lost Book Island, would it be that these books are DOING THE LIMBO? Oh, how low can you go?!