This looks really unusual, and it seems to be creating a bit of a fuss in the literary world at the moment. I look forward to reading this...


Daily Mail
‘A wonderful novel erupting with life . . . building to a perfect, heartbreaking end’

Spectator
‘Devastating . . . One of the most passionate vindications of the written word in recent fiction. It takes one’s breath away’

I enjoyed this as it was complex but interesting, with some well crafted characters. I found the end a little too open for my liking, but quite emotional all the same. Am going to offer this up as a bookray and see what others think- would be interested particularly in hearing what others make of that ending....

This was a popular one! and is now being whisked away on an international bookray- happy journeys and I hope you all enjoy the book as much as I did :0) These are the people on the list, with the first person being at the top:

Nell-Lu (UK- pref. ship EU only)
cnfotp (UK- ship anywhere)
helly77 (UK- ship UK only)
Vespa (UK- ship UK only)
lindyloumac (Italy- ship EU only)
blaisezabini12 (Romania- pref .ship EU only) ***PASSED***
niksu (Finland- ship anywhere)
abismithy (Canada- ship Canada or US only)
jnpert (US- ship anywhere)
karenlea (US- ship anywhere)
arugh48187 (US- pref. ship US only)
pjmom8025 (US- pref. ship US only)***PASSED***
lisagriffith (US- ship anywhere)
lizzieM (Australia- pref. ship Australia only) ***PASSED***

***THE BOOK CONTINUES IT'S TRAVELS!!***


I'll add any more that come in over the next few days, and then it will be winging it's way to Nell-lu!

Bookray instructions (Copied from catsalive):
1. SIGN UP for this bookray by sending me a Private Message. Order of participants will be juggled between geography, date of request and shipping limitations. 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 BOOKRAY 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 (use your judgement), please PM the next person, and then me, so I can update the bookring list.
6. END OF THE RAY, If you are the last person on the list you can either post to the Bookring/ray forum and see if anyone wants to continue or release it into the Wild.....

Off on it's travels to Nell-lu in the post tomorrow....

This is the third book I've received this week from baileybird - thanks again, petal! Another great postcard, as well.

It is also one of three bookrays that arrived today, but I'll be reading this one first so it will be on its way next week. I'm looking forward to it!

Great book! I enjoyed this, because I found myself drawn into caring about the characters, and because the complicated structure kept me guessing as to quite what had happened and who everyone was in relation to one another. (I'm still not quite certain who Bruno is and how he fits in - I need to read the book again, but resisted the temptation to start at the beginning again as this copy needs to travel. I will buy my own.)

The book-within-a-book device is a little post-modern, but it works well for me. The plot is actually quite linear, it's just that it is enclosed within a complicated non-linear structure. The ending? Well, I liked it in general, although Bird was my least favourite character so I'd have preferred to hear less about him and more about Leo and Alma. Perhaps on a second reading I will appreciate Bird a little better. Also, the Bruno thing will annoy me until I re-read and figure it out.

Thanks very much for sharing, baileybird, this was a good read. I've got cnfotp's address, so will go to the Post Office with this later today. Enjoy!

Arrived today - thank you for sharing baileybird and to Nell-Lu for the yummy organic chocolate! :D

I am about halfway through another bookring at the moment so will start this one in a few days..

I finished this wonderful book last night. I loved this novel - it's so packed full of emotion, I was laughing in one paragraph and choking back the tears in the next. Beautifully written with endearing characters and thoughts on mortality, hope and acceptance. I was reminded of the saying "Give me strength to change the things I can change, give me courage to accept the things I cannot change, and grant me wisdom to know the difference"

This is definitely my favourite read so far this year, many many thanks for sharing! :D

I am PMing the next person on the list today...

In the post to louisesalter today :)

Thank you cnfotp :)
Have started reading it staight away!

I loved this book! The chracters were so real I found myself caring deeply about all of them, in particular I found Alma's attempts to cure her mother's loneliness and Leo's undying love for Alma really moving. Though I too was a little confused by Bruno at the end. As for the end, it was a little open ended, but I think that to allow the reader to imagine what may have happened after the book was part of the enjoyment for me.

Posted to Helly77 yesterday morning :)

arrived safe and well.... will read and pass on asap :D

This was an unusual and touching book, which once I got into i really enjoyed. Leo was a fantastic character, and I also loved Bruno... but who was he??? !!! It is the type of book that you want to read over and over just to see if you missed something the first time :)
Thanks for sharing and I will pass on as soon as possible :)

RELEASE NOTES:

gone to Vespa :D

enjoy!

Arrived safely this morning. Hopefully I will start it this weekend.

Oh how I wish I could write good book reviews, but alas, I'm not great at that sort of thing, so I will content myself with agreeing with all the other reviewers. Just waiting for the next person address and I will pass it on. Thanks for sharing


edited to note posted to Lindyloumac 3.07.06

Wow this arrived quickly, postmarked 17.07.06.two days, what a postal service! With thanks to Vespa, for the chocolate you enclosed for me, naughty but delicious!!! I was feeling neglected as this is first BC book I have had arrive this month. Will start as soon as finished current title, have been looking forward to reading this as it is on My Wish List.

A beautifully written work of fiction. It took me a little while to get into the story, but it was well worth perservering. A complex story with interesting characters and a very emotional ending.
Synopsis:Amazon.co.uk
Leo Gursky is a man who fell in love at the age of ten and has been in love ever since. These days he is just about surviving life in America, tapping his radiator each evening to let his upstairs neighbour know he's still alive, drawing attention to himself at the milk counter of Starbucks. But life wasn't always like this: sixty years ago in the Polish village where he was born Leo fell in love with a young girl called Alma and wrote a book in honour of his love. These days he assumes that the book, and his dreams, are irretrievably lost, until one day they return to him in the form of a brown envelope. Meanwhile, a young girl, hoping to find a cure for her mother's loneliness, stumbles across a book that changed her mother's life and she goes in search of the author. Soon these and other worlds collide in "The History of Love", a captivating story of the power of love, of loneliness and of survival.

Once blaisezabini12 has confirmed her address with me I will get this in the post to her.
22.07.06: blaisezabini is in the USA for the summer,lucky girl and has therefore asked to be skipped for now. So now waiting for Niksu to confirm her address.

RELEASE NOTES:

Now en route to Finland

Arrived quickly as well! Thanks for sending the book LindyLouMac. I'm already reading it, I hope to finish it as soon as possible.

I'm speechless. I just finished reading and really don't know what to say. Or do I? Except I loved the book! In the middle of the book I was so puzzled and confused I had to draw a mindmap for all what has happend. It helped even though it was full of question marks. I also had to put down the book every once in awhile just to breath and think. And after that grab the book again.

The ending...When reading the last pages, I was happy and sad at the same time. Happy as I would finally find out everything(?) but sad because the book was ending. I was afraid how the author will close the book, will I like it or not. But after (again!) thinking I liked the ending. It was left a bit open but in a good way for my liking.

Thanks so much for sharing your book, baileybird! I already have abismithys address so will ship this forward on monday.

Thanks for posting this to me! I will start reading it as soon as I've finished my uni assignment! I can't wait to read it.

RELEASE NOTES:

I enjoyed this book, although it did take me a while to get into it. Thank you for sharing it with me.
Requesting jnpert's address then it will be on its way!

Received the book in the mail today. I just started another book, but this one will be the next one up.

Thanks!

I so wanted to love this book. I had read a lot of reviews that raved about The History of Love (and the above journal entries made me very excited.)

It was beautifully written and the characters were well drawn. But I never really felt for the characters-they were too distant and some were too strange (like Bird.) I just kept thinking the book would have made an excellent short story and I didn't like thinking that much about writing style rather than the story itself.

I know I am in a very small minority so I hope the rest of the folks on the ring enjoy.

I have karenlea's address so I will bring to the post office later this week.

Thanks!

Mailed to karenlea via media mail today. Thanks to all on the ring!

Caught!!! I have a few rings/rays ahead of it, but I should be able to start it very soon. Thank You!!!

I tried really hard to like this book, but had trouble getting into it. I ended up skimming through many portions of this book. I did like the very end of the book. I liked the writing style and build up at the end. I found the ending to be sad, but I felt distant from it. I felt like I should have loved this book, but I just didn't.

Thank you to Baileybird for sharing this book. I had been wanting to read it for a long time!!! I will be mailing it off to the next reader tomorrow afternoon.

Found this one in my mailbox earlier today. I have one bookring in front of it so it shouldn't take too long. You can keep track of its progress via my bookshelf.

What a bizarre little book. I was confused all the way until the last fifty pages or so. I had a brief moment of clarity for about twenty pages or so and then I got lost again. What happened to Bird? He went somewhere in search of somebody and then fell off the face of the earth. Who is Bruno and when exactly did he kick the bucket? Did Alma see Leo naked in her class? Who was the $100,000 man? Gah!!!! Maybe I also need to read it again to clarify some of these issues. Then again I don't know if I enjoyed it enough to give it another go.

Anyway, thanks for sharing and it will go off to the next reader as soon as I get an addy.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing off to LisaGriffith who is next on the list. Happy reading!

Caught it! Thanks. I have a couple of books in cue but am reading furiously. If anyone gets anxious please let me know.

Looks like I'm at the end of the previous ray. Baileybird gave me the goahead to keep this book on its journey. Here's the next stage of the ray:

JerrilynnL
rhythmbiscuit
elizardbreath
bluecat07

Sent to JerrilynnL on April 28th.

Received in today's mail... have two small books in front of it, then will read and send it on. :-)

Wow - I really enjoyed it. Am also confused by Bruno and Zvi, especially at the end. But it is fantastically written and heartbreaking.

It's in the mail across state to Rhythmbiscuit today... :-)

I received this book the other day and started reading it. So far I've only been able to read a couple pages at a time, but the school year is almost over, so I'll be able to read more soon.

Like some of you, I was confused by the story about halfway through. I skimmed through the beginning again trying to find some clues to help me, and it seemed to work. But just when I thought I had most pieces of the story worked out, Bruno threw me for a loop. Who was he?

I ended up loving the book! I liked Bird, even though he was strange. I thought his relationship with Alma was touching, and Bird's actions made the ending possible. Leo's separation from his son was heart-wrenching. It made me wish he had done something or said something sooner; why do people spend their entire lives loving someone and saying nothing?

This book goes to elizardbreath next.

RELEASE NOTES:

I will mail this book to elizardbreath today. Enjoy!

I received this book yesterday. I will be spending this weekend alone in a log cabin in the mountains so I will take this along. Thanks for sharing! :)

I just finished this. I'm not really sure how to describe how I feel about the book. At first, I was irritated with the many seperate story lines but now I think it was absolutely genius how it all came together. I was even going to put it away about 30 or so pages into it because Leo Gursky was grossing me out...but then I allowed myself to slip into reality and humanity for a minute and then it was all ok. There were times during this book that I was cracking up--then there were times when I was bawling. Like some of the other journallers, I would LOVE to read this again to pick up on all the little clues (maybe the person after me would send it back to let me reread and begin another ray?? hint..hint... :) I was also wondering if Alma saw Leo naked in her class...and I don't even remember the $100,000 man...but I do get the Bruno thing...just don't want to add too many spoilers! This has earned the spot of "My Favorite Book Read So Far This Year", (an honor that is regularly being re-awarded! :) PMing next in line now...

2nd attempt at PMing bluecat07.

Well, bluecat07 already purchased a copy of the book and has asked to be skipped. So...I will reserve this for the "bizarre bookbox" that is coming my way. This was described by one journaler as being a bizarre book...and I would sure say it is! :)

RELEASE NOTES:

Releasing into the bizarre bookbox.

I picked this out of sweetsangria's Bizarre Bookbox. Looks very good!