Synopsis:

Delia Hopkins has led a charmed life. Raised in rural New Hampshire by her widowed father Andrew, she now has a young daughter, a handsome fiance, and her own Search and Rescue bloodhound - which she uses to find missing persons. But as she plans her wedding, she is plagued by flashbacks of a life she can't recall. Then a policeman shows up at her door, arresting her father for the kidnap of a little girl. And Delia's past and present fracture into little pieces. This is a book about the very nature and power of memory. It explores what happens when the past we have been running from catches up to us, and questions who we trust to tell us the story of our life before we are capable of remembering it ourselves.

Found in charity shop and to be used to replace sunflowergirl's lost ring for this book.

The ray for this replacement book is:

herrgirl (UK)
mellowdaisy (UK)
flanners (UK. UK only)
candy-is-dandy (UK. Can post anywhere)
Versavisa (formerly valer1e) (UK)
cats-eye (UK. Can post anywhere)
MaureenHB (UK. UK only)
tutleymutley (UK. Can post anywhere)
rillaith (UK. Wants to be near end)
chelseagirl (UK. Wants to be near end)
adrienne10 (USA. Can post anywhere)

last person can release the book however they choose!


Journal entries for sunflowergirl's original copy can be seen at

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/3995139

Herrgirl has kindly let me write a journal entry on this book so that all subesquent journals get emailled to me too.

Thanks again Herrgirl for replacing this lost bookring, I really appreciate it. :o)

Here is what I thought of the book on 14th May 2006:

I finished reading this book in the early hours of this morning. I did enjoy the book but I do have to say that - in my opinion - it just wasn't as good as Jodi Picoult's previous books. There was just something lacking, I don't even really know what it was. As I said though I did still enjoy the book, the characters were believeable and likable. Some of the story was great and I was engrossed in those aspects - like the Delia, Eric and Fitz triangle for example. I couldn't figure out how that was going to work out in the end. I thought Ruthann and her barbies were hilarious - I want one of those dolls! Someone should make them, they'd be an instant hit.

This has in no way put me off Jodi Picoult - her other books were brilliant and I'll be first in the queue for the next books of hers to be released in paperback. I think my issue maybe was the fact that her other books were sooooo good and had I read this one first I would have thought it was brilliant, it just isn't quite in her usual league. I've still given it 7 stars though as it is still a good read.

Hope the next readers enjoy it. I'm looking forward to reading everyones comments.

I'm glad this wasn't the first Jodie Picoult book I read as, although I enjoyed it, I wouldn't have been in a great hurry to read any more. It started off well, but I felt she went off course a bit towards the middle and I found my attention wandering away a bit as the story dragged. But as ever, it was well researched and with a storyline that really made you question how you would react in certain circumstances. However, I still want to read the rest of her books.

This will be on its way to mellowdaisy tomorrow, and I hope its travels are more successful than its predecessor!

This arrived this morning, thank you to herrgirl for sending to me and finding a replacement book! I'm looking forward to reading this but I have a few ring books before it.

I enjoyed this book but I too found that it went off course a little in the middle. The only time I had to read was in my lunch break though and I soon found myself wanting an extra hour or so to read on! Ruthann's barbies were hilarious and by the end I couldn't help but want to know what was going to happen to Andrew, and where the Delia, Fitz, Eric thing was going. Interesting sort of twist at the end that I wasn't expecting either, and then it sort of did it again! I would recommend this book, I've only read a few Jodi Picoult's so I don't really have much to compare it to but I thought it was good.

I have PMed flanners and will send this out on Monday probably.

Arrived today - can't wait!

Well I really enjoyed this one - this is actually my joint favourite of hers, alongside My Sister's Keeper. This is the sixth book I've read by Jodi Picoult and I thought it was a real return to form. The only aspect that palled on me was the triangle thing between Delia and the two chaps which I felt was a very slight over-egging, but all the rest of it, especially the prison stuff, was riveting. Thanks very much for the opportunity to read it.

Off to candy-is-dandy after the weekend.

Thanks flanners - arrived safe & sound. Looking forward to reading though there are a few before it in the queue.

It has taken me so long to get round to reading this, sorry everyone for holding it up for so long and especially to herrgirl who has gently prodded me a couple of times.

Would you beleive this was the first Jodi Picoult I've read? I enjoyed the book but expected a lot more of it from all the praise I've heard about her books. I did enjoy it, yet felt it was a bit bland in places and would have liked to get more out of the characters and emotions in the story (nice to see others have felt the same). I found there were certain themes that just didn't build up as much as I wanted/expected. There was not enough, for example, on Elise's feelings having not seen her daughter for 28 years.

I will read more from Jodi Picoult.

Thanks for sharing. Just checking Versavisa's address and will get it off to her.

Received safely this morning, thanks.

It's beckoning me to start reading it and I have no power to resist!

Just finished this and my head is reeling with questions. I expect this will be a book I will think about a lot in future and have to reread at some time.

I've also read My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult and that left me in a similar state of mind. So many questions you want to discuss and all those surprises along the way.

I can definitely recommend this, and thanks herrfirl for sharing it.

PM'ing the next one in line now so hopefully it won't be too long before it is on its way.

Later - cats-eye has asked to be excused as she has found a copy elsewhere. So I am now trying MaureenHB.

Even later - Maureen HB has found she's read it so I'm now PMing tutleymutley for her address.

tutleymutley hasn't read it! Hooray. Off to her today (11 September.)

OOOPs, I HAVE read it!!!! As soon as I opened the parcel I remembered the cover and the storyline. What is the matter with me?
Here's what I wrote about it:
"It took me a while to get into this book - Picoult has a formula and this drama is no exception - but towards the end it gains momentum, and I really enjoyed the discussions on memory and perceptions and truth."
FOrgive me, versavisa, I'm getting old and senile, duh...
I'll pm Rillaith and see if she wants it/is ready for it!

I'm guessing Rillaith must have asked to be skipped as this came straight to me - and apologies for not journalling that I'd received this, I was sure I had!

Anyway, I enjoyed this one, as usual it's the court case with emotional backstory format, but the court case takes up much less of the novel here than in other Picoult books, which I found refreshing. I especially enjoyed the way the story was told from different perspectives, the love triangle aspect and even the part about Ruthann and her people which, although it did distract from the main story, did keep the novel interesting.

I'll PM adrienne10 for her address and move this on asap.

Arrived in today's mail. Thanks for sharing! I will get it read and released!

So this disppeared into Mt. TBR. This summer, I made a conscientious effort to dent Mt. TBR and this rose to the top. I'm glad this little nugget was there.

I enjoyed this book so much that it took only a few days to read. I put off other "required" tasks so that I could finish it. I will find a new home for it. Several routes have come to mind: one is a friend who I think might enjoy this book, another is as a RABCK, and a third as a wild release.

I liked the story of Delia. I was a little bothered at the end with how things resolved, especially as just prior to reading the last few chapters of the book I was reading an article written in the mid-90s about planted memories. I'll leave it there so that I don't spoil anything.

I found this an enjoyable brain break. The story was fun and interesting. I'm not a fan of courtroom drama, so I'm glad that was relegated to the end portion and not a whole lot of it. I liked all the characters. They were very engaging.

Thanks for sharing this book! I'm sorry it disappeared into Mt. TBR for so long.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending to oliviapoolside as an RABCK.

This looks like an interesting book, thanks for sending it my way!

Jodi Picoult books are compulsively readable but always leave me feeling slightly nauseated, in the way that eating junk food might.
In this story a young woman finds out that she is not who she thinks she is, that her father kidnapped her as a young child and changed their identities, telling her that her mother had died in a car accident. A court case ensues, and a lot of other drama around her two best friends who are both in love with her, alcoholism, and the signature Picoult twist at the end which I will not tell you here.
I thought that the ending was ambiguous which didn't help me to like the book any better. There was a lot of information about jail, and also about Hopi culture. These things made the book feel like 3 potential books that got put into one, but it was OK.
Ohh, I also loved RuthAnn's barbies (as a previous reader mentioned), enough that I thought about making some of my own. Great idea.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Re-released in Kalman's memory bookbox, 17th birthday, remembering you!

I am taking this book from the bookbox. I just finished my first Jodi Picoult book last weekend (The Pact) and enjoyed even though it was very disturbing. Hopefully I will enjoy this one as much!
Thank you, oliviapoolside!

I finally finished reading this book last night and I really liked it. This is only the second book by Jodi Picoult I have read and, like The Pact, Vanishing Acts leaves you feeling a little weird. I think that is why I have enjoyed these two books by Jodi Picoult so much. They make you think about stuff that usually is really easy to sweep under the carpet and forget about. I found the sub-story of Ruthann to be wonderful!
Thank you for including this book inyour bookbox, oliviapoolside! I am planning on taking this book to the next Calgary BC meeting on July 10th to pass along to a fellow bookcrosser.

I released this book to a fellow bookcrosser at the Calgary BC meeting at the Joshua Tree Cafe today. Happy Reading!

Can't wait to read this book. May be a little while until I get to this one; I just started The Tenth Circle, so I shall read this after I finish that one.