This is an ARC from an author that I've not heard of before. This is apparently her debut novel and it is quite good although I was not happy with the ending (no spoilers). It took some stretching of my imagination to believe it. She does tell a good tale, though and it kept me eagerly turning pages.

This is off to visit Cinnamon-girl as a (sort of) surprise RABCK. Enjoy!

A surprise indeed! Thank you so much for sending this to me - I've heard great things about it, and was anxiously waiting for its release in hardcover. I love the cover art - so beautiful.

Thanks again!

Well, I enjoyed this novel very much. It reminded me of some of my favorite classic tales. You can read more of my comments here.

Thanks again for sending me the book!

I've decided to set this up as an international bookring to see what my fellow BookCrossers think of it.

This book is ready to begin its travels! Mailing off to Eucalia today - enjoy!

This book arrived safely in Seattle yesterday--thanks Cinnamon-Girl. Unfortunately, it arrived right on the heels of another bookring book--no bookrings for months, and now two at once! That's how it always seems to work though, isn't it? I'll start reading that one as soon as I can and then read this one.

RELEASE NOTES:

I finished reading this book last night. I agree with roadrunner in that I was not totally satisfied with the ending, but for the most part, this was a really great book. Every time I opened it up I was totally immersed in their world. For the first time ever, I very nearly missed my bus stop because I was so engrossed while reading this on the bus that I lost track of where we were. This wasn't a super deep book and it was a pretty easy read, but all the same, I definitely enjoyed it.

While reading this book I counted 15 specific references to other books and of those I've only read one. This definitely expanded my list of classics I want to read--I think I'm going to read Jane Eyre next!

I just got back from the post office, the book is on its way to collectorkerri. Cinnamon-Girl, thanks so much for sharing this book with me!

I have 1 2/3 books to finish before I get to this one. Will read ASAP.

I was immediately absorbed in this book. Just fascinated with the story of Angelfield and the twins and Vida Winter's great tragic story. There were a few issues I would rather have seen resolved differently (like Margaret confronting her mother about her secret), but all in all, a satisfying read. I look forward to more from this author.

Sent to MaryZee yesterday.

Received safely today. I'm in the middle of a bookring now, so it'll be a few days till I get to this one. But it won't be long!

I really enjoyed this book. I believe it is the first one by this author, and if so, I'm looking forward to reading more by her. She wove a wonderful story.

I wasn't really disappointed by the ending. I liked that she was able to wrap up all her loose ends - some might think too neatly, but that is their opinion.

There was a quote I loved late in the story. I think it speaks to all booklovers - "Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes - characters even - caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you." (pp. 289-290)

This is #6 for the 2007 Keep Them Moving Challenge. Mailed to Time-Traveler on 2/9.

I received this today. I'm so glad the ARC has the same beautiful cover as the published book - I just love it! I'll finish up my current read then get right to this...can't wait :)

I'm starting this today!

POSSIBLE SPOLIER ALERT

I finished this last night, and wanted to think about it a little bit before I made a JE because I have mixed feelings about it. I thought the story started out great and had some really wonderful passages, like this one:

"All day I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes - characters even - caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book they are still with you. Well, it was like that..." (p. 290).

Wow! I enjoyed these unique bits of writing quite a bit, plus I loved the last chapter. It's just that I found myself getting very impatient with the story. There were too many things that just didn't seem to make sense to me. For example, Margaret didn't know about her "secret" until she was ten years old. Didn't she ever wonder about her scar? It couldn't have been a small scar, and I can't believe she never asked her parents about it. We didn't even find out she had a scar until close to the end. Did I miss something there?

I also felt that some parts of the story were too complicated and took too long to be resolved - there were too many other times I thought I was missing something. At the same time some parts of the story were cleaned up too neatly. For example, when Margaret first meets Karen and her kids, Karen reprimands her son by saying "Thomas Ambrose Proctor! Get back on the pavement!" (p. 329). In real life, nobody really ever reprimands their child by using their full name. At least no one I know ever did...and it was done for obvious reasons here, and that bothered me.

But, because this is a story that is about books, a bookshop, and bookish characters I kept reading it. I know many people loved this book and I think that's great, but I am sorry to say I was kind of disappointed in it. I was very glad to be a part of this bookring because I will really enjoy reading more JE's from other readers. Thank you so much for including me, Cinnamon-Girl.

I have perryfran's address and I'll make another JE once I've mailed this one.

MaryZee! I just noticed that you had pointed out the same quote as being one of your favorites from this book! That brought a smile to my face. Also, thanks to you - I remembered to count this as a release for Guinaveve's Keep Them Moving Challenge!

Media-mailed this to perryfran today.

DC # 0306 1070 0003 8081 5925

Received in the mail today. Looking forward to reading this. Thanks Cinnamon-Girl for including me. I have one other bookring book that I am reading. This will be next. Hope to get to it soon.

Update 3/10/07: Started reading today and hope to get it off to the next reader in a week or so.

<----The author reading Thirteenth Tale at a shop in London

Haunting story. I really enjoyed this rich story about secrets, ghosts, winter, books, and family. This is a book lover’s book with frequent references to some of the great gothic novels from the past like Jane Eyre, The Woman in White, and probably the story that most resembles this novel, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James as described in Hester’s diary as “a story about a governess and two haunted children.” This book also reminded me a lot of Daphne DuMaurier’s novels such as Rebecca and The House on the Strand. In fact, this novel is a homage to these and other great works of literature. The power of books, stories, and writers is foremost in the novel. I loved the passage on page 17 where Margaret is describing how an author’s writing lives on long after the writer is dead:

“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is an exception to this annihilation. For in the books they write they continue to exist. We can rediscover them. Their humor, their tone of voice, their moods. Through the written word they can anger you or make you happy. They can comfort you. They can perplex you. They can alter you. All this, even though they are dead. Like flies in amber, like corpses frozen in ice, that which according to the laws of nature should pass away is, by the miracle of ink on paper, preserved. It is a kind of magic.”

All in all, this was “a good story written by a very good writer about a good story told by a very good writer.” I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I have ajsmom's address and will be putting this in the mail to her tomorrow.

RELEASE NOTES:

Off to ajsmom in BC, Canada. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Received today, thank you!

What a ripping yarn!! Thank goodness for long weekends, because I read this book very quickly over two days' off. There were a few things I could see coming (Aurelius' parentage, for one), but I didn't see the ghost child coming, so that was an interesting twist. I spent some time pondering the results of incest - the twins are truly odd, one being SO violent and the other SO passive - and then thinking about the "research" of Hester and the Doctor. I didn't get too caught up in the plausibility of it all, to be honest, as it didn't read like a historical novel. And just for the record, when my mom was mad at either myself or my sister, she used our full names - that's how we knew how bad it was. (So that rang true for me, time-traveler) :)

I have PM'd CaterinaAnna and will have this in the mail as soon as I hear back. Thanks for the ring, Cinnamon-Girl!

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent airmail to CaterinaAnna.

Arrived today and is number 3 on Mount Toobie.
Fortunately, I read quickly ...

Read this in a day yesterday - off work and not feeling good, needing to escape and this fulfilled the task perfectly. Intriguing enough to keep me going, but not so taxing it made my brain ache. I was proud of myself because, even with my thought processes in their weakened state, I'd more or less worked out the solution to the mystery of Vita's identity before the heroine - and it's not often that happens! Maybe I should read a little more slowly a little more often!

PMing Lunabooks for an address.

RELEASE NOTES:

Going in the post to Lunabooks this morning.

The book traveled across the sea once again! Thanks! It has arrived just in time for my vacation - it will be nice to have something like this to take with me; I was really looking forward to reading this book!

This was truly a wonderful book. Once I'd finished it and found out the real story, I wanted to read the whole book over again from a different perspective! Thanks for sharing, Cinnamon-Girl!

Just returned from a trip to London and found this on my doorstep (together with a few other books). Thanks for the ring, Cinnamon-girl, and thanks for sending it on, Lunabooks.
I'll get to it as soon as I can.

I knew I would like this book the moment I opened the package it came in. Because I routinely do what every serious reader will tell you not to: I often judge a book by its cover. And this cover, even though this is just an advanced reading copy, is simply beautiful with the old books on it and the raised lettering.

I was finished reading it much faster than I wanted to, mainly because I just couldn't put it down. Usually when I have heard so much praise about a book beforehand I end up being disappointed with it when I actually get to read it. But this, I am happy to report, was not the case here. Maybe I wouldn't go as far as calling it a masterpiece, but it is certainly a very engrossing story and an enjoyable read. Particularly when you read it for the secong time, I'd say - which I would have liked to do right away after finishing it. I'll have to get my hands on a copy of my own sometime.
Of course, there is some serious suspending of disbelief required as the story gets ever more ludicrous as it progresses. But even though the details are sometimes hard to swallow it is nevertheless beautifully written and I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. I wasn't bored for minute - and that's more or less all I ask of a book meant to entertain me. Basically it is not much more than a campfire story about weird families and ghosts and such - only a lot better told than all the campfire stories I ever heard. ;o)

I have already contacted dagett and hope to be able to send the book on shortly.

The book is on its way to Austria as of yesterday.

This book arrived safely in today's mail. Thanks Cinnamon-Girl and samulli! I'll just finish my current read before I start reading this one.

What a perfect timing for this book - beautiful summer days and a little free time at hand :)
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel! I got totally absorbed by the atmosphere of this tale and sometimes glimpses of my childhood reading came back to me. The following (rather lengthy) quote might illustrate my reading experience:

"And yet I cannot pretend that the reading I have done in my adult years matches in its impact on my soul the reading I did as a child. I still believe in stories. I still forget myself when I am in the middle of a good book. Yet it is not the same. Books are, for me, it must e said, the most important thing; what I cannot forget is that there was a time when they were at once more banal and more essential that that. When I was a child books were everything. And so there is in me, always, a nostalgic yearning for the lost pleasure of books. It is not a yearning that one ever expects to be fulfilled. And during this time, these days when I read all day and half the night, when I slept under a counterpane strewn with books, when my sleep was black and dreamless and passed in a flash and I woke to read again - the lost joys of reading returned to me." (p.32)
Thanks again for sharing!

Arrived today - thanks Cinnamon-Girl and dagett!

What a wonderful book! The quality of the writing really impressed me. I enjoyed most of the twists and turns. Even in places where things felt a bit too predictable, I didn''t mind because the language was so lovely. I will send this home to you very soon, Cinnamon-Girl.

Mailed home to Cinnamon-Girl, delivery conf# 0307 0020 0001 1304 7804

This book has arrived safely back home and I plan to wild release soon so some lucky reader will discover the traveling this book has already done.

Thanks to all who joined the ring! I appreciated your comments and am glad you participated.

RELEASE NOTES:

left on the free information rack ...