Dear Reader,

My grief for the Gulf of Mexico is intense. The shores of Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida have been a big part of my life. Development's toll there has troubled me for years. Now, wounded Pelicans appear in my dreams. I feel so helpless. To express my grief I've decided to register this book, Pearl Buck's quietly powerful tale of a fishing village in Japan destroyed by a tsunami. It is a beautiful portrait of the hard work of grief and of recovery. I want to share it to express my care and grief for the men who died, for the environmental devastation and for all of those suffering in the wake of the waves of oil.

In the desert of the heart/ Let the healing fountain start. (W. H. Auden)

This book is headed now to Central Florida. It's a very quick read. I'm glad to make a gesture for my beloved places and people of the Gulf of Mexico.

Received today! Thank you, Cordelia-Anne, for both the book and the lovely greeting card that you sent. That was very thoughtful of you and I appreciate it very much. (Coincidentally, I received this book on the same day I received ANOTHER Pearl S. Buck book, The Exile. Funny how things work out.)

I of course was very saddened by the oil spill. I've always been worried about potential oil spills and have written my representatives over the past few years opposing drilling off Florida's shores and in the Arctic. I hope that now that the spill has happened that America and the world will take greater action to protect our waters and the environment.

I live a few hours drive from Daytona Beach and it's been a few years since I've been there, but I vacationed there for many years as a kid and have fond memories. I watched a YouTube video the other day of Pensacola Beach, covered in oil and with the water bubbling mysteriously, and was deeply saddened. I hate to think of what has happened to our beautiful beaches and precious marine life.

Not long after the oil spill happened, I went to see the movie Oceans, which truly gives one a great appreciation for the variety of marine life and the beauty of the ocean and why we should protect it.

I'm going to read this book and then let my mom borrow it, as she is a Pearl S. Buck fan, before sending it on to the next person in the BookRay.

Please PM me when someone else signs up for this book and I will mail it to them, thanks.

Finished reading today. I get the feeling that I read an excerpt from this in elementary school. As I was reading it there was a vague familiarity.

A sad but hopeful story; there is a lot of truth about grief and humanity in its short span. Thanks for sharing, Cordelia-Anne.

Thank you for the book. It is the first time that I have read a Pearl S. Buck short story. Will pass it on soon.

Shipped today by USPS First Class Mail International to Tokorua in Australia.

Am going to go sit in the sun and read this now. Th Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck had a great impact on me for literature. thank you for this.

Thank you for taking the time to look the bookcrossing site up. For me, this is all about the love of the written word and i hope you enjoy every word of this book.

I loved this story.

Recieved and Read today, a very sad story, thank you for the opportunity to read this story, if not for book crossing then I would never have read this story!

This has reached me - already! Despite its brevity it'll take me a little while as I must prioritise other bookrings/rays awaiting my attention. But don't worry, I'll get to it.

[Note: oppem is next in the bookray.]

Sorry this has taken me so long to get to. I finished it this morning. I could really see myself back in the fishing community in which I lived in Japan, and was reminded of my regular visits to the farming community a little further along the coast. There was no castle nor any deer-inhabited islands, but other than that, it all seemed very familiar. It's helped me understand why so much of Japan's coastline, especially where I was, has stacks of concrete tetrapods to act as wave breakers and harbour protectors. They're incredibly ugly and they attract a horrible swarming kind of cockroach, but I guess they do allay the fear of big waves. Just today, by coincidence, I was talking to someone whose friend lost both her parents in the tsunami in Sri Lanka, so tragedy is as we know not just a thing in books.

The good news is that since this morning the book has had an extra reader: my goddaughter's elder sister, who is 12 and has been studying volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis, and visited the Natural History Museum today. So it was good that I kept the book until now!

It was posted this morning - may take a little time as it's gone surface mail. Thank you cordelia-anne for this initiative.

Arrived in todays post - many thanks to ETmadrid in London for forwarding it on to me.
I am actually just finishing reading my present novel so will begin this one straight away.

What a delightful little book. I don't believe I have read any of Pearl Buck's work before but this would definately inspire me to read more. Compared with many of the books put out for children these days this is a sheer delight and if I had any children / grandchildren in this age-range would go out & buy them a copy immediately.
I found it a very uplifting book, full of hope and love.
Thank you so much for sharing it with us.
(I appear to be last in this bookray so will try to find someone else who might enjoy reading it. If all else fails I think will leave it on the bookshelves at my family practioner - she has lots of your people come in & take / exchange books).

Sent as a surprise rabck to jsara who had this book on her wishlist.
Enjoy the read.

thank you for the surprise RABCK!
I will read and share soon.

This book is still in the hands of jsara but, after the tsunami and nuclear calamities in Japan this year, ETMadrid suggested the timeliness of this book. I'm adding this journal entry to let all of the readers of this book know that I now have an extra copy on my bookcrossing shelf that's ready to travel. Please let me know if there are other readers who might be interested. Thanks everyone for taking time to read the book and for your care and journal entries. And do spread the word about the extra copy I now have. Thanks jsara for your latest journal entry here.