Blurb:
When an exotic stranger, Vianne Rocher, arrives in the French village of Lansquenet and opens a chocolate boutique directly opposite the church, Father Reynaud identifies her as a serious danger to his flock, especially as it is the beginning of Lent, the traditional season of self-denial. War is declared as the priest denounces the newcomer's wares as the ultimate sin.
Suddenly Vianne's shop-cum-cafe means that there is somewhere for secrets to be whispered, grievances to be aired, dreams to be tested. But Vianne's plans for an Easter Chocolate Festival divide the whole community in a conflict that escalates into a "Church not Chocolate" battle. As mouths water in anticipation, can the solemnity of the Church compare with the pagan passion of a chocolate eclair?
For the first time here is a novel in which chocolate enjoys its true importance. Rich, clever, and mischievious, Chocolat is a literary feast for all senses.

This book is being released by the Thimblans for Turn 7 of Bookcrossing Monopoly: Community Shelf square - If you land on a bookshelf square, you need to pick any other monopoly player (not in your team!) and send them a wishlist book.
We thought that a BCer who added the novel "Chocolat" to their wishlist might also like to EAT chocolate, not just read it, so two bars of chocolate travel along. And a bag, for the matching chocoholic outfit. There's another book, a really tiny one, with chocolate quotations; it has already done some travelling and wants to meet another chocolate lover. And, as a special greeting from the Thimblans, a thimble. A little Ballycumber also jumped into the package. Yes, we are aware that it's a bit risky to let Ballycumber travel with chocolate, but he assured us that he's not hungry and would never touch chocolate anyway, he only wants to read the book during the journey.
Enjoy!
(And don't iron the chocolate, please!)

What a wonderful package you put together!! Bally behaved himself all the way from Germany, and everything arrived quite intact. :D You certainly had me pegged, as I'm not sure which is better, the book or the wonderful chocolate...

I've been wanting to read this ever since I enjoyed the movie a few years ago. Thank you SO much, ApoloniaX and Team Thimble, this certainly was a highlight to an otherwise mediocre day!

So! I first began to read this soon after I received it, but then I decided, no, this was certainly a book best read in springtime. But, the following spring found me moving halfway across the country, reading very little, and the book was packed away in storage.

Now that I am settled in the Midwest, experiencing my first real spring*, and all my books are with me again, it felt like the perfect time to pull this back out. I'm very glad I did! I thought this was an unusual book -- rich with characters, and food! But there's this pervasive distant mood to it, as well. The mood of this book stayed with me for days.

I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy. Thank you again for this gift, ApoloniaX -- I surely spent many cheerful hours with this book.

And adding this journal entry brings back fond memories of BookCrossing Monopoly, as well! The actual "chocolat" is long gone, and was delicious! :D


*Although apparently "spring" in this region means 70 degrees and sunny one day, and snow the next. Not really what I was expecting, but hey...

Bringing to today's meetup!

There have been no takers at meetup, so this book will now be released into one of the Little Free Libraries in Northeast Minneapolis. There are three within two blocks of my house, so I'm not sure which I will choose. Happy travels!