A friend from the Phoenix Folk Dance Club in Leeds offered me some of her second-hand books before she took them to a charity shop. This is one of the two I chose, chosen because I've enjoyed some John Irving novels in the past, but not this one, and the back cover mentions Toronto, an irresistible hook for this reader who loves Canadian literature and is fascinated with all things Canadian. Shame about the size, though! At 829 pages reading it will be quite a commitment, so, with nearly 100 books lining up to be read, I may not get around to this one any time soon .....

Amazon Editorial Review: " 'The doctor was fated to go back to Bombay; he would keep returning again and again - if not forever, at least for as long as there were dwarves in the circus'. Born a Parsi in Bombay, sent to university and medical school in Vienna, Dr Farrokh Daruwalla is a Canadian citizen - a 59-year-old orthopaedic surgeon, living in Toronto. Once, twenty years ago, Dr Daruwalla was the examining physician of two murder victims in Goa. Now, two decades later, the doctor will be reacquainted with the murderer..."

Realistically I don't think this will make it to the top of the reading piles any time soon, I suspect its thickness means I'll always find something else I'd rather read (oh, how shallow! LOL!), so I'm marking it Available, giving it the chance to find another reader who might actually get around to reading it, sooner rather than later!

To tree-hugger with my very best get well wishes!

I like John Irving & I like circus books so this is a good choice for me, thanks very much. I can't guarantee I'll get to it very quickly though because I have quite a backlog. Will let you know my thoughts in due course.

This was a great book, I'm really pleased I read it. I've lost track of how long it took me - about 2 months I think, which is far longer than I would normally spend on a novel. There was something about the way it's written which meant that I couldn't rush it (the amount of subclauses in the sentences perhaps) so it took ages but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Finishing it now feels a bit like being bereaved, it's been part of my day-to-day life that long!

I loved the scope of it. It's huge, in terms of the places Irving takes you and the people he introduces you to and the subjects he covers. It feels like all human life is there. There is a massive cast and even though none of them are instantly lovable, I found that over the course of the novel I really grew to care about them. It's very well put together - there are all these wonderfully entertaining storylines (sex change, dwarf genetics, twins separated at birth, a serial killer on the run...) and they all contribute perfectly to the overall theme of identity & belonging. What a great storyteller. Highly recommended.

My friend Sue borrowed this off my available shelf yesterday. She was looking for a big book to read, and this is certainly that, but I think it's highly unlikely she'll like it. We'll see. She'll give it back to me because she doesn't do the whole bookcrossing thing.

I'll be taking this book to the York bookcrossers' meetup tonight. Perhaps one of the other bookcrossers will take it home with them, or maybe it'll be left on the shelf in the pub.

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Picked up at the York bookcrossing meet. Good to meet so many bookcrossers/booklovers/friendly people. Thank you for making me so welcome.