Was going to cull this one... but the reviews are so strong I can't resist! Will put it aside for a 'plane read' and hopefully release this at the UK Bookcrossing Convention in 2015.

From Publishers Weekly...

'Linked anecdotes about the perils of young womanhood from Australian author Wood trendily play off of antediluvian diction and antiquated women's advice columns, but actually possesses some hard-won wisdom. Divided into themes such as virginity, truth, art, commitment, marriage and loss, the tales treat the predictable muddle of female experience, though in the feisty literary persona of not such a "good girl." Indeed, the first story, "The Deflowering of Rosie Little," finds the narrator, at 14, eager to look up Latin words in the dictionary used in sexual relations, losing her virginity in the most demeaning fashion at a party to a coarse lager lout who offers her a popular cocktail for girls called "Rene Pogel" (read it backward). In another wacky tale that goes off the rails into reality, "Rosie Little in the Mother Country," the narrator, now 17, is sent for a long visit to her childless godparents' house back in England, where the joyless, emotionally numbed couple finds Rosie's sexual vivacity unnerving and finally insupportable. Despite corny sidebars on penis sizes, pubic hairstyling, and "Nominative Determinism" (you are what you're named), Wood addresses real issues: domestic violence, abortion and the desire to be married with children, among others. What emerges is a sense of destiny for Rosie, a woman who works hard-as a newspaper reporter and an assistant purser on an American cruise ship, among other things-and senses intuitively that a life of heartstrings' unraveling is surely worth a pull or two. '

Really enjoyed this one....

Like all short story collections there were some I enjoyed more than others - and I particularly enjoyed Danielle Wood's turn of phrase.

Hopefully someone at the Oxford convention will also enjoy this one!

Releasing at the Convention... where it will be either snaffled by another bookcrosser or continue its journey! :)

To the finder of this book:
Hello and congratulations! You have not only found yourself a good book, but a whole community of booklovers dedicated to sharing books with each other and the world at large. I hope you'll stick around a bit and get to know BookCrossing --maybe even make a journal entry on this book. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free!) And if you do choose to join, I hope you'll consider using me, lmn60, as your referring member. Feel free to read and keep this book, or to pass it on to a friend or even set it out "in the wild" for someone else to find like you did. If you do choose to join and journal, then you can watch the book as it travels- You'll be alerted by email each time someone makes another journal entry. It's all confidential (you're known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address), free, and spam-free. Happy reading!

My hubby never did quite get bookcrossing. He obviously picked this book up at the Convention in Oxford and never journaled it. MAny apologies. I will set it along on it's way very soon.

Taking to the Uncon Book Buffet.

I'm finally getting around to journalling the books I picked up at the UnCon. I love the bookplate in this one; very funny!

Left on the charity bookshelf.

Local BookCrossers meet, from noon on the second Saturday of every month, at Coffee Link, on Neptune Quay. Why not come along and join us? We're easy to spot - we're the people sitting round a table covered in books!