I definitely loved this book! Worth finding!

Released on Wednesday, March 31, 2004 at Gerry Gordon's Mazda Customer Lounge in winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

i picked up this book at Gerry Gordon's Mazda on Friday, April 2, 2004, at about noon. read the liner notes...looks interesting. it will be released when i'm finished reading it.

Released on Thursday, May 27, 2004 at Shell - Broadway & Sherbrook; with the bread in winnipeg, Manitoba Canada.

a beatiful story in an ugly situation. the people are compelling and i liked them all...even the disgruntled generals just trying to do what he thinks is right. i smiled, i wept...moved in ways that i didn't expect i would be from a book that i wouldn't normally pick up. thank you Ann Patchett, thank you BC, and thank you "Diver".

I went hunting for this book - searching through the Shell. But I found it, all safe and sound by the bread!

On my way to pick it up, I dropped off another book at Gerry Gordon's - what goes around comes around!

I look forward to reading sometime soon ... I have a few bookrings on the way, but hopefully this won't sit in Mt TBR for too long :-)

Well, I finally got to reading this book. It was very enjoyable. I found that I was somewhat distracted at times while reading this (would turn to the pregnancy books ... again!), but I kept coming back to this book and I enjoyed every bit of it.
I will bookcross this book again, now that it's been read by me. I don't know how, when, or where. I think I will put it on the shelf for awhile, and then baby and I will bookcross it this spring / summer.
Thank you for sharing, diver and lareunioa!

Being offered as a bookray. PM if you're interested!!

I'm going to get this bookray started, but I will keep it open for awhile longer in case there's any more folks that would like to join. But for now, here's the proposed order (please PM me with any concerns you may have). I will get this sent out this week. Thanks, and Enjoy!

Final Order:
1. collectorkerri - US (US/Cda) done
2. andersor - US (US/Cda preferred) done
3. RDWirral - UK done
4. NICNIC2 - Scotland done
5. LindyLouMac - Italy done
6. shawnna - US with this reader


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RULES FOR THIS BOOKRAY:
1. Journal when you receive, journal again with your thoughts, and journal when you ship the book to the next person.
2. Please try to send the book on within one month of receiving it. If you are going to have the book for longer than one month, please journal so that we know to expect the delay.
3. Please try to stick a local postcard in the book when sending on to the next person. If this isn't possible, that's ok...but if you can, that'd be nice.
4. Enjoy the book!!

This was mailed today, surface mail. Hopefully it won't take to long to complete the first leg of this journey. Happy reading!!

I have a few rings in front of this one, but I'm a fast reader, so it should be moving soon enough.

This took longer than I thought to get to it (sorry!), but when I did, I thoroughly enjoyed it. What a fascinating story. Patchett did a good job at humanizing the terrorists and making you wonder how you would respond if you were in that kind of a hostage situation.

On its way to andersor tomorrow.

Received in yesterday's mail. I will get to it and pass it along as soon as I can! Thanks for sharing.

What a beautiful book! I had heard mixed reviews, but I am really glad I got to read it. Loved it!!
Thanks Brewster13 for setting this up.

This will be in today's mail to RDWirral.

Recieved this today - Just to let everyone know I haven't been well lately and am behind with my rings, will get to this ASAP. Thanks.

This book is really well written and I liked all the characters, but the conclusion is unsatisfying and feels rushed. Thanks for sharing though, I enjoyed it.


PMing next in line.

On its way to Scotland!

Received as bookring. Thanks! Next on my TBR...

Just finished this- sorry it took so long guys! this is the best book I have read in ages. I was hooked from the first line. I think this was a good idea for a novel. Some elements I thought were a bit unrealistic but I still loved it. Sending it on its way this week.

On its way to LindyLouMac today. Enjoy!

Arrived today with thanks to NICNIC2 for mailing to me and brewster13 for including me in this Bookray. Once I finish my current book I will get started, from reviews here it sounds like I should enjoy it!

Amazon.co.uk Review:
In an unnamed South American country, a world-renowned soprano sings at a birthday party in honour of a visiting Japanese industrial titan. Alas, in the opening sequence, just as the accompanist kisses the soprano, a ragtag band of 18 terrorists enters the vice-presidential mansion through the air-conditioning ducts. Their quarry is the president, who has unfortunately stayed home to watch a favourite soap opera--and thus, from the beginning, things go awry.
Among the hostages are not only Hosokawa, the Japanese industrialist and Roxanne Coss, the American soprano, but an assortment of Russian, Italian and French diplomats. A Swiss Red Cross negotiator named Joachim Messner is roped into service while on holiday. He comes and goes, wrangling over terms and demands, and the days stretch into weeks, the weeks into months.
With the omniscience of magic realism, Ann Patchett flits in and out of the hearts and psyches of hostage and terrorist alike, and in doing so reveals a profound, shared humanity.

A great story with a disappointing ending, in fact for me the epilogue was a complete let down. Although I do appreciate it was a difficult story to write an ending for! Up until about the last ten pages or so it was a beautifully told story of the bonds that developed between the hostages and their terrorist kidnappers, despite the many differences in race, culture and language.

RELEASE NOTES:

En route to Shawnna in the USA.

Update 22 March: This was mailed out a month ago and I am getting a little concerned as another book I sent recently to the USA only took two weeks!
Update 26 April: This is not looking very hopeful!! I am going to contact Shawnna now in the hopes it has arrived and they just have not journalled!

I received this from a neighbor this week. The genre isn't my favorite, but I've been wanting to read one of Ann Patchett's novels every since a friend of mine mentioned that she went to school with the author.