Journal Entry 1 by Alectoness from Wimbledon, Greater London United Kingdom on Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Picked this one up from the book-exchange shelf at the YHA Railway Square in Sydney during the Vibewire Offsite weekend. It's been added to the to-be-read pile on my own bookshelf, and I hope to get to it soon. 

Journal Entry 2 by Alectoness from Wimbledon, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, August 13, 2004

Definitely worth the pick up from the Sydney YHA, definitely worth the read.

I was in turns saddened and horrified by the various 'segments' of Astrid's life: the mother who was sent to jail for murder; the foster mother who shot her; the foster mother who starved her; the foster mother who committed suicide...

Enjoyed the story, enjoyed the language (almost like poety itself in places). Read it in a week and always found it hard to put down. 

Journal Entry 3 by Alectoness from Wimbledon, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, October 01, 2004

Setting this up as my first bookring. Please PM me with your location and shipping preferences (Australia/NZ only).

Please review the following:

* Journal when you’ve received the book (so we know it’s not lost).
* Journal when you’ve finished the book (so we know what you thought).
* PM the person whose name appears next on the list for their mailing address and send them the book! (If you're the last name on the list, PM me for my address.) And don't forget to make another journal entry so we know it's on its way to the next ring participant!

Also, if you'd like, please “autograph” the back cover of the book with your screen name, city, and state/country, so whoever “catches” this book later can learn a little about its history, even if he or she chooses not to visit the Book Crossing site.

Cheers,
Alectoness

Ring order

* Alectoness (Melbourne, VIC, Australia)
* Sherlockfan (Wellington, NZ)
* Boreal (Dunedin, NZ)
* Goodthinkingmax (Sydney, NSW, Australia)
* Fleebo (Sydney, NSW, Australia)
* Mundoo (Goolwa, SA, Australia)
* Twinmaker (Winthrop, WA, Australia)
* e-i-pi (Sydney, NSW, Australia)
* Alectoness (Melbourne, VIC, Australia) 

Journal Entry 4 by Alectoness at By Mail in Sent to a fellow BookCrosser, Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Monday, October 04, 2004

Released 7 yrs ago (10/4/2004 UTC) at By Mail in Sent to a fellow BookCrosser, Bookring -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Sherlockfan in NZ at lunchtime today. 

Journal Entry 5 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, October 10, 2004

Collected today Monday from our Post Office. There were two yellow alert cards in the box so I expect it really arrived on Saturday. For some reason we didn't collect the mail that day.
Looks good, thanks.
There is only half of one book to finish before I start this and as it is short stories I will probably dip into both more or less at once.
Thanks Alectoness. 

Journal Entry 6 by Sherlockfan from Upper Hutt, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, October 17, 2004

What a great book. Little bits of everything. Specially liked the language, as did Alectoness. The descriptions aroused clear pictures for me, and the inclusion of smells triggered immediate responses.
Astrid was one strong character with remarkable survival instincts. I became increasingly annoyed with the totally self-centred nature of the mother.
Claire was my favourite character and I was disgusted with the way that relationship was affected by the mother - see, I can't even bring myself to use her name.
Astrid's artistic talents seemed one of the few gifts bestowed on her initially and kept her sane while her character was developed.

9/10 for me this one.

I'll be posting this on to Boreal today. 

Journal Entry 7 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Tuesday, October 19, 2004

This arrived in the mail today -yes NZ post is very efficient at the moment :-)
I will get started on it as soon as soon as I finish my current book, and as I am going to be out of town for the upcoming long weekend, away from such distractions as TV's and computers I should be able to get it read quickly.
Thanks for sending it Sherlockfan and thanks for starting the ring Alectoness. 

Journal Entry 8 by boreal from Dunedin, Otago New Zealand on Monday, October 25, 2004

I spent a wonderful long weekend out of town, I sat on a river bank and when I wasn't being distracted by the view managed to get lots of reading done, I even read it by kerosene lamp as where we stay has no electricity.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this. I found it a gripping book and you really felt for Astrid at times; and I agree with you Sherlockfan, what a self centred, selfish and awful person the mother was, it is a wonder that Astrid turned out as well as she did after all she went through. I loved the writing style, it makes books so easy to read if the language seems to flow so wonderfully.

Thanks again for the opportunity to read it.
I have got Goodthinkingmax's address and will get it posted in the next few days.


Update: 27 October- posted to Goodthinkingmax. 

Journal Entry 9 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, November 01, 2004

The book arrived safely today from NZ. Thanks Boreal. I should be able to start this in the next few days and am looking forward to it even more after reading the other journal entries. 

Journal Entry 10 by goodthinkingmax from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, November 07, 2004

Janet Finch is a beautiful writer with such interesting language and descriptions.
On page 5: "..she pasted up the copy of other writers, who, at fifty cents a word, bled shameless cliches, stock nouns and slack verbs, while my mother could agonize for hours over whether to use an or the." Finch's language is never lazy and I think she probably has slaved over every sentence and word.

It is a book with language I loved, amazingly detailed and interesting characters, and I had to keep reading to find out what happened to Clair but I can't say I exactly enjoyed it. I think the subject matter was a bit too close to my work (an adolescent caseworker!) I have worked with girls in similar situations to Claire, multiple placements, death, drugs, sex, abuse and I guess I generally read to escape my work. It is to Janet Finch's credit that the book was so realistic and made me feel uncomfortable and depressed.

Off now to read something light and unbelievable, maybe some fantasy!

Will post to Fleebo asap. 

Journal Entry 11 by Fleebo from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Monday, November 08, 2004

Received safely from goodthinkingmax, along with TWO generous RABCKs. Thanks so much! I should get through this quickly, as it's the only bookring in the house right now. 

Journal Entry 12 by Fleebo from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, November 11, 2004

I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. It is beautifully written, which takes the sting out of the depressing situations without belittling them. I disliked Ingrid immensely: not so much for what she did to Barry, but for her constant attitude of superiority. I think that I will avoid seeing the movie, though. Character-driven movies cannot possibly do justice to writing like this.

Posting to Mundoo Nov 19. 

Journal Entry 13 by Mundoo from Hindmarsh Island, South Australia Australia on Monday, November 22, 2004

Received this book in the mail today.

1 1/2 books ahead of it on Mt TBR. 

Journal Entry 14 by Mundoo from Hindmarsh Island, South Australia Australia on Friday, December 10, 2004

What a powerful book. I felt completely sorry for Astrid and was pleased when she was with Claire, mind you I had to wonder at the motives of Claire and her husband as to why they fostered a child.

I thought the mother Ingrid, was manipulative and self-centred and should have stayed in jail. It was a shame that the care-workers didn't seem to see what was happening to Astrid and that the foster-parents were mostly terrible as well. Why do they do it? Government money? I had to wonder at Rena and why she fostered so many teenagers.

I was pleased to see Astrid's art and drawing provide an escape for her life, but a shame that her dream of a scholarship slipped away. I didn't like the letters that the mother sent to Astrid from jail as they were so poisonous to Astrid.

Astrid though read a book very early in her life 'The Art of Survival' that helped her survive the awful things that happened to her life that were well and truly beyond her control. Having been in a similar situation with a mother who was a control-freak, I sypathised with Astrid. My 'art of survival' was a 'wall' that I erected so I wasn't hurt by the poison. I didn't like the episode where Astrid and her friend Niki took LSD, I skipped a lot of the mind-altering paragraphs as I wasn't comfortable with the descriptions of it. The language in this book was excellent and painted word-pictures well.

 

Journal Entry 15 by Mundoo at By Mail in Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser -- Controlled Releases on Monday, December 13, 2004

Released on Monday, December 13, 2004 at about 6:30:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at By Mail in Controlled Release, Given to a fellow bookcrosser Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to twinmaker 

Journal Entry 16 by twinmaker from Winthrop, Western Australia Australia on Thursday, December 16, 2004

Rec'd today, thanks Mundoo. Have 1 and a half books in front of this but will get to it over the Xmas break. 

Journal Entry 17 by twinmaker from Winthrop, Western Australia Australia on Friday, December 31, 2004

After reading the first couple of chapters, I thought this book wasn't something I wanted to continue with. However, I persevered with it and ended up wanting to see the movie. In particular how the screenwriters interpreted the ending. Will pass on to next person soon
 

Journal Entry 18 by twinmaker at mail in Fellow Bookcrosser, A Book Relay -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, January 06, 2005

Released on Thursday, January 06, 2005 at about 4:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at mail in Fellow Bookcrosser, A Book Relay Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

off to nsw today 

Journal Entry 19 by e-i-pi from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, January 18, 2005

In the mail today when I got home from a being away, thanks Twinmaker, and thanks for sharing Alectoness. 

Journal Entry 20 by Mundoo from Hindmarsh Island, South Australia Australia on Saturday, January 29, 2005

I just saw the movie of this book and was extremely impressed at how they interpreted the book. I am glad I read the book first before seeing the film. My initial feelings about the mother were reinforced in the movie. 

Journal Entry 21 by e-i-pi from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, July 12, 2005

I'm about one third of the way through this and was just about to give up and send it on its way as it just hadn't grabbed me and I'd had it half read for ages, but now after coming back and reading everyone's journals on it I'm inspired again. I've had it on my TBR for ages, so I hope it'll be ok if I keep it for a little longer Alectoness and try again.