Journal Entry 1 by mellion108 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA on Tuesday, November 29, 2005

I have to say that I was totally enjoying this book for more than half the reading. I loved the characters. I loved the storyline. I loved everything about it. And then it devolved and became much less coherent. The characters no longer seemed "real," and I stopped enjoying it. I thought I would keep this one forever in my collection, but now I know I need to let it travel!

Journal Entry 2 by mellion108 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA on Saturday, January 07, 2006

It's bookray time! The mailing order may change during the book's journey, so please check here before sending the book!

• jessicaloveyou (Singapore)
  
• nikel27 (Germany) (Can ship anywhere)
  
• merimag (UK)
  
• safrolistics (UK) (UK shipping) (**Asked to be skipped for now**)
  
• cloggy (UK)
  
• lauraloo29 (Canada) (US shipping)

Journal Entry 3 by jessicaloveyou on Monday, January 30, 2006

i have received the book 

Journal Entry 4 by jessicaloveyou on Friday, April 07, 2006

i've sent the book to nikel27 

Journal Entry 5 by jessicaloveyou on Friday, April 07, 2006

i love this book!the women in the book are such poor things!i really feel for cas(is that her name??the teenage girl.)cos she's the same age as me and has gotten into so much trouble because of wrong decisions.luckily,she has a nice guy at her side in the end. 

Journal Entry 6 by nikel27 from Ginsheim-Gustavsburg, Hessen Germany on Wednesday, April 19, 2006

arrived safe at my house.

update:
I read the book during my lunch breaks at work, and I nearly couldn't put down the book to start working again.
Thanks so much for sharing this book with me.

off to the next member.... 

Journal Entry 7 by nikel27 at Post Office in Book Ring, Ginsheim -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Released 6 yrs ago (5/12/2006 UTC) at Post Office in Book Ring, Ginsheim -- Controlled Releases

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EnJoy the book as I did !!! 

Journal Entry 8 by merimag from Shrewsbury, Shropshire United Kingdom on Tuesday, May 23, 2006

This arrived in the post. I will start it next week- I want to read something in preparation for the Hay-in-Wye literary festival for this weekend.

many thanks 

Journal Entry 9 by merimag from Shrewsbury, Shropshire United Kingdom on Sunday, June 11, 2006

I was disheartened when I got the book to see that the recommendations came from Glamour and The Daily Mirror- they aren't my reviewer of choice. But after the first 50 pages (when I kept having to look at the brief biographies of the characters at the front of the book) I becamed sucked into the lives of the characters. In spite of the fact that the relationships were intertwined too coincidentally to satisfy me I found it engrossing. I though it was well written and reminded me of the years during which I read Maeve Binchy and such. She had some lovely detail in the telling of these tales and I thought captured the true nature of the supportive friendships women have for each other. I belong to such a group and it has sustained us through 20 years of marriage and divorce and child raising and illness and falling in and out of friendship and now that the kids start to go off to university will sustain us through the empty-nest syndrome. Some of us are married and some are not (and some live in that middle-age twilight of the mid-life crises of our partners) but we are always there for each other. That rang very true for me. I also have read many of the books that the women discussed and that gave me another pleasurable dimension in which to enjoy the book.

This goes off to cloggy with best wishes for her enjoyment. And I want to publically say to mellion108 that she did a fantastic job with her bookmark!! I am fighting the urge to keep it :) 

Journal Entry 10 by cloggy from London , Greater London United Kingdom on Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Arrived safely this morning. I've got two books ahead of this one, but I should get to it soon - it might sneak its way to the top of the pile, as I've heard good things about it.

Thanks Mellion108 and Merimag for sharing& sending. 

Journal Entry 11 by cloggy from London , Greater London United Kingdom on Sunday, June 25, 2006

A enjoyable book - not earth-shattering, but a light and easy read.
In the first 30 pages or so, I had to keep looking back to the front to find out who was who, but quickly the story and characters gelled together. I'd looked at this book in the bookshop a few times, but never bought it, as I thought it might be too flufyy, too light a read for my liking. But the characters are well rounded, not of them are one dimensional (apart from some of the men) and it is well written.
Thanks Mellion108 for sharing, it's in the post to Lauraloo29 

Journal Entry 12 by lauraloo29 from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Friday, June 30, 2006

Arrived today. I have a few rings before it. I will keep it moving. :)

Update - July 17 - Began reading today. 

Journal Entry 13 by lauraloo29 from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Thursday, July 20, 2006

I had a hard time with this book. Not one of my favorites. I almost put it down at about page 50, but I decided to press on. I did like the different women. But it felt like too many characters to keep track of. There were also some small mistakes/typos that grated on me. I also felt it got to tidy at the end.

It looks like I'm the end of the ray. I'll hold onto it for a while, unless I hear otherwise. Thanks for sharing. 

Journal Entry 14 by lauraloo29 from Edmonton, Alberta Canada on Friday, July 21, 2006

Journal Entry 15 by AceofHearts from Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Thursday, August 10, 2006

received today. Thanks for sharing 

Journal Entry 16 by AceofHearts from Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, August 16, 2006

I enjoyed this book. I think that every woman will relate to at least one character. I related most to Susan as I have just gone through the same process and I have a very disfunctional family. Thanks for the read!! 

Journal Entry 17 by AceofHearts from Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Monday, August 21, 2006

mailed yesterday to michyj 

Journal Entry 18 by michyj from Perth, Western Australia Australia on Monday, November 20, 2006

Journal Entry 19 by michyj from Perth, Western Australia Australia on Saturday, December 09, 2006

There were too many characters in this book that I had to keep flipping back to the character description page. I thought some of the things that happened (Cress and Polly) were somewhat sugar coated and no huge emotions came out of it. I was ticked off at Elliot for not stepping up to the plate and taking on his share of responsibility. Polly did not need to step in and take over. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll stop there. I'll post this on to DrCris this week and hopefully other Aussies will sign up for it! Thanks for sharing this book everyone!

•MAILED DECEMBER 11, 2006 

Journal Entry 20 by DrCris from Templestowe, Victoria Australia on Thursday, December 14, 2006

Rceived from michyj. There is no one after me in the ray at the moment, so I may leave this to read until after Christmas. 

Journal Entry 21 by DrCris from Templestowe, Victoria Australia on Thursday, December 28, 2006

I came to this book with low expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised. I liked that the characters' lives had started before the book did, and that the action only covered 1 year. I hated the first few pages and thought I would give up, though - the author seemed very aggressive/angry in her writing style to me. I loved the way the reading group thing was tackled in this book - there was a lot of discussion of the book that ranged over the story and into their personal lives. This was just like book groups I have been involved in. After enjoying most of the book, I have to agree that the ending was a bit neat and twee - everything just tied up too perfectly.

I will send this on to livrecache today. 

Journal Entry 22 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Thursday, January 04, 2007

Received safely on Wednesday. Thanks DrCris, for passing it on. I'm behind in my journalling as I've had heatstroke (a first!) for the past couple of days. 

Journal Entry 23 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Saturday, January 06, 2007

I have very mixed feelings about this book. It was easy reading, and yes, I did get drawn in by the characters, but I thought they were a little too formulaic. (Although reading the author's puff piece at the end, it seems to be intentional. She'd call it 'representative', I expect. ) And while I concede that most women could relate to at least one of the events happening in at least one of the women's lives, I found some of the ways that some situations were resolved or turned out to be quite unlikely. (They're probably the ones that the author could cite as being true.) I shan't spoil it for future readers by being specific. And everything was tied up so neatly at the end: life may not be like that, but it's the way this type of book would go, so I sighed at its predictability, but I would have been disappointed had any thing been left unresolved.
I rather liked the device of using the book the women were reading each month as a pointer to the narrative.
I thought the men were all quite one dimensional, even though they were central to the women's concerns. For all that, I did like the book for its gossipy, Maeve Binchy feel, and the central theme of the importance and strength of women's friendships. I felt most of the end matter was a tad patronising and bossy: I mean really, telling us how to set up our own reading group!
Thanks michyj for setting this ray up in Oz, and I'll send the book on to puppymummy ASAP. 

Journal Entry 24 by livrecache from Hobart, Tasmania Australia on Tuesday, January 23, 2007

FINALLY, I managed to book this book in the post today. It's a shame I couldn't give it to you in person last week, puppymummy, but as we both didn't go to the meetup because of that dreadful heat and the power outages, it just wasn't meant to be.

I hope you enjoy it, and maybe we'll get to talk about it in person at the next meetup. 

Journal Entry 25 by puppymummy from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Sunday, February 04, 2007

Woohoo! A book I really want to read, and a bookray so no pressure! Fantastic :) 

Journal Entry 26 by puppymummy from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Friday, March 30, 2007

I finished this book this morning, and it was good but diminished by a couple of things - the Eliot/Cressida/Clare thing really annoyed me, and I'm not sure I got over that.
It also didn't help that I have recently read 'Angry Housewives Eating BonBons', with a very similar theme and a book that drew me in a lot more. Perhaps because of the type of author - they asked her in the fluff piece at the end whether she was vodka or gin, red or white, and my answers would have been vodka and red and hers were opposite.
I did find that the characters had important lessons for me to think about on a couple of occasions, but overall it doesn't compare well to Lorna Landvik's reading group. I think I would have enjoyed it more if read at a different time, but them's the breaks.
I'll probably take this to meetup tomorrow to see if anyone else wants to read it. 

Journal Entry 27 by lmn60 from Spotswood, Victoria Australia on Saturday, March 31, 2007

Evil puppymummy - that bookcrossing enabler - thrust this into my hands as soon as I arrived at meetup today! So much for my three books out/one book in resolution for 2007!

Onto the towering heights of Mt TBR with it! 

Journal Entry 28 by lmn60 from Spotswood, Victoria Australia on Sunday, June 29, 2008

I came to this book after reading a 'difficult' one by Will Self, hoping for a bit of light relief. Sadly, this one didn't 'do' it for me at all.
I found it 'soapy' in its tone - though I'll concede probably more 'Desperate Housewives' than 'Days of our Lives'; plodding in its narrative; and overpopulated (I too had to keep flipping back to work out who was who) with sketchily drawn characters.
In the end I flipped through this one in an attempt to get the damn thing finished and moving along.

I'll take this one up to the Aussie BC convention next week to ensure it keeps travelling. Hopefully it'll be enjoyed more by the next reader! 

Journal Entry 29 by lmn60 at BC Brisbane Convention in Brisbane, Queensland Australia on Friday, July 04, 2008

Released 3 yrs ago (7/4/2008 UTC) at BC Brisbane Convention in Brisbane, Queensland Australia

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RELEASE NOTES:

Taking along to the Friday night dinner... where it will either be snaffled by another bookcrosser or released to travel some more through sunny Queensland!




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! 

Journal Entry 30 by juli2007 from Beachmere, Queensland Australia on Friday, July 04, 2008

I picked this book up at the Brisbane Convention, it was reccomended to me by another Bcer, thank you! 

Journal Entry 31 by juli2007 at -- Controlled Releases --, Queensland Australia on Monday, May 03, 2010

Released 2 yrs ago (5/4/2010 UTC) at -- Controlled Releases --, Queensland Australia

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Cleaning up my shelves so giving this book to a friend.