Uma das prendas para o meu Afilhado- Natal 2006 :)

FELIZ NATAL!!! :)

Que bela surpresa, muito obrigado Stephe e Feliz Natal.
Vai ter de aguardar para ser lido mas será em breve.

Ok, this wasn’t quite what I was expecting. There was so much talk about how great this book was that I guess I was expecting a truly great book, I was wrong.
This is the story of Jesus as a child from age 7 to age 8, and of his struggling to find his origins and what happened when He was born.
This is all very good and would indeed make a interesting book but Anne Rice doesn’t have it in her to pull this off.
The book’s well researched and the details about life in Alexandria and in the Holy Land are very accurate but the Jesus character is just too pale, like a kid who can do magic tricks and little else, maybe the author’s got another book in the making (the way this one develops and its ending point to a series of books) and I hope it’ll be more exciting, this one drags too much.
Anyway thanks again Stephe for the nice surprise.

Just realised that there's little info on the book on the previous JE's so here it goes:
From Publishers Weekly
"Rice departs from her usual subject matter to pen this curious portrait of a seven-year-old Jesus, who departs Egypt with his family to return home to Nazareth. Rice's painstaking historical research is obvious throughout, whether she's showing the differences among first-century Jewish groups (Pharisees, Essenes and Sadducees all play a part), imagining a Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem or depicting the regular but violent rebellions by Jews chafing under Roman rule. The book succeeds in capturing Jesus' profound Jewishness, with some of the best scenes reflecting his Torah education and immersion in the oral traditions of the Hebrew Bible. As fiction, though, the book's first half is slow going. Since it is told from Jesus' perspective, the childlike language can be simplistic, though as readers persevere they will discover the riches of the sparse prose Rice adopts. The emotional heart of the story—Jesus' gradual discovery of the miraculous birth his parents have never discussed with him—picks up steam as well, as he begins to understand why he can heal the sick and raise the dead. Rice provides a moving afterword, in which she describes her recent return to the Catholic faith and evaluates, often in an amusingly strident fashion, the state of biblical studies today."

Reserved for an International BRay.
BRay rules:
- I think a month is time enough for you to read this book if you think you won't make it no problem, just let me know so I can post a little warning to the following BC'er, it's all a matter of courtesy;
- Please do not forget to make a JE when you get it and when you send it on to the next, that way we'll all know where the book is;
- There is no limit to people on this BRay, the more the merrier;
- I'll organize this by country so it won't be too pricey for anyone;
- Because life's hard for a lot of us, please feel free to ship by surface mail;
- The last person on the BRay is free to do with the book as he pleases, you might even want to help it continuing its journey.

Starting its travels today (02.01.2007).

Who's In:
- lenore1 (Portugal)
- silvia-pco (Portugal)
- juliako (UK)
- CandyDarling (Finland)* asked to be skipped
- fairydustwings (USA)* doesn't reply to pm's
- guinaveve (USA)
- Chianarose (USA)* asked to be skipped
- Rrrcaron (USA)* doesn't reply to pm's
- Ollie1976 (USA)
- sarradee (USA)* asked to be skipped
- fungirl503 (USA)
- mysticalzoe (USA)* asked to be skipped
- needywriter (USA)* asked to be skipped
- tabby90 (USA)
- Mamikaem (USA)* asked to be skipped
- cheli-garza (USA)
- elizardbreath (USA)<--It's here!
- livingbooks (Canada) * no longer active
- GateGypsy (Canada) * asked to be skipped
- stardustnf (Canada) * no longer interested
- littledragon (UK) * Doesn't reply to pm
- Melanie2474 (Australia)

Recebi no final da semana passada, mas esqueçi de fazer a dita Je.Assim que acabar o que estou a ler atiro -me a ele,lol.Obrigada

Depois de ter o livro retido tanto tempo, decidi, após a recepção de uma Pm, fazer seguir o livro, pois não consegui pegar nele.

Desculpem a todos os inscritos...

Chegou! Obrigado pelo envio e pela partilha. Vou tentar ser breve!

This book is with me for almost 2 months now, I'm really sorry for the delay. I started reading it this weekend, hopefully it won't take long for me to finish it. Thanks for the understanding, kizmiaz.

Finally I finished it! Again, I'm sorry for the delay.
As kizmiaz said, the book is very well researched. Anne Rice describes life in the Holy Land and in Alexandria in detail, but the story itself could be better, could be more exciting. I also have the feeling that this will be a series of books, because the story of Jesus wasn't developed quite well.

I'll PM butterfly-noir. Thanks for sharing!

2nd July - butterlfy-noir does not answer my PM's, I'll contact littledragon.

16thJuly - littledragon does not answer as well, so the book will me mailed out to juliako.

25thJuly - On its way to juliako.

Arrived this morning thank you!

Arrived this morning thank you!

Arrived this morning thank you!

I enjoyed the first part of the book and then there was lots of bloodshed and agonizing which I found hard-going. I didn't think I was going to carry on but I'm glad I did as I thought the secong half of the book was much more interesting.

CandyDarling has asked to skip the book, I have had no reply from fairydustwings who I have pm.ed twice - but from her bookcrossing page seems to be fairly busy with RL - so will now pm guinaveve.

I received this today. Thanks for sharing. It sounds interesting. I am going to contact the next participant now so that I have the address when I am ready to send it on.

I enjoyed this story. I agree with previous journalers that it could have been more exciting, but I think that maybe the problem for me was in already knowing the ending, the big secret that young Jesus was trying to figure out regarding the terrible thing King Herod ordered done around the time of his birth and who he really was. It is common knowledge and sort of anticlimactic as far as endings go. I liked the whole book and thought that telling the story of Jesus as a child from his own first person perspective made it all the more interesting. It is a totally different genre, but Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff by Christopher Moore also told the story of Jesus as a child and it was a good read in that most people don't think of Jesus as a child, just a baby and an adult.
I have PMed two of the participants after me. Chinarose asked to be skipped and I am still awaiting a response from the BCer that follows her. I will give it a bit more time and then go on to the next person after unless instructed otherwise by the bookray originator.
Thanks for starting this ray and sharing the book.

RELEASE NOTES:

received a while ago and I forgot to journal it. currently reading now

an average read

RELEASE NOTES:

Being sent to the next member-sarradee asked to be skipped.

got the book today in the mail. I will be able to start reading this one today or tommow :) Thanks for letting me part of this book ray!

what would it be like to see Jesus growing up, To be part of his growing up life and knowing what we all know today what would happen to him in his later years? I thought the book was a little slow but not too bad. I most of like it since I read the book in a day and a half. I am going to PM the next person. Hope to mail the book out on Tuesday :)

RELEASE NOTES:

to mysticalzoe

RELEASE NOTES:

to needywriter...asked to be skipped..I PM the next one tabby90 waiting for an address

mysticalzoe has asked to be skipped she has already read the book, going to Pm the next person needywriter

Got in the mail, thanks!

I was about 3/4 done with this book when I got out of the shower today and found that my dog had pulled it off the table and utterly destroyed it. Shredded bits of book are laying all over my living room .
I've already ordered another copy online to replace it and I'll use this same BCID so that the bookray can continue.
Thanks for your patience everyone!

I agree with most of the journallers that this was just an average book, but I do like Anne Rice's portrayal of Jesus. It's a nice reminder of his humanity and that he had his own doubts and troubles just like the rest of us. That's really the whole point of having a son of God on Earth.

Waiting for the address from Mamikaem.
Mamikaem wants to be skipped, PMing cheli-garza.

This just came in the mail today. I found out it had arrived in the mail only two hours after starting another book! Hmm. Which to read, this one or Widow? Decisions, decisions...

Kizmiaz (what a sassy name!), thanks for putting this ray together. Tabby, thanks for getting it to me so quickly. Surprises in the mailbox are wonderful. Everyone else, thanks for all those journal entries. Don't you just love reading ray comments? But I'm being good and am not reading them until after I finish the book so that it isn't flavored in any way!

12/29/2007-
PMd elizardbreath for her address. I'm getting close to the end of the book...

This story wasn't as good as I thought it would be. It *does* seem like this is just a setup for a new series of books. Did anyone else get the feeling that his favorite cousin, Salome, is going to be a love interest later on when Ms. Rice's Jesus is a young man?

Anyhow, a part that I enjoyed is when Jesus and his family return to Jerusalem. The market scene reminds me a tiny bit of Plateros, Zacatecas, home of the Santo Nino de Antoche. When my husband and I take his family there, there are also lines of merchants lined up outside (el mercado) charging outrageous prices. Luckily, no money changers or blood-splashed stones.

This book will be on its way to elizardbreath as soon as I get the chance to go to the post office. Happy new years, everyone.

I received this today. After reading the JE's, I'm not so sure anymore that I want to read it!! :) This book has a really bad mildew smell, but I can't see where it's damaged anywhere...anyway, I have a book to finish up tonight and then I might give it a shot. PMing the next in line.

Just wanted to update everyone...livingbooks and GateGypsy are both being skipped...I've PM'd stardustnf this morning.

edited 1/23: stardustnf has a copy already. Will I ever send this on?? :) PMing next in line now. 2nd PM--1/26


1/30: littledragon is not responding to PM's...PMing next in line.

2/6: Ok, this is ridiculous!!! :) No response from next in line yet!!! What is going on??? Is it because I wrote in the previous entry that the book smells moldy? Well, trust me! It doesn't anymore! Now it smells like my desk! To be more specific, it smells like the middle of the huge pile of papers on my desk but still.... PMing next in line (which also happens to be LAST in line) one more time...and then this baby's heading home! :)

2/13: Alright...well, I haven't heard anything from anybody. Unbelievable. I wonder if I am supposed to read this book?? I browsed through it but it just didn't sound like something I was interested in...but now I wonder if the reason I've not heard from anyone is that I am supposed to read this?? :) I am going to PM the originator to make sure that there is no one else on the list...and if not, I will release this bookray somewhere along the way on our family's trip to the Oregon Coast next week.

RELEASE NOTES:

Left on the rock wall by the first lookout. Last time I saw this book it was under the left arm of a woman with blonde hair. Enjoy!