Hope to read it soon!

RELEASE NOTES:

On the bookshelf.

Picked this up at the Starbucks OBCZ yesterday. It looks fascinating! Hope to get to it soon

Thanks (and Hi!) Lotusflower77!

I began this book quite some time ago and was enjoying it. Then I got sidetracked and put it down for awhile (sidetracked? who, me??!)

I decided to tackle it again for my A to Z Challenge earlier this year but found that I had a difficult time getting back into it. So, rather than put it back on the shelf for another few years, it is off to a new home!

The book has arrived at its new home.

Thank you so much, jessibud. I hope it will be not too terribly long before I get to read this book. Thank you also for your friendly note and the bookmarks. You are so sweet!

So it only took me six years to get to this book, but I started reading it today for the Mt. TBR BookCrossing challenge on LibraryThing.

Opening this book, I found a lovely note (dated Oct 4/08) from jessibud saying...

"Hope you enjoy the book. I did of what I read but (as I said) strayed a bit and found it hard to get back to it.
Truly autumn here now. I turned on my furnace this morning!! EEK! "
Shana tova."

Well, I'm about ready to turn *off* my furnace now and settle down with this book. Spring should be coming soon. I love that this book starts off with the author reminiscing about leaving San Francisco as that was where I had hoped to live myself before I chose to move to Israel for one year as a volunteer nurse. As the author tells about moving into her new Jerusalem apartment, I recall my own move to a Jerusalem apartment in Katamon Tet (now Gonen Tet) which, at the time, had been completely empty but eventually was furnished with the barest minimum of furniture from the "Sakhnoot" (the Jewish Agency) via the auspices of "Sherut La'Am" (Service to the Nation).

Oh, well. I'm eager to see where this book leads and to revisit memories of living in that glorious city of Jerusalem.

So far, I love, love, love this book!!

I adored this book. It brought back a flood of memories from the few months I had the privilege and delight of living and working in the city of Jerusalem. Although author Adina Hoffman talked about her experiences in the city at a later time period than when I was there, she brought back all of the local color of that city The people in Jerusalem are amazing - so colorful, so special. If I could have, I would have jumped right into the pages of this book, taken the author's hand and told her to let go, not be afraid of the city and its inhabitants, and to simply take everything in around her with joy. There was a sense if trepidation about her writing. I guess it was the time in which she lived there. I was there before the Intifada began.

Maybe it was because I was there as a single woman and the author first came there as a married woman, that I felt the beginning of this book was so tentative. She nailed her emotions and reactions of others in such a way that all the characters came vividly to life.

Maybe not as much for others who have never been to Israel or to Jerusalem, but for me, this book was simply enchanting. I loved all the characters - even the ones who were less than agreeable. That was because I seemed to know them all. With Hoffman's great eye and descriptive ability, she made this book as alive as any book could be. I enjoyed this read immensely.

Welcome to BookCrossing, where we make the whole world a library!

If you have not already done so, please make a journal entry so I know this book has found a new home. I encourage you to join BookCrossing (free!) so that you can follow this book's future travels. It's fun, and your personal information will never be shared or sold. If you decide to join, consider listing "SqueakyChu" as your referring person.

Take your time reading the book. When you finish, make another journal entry to record your thoughts about it. This book is now yours so you can keep it or share it with someone else. If you pass it along, please make a release note to let us know where you left it.

Happy reading!