"Ned is suffering disorientation, maudlin sentimentality and a tendency to become distracted by irrelevancies: classic symptoms of excessive time travel. And no wonder: Oxford's history department has just pulled him out of World War II and Ned's barely had time to wash off the gunpowder when he has a straw boater shoved on his head, a carpetbag in his hand and is thrown straight into Victorian England. For a holiday."

From afternoon tea on the Master's Lawn to the bombing of Coventry Cathedral and back again - and again - and again - this is the time travel book for time travel experts. A marvelous romp through Victorian England, WWII, and Twenty-first century Oxford, with a few shrewd tilts at the Church of England, the English class system, and the ever-continuing warfare that's waged between rival academic departments at universities the world over.

Arrived in today's mail. Thank you HINERANGI for sharing.

I was in the middle if 'Sophie's World' when this arrived on my doorstep and was overawed by the size and expecting it to be another marathon. That couldn't have been further from the truth.

It's a rollicking romp through time and history with the most likeable characters, to say nothing of the dog - or cat, for that matter!

Thank you so much HINERANGI for sharing your book with me. I'll be on the lookout for more by Connie Willis.

Will pass on to lakelady2282 next Wednesday, at the latest.

Lovely to catch up with you Cat and thanks for passing the book on. Really looking forward to reading it.

My God! This book is so much fun. I just loved the time slips, the what if's and the clutter of Victorian England all rolled into one. As someone who enjoys looking at the details and the play of events this book is one of my all time favourites. I am in the process right now of hunting down Passage. Thanks so much HINERANGI for offering it and Cat for passing it on.

RELEASE NOTES:

Picked up from my postbox with joy.

It looks very very interesting.

I loved this book! What a hoot. Especially for those who have some english history knowledge and an affection for the victorian period.

The characters, although two dimensional farce characters, are well drawn and loads of fun. Tossie and family reminded me of the Bennets from "Pride and Prejudice". Even Cyril the dog was comical.

Thoroughly recommended. Sorry it took me so long to read but I wasn't able to put proper attention until the holiday I am currently enjoying. I'll get it off to the next reader when I'm back in oz in the next fortnight.

Sorry guys. I have had this a month now and had completely forgotten to make a j/e. =(
This book was thrust into my hands on the first evening of the ABC in Melbourne in October! What? I thought? I put my name down for a book THIS HUGE??? I'm gonna need a new handbag... heheh, shopping!
So I've just started it this morning and it shows promise - and I love time travel books.
Thanks all.

Well, I have to say this is my book of the year! I was a bit concerned nothing had grabbed me in 2007 but this story took me by the scruff of the neck and shook me about a bit. =)
Initially the sheer size of the book worried me, but like someone else said, once I started reading it just flew by!
The mind bending concept of time travel with the consequences of 'what if' was excellently dealt with, and in the end is there really a grand plan...?

There were lots of references to other books, mostly Three men in a boat (to say nothing of the dog)(!) [which I have on my TBR - MUST read that now] and various Agatha Christie and Peter Wimsey stories.

But that dang cat...

Thanks for the opportunity to read this, although I cant remember putting my hand up for it, and I have contacted KLL to send it on.

RELEASE NOTES:

Off in the mail today to KLL, who is in for a chuckle. =)

Received this today!! Thanks very much littlemave and hingerangi. Looking forward to reading it - hopefully I'll get to it over the Xmas break :-)

I *loved* this book and I am so glad I signed up for the book ring. I hadn't read any Connie Willis before and, like cat207 and littlemave, I was a bit daunted by the size when it arrived in the post (particularly when Jerome K. Jerome's 'Three Men in a Boat' is so relatively thin!!) But I had no trouble reading it at all, and in fact finished the last third in a marathon read late one night because I had to know what happened!

What did I love? Well, pretty much everything :-) but in particular, I loved the time travel - how seemingly unimportant events could cause such major changes in history, and how well Willis could illustrate it - it was all beautifully intricate. I *loved* the murder mystery references; Agatha Christie's Poroit is a particular favorite of mine, and I've just recently read a bit of Sherlock Homes. I'll have to get a bit of Lord Wimsey to make up the set! I loved the quotes at the beginning of the chapter, and the short summaries of what would happen - I remember that formatting from 'Three Men...'. I loved Ned and Verity, who made such a charming couple, and I loved the period the story is set in.

In a way I could see parallels between this and Jasper Fforde's 'The Eyre Affair', in terms of the literary references and lighthearted writing. Of course, the *big* difference between the two is that I didn't much care for 'The Eyre Affair', finding it unbelievable and quite irritating. 'To Say Nothing of the Dog', however, had me hook line and sinker... :-)

Next on the list is woosang. I'll get her address now and get the book moving again :-)

This is now packed up and will be in the post to woosang tomorrow morning :-)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Mahinaarangi, because she read The Doomsday Book, and liked it.

I'm sorry to hijack this journal, but as you probably, know the title of this book is the subtitle of Jerome K Jerome's 1889 book "Three men in a boat".
Anyway, I have a copy of it which I have already read, and wondered if anyone on this list would be interested? I believe the 3 men are mentioned somewhere in this story....
Please let me know if you are interested!
[Now back to normal programming...]

Hinerangi lent me this book. Many, many thanks!
I loved it. I will certainly be looking for a copy of my own.