Journal Entry 1 by leeny37 from Melbourne, Victoria Australia on Monday, February 16, 2009

Received through BookMooch.com - I mooched this specifically for the Southern Cross 2009 Monthly Exchange on BoookObsessed.com.

From Amazon.com:
This excellent book of short stories by one of Canada's best-known authors glitters with vivid characterizations and examples of finely crafted story telling. Atwood's dramatic range is impressive. She opens with humorous, gently satirical stories about childhood and adolescence. Her title story skillfully portrays a woman's fear and grief as she begins to question her husband's faithfulness and her own perceptions, while other stories show the despair of characters who are trying to salvage lost relationships or to establish new ones. Many of these stories have the pacing and tone of spoken tales, stories told on front porches or repeated between mothers and daughters. This entertaining book by a gifted writer is highly recommended. 

Journal Entry 2 by leeny37 at Forest Hill, Victoria Australia on Monday, March 02, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (3/3/2009 UTC) at Forest Hill, Victoria Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sending this wishlist book to Ms. March, jubby, as part of the Southern Cross 2009 Monthly Exchange on BookObsessed.com. Enjoy! :) 

Journal Entry 3 by jubby from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Friday, March 06, 2009

Oh my goodness! Not one, but two books.

Thank you, thank you Leeny37. 

Journal Entry 4 by jubby from Sydney, New South Wales Australia on Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Lenny37 I deeply enjoyed this book of short stories.

I had been struggling of late with work and a small baby who liked to play in the wee hours of the morning, so had not been able to concentrate and read much.
So, I picked up this book of short stories in the hope that I could read just a little at a time.

And not only that, it has wonderfully large font, so I could feed baby with one hand, and read the book (from a distance) at the same time. Joy!

The stories in this book (her second collection of short stories) are a homage to Margaret Atwood's parents.
Featuring her parents in many of the stories, common elements from Atwoods' other works feature also (allusions to fairy tales, feminism, relationships, art and artists).

My favourite of these stories though is the title story: Bluebeard's egg. I have to admit that I've never read the original story, and feel that I would enjoy Atwood's story more if I made the effort (I recently heard a reference made to an Angela Carter short story from 'The bloody chamber' that also is based on this same fairy tale - which has me intrigued).

Brilliant writing, and so satisfying. I even made it to the end of the book!
Thank you again Leeny37. 

Journal Entry 5 by jubby at Australia Post, Virtual Bookbox OZ -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Released 3 yrs ago (4/19/2009 UTC) at Australia Post, Virtual Bookbox OZ -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I entered this book in Freelunchs' OZ virtual book box, and Dolphin-au selected it. So, have posted off to him.
Enjoy. 

Journal Entry 6 by dolphin-au from Lake Macquarie, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, April 23, 2009

Received safely, thanks Jubby! Margaret Atwood is one of my favourite authors so I'm looking forward to this. It will probably be a while though, before I'll get to it. 

Journal Entry 7 by dolphin-au at Bellingen, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Selected by jennymidget for the 'Make me read it' relay. Hopefuly it shouldn't be too long now before I'll get to this book. 

Journal Entry 8 by dolphin-au at Bellingen, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (11/10/2010 UTC) at Bellingen, New South Wales Australia

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to jennymidget as part of the Make me read it relay.
I actually did manage to get to read this collection of stories. None of them really stood out for me, and I can't say I enjoyed this book quite as much as Atwood's other books.  

Journal Entry 9 by jennymidget at Bellbowrie, Queensland Australia on Monday, November 15, 2010

Thanks dolphin-au! Hmm, mixed reviews - Usually I like Atwood, and my sister in law is reading her first Atwood at the moment too, so we'll see what we think of this one... 

Journal Entry 10 by jennymidget at Bellbowrie, Queensland Australia on Friday, February 11, 2011

I'm not sure quite what it was, but I found this collection terribly dull, every single story in it. It was a struggle to keep reading to the end, to be honest. They weren't poorly written, not at all. But not a single one engaged me - the Scarlet Ibis story came closest, but even that one was just so ordinary and dull I couldn't say I truly enjoyed it. A pity, because every one of Atwood's novels I've read I've loved, been glued to the pages. Not quite sure what was different here...

Sending to a BookMoocher interstate.