Journal Entry 1 by futurecat from Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Thursday, November 11, 2010

After a long conversation with Debbie at the Sydney convention, how could I not buy her book? (Actually, given it's a book about bookcrossing, I was probably destined to buy it anyway...)

Arrived from Amazon yesterday, and I'm already 60 pages in and enjoying it.

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Journal Entry 2 by futurecat at Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Tuesday, November 23, 2010

I always hate writing journal entries when I know the author (and especially when I know the author will be reading the entry!), because the temptation is to only say nice things about the book and play down my criticisms. But I'll try and be honest.

Debbie told me in Sydney that her publisher had wanted her to cut the number of characters, and I'm afraid I have to agree. I did like the way the characters wove in and out of the story, and made connections through their books, but it did get confusing at times, and I found myself forgetting who was who (especially Jonathan and Jeremy - I don't know if it was just the similarity of the names, but I got them mixed up all the time!). I really don't think the story would have suffered much by cutting out a couple of characters, or just relegating them to walk-on parts like the many real-life bookcrossers who appear.

Speaking of which, it was such fun to spot so many friends and familiar names throughout the book! It's a pleasure that would be lost on any non-bookcrossing reader, of course, but it made me smile every time I saw a name I knew (though I did keep distracting myself from the story by thinking more about how well she'd captured their journalling styles than about the actual content of the entries...)

I thought the journal entries worked well as a device too - sometimes advancing the story, sometimes just adding to the mood of a chapter.

Oh, one big criticism: when Jane decides to become Ali and sets up her new bookshelf, does she really commit the ultimate bookcrossing sin of re-registering books she'd already registered as Jane and giving them new BCIDs????

Anyway, an enjoyable story, and a lot quicker read than I expected from the size. I don't know if my poor wrists will ever recover from trying to hold it up, though - such a heavy book!

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Journal Entry 3 by futurecat at Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Saturday, November 27, 2010

Released 1 yr ago (11/27/2010 UTC) at Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Given to Discoverylover at this morning's meetup.

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Journal Entry 4 by discoverylover at Christchurch, Canterbury New Zealand on Saturday, November 27, 2010

Heh, thanks for this one, looking forward to reading this a lot :D 

Journal Entry 5 by discoverylover at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Like FutureCat before me, I did find that the characters were a little confusing, but they got clearer towards the end, so much so, that I went back and re-read it. It took me a while to really get into it, but as I got closer to the end I was positively racing along!

The fact that I'm a sucker for a love story helped a lot :D

I especially loved the mentions of BCers I know, and it was a little frustrating not having internet while reading this, I kept wanting to go and look things up!

OH, and I think I've somehow ended up with Lakelady's copy of Sonnets From The Portuguese, which I didn't realise until after I'd read it! Thanks to Skyring for that one :p

Will probably take this to a meetup. 

Journal Entry 6 by discoverylover at Martha's Pantry in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, January 30, 2011

Released 1 yr ago (1/30/2011 UTC) at Martha's Pantry in Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Dear Reader. Thank you for picking up this book! Please make a journal entry here to let me know that this book has found a good home with you. You may choose to remain anonymous or to join (its free). If you join, please consider indicating that you were referred by Discoverylover. I hope you enjoy the book. You can make another journal entry with your comments when you’ve finished reading. Whenever you’re ready to send it on its way, make a journal entry if you are giving or sending this book to a known person, or release notes if you are leaving it "in the wild" again for anyone to catch. Then watch its journey. You’ll be alerted by e-mail 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.

Taking to the meetup.

Would you like to meet Wellington BookCrossers? We meet on the second Tuesday of every month at The Loft above Whitcoulls on Lambton Quay at 5.30 and would love to meet you! We also meet at Martha's Pantry on the last Sunday of the month at 2pm 

Journal Entry 7 by Edwardstreet at Wellington City, Wellington Province New Zealand on Sunday, January 30, 2011

met the author at the Sydney Uncon- will read and pass onto other avid bookcrossers