Got this book from a family who moved their parents to assisted living and was clearing out the house. different cover

6/26/2017
reserved for elizardbreath who is starting a US version of the 1001 books to read before you die library



to the finder:
WELCOME TO BOOKCROSSING!
Please make a journal entry to let me know this book is safe. You may remain anonymous if you wish. If you are new to bookcrossing and decide to join, please consider using SOUTHERNFRYED as the referring member. Enjoy!

in the mail

Thanks so much for contributing to the 1001Library-USA!

This book is available for any 1001Library-USA member who would like to request it. PM Elizardbreath to request.

I have this on my TBR shelf. If you're interested in receiving this one, please let me know!

I'm dissolving the 1001Library-USA due to lack of interest so this one is now available.

Sending to GoryDetails. Enjoy!

To the finder of this book:

This book is gift, no strings attached, from me to you. You may keep it forever, pass it along to a friend, or release it into the wild to be found by someone else.

If you are new to BookCrossing, welcome! Enjoy the site, the book, and the BookCrossing community. I hope you'll join us...it's free! If you do, please consider using me, elizardbreath, as your referring member. You can even remain anonymous if you wish!

I hope you'll make a brief journal entry so all the previous and future readers can track this book's journey.

Thanks, and Happy BookCrossing! :)

Thanks so much for the wishlist book! I'd first read the book via this audiobook, narrated by Simon Vance, and enjoyed the tale of retired and narcissistic Charles Arrowby, who's among the more unreliable narrators I've found in fiction. (In some ways the story reminded me of Paul Torday's The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce.) While I liked the audio version I wanted to read the text, as I'm sure I missed some things, so I'm pleased to have this copy!

I was bemused at the cover-blurb on this copy, which places this line right below the title: "A rich, crowded, magical love story." Um, no? I mean, it's rich and crowded, true enough, and there are hints of magic (figurative and perhaps literal), and the main character's preoccupation with love drives much of the plot, but I wouldn't call it a love story at all - narrator Charles is narcissistic and selfish and often deluded as to the feelings of others for him, and his insane stalker-plan regarding a long-lost love who turns up as a greying housewife in the seaside village he's moved to puts him well beyond the pale.

That said, his obsessions and misconceptions and increasingly-bizarre plans are very enjoyable to read about, if only in the hope that he'll get his comeuppance somehow. And - whether the author's playing with us about this or not I can't say - sometimes it seems that Charles has it right; that is, after he'd gone on about how irresistible the women in his life found him, even though he gave them plenty of reasons to leave, several of them actually did turn up again, so maybe he's not quite as deluded as I thought he was. But there are still miscommunications galore, and the timing of many of the visits cause hilarious and uncomfortable confrontations. And when one of the women turns out to be as scheming, and as uninterested in the feelings of others, as Charles is himself, it seems that he will indeed receive his just deserts.

There's a lot more going on here, from the youth whom Charles has decided he'll adopt to the many old theater friends whose lives intersect with or circle around Charles' - and then there's the setting, the rather delightful if often storm-tossed seaside dwelling, with its dramatic waves and the much-foreshadowed hazards of same... A fine example of a riveting read with a not-very-likable narrator!

I plan to leave this book, bagged against the elements, on a bench overlooking the handsome lighthouse at Nubble Point; hope the finder enjoys it!

Update: Well, you know what they say about best-laid plans! Turns out the lighthouse is swathed in scaffolding for a renovation project, so it isn't as scenic as usual. The ocean is, of course, still spectacular, but it was very, very windy today, so I didn't dare leave the book in the open - and to compound the problem, the seagulls apparently look on anything in a plastic bag as their fair game, and swarmed me in a scene reminiscent of "The Birds"! Got a photo of one, but opted to move the book from that location to a spot beneath the big bell by the gift shop - protected from the wind and not quite as obvious to seagulls. Hope someone finds the book before the wind and/or birds carry it away!

[See other recent releases in ME here.]

*** Released for the 2018 Keep Them Moving release challenge. ***

What a surprise! I found this at the Nubble Lighthouse— by the sea, of course!

I was excited to find this book (Nubble Lighthouse in Maine) and learn about the process of sharing. I traveled with it through Mass and NY and then home with me to Colorado. Now, on Christmas Day I'm in Largo, FL and am almost ready to release it back to the wild.

I didn't care for the actual book much but like the idea of tracking its whereabouts. In fact, I didn't even finish it. It's so rare that I abandon the completion of a book. Somehow it feels like a failure to me. But, alas, as we readers know, it is not. The written word is an art and all art does not suit all people. If it did, where would the fun be? Now this one stands in my mind as the fish that got away - or rather, released back to the sea for another lucky soul to catch.