A brilliant book, truly inspirational! Only wish it was fact rather than fiction. However, BookCrossing is a perfect example of "paying it forward" and the kindness of strangers!

PS So much better than the film!

This book will soon be posted out as an International Bookring.

The rules:

1. When you receive the book please journal it to let everyone else know how far it has got.
2. PM the next person on the list for their address, ready for when you finish the book.
3. After you've read it please journal again with your comments and let us know that you've posted it on.
4. Last on the list to receive the book should pm/email me for my address so that it can be posted back to me when the person has finished it.

Final Order:
yowlyy (Nottingham, England)
chrisim (Pirkanmaa, Finland)
Surfenkitten (NJ, US)
Luintaurien (Nebraska, US) Now has own copy
Gina Robertson "[email protected]" (Texas, US)
Aisling78 (Mass, US) No Answer
Egs (Ottawa, Canada) No Answer
CynthiaA (Ontario, Canada)<---------
lauraloo29 (Edmonton, Canada)
bunnybee (Texas, US)
janette141 (Glasgow, Scotland))

........... and then back to me please

RELEASE NOTES:

This book is going out as a Bookring. First on the list is yowlyy. Happy Reading!!

Received today, thank you...nothing is better than receiving a bookcrossing book on a rainy day, even if it means that the "very urgent TBR pile" is now made out of 7 books (horror!!shock!!).

I will make another JE as soon as I've read the book :-)

Just a brief note to let you know that I've been so fast with the other bookrings that I've started reading this today, and it looks like a nice read... it makes me smile! More comments to follow. Thanks for allowing me to read it :-)

Although not "unputdownable" like the thrillers I love to read, this book is "unputdownable" in his own league. It's a gentle story of idealism and love, and bittersweet indeed, as not all happens to work out like in fairy tales. I describe myself as an idealist somehow, so I was so curious to see how Trevor's school assignment would work out, and even when he almost had given up, to see how indeed the idea kept on be passed on...Changing the world is possible, it is all depending on everyone of us and every small step does make a difference.

Thanks to FiBe for starting this bookring... another author that I have discovered thanks to the kindness of the BookCrossing community :-)

I have the book now ready to depart, however chrisim, who is now in the middle of her house move, asked me to mail the book so that it will be reaching her no earlier than on the 1st of November in her new home. I hope this is ok for all :-)

I received the book yesterday. Now it makes three book ring books to be read :) I already started reading this because it's not my mother tongue so reading will take longer time but not that long if I started to read the other two books. Seen the movie so I hope the story will be easily followed.

I loved this book. I had to put it down many times and in those times I still gave a thought to Trevor and his project. I knew the plot from the movie but it did not trouble me. It was interesting to read about the other events along with the Trevor's daily life. Sometimes it was not so clear who was the person in question but I read along and understood almost all :) The most important in this book was the message, pay it forward. You can't say it better.

I am mailing the book next to Surfenkitten: happy reading!

Honestly, this book isn't as good as i expected. i liked it, but the film version has to be one of my top 3 favorite movies of all time. and, obviously, the book is waaayyyy different! i actually stopped reading after the first few chapters and read another book in between to take my mind off the differences! haha. i guess it worked, because i was able to continue with an open mind....or somewhat open ;)

even so, of course i absolutely love the premise! and in that respect, i love the book because it went so much further into the "chain" than the film seemed to....it showed how the "movement" spread throughout the world. unfortunately it got a little sappy toward the end, where some people almost "expected" good things to happen to them. it seems trevor's original idea of a "really big thing" turned into smaller, little things. but i guess as long as people are doing good for each other, who can complain! as for the book itself again, i liked how it was much more racially integrated than in the film. and for the most part, the wry writing style made me laugh, although in some places the writing seemed to be thin and almost hurried.

i've come up with 1 "really big thing" that i can do, for someone in particular....since seeing the film about 4 years ago, that is! but the book gave me more ideas.... i think though, that some really big things are done more on the spur of the moment.

enough philosophizing! on to Gina!

ack. i was afraid this was the bookring! hasn't been sent yet, for some reason i found it in the TBR pile. i was wondering why i still had Gina's name on a label....will send tomorrow! i think i may have already mailed something to gina though....hmmm....

sorry about that! guess i better check the TBR pile at least once a week!

Got it, thanks!

Very quick read, and an enjoyable one. Of course, it's a very touching story. But I feel the author had some problems with voice. For instance, Arlene did not always sound ignorant or uneducated. At times, she surprisingly lapsed into language and sentence structure that I knew to be the author's and not the character's. As a writer I know how difficult it is to maintain an uneducated voice.

Another problem was when the character's voice was not true to the journalistic format. For instance, we're supposedly reading exerpts from a book about the Movement, sections narrated by the characters talking about what happened. But these sections include way more personal detail than they would if they were part of a journalist's book about the nationwide movment. From Reuben and Arlene we get intimate details about their lover's angst: how she felt when he didn't call her, how scared he was of his emotions for her, how he wanted to call her, how she wanted to drive by his house, etc. etc. These details would have been perfect in a traditional novel narration, but they stood out like a sore thumb in the journalistic format.

There's a short segment in the middle of the book narrated by a young transvestite who winds up being tragically important to the story. But at the time we encounter his piece in the middle of the book, we have no clue who this guy is or why he's telling us about his flamboyant cross-dressing lifestyle. I can't think of a reason why I need to know about this in the middle of the book, it adds nothing to the story and only distracts.

I'm not sure if I am critical of this book because I loved the movie so much or if I would have been more critical of the book had I not seen the way the story should have been told, on the screen. At any rate, I appreciate the chance to finally read this, and now ready to pay it forward to the next reader in line.

I emailed Aisling78 twice. If I don't hear something within a few days I'll move to the next name on the list.

RELEASE NOTES:

No response from Aisling or Egs, so shipped off to Cynthia today. Enjoy, ay!

Got it today, Thanks! It looks like a short read, so I'll probably keep it less than a week.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Lauraloo today..

A busy day at the mailbox! 6 relay books and 2 rings! It is a windy day and I had a little trouble crossing the street with all my packages. :)

I do have to read a couple of books before I start this one. Not to worry. I will keep it moving. Thank you!

I prefer the movie over the book. I'm just not happy with it. Although the concept is wonderful! I'll pass along this Friday. Thank you for sharing!

Received today along with another bookray book! Goes on top of my TBR stack after the book I'm currently finishing up. I've been waiting to read this one for awhile! Never saw the movie, but I hope I enjoy the book.

Thanks, FiBe for the bookring!

************
Update: started on this 5/4

Great book! I found the writing style just like the style in Jodi Piccoult's My Sister's Keeper- where each chapter is written from the point of view of a character, and so you're taken from each person's head to the next person's head all throughout the book. But I do like it, so I can know what each person is thinking, and it does fill in the holes that might be there if all you 'hear' is one person's thoughts.

Anyway, I love the concept of "Paying it forward" although I tend to be a skeptic in people actually following through on such a concept. I think there are too many out there who would take advantage of it rather than feel it's their responsibility to honor the movement and keep it going. It's sad that I view the world that way, but for me personally, I would keep it going. My favorite thing to do that comes close to this movement- is to pay for the car behind me when I am at a fast food drive-thru. I love seeing the smiles and excited looks from the employee in the window, as well as seeing the person's reaction in my rear-view mirror. It gives me a rush that always brightens my day.

Will be mailing it off today to Glasgow.

Received this morning on behalf of janette141. She's on holiday atm but I will take it to her when she returns.

I'll also be doing the JE when she's finished it - I'm her daughter :)

On behalf of janette141:

This was a most unusual book - but quite attention-grabbing. Although it
was a work of fiction, it would be very nice if it could be real!!

Received safely back home. Thanks to everyone who took part in the ring. I hope you enjoyed it!!!!