"This is the kind of book where you can smell and hear and see the fictional world the writer has created, so palpably does the atmosphere come through. Set on an island in the straits north of Puget Sound, in Washington, where everyone is either a fisherman or a berry farmer, the story is nominally about a murder trial. But since it's set in the 1950s, lingering memories of World War II, internment camps and racism helps fuel suspicion of a Japanese-American fisherman, a lifelong resident of the islands. It's a great story, but the primary pleasure of the book is Guterson's renderings of the people and the place." from amazon.com

This book was a huge bestseller and won several awards, so it must have its merits. For me it did not work so well, because I found it not bad, but a bit boring.

Offered at http://bookrelay.com/index.php.

.... Kindly accepted by raralovestoread on April 1, I'll be mailing it tomorrow.

I received this book today as part of the "International Keep Them Moving 3" book relay. I look forward to reading it. Thanks, Lisa-B.

This book is a page-turner ... I had difficulty putting it down - just a really good story. I also like the way it was written - as each character was testifying on the witness stand or doing something else related to the trial, the author presented flashbacks of events that had previously happened to that character. I was unfamiliar with a lot of the nautical terms (though I do know what a gill net is), but understood well enough that it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the story. I was glad that Ishmael did the right thing at the end.

RELEASE NOTES:

I will put the book on a table in the doctor's office located in Suite S450.