Absolutely fantastic book that needs to be shared.

Our Lady of the Lost and Found

FROM THE PUBLISHER
"On an apparently typical Monday morning in April, a middle-aged writer goes into her living room to water the plants and finds a woman standing in front of the fig tree. The woman is wearing a navy blue trench coat and white Nikes. She has a white shawl draped over her hair and she is holding a large leather purse and a small black suitcase on wheels. She is the Virgin Mary. Invited to stay for lunch, Mary explains that, after two thousand years of petition, adoration, and traveling, she is tired and needs some R and R. She ends up staying for one extraordinary and illuminating week." "So begins Diane Schoemperlen's novel. What follows is a magical tale in which Mary becomes much more than an icon. She becomes a kind and thoughtful and funny friend, a woman we can understand, not just one who is revered. As their time together unfolds and their wonderful friendship develops, the narrator learns the remarkable history of one of the most influential and complex women of all time. Along the way, she is propelled into a vibrant examination of life's big questions and begins to discover her own capacity for faith.

She's off and running. Please take good care of her as she is one of my favourite books.

Our Lady of the Lost and Found
bookreadera - PA
LyekkaMarengo - PA
buffra - WV
your-book-fairy - NY
morsecode - NY
batty14 - NY
indygo88 - IN
Luintaurien - NE
tenneh - NE
Andycap14 - CA
sfbookgirl - CA
mysteryfan03 - MO

wow-two books in my mailbox this afternoon! (another ring book came as well) As I was having a rotten day, this is wonderful : D I'm starting as soon as I get offline. Thanks for sharing another book.

Wow! The phrase "beautiful grace" ran through my head the whole time I was reading this book. Catholic or not, believer or not, I can't imagine anyone not being moved by the quiet power and relentless strength of The Lady. An incredible book. I've already told a half-dozen or so people to read it(most before I had even finished.)

Posting out to LyekkaMarengo on Wed.

Thanks wyldewomin for sharing her : D

09/19/2005 Arrived safe and sound in Central PA. 1 1/2 books ahead of it.

Well, I am neither Catholic or particularly religious but I absolutely loved this book. In fact I ordered a copy for myself from bookcloseouts.com since I want to pass it around to all my friends and would seriously consider re-reading it. It was a very unique book in that some of the chapters were historic sightings of Mary and then there was the back story of Mary's visit to the author. I love history books so this satisfied that part of me and I also love books that make you sit and think about what you think about a lot of things. And this book certainly did that to perfection. It also made me laugh out loud a few times. I was particularly fond of the section where she said that when she died she wanted it stated right up front what she died of since she always read the obituaries and tried to figure out what people died of by looking at the charities etc. I do that exact same thing and feel exactly the same way. I found myself thinking that a lot, that I shared a lot of opinions with the author. I don't usually gush about books much but this one is worth gushing about. Thanks for the ring wyldewomin. Loved it.

Will mail this one next week.

It arrived safely. Thank you.

And...it didn't arrive alone. It brought 3 unexpected friends with it. And all of them are authors (letters) I need for the A-Z challenge. Coincidence? I think not. Thank you *so much* LyekkaMarengo!! :)

This book was good, but not what I had expected. It is the story of a middle-aged writer who is visited by Mary for a week, while Mary takes a bit of a vacation.
I expected a bit more of a “story,” a bit more of the development in the relationship between Mary and the author. Instead, much of the book is given over to stories of Mary throughout the years -- sightings and miracles that are attributed to her, saints that have seen her, people who have claimed to be touched by her.
These snippets were interesting and most were not stories I had heard before -- as is mentioned in the book, there are countless stories about Mary, and I had never studied her in any depth. They don’t take away from the story, but are well-incorporated.
I learned some things, I enjoyed it, but I think that my expectations made it harder for me to fully lose myself in this story. Or perhaps it was the periodic transition to more studious recounting of Marian beliefs. For whatever reason, I was a tiny bit disappointed.

I got this one in the mail last night and am so looking forward to it. I've got a ring and a half ahead of it, but luckily I'm well ahead in my graduate school classes and am reading as fast as I can!

Thanks much to everyone who has gotten the book this far, and especially thanks for your wonderful reviews. I got another book in the mail at the same time as this one and even though it had been to 6 or 8 bookcrossers before me, hardly any had written more than "arrived today" or "mailing out today", so I love seeing these thoughtful journal entries (especially when they're ones like this that get me so excited to read the book!).

This really was such a lovely book... I agree with everyone's review -- it was also not what I expected but I really enjoyed the mix of backstory with the author's visit and the historical information about Mary. I had never questioned until now how much I've heard about and learned about so many biblical figures, yet so little about her. I also read this book during a somewhat chaotic few days in my life, and I really enjoyed being able to lose myself in the descriptions of the peace and stillness and comfort that the writer's house had during Mary's visit.

It also left me wondering why the older stories of visits by Mary were relatively easy for me to accept, but the more recent they got the more skeptical I became. Somehow a shepherd in Europe 400 years ago makes sense to me, I can sort of say "Sure, Mary could go to him and perform a couple miracles...". But a housewife in Queens in the 1970s? I find it nearly impossible to... well, I guess to have faith, really. But as much as the book made me realize how little faith I have, it also left me ready to think and learn more about these things.

I already have morsecode's address from a previous ring, so I'll be dropping this in the mail by the end of the week.

Thanks, wyldewomin, for putting this ring together!

This book arrived today!
I'll get it back on the road right after Christmas.

The book begins with a quote from Margaret Atwood's Cat's Eye, a wonderful book that I recently had the opportunity to read through another book ring. I'll quote a bit of it here:
Then I saw the Virgin Mary [...] all over her black dress were pinned what I thought at first were stars, but which were instaed little brass or tin arms, legs, hands, sheep donkeys, chickens, and hearts.
I could see what these were for: she was a Virgin of lost things, one who restored what was lost. She was the only one of these wood or marble or plaster Virgins who had ever seemed at all real to me.
When discussing her inspiration for the book in her author's notes, Diane Schoemperlen doesn't mention Cat's Eye, but I can't help but think--especially after seeing the long quotes from Cat's Eye--that Atwood's description of Mary in her book had some effect on Schoemperlen's writing of Mary.

I'm not going to give this book a star rating because I really don't know how to rate it. Like many of the other readers I found that the book was not what I expected it to be. There were some things that annoyed me (not the least of which is the phrase "a novel of Mary, faith, and friendship" emblazoned on the cover) and there were some things that I absolutely loved.

One of the things I liked best was the author's attention to detail in the book. I loved reading about all the Marian apparitions. I also appreciate the fact that Schoemperlen included a bibliography in her author's notes and acknowledgements.

The narrator's tendency toward digression and self-analysis took away from the story at times. Because of this, however, the book is full of perfect little words of wisdom like this: "the hardest person in the world to forgive is yourself [and] the hardest person in the world to have faith in is also yourself" (326).

wyldewomin, thanks so much for sharing this with us.

[sent 12/24/05]

This book arrived today. This is the 4th bookring I rec'd this week, so it may be a few weeks before I send this one off. But I will get to it ASAP.

RELEASE NOTES:

Just put in the mail to continue the book ring. An interesting read. The history chapters were a bit weighty, but I really enjoyed this story!

Received today. Holy moly -- I received 5 (yes, 5!) bookring books last week, so unfortunately this one will be added to the list of TBR. Sorry -- just bad timing! I'm going to get through them as quickly as possible, and I'll try to post updates on my reading status. Looking forward to this one!

3/29/06 -- One more book ahead of this one.

4/7/06 -- Starting book today.

This one is hard for me to write a review on. I'm sitting here reading everyone else's reviews and I agree with a lot of what everyone else said, although I think I agree mostly with buffra. I guess I too expected more of a "story" about the relationship between the narrator and Mary and not so much "history". While the history was enlightening and educational for me, I found myself dragging through at times. I expected to fly right through this book, but it took me longer than I'd expected. This book was also very philosophical, which is a good thing if you're in the mood for it, but not so good when you're not. I think if I were to re-read it at a time when life was not so hectic and rushed for me(as it is currently), I would have enjoyed it more. Like LyekkaMarengo said, I often felt like I could relate very well to the narrator and sometimes felt like I was reading about myself.

I apologize for keeping Our Lady longer than I should've. Perhaps she needed a longer rest this time (longer than a week!). LOL! She is beginning to show some excessive wear, as the first few pages are beginning to come out of the binding. In my hurry to get her in the mail this morning, I forgot to mend her up a bit, so she may need some tape repair when you get her, Luintaurien. :') Sending her off later today!

Got it today. Thank you. Will read and pass on ASAP.

Good book. Thanks for the chance to read it. Sending on

RELEASE NOTES:

Received today - will get to it asap

Oops!! The entry above was me! I didn't realize my daughter was logged in on my puter! Sorry

8/21 - Only have about 50 pages to go and I already have next person's address so it should be on it's way in a day or so. Sorry I kept it so long but it's been really hard to get through! I also was expecting more of a "story". The history is interesting but really hard for me to get through right now - just not in the mood for it I guess. I am very glad I read it though.

Received today. Thanks!

I enjoyed this book. I found it a nice lesiure walk through one person's experience with Mary.

I will be sending to the last person on the list tomorrow. Thanks for the chance to read and share this book.

I just realized that I have had this book for a few weeks and forgot to journal it! I also expected the book to be more about the author and her relationship. The first part was hard to put down. When the book got bogged down as a history lesson, I lost interest. I can read dozens of myths and storys about Mary anywhere. I guess that I wanted to continue with the charming story of the author and her experience. Thanks for sharing this with us! Since I am last, I will PM wyldewomin to see where it goes next!