Pre-numbered label used for registration. I picked this book up, thinking that it might be a collection of cartoons. Upon inspection, I realized that it contained short stories by many authors whose works I'd never read - but had read *about* in the bookcrossing forums. I decided that it might be a way to try a few of those authors, but the book lingered on my shelf, unread for months. I finally decided to send it on a long journey, and hope that when it comes back to me, I'll be more in the mood for escapist literature (at least, that's what I think it is).

Release planned for Monday, June 30, 2003 at Roosevelt Station Post Office in New York, New York USA.

Released via mail. This book is travelling around in a book ring, which (I must admit) I've handled a very disorganized way. I collected the participants names, stuck the book in an envelope, took it to the office to mail, and then promptly forgot about it. The envelope was buried under other papers, and when, after a few weeks, I finally cleaned off my desk, I found it still waiting to be mailed. Sorry, folks. Ring participants include:
1. Zmrzlina, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
2. Jazmin, West New York, New Jersey, USA
3. Bkwrm23, Haskell, New Jersey, USA
4. Notbob, Omaha, Nebraska, USA
5. JennyO, Temple, Texas, USA
6. Marinaw, Austin, Texas, USA
7. Daidy, Utica, Michigan, USA
8. Aaratnayake, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
9. Bossmare, Casper, Wyoming, USA
10. JollyL, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
11. Leanne345, Liverpool, Merseyside, UK
12. Annulla, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Oh my goodness. Forget anything else I am supposed to do today, including finishing up a couple other bookring books. I am going to take my sandwich, soyshake and go sit in the backyard and read this book. Thank you annulla for letting this book out for a jaunt 'round the world, or at least a bit of it.

I'll post another entry before sending the book along.

Aaack! Thought I journaled and mailed this out weeks ago.

Okay...so some of these stories seem to require a background in fantasy, particularly the first one "Peregrine: Alflandia." I have only read a smidgen of fantasy and most of it Terry Pratchett or Douglas Adams. Nonetheless, I did enjoy 90% of the stories I read (didn't read all of them) and thoroughly enjoyed reading the editor's reasoning for the ordering of the stories.

Off to Jazmin. And thank you annulla for starting this ring! And I miss seeing your posts on the boards.

Received in the mail today. I have two other books ahead of this one but I will read as fast as I can:)

I've never read fantasy books before, so I thought I'd give this one a try. I tried very hard to like it but unfortunately I have come to the conclusion that this is not for me.
Sorry it took me so long to read the book. Thank you for letting me participate in this bookring.
I mailed the book today to fellow Bookcrosser bkwrm23.

Received last week, haven;t had time to journal. Have read a couple of the stories, and they're OK, but I don't think they're fantastic....

Will write more when finished.

This came in the mail yesterday. I read the sequel a few years ago... looking forward to this one.

Received in the mail today. I'll start reading it in the next day or two (I have to finish up the non-fiction one I'm reading first). I hope to get it on its way to Marina within two weeks.

I had to laugh about BookCrossing karma when I glanced at the table of contents. This one has a story called "The Unpleasantness at the Baloney Club" and I just happen to have Dorothy L. Sayers' "The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club" sitting on the top of my TBR pile.

Thanks for starting the book ring Annulla.

With the exception of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, I don’t think I’ve ever read any comic fantasy authors. It seems like a lot of Arthurian legend books are considered fantasy, so I have read Jack Whyte, Mary Stewart and T.H. White, but their books certainly wouldn’t qualify as comic. So, when annulla offered this book up as a ring, I jumped on it. I thought it would tell me one of two things:

1) I shouldn’t waste my time on comic fantasy because it’s just not my genre, or
2) I should try books by these authors.

What I discovered is that, while I like Pratchett’s DiscWorld books, and the occasional short story, fantasy is not really where I want to spend most of my reading time. I did enjoy these stories though. Mike Ashley’s done a good job selecting a wide variety of well-known and not-quite-so-well-known authors to include in this collection. Most short story collections are uneven at best, with some really terrific stories and a couple of real groaners. This one was pretty good overall. There might have been a story or two that I didn’t care for, but none so much that I skipped it entirely. There were several very good stories. My favorites were:

Pizza to Go by Tom Holt – you’ve got to like a story that starts out with Jesus ordering pizza to feed the 5,000.

Death Swatch by Esther Friesner – this one was really funny. I never would’ve thought of torturing the Grim Lord by redecorating. Think Trading Spaces in Hell.

Press Ann by Terry Bisson – this one was probably my favorite of the lot. I don’t know how to describe it other than to say it’s about an omniscient ATM.

The Troll Bridge by Terry Pratchett – I love a good Cohen the Barbarian story.

The Toll Bridge by Harvey Jacobs – Dr. Shnibitz becomes Attila the Hun’s analyst. Hilarious.

Alaska by John Morressy – fairly straightforward fairy tale with kind gnomes. I liked this one.

The Distressing Damsel by David Langford – unusual twist on the princess kissing the frog standard.

Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar by Neil Gaiman – I really like Gaiman’s stories. Especially the shorter ones. American Gods was good, but I think his short stuff is much better. This ghost story didn’t disappoint at all.

The Unpleasantness at the Baloney Club by F. Gwynplaine MacIntyre – I don’t think this author’s name is a nom de plume, therefore, it seems he was destined to write fantasy stories. I think I liked this one so much because I’m reading Dorothy L. Sayers’ The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club at exactly the same time.

A Fortnight of Miracles by Randall Garrett – this one’s just a well-told story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the goblin and magician’s characters.

Fall’n Into the Sear by James A. Bibby – I really liked this story. It’s about a young warrior who finally meets his greatest challenge which turns out to be not at all what he’d expected.

The Tale of the Seventeenth Eunuch by Jane Yolen – I was interested in this one because Yolen writes children’s books too. Moon Ball is one of my kids’ favorites. This one’s definitely not a kids’ story, but it was fun. The Aladdin’s wife puts his lamp to good use after his death.

All in all, a fun read. It must be anyway, since I whipped through all 500+ pages in just a couple of days.

Thanks for sharing this one annulla. I’ll get it on its way to marinaw today or tomorrow.

Received in yesterday's mail. Thank you JennyO! Will get this to the next person ASAP.

When the title says "Mammoth," it isn't kidding. Included in this volume are the contemporary and the classic, the popular and the obscure. There were none that I couldn't finish, but I admit that there were a few that puzzled me by their inclusion. The best thing, of course, about reading collections like this: finding new authors, along with a few titles to get started. Amazingly enough, my favorite authors (Gaiman, Yolen) didn't make it into my favorite stories (below).

Favorite quotes:
"When you don't have time, there is no time. When there is no time, you have all the time in the world." (Holt, Pizza to Go)

" '...it would die, of course.'
'But that must happen very often,' Alice remarked thoughtfully.
'It always happens,' said the Gnat." (Carroll, Looking Glass Land)

5 favorite stories:
Malady of Magicks--A tale of cleaning up after others, and/or a good lesson in greed and interference.
Death Swatch--Girls being grrls, or the usefulness of feminine pursuits. Don't all marriages go through this?
Return of Max Kearney--A tale set in the Old West, with a dragon.
Fortnight of Miracles--An Irish sorcerer solves a mystery of mistaken identity, and saves the kingdom of Faerie.
Aphrodite's New Temple--The Greek Gods do battle over Manifest Destiny.

And now I have to go track down nearly 80 books to explore other works of the authors within...that's 6 months of reading! Aaargh! I can't win!

RELEASE NOTES:

Finally mailing to daidy from CA.

Received in the mail today. Since this is the only bookring book I have to read and the book I'm currently reading, Pagans and Christians by Robin Lane Fox, is a pretty slow read, I'll probably start in on this one today or tomorrow.

My favorite paragraph in this book:

It then fell to Smythe-ffolliott to regale us with his account of the ancient Saxon curse that has blighted his ancestral home and preyed upon his family for twenty-seven generations: something to do with a haunted jar of Vegemite, which apparently has also been in his home for twenty-seven generations. The hideous jar of unholy Vegemite follows its victims up and down the stairs at night, calling out to them in a sepulchral voice and demanding a loaf of sliced bread so that it can turn itself into haunted sandwiches.

Aaratnayake has asked me to go on to the next person on the list, so I will PM Bossmare for an address.

I must of forgotten to journal this when I got it in the mail. Anyway, I enjoyed some of the stories but not all of them. I liked the Terry Pratchett and the Terry Jones story, his sounds just like any feline I've ever encountered. Most were okay though. Thanks annulla for the ring. Will PM next person today and get the book out.
JollyL, I need to PM you for your address and you aren't accepting PM's. PM me with your address please or I go to the next person on the list.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to the first person in the ray. Enjoy Julie!

It arrived today. Duh...comic as in humorous, not as in cartoon. Well, we'll see if the kids are interested.
2/7/5 - read the first story -- Troll Bridge by Terry Pratchett -- to the kids tonight and they both got a kick out of it. Ah, the good old days, the good old days!
3/16/05 - We've been dipping into it off and on and finally, after a nudge, are sending it off today to the next in line. Thanks for sharing.

got this in the mail today
Nice postcard. It must be dreamy to live in Hawaii. It is on my top places I would like to visit, but can't afford to go.

Sorry that I am taking so long. I have been reading it every day. I have been working so much that I only have time to read on my breaks (2 tens & a thirty). I put a huge dent in reading it over Memorial Day weekend and I am almost done.

One of my favorite stories is Shoggoth's Old Peculiar. I am a big fan of Lovecraft which this spoofs and have had the beer Old Peculiar (it doesn't taste like sweaty goat by the way).

I am not sure why I didn't journal this when I mailed it, but it has been in the mail for about a month now. On its way to France I believe.

It arrived a few days ago... I have three rings to complete before starting this one. Bookrings have a tropism for my mailbox?

I'm finally through with this book, sorry for keeping it so long (not easy being a father of two boys, the last one is only three months old).

Okay, now to the real journal entry.

I found it enjoyable, had good laughs, numerous smiles. Some stories have a very twisted plot and sometimes unexpected endings, a great anthology, thanks for sharing bossmare.

Will send it to LPree within the week.

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to LPree today.

This arrived in yesterday's mail. Of the authors listed on the front, I've only read Neil Gaiman and a little bit of Terry Pratchett. I'm looking forward to reading this! I've got a couple other bookrings ahead of this, though, so I think my husband might check this out in the meantime.

Well, I didn't get a chance to read this, because the other books I had ahead of this took longer than expected. So Bossmare has graciously agreed to put me again at the end of the list so I can have a chance to read it. It is in delicate shape but looks like a great read, so I look forward to reading it.

I'll get this mailed out as soon as I have an address.

Arrived safe and sound. Not what I was expecting and I'm delighted. Once I finish the fantasy anthology I'm reading now, this one is next. Thanks so much!

Once you get past the first few stories, this collection takes off and just keeps on going. I found many of the stories (minus those beginning ones) a pure delight, some to the point of wanting to find more by their authors. Thanks so much for letting me participate in this ray. I've sent a PM to DrBrown and just await and address.

P.S. The cover and book have seen better days so those next, please handle it with care.

RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to Lpree.

Oops, sorry, this arrived a few days ago and I forgot to journal it in. I still have a couple of rings ahead of this but will read it soon. It looks like I'm last on the list, so unless there's any objections, I'll let my husband read it as well, since he's a fan of these types of stories. Then once he's done, I'll see if I can find a few more readers, so this book can continue its journey.

Thanks for letting me have another chance at this book!