Welcome to The Lost Book!

The Lost Book is a collaborative adventure in storytelling. It’s taking place online and anyone can join in. At its heart is an animated web series: the adventures of investigative journalist, and BookCrosser, Aileen Adler. Episode 2, the first of five episodes to be written by the public, was launched on Friday 06 March 2009. It sees intrepid Scotswoman Aileen and her dog Watson travelling to Iowa City in search of a stolen book and a secret society of bibliophiles. Right now we're putting the finishing touches on episode 3, which will be launched on Thursday, 09 April 2009 - watch the story so far.

Where the story goes next remains in your hands. You can suggest plot developments by visiting www.thelostbook.net now. Each month between now and July the storylines will be pulled together into the next episode, animated and published online.

There are loads of ways you can get involved and it won’t cost you anything. Please help us to write the story for the web series - make suggestions or vote on other people's ideas. You can also join our special guest writer Jasper Fforde and reconstruct a stolen book in our weekly microstory competition. You can enter our soundtrack competition by creating your own music for the web series. You can even produce your own animation.

And, you can read this book, tell us what you thought of it, give it away, and follow its journey.

The Lost Book is a partner project to the Edinburgh UNESCO City of Literature Trust’s 2009 reading campaign, The Lost World Read 2009, which is using free books, online resources and events to get people reading The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle. The Lost World Read is the largest collaborative reading project ever seen in the UK. We're extending the reading campaign, thanks to the generosity of project sponsors Canongate, by giving away other free books throughout The Lost Book.

The Earth Hums in B Flat is Mari Strachan's first novel. It's a detective novel set in 1950s Wales featuring young Gwenni Morgan - who is fond of strawberry whip, detective stories and difficult questions. She's good at finding clues, but rarely understands what she knows. The story is told from Gwenni's point of view so the reader both shares her incomprehension when faced with the adult world and can piece together the secrets that Gwenni cannot.

So join in, wherever you are, and have fun!

This book is going to travel around the world as a bookray. PM at any time, with your shipping preferences, to join.

Bookray
Nell-Lu UK (Int)
Lottiotta UK (Int)
karen07814 UK (Int)
yorkshire-lass UK (Int assumed)
cally-c UK (EU)
Tsjara Netherlands (Europe)
Hayes13 Italy (Int)
soffitta1 Portugal (Europe)
Kerriou UK (UK/Europe)
katrinat UK (Europe)
arturogrande UK (Int)
mafarrimond UK (Int) - asked to be skipped
Icila France (Int)
amidabutsu Canada (North America)
a-usual-suspect US (US)
tostle US (Int)
PCGator US (Int)
tamichan Japan (Int)
FreePages Australia (Aus)
lmn60 Australia (Int)
...
...

Please could you all do four things:

1. Make a quick journal entry when you receive the book.
2. Read and send on within four weeks - or make a journal entry to let us know how you're getting on if you need longer.
3. Make a journal entry when you've finished.
4. Use the cheapest method of shipping available.

And, enjoy the book!

I liked having to read between the lines to work out what was going on. Gwenni is so naive (perhaps too naive to be entirely believable?) that her narrative gives the crucial information only incidentally. I felt, though, that things were signposted a bit much - it seems impossible, in places, that even Gwenni wouldn't notice that something was wrong.

Interactions between people in the village are interesting. There's a clear class structure that gives everyone someone to look down upon. There's also the sort of active gossip network that ensures everyone knows everything - despite certain subjects remaining "unspoken". Reactions to domestic violence and mental illness are less than sympathetic, yet there's support and toleration for Guto'r Wern - dropped on his head when a baby so he grew up "strange" yet "innocent as a child". Yet, not all children in this narrative have the privilege of innocence.

Reserved for the next reader in the bookray.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I'm sending this on to Lottiotta today - happy reading! I'll enclose a wee stack of "The Lost Book" postcards so that everyone on the ray gets one.

Thank you so much! I'm currently reading The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams, which is epic, so I'll probably read the two at the same time rather than finish The Dragonbone Chair first. :)

I enjoyed this book, but I found it hard work. I'm not sure why - I think a combination of an intense story spread out and slow was a factor for me. As I got into the story, I really started to enjoy observing the strange ways Gwenni deals with the trauma and drama of her life, by displacing it into the Toby jugs and the distemper and with her flying. There were many twists I didn't see coming, because I found the depth surprising and in contrast with the narrator!

The title is beautiful, and really reflects the synaesthetic experience that Gwenni has of the world when she goes flying at night. I like the way the meaning of the title unfolded gradually throughout the book.

I'll PM karen07814 for her address now. :) Thank you so much for including me in the ring and to Nell-lu for posting it to me, as well!

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This is all packaged up, I'll pop it in the post box around lunch time. :) It's a bank holiday so it'll take a bit longer to arrive, and it's second class too. Thanks again!

it's here! thanks again canongate. I have to be honest there are two to be read ahead of it so we're looking at late next week early the following before it travels on.
In this world there are two types of people, those with vivid imagination and accountants.
I am an accountant.
Mari Strachan has a vivid imagination.
I need her type of imagination and at a guess she needs an accountant.
Perfect.
Total poignant escapism. If it's meant to be a children's book then the children are very lucky. I keep accidentally reading them and not noticing.
Thank you for sharing, now on it's way not very far.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

over to you

The book arrived this morning, thanks. I hope to start it by the end of the week,looking forward to it.

I really enjoyed this book,Gwenni is such a warm and likeable character, you can't help but empathize with her. Although she came across as a bit naive, you have to remember that children back in the 1950's were much less street wise than children of today. Thanks for the oppportunity to read it.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

On its way to cally-c, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Arrived here safely on Saturday. Thank you for the postcard, yorkshire-lass! Will read as soon as poss.

I really enjoyed this book - the characters are easy to empathise with & I loved Gwenni's imagination (or is the flying, toby jugs & distemper real?!).
I liked the way the story moves forwards, revealing new bits of information that the reader gets to know at the same time as Gwenni.

Thanks for sharing!

I have Tsjara's address & will post this later today.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

off to Tsjara....

The book arrived here safely today, even though the wrapping was a bit damaged.
I still have one and a half bookring before this one, but hopefully it won't take too long.
Thanks for sharing canongate and cally-c for sending the book.
I look forward to reading it :)

Edit (24 July): Just wanted to say that I have started reading today, and so far I'm enjoying it. (I also love the cover, it just looks so pretty and interesting ^-^ though I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover :P)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Finished it a few days ago, and I really enjoyed it. Gwenni is just such a lovable character and she has a great imagination (or is it real, the flying?). The story had me smiling from the beginning till the end. Though the thing with the 'black dog' still seems a bit vague to me..
And what I thought was funny and a bit strange is that many of the characters put their books in the sofa or chair (under the pillows), and pulled it out again if they wanted to read it.. Or do/did people really do that?

Sorry for holding on to the book so long.
The book is now on its way to Hayes13 :) Enjoy!

Back from short holiday and found this waiting for me! Lovely! Will get to it as quickly as I can (4 others arrived at the same time!!)

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Strange story about a troubled young girl growing up in Wales, told from her point of view. She gets pulled into a mystery -- a neighbor disappears leaving a wife a two young daughters. Where is Ifan Evans? But the more she looks, the more complicated things become and the more she realizes how everything in life, in her life, is connected.

I liked this story very much, although I felt that I wanted a little more narration (more plain description of people and places, for example) and a little less of other things (I got tired of hearing about how the dirty tablecloth, and practically everything else she encounters, make her queasy).

Thanks for sharing this with me, and I apologize for any grains of sand... my son ambushed me with a frisbee at the beach...

Thanks for posting this, looks fab.

I loved this book, the mystery of a disappearance being solved by a child. This is a book that draws you in quickly with its great characters, read in a day!

Sent 25/09

Read as part of Librarything's 999 Challenge - Canongate Books Category

See here for my 999 Challenge list

Arrived safely this morning. Thank you, soffitta1. Will make a start on this as soon as I finish my current read.

A lovely book. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Thanks for sharing.

I have katrinat's address and will post this book asap.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted off to katrinat this morning.

This arrived today, it looks fabulous, I wanted to start it straight away but I have marking to do :(
Will try to get o it this weekend. Thanks for sending

I was expecting this book to be more of a fairy-tale type story about her flying than a family drama which it turned out to be. Gwenni certainly seemed a real innocent in comparison to her sister and her friend, but a likeable character all the same. Will get the next address and post out early in the week.

Thank you very much - I'll get to this as soon as I can.

First let me apologise for stalling this ring for so long. I had a lot of ring and ray books come all at once, and then Christmas and New Year got in the way... It's no excuse, I know, and I'm very sorry. As there are a lot of people waiting to read this, I'm going to move it on the to the next person. I'm just waiting for an address from mafarrimond and then the book will be on its way.

Mafarrimond has asked to be skipped, so I'm waiting for an address from Icila.

On its way to Icila. Apologies again for holding this up for so long.

The book is safe at home, thanks !

I'm very sorry. I didn't get into this book. The chidish way of speaking seems fake to me.

found the book in my mailbox on friday. thanks!

i received the book a long time ago. and i read it, and i quite enjoyed it. i remember a couple of parts that i found were a little long, but the writing itself was good.
then, things happened, mainly being kicked out of canada by the government in early june 2010. i'm back now, it took a year to get my papers sorted, and i found the book in a box when i moved. i guess i packed it away and forgot all about it.
so i deeply apologise and will be sending it on its way soon.