to be read

Short listed for the Booker Prize.

Thanks for sending this on to me Leamliom, and the lovely glittery card. I'm due to read it for a book group and am really looking forward to it, especially now it has been shortlisted.

I read this in a day, as it is a compelling read. Some of the observations of five year old Jack were startling.

However at the same time as enjoying the book it left me questioning how like the TV interviewer the author might be, and are we the readers just as bad as papparazzi.

I am unsure if this will be a book that becomes a classic, or if it will be seen as a well written Virginia Andrews Book (eg Flowers in the Attic).

Handing over to Daveg666 to read as part of a bookclub.

Acquired from KiwiinEngland and read for the Gutter Bookshop contemporary book club's book of the month for October 2010.

Rather compelling indeed, and scary in places, but very hard to put down. One criticism is that it doesn't have any obvious ending point - it just stops well after the first place it could have ended, but long before the last place it could have ended. That said, it's hard to pick an ideal location for its ending.

Returning to KiwiinEngland for further passage on to its next keeper.

Received this back off Daveg666 after a group discussion where some people really enjoyed it and one person hated it. I thought that the more you thought about the book after you read it the less I liked it.

Posting this to ApoloniaX to fulfill a wishlist.

A wishlist book! I'm delighted. Thank you so much, KiwiinEngland!

I too feel very ambivalent about this book. On one side, it’s really well written and such a pageturner, sometimes creepy and full of horror, then almost funny – when Jack explores his new world – and he’s an amazing protagonist. But on the other side, I felt manipulated towards the voyeurism of the tabloids and their readers regarding for example Natascha Kampusch or Elisabeth Fritzl – and that’s what the book is feeding on. It made me feel uncomfortable. Still I’d recommend it.

Off it goes... to the next reader!

Oh. My. Goodness.
A surprise wishlist book in the mail! ApoloniaX, you should be declared as an international treasure of BookCrossing! Thank you so so much, it's very appreciated!

I couldn't leave the book to the leaning TBR pile, had to grab it on Friday and finished it in two days. It was very well written, fast read, kept me hooked till the end of part 2, but I started hoping it would have ended earlier or had had a more poignant ending somehow. Surprisingly, it wasn't the cruelty of man that left me uncomfortable, but like others before me, I felt a little like a Peeping Tom or a rag paparazzi. Of course the book was an interesting game of what-ifs and a strong survival story, but still I felt it lacked something, perhaps due to Jack being the narrator throughout the book. Though I know nothing of kids and do not understand their behaviour, his character seemed too grown at times, seemed to understand too much of the adult world. But then again, on the next page he was far too stubborn and closed, though of course he had been kind of living in a barrel without social interaction. To be really honest, the idea of a nursing 5 yo creeps the crap out of me.

I couldn't decide whether to give the book a good or a bad rating, as it wasn't really either way after all - therefore an average rating. Though the book seems to be in all review pages and must read -lists at the moment, I really don't think it's going to be a future classic.

Book will go to another crosser who has it on their wishlist!

I don't know about Finnish postal services, but the book arived yesterday! Maybe Santa Claus helped?? Thank you very much Pippis!

This book was as impressive to read as I thought it would be. It's not the first locked-up-in-a-room book I've read, but this one was different in how the story of the mother was more of a background. The characters were quite 3D and I loved that.

I'll try to find this book another reader soon!

Achtergelaten tijdens een verjaardag, in de handen van een van de andere gasten.

Hallo daar, vinder! Als je dit leest, heb je een boek gevonden. Gefeliciteerd!
Hopelijk is het iets dat je leuk vindt; zo niet, dan heeft het je toch tenminste hier gebracht en dat is ook wat waard.
Wil je, als je het uit hebt, hier vertellen wat je ervan vond? Of als je het boek niet wilt lezen,omdat het je smaak niet is, hier melden dat het boek gevonden is?

Het zou leuk zijn als je het boek verder laat reizen. Je kan het aan een kennis geven om te lezen of zomaar in het wild ergens achterlaten zodat iemand anders het kan vinden, bijvoorbeeld in een restaurant, school, buiten, of ergens anders waarvan jij denkt dat er mensen komen die dit boek zouden willen lezen.
Het zou nog leuker zijn als je lid wordt van BookCrossing. Dat is gratis en veilig, je emailadres wordt niet doorgegeven.
Dit kan je hier doen: www.bookcrossing.com/join (Engelse pagina). Je kunt dan zelf zien waar het boek na jou naar toe gaat. Je kan ook andere boeken registreren en loslaten, kijk maar eens op www.bookcrossing.nl voor meer uitleg in het Nederlands.
Als je lid wordt, zou ik het leuk vinden als je mij, AnnevO, als verwijzer ("referrer") opgeeft, dan kan ik zien dat je ook een geregistreerde bookcrosser bent geworden.

Wil je meer boeken vinden? Kijk dan eens in een officiële bookcrossing zone (OBCZ), bijvoorbeeld in Grand Café Restauarant & Jazzclub Biblio, Van Vollenhovenstraat 15 unit 26-27 te Rotterdam of in een van de vele andere Nederlandse OBCZ's (te vinden via de Nederlandstalige website).

Veel leesplezier,
AnnevO