This book starts off with a interesting premise and starts off well. For me the flashbacks were not connected with the present and it left me unfulfilled. I enjoyed reading the flashbacks but nothing seemed connected other than the idea of the book itself.

We did have a good discussion of this book.

My book club read this book and liked it. They said it wasn't their favorite but that it was interesting. It got better the more you read. Tells of different times and places the book travels. The history of a books life.

Our discussion quickly became the importance of books in people understanding people. The book emphasizes how books reveal the ideas and history of the people who create and use books. Brooks uses the history and artifacts connected with this national treasure to tell a compelling story of both the depravity and the luminous morality of various people.

As our first book club choice, People of the Book started us off with lively discussions and was a good choice for all.

Our book club liked the book but found Hanna and her story more of an intrusion than an addition.

I like the historical detail and appreciated all the research that went into book preservation. Relationship with mother and ending seemed forced.

The strong point for me was learning about subject matter with which I was not familiar. The personal story of the main character was minimized to the point that I did not "connect" with her. The stories of the protectors of the book held my interest.

One of the best books I have read. So full of information that it needs to be read twice to grasp all of the details.

Brooks is a great writer. All of the books she has written are clever and interesting to me.

I learned a lot of interesting history while solving a mystery.

This book points out my lack of historical knowledge, but I did learn a few things that I didn't know. You can read this book and really study it more in-depth or learn a few things and enjoy the individual stories. I enjoyed it.

our book club really enjoyed this book, it was a very different way to tell an historical story.

Normally I'm not thrilled with a novel jumping back and forth in time, but I found this one not confusing at all since each trip back in time was tied so well to the "present". This beautifully written story kept me fascinated throughout. And I learned so much about history and different cultures. Great book!

I thought this was a wonderful book. I couldn't put it down. I love this book of historical fiction because it was so insightful and interesting.

This is our Club's favorite type of book, because it is so meaty. There was plenty to discuss--we never ran out of things to say! Hanna Heath is a conservateur of ancient manuscripts. When an extremely rare version of the Haggadah is found, she embarks on a study to determine where it has been in the last 500 years. Whose hands have touched it, and what might their stories be?

Brooks has woven a story from each of the centuries in this book's life into a more contemporary account of Hannah and her travels as she studies various aspects of the haggadah. Each of the stories draws the reader in, from the WWII resisters in the mountains above Sarajevo all the way back to the African slave girl whose talent for art saved her life more than once!

This was a very satisfying read, and we would recommend it hightly for other clubs.

I liked the drama and the unweaving of the mystery in the book. I also like Geraldine Brooks writing style. The book was very engaging and made a very good subject for discussion at our reading group meeting.

Great mystery story. While examiining a rare, over-500-year-old, Jewish, illuminated prayer book, a book restorer follows the clues she finds there: wine stain, butterfly wing, salt, and a white hair-to uncover its history and that of those that guarded it through the centuries. The stories of these people add flesh and blood drama to the current state of the ancient and beautiful text, and the reader comes to appreciate the miracle of its survival. Surprise ending was satisfying.

Really enjoyed this read as I have liked other works from Geraldine Brooks. The mixture of history and fiction makes this an interesting read that keeps your attention through all the separate stories. Would definitely recommend this for good reading and good book club discussion.

I just don't think this author writes well. It is a great story, and yet I find the writing plodding.

This was a fascinating book about the history of a Jewish document, how it was created, whose hands it fell into, etc. Inspired some great conversation.

Another "history through the life of an object" book. Can be confusing because it was told chronologically backwards.The map inside the cover of the hardcover book was extremely helpful.

I appreciated the way the story moved back and forth in time, slowly unearthing the provenance of the book. Some of the modern day story was less appealing (and carelessly done) but overall, it provoked a very enjoyable book club conversation.

Interesting book, somewhat confusing, but informative regarding the Haggadah and the journey it made through time. Lots of vocabulary to look up!

This is one of those books that, were I not reading it for book club, I'd never pick up on my own. If I had, I'd put it back after reading the first page, which contained two or three grammar errors (they continue throughout the book, incidentally). Additionally, I found myself correcting awkward phrasing. These problems are only surface, however.

Most disappointing is the inelegant structure. The stories in the historical chapters are unfocused, often centering on characters that have little to do with The Book. In these chapters, Brooks also chooses to change from third to first person about 3/4 of the way into the book. I believe she made this choice to make her big reveal a surprise, but it strikes me as laziness. Another lazy storytelling method Brooks employs is telling rather than showing. She explains that conversations or events went on for long periods, but we, as readers, have no sense of that because she doesn't allow us to be privy to the details.

My final issue is that I didn't care about most of the characters. In the historical chapters, many characters appear so that we can see their suffering, but they have little other purpose. Much of this suffering and the violence perpetrated against them is gratuitous, does little to further a plot, and sometimes causes them to react in ways that seem unrealistic. Additionally, I wholly disliked the protagonist, Hanna, whose chapters I trudged through, dreading the vague details of her personal life, disputes with her mother, and romance with a museum curator.

In sum, I feel Brooks really needed a better editor than the one she had, one who could have, perhaps directed what feels like a highly-contrived first or second draft into a fully-realized work.

I loved this book. It was challenging but so incredibly well written and interesting.

Brooks writes an engaging tale full of mystery, heroism, and miracles! A great example of how all \"our stories\" are woven together!

It's o k.

Gave me tremendous insight into the lives of my ancestors who were impacted by the inquisition in Spain and other countries and their reasons for emigrating to the new world in western Mexico.

Geraldine Brooks is an extremely talented writer and researcher. This story was riveting and easy to stay up with the storyline. Excellent book club book also.

Storyline was somewhat disjointed and did not tie together well. Also, many difficult vocabulary words throughout story ended up making the reading tedious.

Informative.

Quite a few pages were read before I was 'into' the book. The story seemed to be developed in several segments or smaller books. The majority of the book club enjoyed the book as being very informative about the various locations mentioned within the story line. It was mention that the club might be interested in other books written by this author.