The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

When people describe the fall season, some quintessential moments may be the chill air, crisp leaves in an array of colors, football games, apple cider, cozy flannels, and maybe even some scarier Halloween related activities.  Evidently, "The Night Circus" is a part of that category as well in the book-reading community.  I had heard quite a few recommendations for the book, but never really felt inspired to pick it up.  It just so happens that the book captures a lot of those classic fall motifs and really draws you into the spirit of the season.  Since reading the book, I have seen multiple readers coming out of the woodwork saying they are preparing for their annual fall re-read of this book.  I'm grateful that I happened to read it at the opportune time.  I highly recommend reading this book during the fall/colder season versus spring or summer.

It is reported that the author starting writing the book for NaNoWriMo, which is short for the National Novel Writing Month.  This is more of an internet spread idea in which people attempt to write a novel (50,000 words) during the month of November.  Wikipedia states that she wrote the book over the span of three NaNoWriMo's.

This is a fantasy novel written about a circus that will appear in different cities without warning and perform for a short amount of time before packing up and moving to a different unannounced location.  Within the circus, there is a competition that has been in the works for years.  There is mystery surrounding the circus performers, the rivalry, and a peculiar charm that seems to envelope the reveurs (devoted fans) of the circus.  I don't want to spoil the mystery and allure of the story, so I won't delve into the plot any further.

The writing is glorious.  I feel like I've read a lot of books that have been character driven lately, where the plot and "world" that the author creates were a little lack-luster.  It was refreshing to dive into a book that seems to sweep you away from reality.  You really feel transported to the Night Circus and can imagine being there, even with all of the fantasy aspects.  There are some people who may not appeal to the fantasy genre, but I think the fact that it takes place in a circus helps with that.  People expect wonderment, intrigue, and mind games in a circus so adding some additional fantasy story lines to the normal slight of hand tricks isn't too far of stretch.

It may not be everyone's cup of tea, but I definitely think it's well worth the read if it sounds like it follows your normal interests.

It is that time of the year already!  Well, I may be a few weeks early, but I like to be prepared.  It is New Year's Resolution time.  Last year, my New Year's Resolution (we'll call it my NYR for short) was to have a dance party in my car every day on the way home from work.  Every day I would plug in my music and jam in my car while sitting in traffic.  And you know what?  BEST RESOLUTION EVER.  Truly made the afternoon ride home so much more enjoyable.  I genuinely look forward to traffic now.  So with my great success, I felt obligated to have a wonderful plan for my NYR this year!  What could possibly live up to having a dance party in your car every day?  Naturally... reading and writing book reports every month.  I know, I know, you all are seeing how exciting my life is, right?  For those of you who don't know me, I'm going to let you in on a secret... I'm an eighty three year old lady trapped in a twenty year old's body.  I'll give you a little back story on my love of reading.

I was home-schooled by my mom for kindergarten and first grade.  My mom received degrees in teaching, worked as a teacher, and thought it was only natural to teach me as well.  It was a small rotating class with two other girls my age.  My mom was in charge of math and English.  As most little girls do, we were reading the American Girl book series in my mom's class.  I was a stubborn learner with my mom.  I would know the answer, but I would pretend to not know the answer just to be difficult.  At one point, I refused to read any more.  It was to the point where my mom thought I may have had a learning disability.  Fast forward.  My mom was reading the Addy book out loud to our class.  She started crying when Addy is reunited with her brother Sam.  She was hysterical and couldn't even weep through the words on the page.  I ripped the book out of her hand, opened it up, and started reading the book out loud perfectly.  At that point my mom starts crying even harder because she realized I could actually read.  Needless to say, my mom enrolled me in public school the following year, but I have loved reading ever since.

My favorite genre is probably dystopian, magical realism, or sci-fi.  I also like a good self-help book every now and then.  Some of my favorite authors include J.K. Rowling (who doesn't love her), Oscar Wilde, Brene Brown, Dan Brown, and C.S. Lewis.  The hardest books for me to read are the classic, older lady, romance novels.  They are just too unrealistic for me.  I also like books about mythology, health and wellness, and anything that is supposed to be made into a movie later in the year.  I will always try to read the book before watching the movie.  One of the few exceptions is the series I'm currently reading.  It is impossible to speed read the Game of Thrones books while binge watching the tv shows.  I tried!

I want to have a pretty honest and broad review of a variety of books on this blog.  I plan on rotating back and forth between non-fiction and fiction.  I am just now starting to work on my list of books for the first few months.  Please comment if you have any suggestions or want to offer your feedback.  I would love to have the open discussion.  I want to have a minimum of one review a month, but I'm open to the idea of posting more than one if I am able!  We will see how the first few months go first.

Here's to 2017!  The year of book reviews!