The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Description

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

I loved this book! It's been on my "to read" list since it came out and I finally was able to borrow a copy from a friend. I spent most of the book trying to figure out (as did Marco and Celia) what "the game" is and how a winner will be determined. There is just something about this book that I found beautiful. There is so much beauty in the things created by Celia and Marco. There is beauty in the circus itself. And the magic is beautiful. Of course there was ugliness, too, but that mainly lies with Celia's father... I think Celia's father is a horrible man.

This wasn't a traditional "love story". They spend so much of the book doing things for each other (indirectly) and so little time together. It made me a somewhat sad to see them being in love from a distance, but that does more to show that they really do feel that way and it isn't something that will pass. It is a beautiful, touching and magical (literally and figuratively) story.

30 Day Book Challenge: Day 11

Day 11- The Book that made you fall in love with reading

Blue Moon Rising by Simon R. Green

This book, with it's Prince, Princess, dragon, unicorn and nightmare monster things was what got me really interested in reading. It has action, adventure, humor and some scary moments that had me a little bit terrified. I'd read other books before but this was the first one I read that I didn't want to put down.

Description

Rupert didn't especially want to be a prince. And he certainly never asked to be the second son of a royal line that really didn't need a spare. So he was sent out to slay a dragon and prove himself-a quest straight out of legend. But he also discovered the kinds of things legends tend to leave out, as well as the usual demons, goblins, the dreaded Night Witch-and even worse terrors hidden in the shadows of Darkwood.  Rupert did find a fiery dragon-and a beautiful princess to rescue. But the dragon turned out to be a better friend than anyone back at the castle, and with the evil of Darkwood spreading, Rupert was going to need all the friends he could get.

If you haven't read this book yet and you like this genre, I highly recommend it. The only problem I've had is finding it. If you have a kindle (or kindle app) it is available from Amazon.com for $11.04, which is kind of a weird price considering it was first published in 1989 (last published in 2005). The actual book is closer to $14. Hopefully you can find a cheaper copy somewhere else but that was where I found it!

I have my friend Jess to thank for my interest in reading. Her love of books is what got me started! She is also responsible for the first novel I ever read. I blame her for my book collecting habit.

Alice in Zombieland (White Rabbit Chronicles #1) by Gena Showalter

Description

She won’t rest until she’s sent every walking corpse back to its grave. Forever.

Had anyone told Alice Bell that her entire life would change course between one heartbeat and the next, she would have laughed. From blissful to tragic, innocent to ruined? Please. But that’s all it took. One heartbeat. A blink, a breath, a second, and everything she knew and loved was gone.

Her father was right. The monsters are real….

To avenge her family, Ali must learn to fight the undead. To survive, she must learn to trust the baddest of the bad boys, Cole Holland. But Cole has secrets of his own, and if Ali isn’t careful, those secrets might just prove to be more dangerous than the zombies….

I wish I could go back and do a thousand things differently.
I'd tell my sister no.
I'd never beg my mother to talk to my dad.
I'd zip my lips and swallow those hateful words.
Or, barring all of that, I'd hug my sister, my mom and my dad one last time.
I'd tell them I love them.
I wish... Yeah, I wish.

I'm a little disappointed by this book. Mostly because the title is misleading for 2 reasons. 1) It really doesn't have anything to do with Alice in Wonderland except for the name Alice and a cloud shaped like a white rabbit and 2) They're not real zombies. They want to eat your soul, not your flesh. They're more like evil spirits than zombies.... Sombies. Oh, and only some people can see them. Another fun twist. They're spirits so you can only fight them in spirit form, but if your spirit is injured it shows up on your body. Am I the only one who thinks this is unfair?

As I was reading I thought it would have been better if the characters were adults. I know it's a YA book, but why are teenagers doing all of the work? On top of the fighting something not that many people can see, they still have to go to school and get in trouble. Also, it made me feel pervy having a crush on fictional High School characters with douchey nicknames like "Bronx" and "Frosty." I did think it was entertaining anyway and it was a quick read, but for the most part I felt like it was underdeveloped and the writing could have been improved. Just because it's a book for teenagers doesn't mean that it needs to be cheesy at all.

I guess I was hoping and looking for something with more meaning when it may not have been meant to have it. I don't know... maybe I'm outgrowing certain types of YA novels? I shudder at the thought. This is only the first book in the series so I'm hoping the next one will be better. Through the Zombie Glass (White Rabbit Chronicles #2) comes out on September 24, 2013.

Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

Description

'R' is a zombie. He has no name, no memories and no pulse, but he has dreams. He is a little different from his fellow Dead.

Amongst the ruins of an abandoned city, R meets a girl. Her name is Julie and she is the opposite of everything he knows - warm and bright and very much alive, she is a blast of colour in a dreary grey landscape. For reasons he can't understand, R chooses to save Julie instead of eating her, and a tense yet strangely tender relationship begins.

This has never happened before. It breaks the rules and defies logic, but R is no longer content with life in the grave. He wants to breathe again, he wants to live, and Julie wants to help him. But their grim, rotting world won't be changed without a fight...

I just loved this book... all the feels! I never thought I'd like a book from a zombie's perspective, but this zombie is so freakin' likeable! I really came to like him because I could tell how hard he was trying to change and that he wanted to be different.

A couple of the reviews I read about Warm Bodies before I read it were negative because they said the names were too close to those in Romeo and Juliet (R and Julie for example) but I didn't pick that up when I was reading. I mean, I can't think about Shakespeare when zombies are involved, though I suppose you could draw comparisons if you wanted to put the time in. I really didn't. Another complaint was this "..." but I like ellipsis and there are only so many ways you can show the slow speech patterns. It didn't bother me like some other reviews I read, but I did notice them.

Julie is far more forgiving than one could expect, but I think it's meant to show her willingness to forgive and she seems to have this light in her soul. Sorry, that was cheesy. But I rolled my eyes multiple times over her "bad girl" image she tried to give herself. You are surrounded by zombies, how are you so calm?

I don't want to give away too much, but these zombies love brains, not just the flesh. So when R eats the brain of Julie's boyfriend? Let's just say that that's what starts him on his change. I haven't seen the movie yet but I plan to soon. It's funny and touching and a good zombie love story (these are words I never thought I would say together).

Dead Ever After (Sookie Stackhouse #13) by Charlaine Harris

Published May 7, 2013 by Ace Books

Description

There are secrets in the town of Bon Temps, ones that threaten those closest to Sookie—and could destroy her heart...

Sookie Stackhouse finds it easy to turn down the request of former barmaid Arlene when she wants her job back at Merlotte’s. After all, Arlene tried to have Sookie killed. But her relationship with Eric Northman is not so clearcut. He and his vampires are keeping their distance…and a cold silence. And when Sookie learns the reason why, she is devastated.

Then a shocking murder rocks Bon Temps, and Sookie is arrested for the crime.

But the evidence against Sookie is weak, and she makes bail. Investigating the killing, she’ll learn that what passes for truth in Bon Temps is only a convenient lie. What passes for justice is more spilled blood. And what passes for love is never enough...

This is the last book in the Sookie Stackhouse series. I got to read it early because I've got connections! Well, a connection.

I've been reading the Sookie Stackhouse series since I heard they were making the books into a TV show. I can tell you that if you're just looking for something fun without much literary merit, these are a fun read. However, I'd be lying if I didn't say it had it's issues.But in a series this long mistakes are bound to be made and the writing gets a little tired.

The plot is fairly weak and it felt like the author was just trying to wrap things up. Without spoiling the series I can say that I was glad she ended up with who she was with. It was who I thought was the best fit for her. I would really have liked to see an afterwords letting me know how things turned out for Sookie in the end, but I got the feeling that everything would work out and she was going to have a "happily ever after." Like I said, a fun read... something I could see myself reading at the beach.

The River of No Return by Bee Ridgeway

 Published April 23rd 2013 by Dutton Adult

Description

In Bee Ridgway’s wonderfully imaginative debut novel, a man and a woman travel through time in a quest to bring down a secret society that controls the past and, thus, the future.

“You are now a member of the Guild. There is no return.” Two hundred years after he was about to die on a Napoleonic battlefield, Nick Falcott, soldier and aristocrat, wakes up in a hospital bed in modern London. The Guild, an entity that controls time travel, showers him with life's advantages. But Nick yearns for home and for one brown-eyed girl, lost now down the centuries. Then the Guild asks him to break its own rule. It needs Nick to go back to 1815 to fight the Guild’s enemies and to find something called the Talisman.

In 1815, Julia Percy mourns the death of her beloved grandfather, an earl who could play with time. On his deathbed he whispers in her ear: “Pretend!” Pretend what? When Nick returns home as if from the dead, older than he should be and battle scarred, Julia begins to suspect that her very life depends upon the secrets Grandfather never told her. Soon enough Julia and Nick are caught up in an adventure that stretches up and down the river of time. As their knowledge of the Guild and their feelings for each other grow, the fate of the future itself is hanging in the balance.

I was sent an advance copy to review and I'm so glad I got to read it! I am a fan of time travel concepts and this book had a really interesting take on the idea. Time is like a river... it flows in one direction. Except it isn't. That's just what the Guild tells people that jump forward in time. The truth behind it is much more complicated.

Nick and Julia's relationship feels more real to me than the obsessive loves I've read in other books (like in A Discovery of Witches, for example). Julia is able to discover what she can do on her own. I was happy to read something with such a strong female character. No, she isn't perfect and made choices that kept her from finding things out earlier, but it was all her. She is independent and strong and pretty awesome for a woman from 1815... no shrinking violets here.

There were pieces of poetry scattered throughout the novel and I was able to pick out a couple of my favorites, though they weren't directly mentioned. It was like an Easter egg placed just for me to find. The main thing that I had a hard time with (and it was only minor) was that the Guild would just give people that much money every year to do whatever they wanted. Certain people would be able to be used by them but it seems a little extravagant.

I hope there will be at least another book coming, because there was so much of the story left to tell! I am going to be suggesting this to family and friends!