The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

What a great read!  I was in the mood for something different and this novel fit the bill.  It is fantasy, a bit of mystery and intrigue, plus the subtle tension of a relationship between two of the main characters.  The story centers around a circus that appears without warning or announcement.  It simply is there - no color, only black and white tents and trappings, and it only performs at night.  But there is none of the traditional fare; it is a circus of amazement and magic.  Behind the scenes there is a competition, a duel of sorts between Marco and Celia who have been trained since childhood by their instructors for this sole purpose.  Only one can remain standing but either of them are aware of their competitor or the rules of the game... or that there even is a game!

I am not doing the book justice with any sort of a review because it is hard to explain.  The plot winds and weaves around several important and well developed characters.  As I was reading it, I thought, "How will I ever explain this?"  But I loved it.  It made me want to read it slowly to savor the story and creative descriptions of the "night circus".  I recommend it!

Lucky by Alice Sebold

I borrowed this book to read on the plane back from Boston and actually finished it all in one day.  I couldn’t put it down.  It was disturbing, detailed, intriguing and excellent.  I had never read anything by Sebold before and was pleasantly surprised.  I also do not usually read books like this, I tend to stick to the lighter side of things.  This book starts by the main character being raped on her college campus.  The story continues as we learn about her past and follow her through the trial of the man who raped her.  It was interesting to me the wide range of people in her life it affected and how it affected them.  It made me stop and think about life changing events and how so much of the world moves on and leaves the victim there to struggle with the remains.  It is odd to me to want to recommend a book with such a dismal and tragic plot line but I must say, I would recommend it.  In fact, I look to seek out another book to read by Sebold.

The Heart of Horses by Molly Gloss

I received this book as a gift from Mom last year for Christmas or my birthday, I don’t remember which.  I finally had some time to do some reading and this was an easy first choice.  To start it off I must say I truly enjoyed the book.  It goes back to during WWI when a woman leaves her home to break horses for people as the majority of the able men have gone to fight in the war.  She stumbles upon a small region in the pacific northwest where she starts riding numerous horses and breaks them in ways people have not seen before.  This is the story of a brave woman and those that she comes into contact with.  It can be a bit choppy at times but overall an easy and delightful read.  It made me smile, laugh and cry which I think is a pretty complete checklist when selecting a book.  I would recommend it if you like tales of the old west!

A song of Ice and Fire - books 1 - 5

I've posted about the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series before... I just finished slogging through book 5, the most recent book to be published. In case you don't recall, this series is the basis for the HBO series, "A Game of Thrones."

Books 1 -3 were hard to put down. Book 4 was like starting over. Book 5 finally starts to build some story back up. The characters you love in books 1-3 are either dead or not mentioned in book 4. It's long and very, very slow. You get to hear about some of your favorites in book 5 again but they aren't doing much. Some are wandering across the narrow sea, some are captive, some are fretting over whom to marry, some are wandering around Westeros. Oh yeah, Arya still exists, what the hell has she been up to? It was very, very frustrating to reach the final page and realize that not much has happened.

The thing is... I really like it! The story lines move glacially which cause me to feel both frustration at the lack of action but also a connection to the characters. It's a rich, fully developed world that feels familiar. Need directions from King's Landing to Winterfell? I can do that. What are the preferred foods in Mereen, I could probably cool you some. Where does the best wine come from? The Arbor, of course.

I really hope the stories start to come back together in book 6. It hasn't been published yet and we'll likely have a couple years to fret over what it may or may not contain. I hope there is a payoff or at least resolution within the next 10 years. I'll read the future books as soon as they come out but I've already started to ask myself, "Why?" In for a penny, in for a pound.