Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was pretty good. It captured the magic and wonder of the circus even though it was written for a different time/era. The characters were strong and they were interesting to get to know. It took me a little bit longer to finish the book but i think i was savouring the magic and creative details within the story. Although i found the love story a little lame, it was different then no other i have read. It all related to a challenge started long before the circus existed. The circus was a first of it's kind a there probably never would have been one like it. It was a pretty special book. Kind of reminded me of my childhood and the exciting time of one a year going to the circus and seeing the magic and tricks/stunts underneath this huge but incredible tent. Brought back good memories. I wish there was a circus like the one mentioned in the book as it would defy any magic there is out there today.



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The Silent Girl

The Silent Girl by Tess Gerritsen

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


This book was alright. Not as good and some of the other books that i have read by gerritsen. I found the story pretty boring until about pgs 150-180, then somewhere in there the story got a little more interesting. The unfortunate thing was that i found the story didn't have an amazing climax and therefore i was left thinking "Yeah, so.........". This was one of the books where i found the characters of Rizzoli and Isles to both be very weak, which was another downfall. On the positive side the book was a very easy read, and there wasn't a lot of thinking involved to try and figure out the WHO?WHAT?WHERE?WHEN?WHY?HOW?. After reading this book i think i will make the decision to stick with her medical thrillers as that is where i think Gerritsen's forte truly is.



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THE GLASS CASTLE

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was an amazing memoir that proves the 'rags to riches' fallacy can be true. Walls lived a hard life growing up. Moving round from place to place, not really having a fixed address, or living in a house that should have been condemned. Throughout her life Walls faces toil and trouble, ie. gets burnt at age 3 making hot dogs for herself and has to go through serious medical treatment involving skin grafts, has a drunk for a father, experiences rape and perverts, and yet she still makes the story an amazing tale with her being the heroin and getting a university deqree. The dysfunction in her family is what makes the story even harder to put down. Her father implants in the children's heads that they will one day live in a glass castle and life will be perfect. A perfect life in Walls early years was far from feasible. At some points she had to work multiple jobs, ie. babysitting, doing other students essays/projects, working at small jobs, just so that she would be able to fulfill the duties of a parent so that the rest of the kids in the family would have food to eat. Although Walls mum and dad were quite flake-y, they did try to instill good values within their children, like the importance of education, how reading and writing will help with your daily lives, how to be resourceful without being wasteful, at some point everything needs a little love. Some of the values were taken to the extent which was too much, like helping mum grade papers and fill out her lesson plans to keep her teaching job, eating all the food till it was gone even it was rotten. New York ended up being the promised land for Jeannette and her brother Brian, and sister Lori. Once they escaped their parents they were able to make decent lives for themselves and live the american dream. Out of all the kids, the 3 of them got to live the dream and do what they loved. It must have been devastating to watch the baby of the family, Maureen, go down the same road that her parents did but once she left for good, one has to imagine that her life got better or somewhat improved.

This book touched every part of me, had me laughing, had me wanting to cry, had me feeling sorry for certain characters that would not get out of their rut. It touched every emotion possible and made you realize what you are to be lucky for. This book is a memoir but not like any other memoir i have read. It had more of a KANE AND ABEL feel but for an entire family, or at least the 3 that made something of themselves. The difference between this book and KANE AND ABEL is that the mother and father chose to live a life of hard work and poverty. There were steps they could have taken and chose not to, things that could have helped them out. The most interesting thing about this book is that the struggle of the family was CHOSEN by the parents.



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Harvest

Harvest by Tess Gerritsen

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book was absolutely fabulous. I was looking for something gritty when i went to the book store and the people were suggesting stuff and i decided to take this book. Then i started reading it and it was even better then what i had hoped for. For all those people who like their medical dramas, ie. ER, chicago hope, grey's anatomy, this book is 10 times better then those shows will ever be, even when they are in their peak air times. This book is down right dirty. Surgeons using words like 'cut' when opening somebody's body cavity during surgery, harvesting organs for transplants, medical jargon supreme. And another twist to this book, i didn't once figure out who was behind the crime, therefore making it even more fab! Tess Gerritsen hits this one out of the park and gives herself a chance at two homeruns instead of the proverbial one. LOVED IT (even minute, every heart beat!)



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