The Night Circus  by Erin Morgenstern  

Recommended for people who like:  Moulin Rouge!, Cirque du Soleil, Tim Burton

“Genre” Tags: Victorian Era, Magic, Circuses, Duels

The Official Summary: 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.

***The below review may be considered spoilery, but doesn’t contain any information not in the first 100 pages or the book’s summary***

Review:    Usually I am a plot-reader, 100%. I want to see intense plot arcs and action! Every now and then I step out of that comfort zone, suck it up, and end up reading a book that is just flat out not my cup of tea*… and then there are times when my cross-style bravery is rewarded. The Night Circus is one of those truly beautiful, wonderful novels.

You see, there isn’t a whole lot of ground shaking plot initially. We know there is some sort of magical contest going on, but then the circus starts to be created. All concern about any plot whatsoever left my head once the characters started to wander around the circus. The imagery in the book is just gorgeous, and they are introduced so well that I don’t want to discuss them here, for fear of tainting your palate. I will, however, refer you again to the “Recommended for People Who Like” section of this review, and say that I am not exaggerating about that aesthetic at all.

I also loved watching the romance in this story develop. Some of Celia and Marco’s conversations can be a little melodramatic and puppy-loveish, but the underlying sentiments that are occasionally expressed made even my slightly jaded twenty-three year-old heart flutter. Namely, it’s a relief that the love between them is explained and makes sense. They fall in love with each other’s work, and they discuss it in a way that makes my inner-Bohemian cheer. I also loved Marco’s explanation of his relationship with Isobel. I won’t spoil that for you, but it’s real and, in my opinion, it’s how a guy his age would actually look at that situation.

The only tiny, tiny thing that initially irked me a little was that the narrative jumps around in both time and space. If you pay attention to the headers before the chapters you’ll be fine, and it will all come together eventually.

Rating: 5 stars—  This book is so well-executed that I love it for the aesthetics and the descriptive language (when usually I love books because of the plot). Contender for Savvy’s Best of 2011 Award.

Other Tangential Thoughts and Disclosure:

I received a copy of this book for review from Doubleday via the LibraryThing Early Reviewer program (Thank you guys!).

My beta reader (Roommate M) also tells me that shorter reviews might serve me better, so we’re trying that out. Thoughts on Night Circus or the shorter format are both welcome in the comments

*For example I seem to be the only reviewer I know who disliked The Near Witch. Even The Book Smugglers gave it an 8 out of 10 and they’re notoriously picky readers.

Homemade Soda  by Andrew Schloss 

Recommended for people who like: Soda

“Genre” Tags:  Cookbooks, Good ‘round About Ways to Teach Kids About Science

The Official Summary:  Making your own soda is easy and inexpensive. Best of all, you control the sweetness level and ingredients, so you can create a drink that’s exactly what you want. Using a few simple techniques, anyone can make a spectacular variety of beverages. Try Pomegranate Punch, Chai Fizz, Fruity Root Beer, Sparkling Orange Creamsicle, Honey Cardamom Fizzy Water, Sparkling Espresso Jolt, Cold Fudge Soda, Lightly Salty Caramel Seltzer, Sangria Shrub, Maraschino Ginger Ale, Malted Molasses Switchel, or Berry Vinegar Cordial. Some recipes show you how to re-create the flavors of favorite commercial soft drinks, and others show you how to use homemade soda in decadent desserts and adult cocktails. The delicious possibilities are endless!

Review:

Homemade Soda is an absolutely amazing book for a very specific kind of person. If you are 1) a soda addict 2) tired of people telling you how bad soda is for you and 3) you have a hardcore interest in cooking and a fairly intensely stocked kitchen.  So, in short, I would usually be the ideal market for this kind of book. Currently, however, I do not have time or money to search for sarsaparilla root, citric acid, or maltodextrin. We’ll come back to that in a second.

This cookbook does have it’s truly brilliant points. First of all, you can make the recipes in it three ways: by using a siphon (or those countertop soda making machines), by mixing syrup with carbonated water, or by brewing your soda with yeast. As a broke student, it is needless to say that I went with the carbonated water route. Also, for the hardcore soda addict, this book is full of fun facts and history about soda, all presented in pretty, fun colors. And finally, all of the recipes in this book allow you to control the type and quantity of sugar in your soda, which is good you’re a repentant soda addict who is afraid your Diet Dr. Pepper is giving you brain cancer and making you fat.

But alas, here we come to a problem. One of the main reasons I currently drink fairly large amounts of diet soda is because it is the most convenient and fast-acting caffeine delivery system that I have yet come across. If I don’t have the time or beverage-transport-receptacles required to make coffee or tea, it should be fairly clear that I don’t really have the time (or money) to find the thirteen different ingredients— including essential oils, gum arabic, and browning sauce— required to make the book’s stab at a famous red-canned soda. I have no idea where to find chicory root or sarsaparilla, let alone champagne brewer’s yeast. Yes, a section of the book does address this issue and tells me about natural food stores and internet suppliers… but that’s a lot of work for this little law student.

Personally, I prefer books like Robin Robertson’s vegan cookbooks. You see, Robertson really focuses on using ingredients you probably already have in your house (like regular flour) with a few vegan additions, like vegan margarine. In her more recent cookbooks she even has recipes for basic things vegans in non-veggie friendly areas have probably had a real hard time finding, like vegan mayonnaise. The point is, you can pretty much use all the staples you have in your own kitchen, just get rid of the meat and dairy and buy tofu and vegan margarine instead. Schloss has not written that kind of book. Yes, there are some recipes that you can make just by buying carbonated water and making a little simple syrup, but if you want to use more than about ten of the recipes in here, you’re going to have to make a bit of a commitment.

Many of these recipes (like the ones listed in the GoodReads Summary above) do sound really interesting, but I personally am going to start kicking my habit slowly… like maybe by finding a proper travel mug for coffee and tea. If however, you are serious about health, cooking, and soda, this is definitely the book for you. There’s even recipes for komboocha!

Rating: 3 stars—  If you love soda, this is a fun read, but if you want to benefit from the recipes be prepared to make a moderately intense kitchen commitment.

Other Tangential Thoughts and Disclosure:

All of this soda talk is making me really thirsty… maybe I will go cut some grape juice with the carbonated water I have left over from trying the rose water soda recipe in this book. See? I can make faux soda.

I received a digital copy of this book for review from the publisher via NetGalley  (Thank you guys!).

I’m not affiliated with Robin Robertson (though I did get a copy of her new cookbook to review this month, also through NetGalley). I just really love her cookbooks and think all vegans/vegetarians/people trying to eat more veggies and less meat should read them.

The Babysitter Murders by Janet Ruth Young 

Recommended for people who like:  Lifetime movies about how the media blows things up (like that movie about teen pregnancy not too long ago)

“Genre” Tags: Who’s the Crazy One?, Psychological Disorders that are Different than you Think, GLBTA Issues

The Official Summary:  Everyone has weird thoughts sometimes. But for seventeen-year-old Dani Solomon, strange thoughts have taken over her life. She loves Alex, the little boy she babysits, more than anything. But one day, she has a vision of murdering him that’s so gruesome, she can’t get it out of her mind. In fact, Dani’s convinced that she really will kill Alex. She confesses the thoughts to keep him safe, setting off a media frenzy that makes “Dani Death” the target of an extremist vigilante group.

Through the help of an unconventional psychiatrist, Dani begins to heal her broken mind. But will it be too late? The people of her community want justice . . . and Dani’s learning that some thoughts are better left unsaid.

Review:   This summer I’ve been reading a lot of books about mental health and perception, so when I read the blurb for The Babysitter Murders, I was hooked. A few bad thoughts and all of the sudden this girl is facing mobs of angry parents? Awesome. Is she crazy or not? I love those kinds of conflicts, especially when I’m not familiar with the mental illness that is being dealt with.

However… I wasn’t really feeling this book as I read the first three chapters. I found the heroine’s insecurity, general inability to stand up for herself and mental babbling to be grating, though I can appreciate it from an academic sense. It’s a part of her disease. However, it does not make for a pleasant reading experience, and it slows the beginning of the story a good bit. It’s realistic and that teens and others will be able to relate to Dani’s anxious stream of consciousness, but it’s not my cup of tea.

One surprise in this book was the emergence of a fairly intense GLBTA subplot. Early on in the book, Dani’s best friend comes out to her. It leads to some internal conflict with Dani, mostly because Dani has the urge to shame and insult her friend for no apparent reason. But even as things spiral out of control with Dani, Young keeps bringing us back to how the friend is dealing with the secret of being gay and how she views that in light of Dani’s secret thoughts. While I appreciated these interludes, they came at a bit of an odd time in the book. We actually see more of the friend’s inner dialog than we do of Dani’s recovery, which was odd.

Really the most interesting facet of this book is watching the mob mentality spread throughout the community. While Dani’s actions indicate a troubled mind, she doesn’t *actually* do anything threatening or wrong. Still, Young does a fantastic job of showing precisely how and why crowds rise up against people like Dani. If you look at things in a flat, dichotomous us-versus-them world, you squish out the humanity of the world. This is amazingly clear in the sections of the book where Young shows comments from the local news station’s webpage and the extremist vigilante group’s messages back and forth to each other.

Rating: 3 stars—  The characters felt a little flat to me, though that aspect does work with what the book says about sensationalist media.  Seeing more of Dani’s therapy and more into the motivations and feelings of her friends would have pushed this book into the top for me (especially with how wonderfully it would have contrasted with the flat sensationalism), but it was still a great read, and you’ll easily find yourself swept away by the hysteria and mayhem.

Other Tangential Thoughts and Disclosure:

I received a digital copy of this book for review from Simon & Schuster via their GalleyGrab Program  (Thank you guys!).

The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima

**This book is Book 3 in the Seven Realms series, so the following review has unavoidable spoilers for books 1 and 2.   If you’re new to the series, you can check out my review for the first book, The Demon King HERE

Recommended for people who like: The Alanna series by Tamora Pierce, People who like Lord of the Rings in theory, but hate Tolkein’s writing style, The Tudors

“Genre” Tags: High Fantasy, Wizards and Princesses and Palace Intrigue

The Official Summary: Han Alister thought he had already lost everyone he loved. But when he finds his friend Rebecca Morley near death in the Spirit Mountains, Han knows that nothing matters more than saving her. The costs of his efforts are steep, but nothing can prepare him for what he soon discovers: the beautiful, mysterious girl he knew as Rebecca is none other than Raisa ana’Marianna, heir to the Queendom of the Fells. Han is hurt and betrayed. He knows he has no future with a blueblood. And, as far as he’s concerned, the princess’s family killed his own mother and sister. But if Han is to fulfill his end of an old bargain, he must do everything in his power to see Raisa crowned queen.

Meanwhile, some people will stop at nothing to prevent Raisa from ascending. With each attempt on her life, she wonders how long it will be before her enemies succeed. Her heart tells her that the thief-turned-wizard Han Alister can be trusted. She wants to believe it—he’s saved her life more than once. But with danger coming at her from every direction, Raisa can only rely on her wits and her iron-hard will to survive—and even that might not be enough.

The Gray Wolf Throne is an epic tale of fierce loyalty, unbearable sacrifice, and the heartless hand of fate

Review: First, I think I should point out that this is not the last book of the series!!! I’m really enjoying this series, but I had assumed it was a trilogy. So when the book’s plot came to a decent stopping place around page 300, I broke out my quizzical face. If this was the end of what I thought was the point of the story, what were we going to do for the next 200 pages?

And then there were the next 200 pages. The book’s tone shifts from the more battle-and-school oriented story we’ve come to love so far and really smoothly turns into a really politics-heavy study of power— think like the first season of The Tudors.  I really enjoyed the end of this book, and it was interesting to see how Chima is adding more complexity to the story by moving past the point where a movie or more simplistic story would stop. I think I was just waiting for that moment that’s best exemplified by the parade/medal ceremony at the end of Return of the Jedi: “Yay! We (mostly) won today! Sure, things are still going to suck, and it sucked getting here, but we’ll take our victories where we can get them!”  Instead that moment is kind of glossed over, and Raisa and Han and the rest of the crew move right on to the next problem.

But like I said, I still enjoyed those last 200 pages, and it would have been tough to do proper justice to the problems that had yet to be solved (namely the Raisa- political but loveless marriage-Han love triangle and the various wars that have been mentioned as happening all over the other realms) without having another book.

The characters are continuing to evolve, and I think that, more than anything, is what has me pumped about a fourth book. Han has really matured (even if he still kind of has a temper) and focuses much more on how he can do the best thing for common people while protecting Raisa, whereas in the previous books he spent a decent amount of time being pissed about the deaths of his family. And Raisa’s transformation has completely blown me away. The girl I felt kind of lukewarm about in the first book because she seemed like a little too much of a whiney flirt as GONE.  Now anytime Raisa has to talk publicly or convince people of something, Chima writes her these beautiful speeches, similar to the pre-battle rally speeches from any epic movie you can think of. When she gave her main speech (and you’ll know it when you see it), I got goosebumps.

Rating: 4 stars— Not what I was expecting, but it is expanding the series really nicely, and I can’t wait for the next book!

Other Tangential Thoughts and Disclosure: Book 4 in the series should be out sometime in 2012 and is as of yet untitled (which makes sense considering that Gray Wolf Throne is barely on the market yet).

I received a digital copy of this book for review from Hyperion via NetGalley. Thank you!

Read-a-Thon Goals

• Finish my Library Thing Early Reviewer Books
• Finish the books I have from BookSwim so I can return them and get more!
• Read at least 5 books (aka, those two goals above)
• After that, start on my NetGalley backlog.

Books to Knock Out

• Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
• Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
• The Host by Stephanie Meyer
• The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz

• Tris & Izzy by Mette Ivie Harrison
• Fury by Elizabeth Meyers
• Witchlanders by Lena Coakley
• Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

How Much Time I Intend to Read

In short, when I’m not doing school stuff. Usually I’ll read during my free time, but I also tend to watch tv… and once I get started it sucks me in sometimes. But not this week!

Also I’m going to start reading before bed. Because currently I’m one of those people that watches tv in order to fall asleep, and it kind of bugs me.

Let’s Go!

If you’d like to follow me on GoodReads, please feel free to do so HERE

The Cheshire Cheese Cat: A Dickens of a Tale by Carmen Agra Deedy, Randall Wright, and Barry Moser (Illustrator) 

Recommended for people who like: Episodes of Doctor Who where the Doctor goes back in history, Light spoofing of Dickens,  Pixar Films, The Mouse and the Motorcycle

“Genre” Tags: Unlikely Friends, Literary Allusions, Rescue missions

The Official Summary:  Skilley, an alley cat with an embarrassing secret, longs to escape his hard life dodging fishwives brooms and carriage wheels and trade his damp alley for the warmth of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. When he learns that the innkeeper is looking for a new mouser, Skilley comes up with an audacious scheme to install himself in the famous tavern. Once established in the inn, Skilley strikes a bargain with Pip, the intelligent mouse-resident, and his fellow mice. Skilley protects the mice and the mice in turn give to Skilley the delectable Cheshire cheese of the inn. Thus begins a most unlikely alliance and friendship. (The rest of the GoodReads Summary has been edited for slight spoilers)

Review:    I have been a bit weary of reading middle grade books, probably because of how amazing I remember the books of my middle grade years being… and how disappointed I’ve been in the books my elementary school teacher mother has around the house. The Cheshire Cheese Cat was a pleasant surprise, and is one of those books that has the same allure as most Pixar films: kids will love it, but the language is smart enough that it won’t alienate adult readers, and the allusions are like pleasant little Easter eggs for the well-read reader. The most notable of these are the writers who frequent the pub, and the minor sub-plot of Mr. Dickens struggling to come up with a first line for his novel about the French Revolution.

I will admit that for the first time on this blog I have edited the GoodReads Summary, primarily because I loved not knowing who the mysterious “Maldwyn” is, and that is, alas, a bit spoiled in the summary.  If you do happen to see who/what Maldwyn is before you read it won’t ruin the experience by any means, but the mysterious allusions and Pip’s deference to Maldwyn speed up the slightly slower-paced opening.

But by far the thing that I loved most about this book was its Pixar-like quality of multigenerational entertainment. Younger readers will enjoy following the plot and the action, and older readers get all that plus some truly beautifully structured sentences and unusual wordchoice. You see, Pip is a lover of words, and he frequently throws around words like “sepulcher,” which is used in a very Woman in White context that made my inner English major giggle, especially as Wilkie Collins is also a frequent guest of the Cheshire Cheese Inn. Not only is the individual word choice fantastic, but the flow and imagery of the prose is glorious and highly original as well. One of the passages I had noted* describes one of the barmaid’s reactions to seeing Pip in the kitchen as he is sneaking around for a sugar cube:

“Th-th-there! It c-c-come at me! It…it…it was ‘orrible.” Adele spoke the words in telegraphic hiccups as she pointed toward the cone of sugar standing on the sideboard. 

Seeing her tremble, knees-to-chin on the tavern counter, one would never have guessed this was the same girl who had tounge-lashed the coal man that very morning for trying to cheat her out of a half-sack of coal.

There are just so many things that make that section awesome, but the use of the word “telegraphic” to describe hiccups is perfect, but unexpected, and the image of Adele on the counter is wonderfully clear. This kind of good writing is prevalent all throughout the book, and made the whole reading experience wonderfully enjoyable. I’ve actually already recommended it to my mother, who teaches forth grade, as a possible book for her slightly more advanced readers.

Rating: 4 stars—  A good light read for older readers, probably ideal for middle school or maybe fifth grade. The plot is cute and though the pacing starts a little slowly, it picks up dramatically after the first third— particularly as the plot revolving around Maldwyn picks up.

Other Tangential Thoughts and Disclosure:

I received a digital copy of this book for review from Peachtree Publishers via NetGalley (Thank you guys, and it’s great to see a publishing company in Atlanta!).

Also, if you are a cheese lover, beware. This book made me crave cheese so much that I may have instigated a dinner party for the sole purpose of having a reason to make Welsh Rarebit. The recipe and my notes are in the following post

The Cheshire Cheese Cat will be out in stores on October 1^st,!

*This quote is from the review copy, and I will check and edit (if necessary) the quote used in this review shortly after the book’s release date.

Welcome to my ninth Waiting on Wednesday post! Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine and is a forum for book bloggers to alert our readers to upcoming titles we’re excited to read. Now, there are some titles that EVERYONE can’t wait to get their hands on. For more information on those books, check out my calendar in the sidebar.  I’m going to try to use this meme to highlight books that I think my readers (a significant portion of which aren’t bloggers) won’t have heard of yet, though the more intense bloggers have likely already seen (or possibly even read!) them.

My pick for this week is:

Born Wicked by Jessica Spotswood

Expected Release Date: February 7th, 2012

Why?: Lord bless my slightly shallow soul, but it is partially because of the pretty, pretty cover. But also because of the GoodReads Summary. They had me at witches and asylums. Hey, it may be 94 degrees still, but school has started, so it’s fall for me, and fall means Halloween and witches!

GoodReads Summary: 

Cate Cahill and her sisters are considered eccentric bluestockings—a little odd, a little unfashionable, and far too educated for their own good. The truth is more complicated; they’re witches. And if their secret is discovered by the priests of the Brotherhood, it could mean an asylum, a prison ship—or an early grave. Before their mother died, she entrusted Cate with keeping them safe and keeping everyone, including their father, in the dark about their powers. When her father employs a governess and Cate begins to receive notes from her missing, presumed-mad godmother, her task becomes much more difficult. As Cate searches for answers in banned books and rebellious new friends, she must juggle unwanted proposals, tea parties, and an illicit attraction to the new gardener. Cate will do anything to protect her sisters, but at what cost to herself?

What book are you waiting for? Tell me in the comments!