The Night Circus, an enchanting new favorite

Brilliant, Wondrous, Enchanting! The Night Circus is an Intricately woven tale of magic and mystery, charming to the end.

I was immediately drawn into The Night Circus, a magical novel, where the language is lyrical and whimsical creating a dreamlike environment.  We, as a “spectator” get little snippets and tiny glimpses of a brightly lit Le Cirque De Reves “Night Circus” that opens after sunset. The magical and elusive circus appears in random cities on different nights, never with advance notice; there is no advertising, only word of mouth.

The circus is charmingly and amazingly imagined, so cleverly composed that the readers will visualize every elaborate experience. Elegant and architechtural, the circus has a limited palette of black and white and silver. The Night Circus has been planned by engineers, magicians, and theatrical persons…no creative or exquisite aspect is lacking. Each circus tent or feature is better than the last; even the food has been created by genius gastronomists.

Celia is the child of Prospero the Enchanter, a most unfortunate twist of fate as Prospero plans to use Celia as a pawn in a magical challenge between himself and his enemy.  Prospero is a cruel master who punishes his daughter while forcing her to develop her illusionist skills. Celia is given no love and no information on the magical challenge; she knows only that she must prepare herself to be the BEST illusionist in order to win “the game.”

Marco is an orphan when he is chosen by the man in the grey suit, Chandresh, the nemesis of Prospero. Marco is to become the opponent in the game. He knows only that he must develop his magical spells and creations, as he will soon have a formidable opponent. Chandresh is an elusive Master, leaving Marco to study books alone in a townhouse.

Neither Marco nor Celia knows that there will only be one winner, the end game means death to the losing magician. Their competitive venue is The Night Circus where Celia will be the illusionist and Marco will be the magical architect. And, at first they are not aware of one another, they simply are aware that the game has begun and yet they are drawn to each other’s creations and illusions…

Shimmering and vibrant, The Night Circus pulled me in with the first delicious and descriptive paragraph. In no way will I be able to describe the visual atmosphere created in The Night Circus, you must read and discover the enchanting appeal for yourself. For the first time in a long time, I could not stop reading;  this book now has a place on my Favorites shelf, a twenty-first century new classic.

The Night Circus is written by Erin Morgenstern and today is available in Hardback and e-book formats.

Review: The Gilder

The Gilder by Kathryn Kay

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Light, Underdeveloped,Contemporary

I would place this novella well into the light fiction category.

Marina is a Gilder; she learned her trade of gilding gold in Italy as an apprentice. The gilding process is interesting and young Marina is lucky to have attained an apprentice position. All is well and fine in Italy until Marina starts hanging out with Thomas and Sarah. Two is company and three’s a crowd, Sarah and Thomas are married. Marina loves Sarah, loves her friendship, and perhaps even has a bit of a crush on her. Sarah’s art career is on hold as her husband and his photography career must come first, there is only room for one artist in the marriage.

Soon Marina is assisting Thomas with his photography setups and this is of course where she gets into trouble. Thomas makes his move on night in the studio and Marina does not resist. But in the morning, the callous Thomas tells her that she should keep this from his wife. Feeling that she has betrayed her best friend, she quickly and quietly leaves the country.
Fifteen years later she has a teenage daughter who wants to know who her father was and this now means that Marina must confront her past and return to Italy.

I loved the Gilding aspect of the story, but had issues with the one dimensional Sarah and Thomas. We never get to know them or their motivations. There are great ideas here, but I do wish they all had been more deeply developed. I found this book listed on Indiebound.org and will be disappointed if it is marked as a book club selection.




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Review: The Amulet of Samarkand

The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The Amulet of Samarkand, Book One in the Bartimaeus Trilogy
Fast-paced, addictive, magical fantasy

This YA book starts with a demon being summoned, in turn the demon appears, “two yellow staring eyes materialized in the heart of the smoke”. The demon is determined to frighten the young magician boy that summons him. The boy is very young, too young to be making demands such as charging the demon Bartimaeus to retrieve the Amulet of Samarkand. The demon believes that the boy’s Master is forcing the boy to make the request. The demon is bound to do the boy’s bidding, but he resists as much as he can as he knows his task will be troublesome.

The demon very nearly loses his life as he fights other demons and strong magic when he stealthily steals the amulet from the powerful Simon Lovelace. Bartimaeus is dangerously pursued by beings that will stop at nothing to retrieve the amulet. But even as the quest began, Bartimaeus knew he would face great danger, as he knows that the Amulet holds great powers.

Bartimaeus is a demon who must obey the boy, a defiant demon, and a dangerous demon, one whose mind constantly works to determine a way to kill the boy. Demons must obey the commands of their summoners, which often puts Bartimaeus in great danger. Bartimaeus is a seasoned and clever demon, who does what he is commanded to do, despite having his life endangered. Even as a demon Bartimaeus is determined to survive, he wants to live, to be released from his service to the boy.

Nathaniel is a young apprentice magician with a grumpy Master who doesn’t recognize his student’s intelligence. The Master teaches slowly, proving too frustrating for the boy. Nathaniel makes up for it by reading all of the Master’s books and learning higher level magic in his room at night. The boy has a lonely life, he stays inside his Master’s house, and he knows only his unkind Master and the Master’s wife. The boy has no friends, no one to talk to, and he is bent on revenge against a much stronger (adult) Magician, Simon Lovelace. Nathaniel knows much more than his Master would believe, even the demon cannot believe the boys knowledge of magic, this will work to the boy’s advantage.

Before you think that this is too reminiscent of Harry Potter. No it is not! Magic is the only common denominator.

The reader wants to root for the boy to succeed despite the fact that we are unsure whether or not the petulant boy is a hero. We also root for the success of the demon, as we want the boy and demon to work together to vanquish the magicians who have wronged the boy.

While I wished success for the boy and demon, I could not decide whether or not this book had a hero, not even as I finished the book! My hope, and ah clever author Jonathan Stroud, is that the boy and Bartimaeus represent the good guys. This book left me wanting more; it read like a fast-paced action adventure, I anxiously await the next two novels.





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Review: Angels Flight

Angels Flight by Michael Connelly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Remarkable, intelligent, riveting

A Detective Bosch novel.

A prominent attorney is murdered and no cop wants to take the case as it will bring too much heat down on them. Bosch is called in the middle of the night to work the case, which he instantly knows will bring chaos and conflicts to the streets in LA. Bosch is smart and incredibly capable and trusting of his team. The problem is that he is assigned additional team members he doesn’t trust and all the while his boss is screaming for results.

The story is complex, a lawyer who prosecuted cops is dead and yet the cops are investigating the death, there is no win. The case is delicate but Bosch cannot bring himself to believe that a cop would commit this murder which seems so personal. The murder seems like the beginning, but in reality Bosch and his team must backtrack through cases, subpoenas, and suspects all while the pressure and media are bearing down on them. When Bosch’s former partner is named as the shooter, Bosch knows that they have the wrong man, now he just needs to prove it.

While Bosch is piecing all the clues together for his case, his personal life starts falling into shambles. He is an amazing lead detective; he snatches up details and draws the right conclusions; however it seems that he is losing his wife. Eleanor no longer responds to texts or calls; Bosch cannot even count on her being home at night. He fears the feeling of relief at the thought that his marriage may be ending.

Bosch is a superb character, he is a believable detective made human by the failings in his personal life, another great book in the series. The series starts with The Black Echo and is written by Michael Connelly, I highly recommend this series to mystery fans. My favorite in the series is The Concrete Blonde, but then I do love that title…




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Review: Hector and the Search for Happiness: A Novel

Hector and the Search for Happiness: A Novel by François Lelord

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



cozy, simple, friendly

Hector travels around the globe pondering happiness and what it means to each person he meets. An interesting story, and people love to open up to Hector, who like his author is a Psychiatrist. Hector carries his journal and makes little notes on happiness after each conversation. One observation is tha, "Happiness is a certain way of seeing things."

Hector acknowledges that those he treats who seem most unhappy have good jobs and no major problems. Hector's friend Eduard believes that making sixmillion dollars will mean happiness, but while he has work and money, he is extremely unhappy. Whereas in contrast, the poor shoeless children in the foreign countries Hector visits smile and seem happy.

A parable that seems to have some bits of truth to it, a much less complex version of Eat Pray Love.





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Review: The Book of Lost Things

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Not-for-children, dark, violent

David is a little boy whose mother has recently died. In mourning and miserable, he doesn't understand when his father re-marries very quickly. Once David is living with his stepmother, the books in his room start talking. The lonely boy starts hearing his mother's voice and seeing odd strangers at the edge of the woods.

Soon the little boy has followed his mother's voice into the dark corners of a new world (much darker than Narnia). As soon as he enters the world, the boy is hunted by the Crooked Man and the wolves. Very scary, as the hungry wolves eat people and want to consume the boy. The book was dark and violent, as David goes on a quest to see the King in order to get back to his world. David must face beasts and trolls and all kinds of violent mystical killers, and make no mistake, they are violent.

I see why this was recommended for me as there are many author “retellings” of the Grimm fairy tales—his stories are much darker and more evil.

Not for children! It was an interesting book, but there was too much violence and death for my taste.




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Sparks of Wonder Alight The Lantern

Descriptive, Enthralling, new Rebecca

 “Some scents sparkle and then quickly disappear, like the effervescence of a citrus zest or a bright not of mint.” And so this beautifully written novel, The Lantern begins.

 In Switzerland Eve meets a mysterious man and starts a whirlwind romance. Dom is handsome but somehow closed off and haunted. Dom admits that he was once married but asks Eve to never speak of Rachel again; he will not speak further about it. Eve is caught up in the love affair and keeps thoughts of Rachel locked away in her mind.

 Soon Dom has convinced Eve to leave her work and home to move with him to the remote Les Genevriers in the South of France. Eve is thrilled to have found love and easily gives up her lonely life, renting out her London flat. Summer in the isolated French farming hamlet is heavenly. There are many things to discover, and Eve and Dom are content in their isolated new home together. Eve recognizes that their house is very old and full of friendly ghosts.

 When the cold winter moves in, Eve starts to feel haunted as she sees things in the garden and starts hearing noises in the house. And, seemingly, Dom pulls away from her, leaving her even more isolated. They are far from town and there are no other houses nearby, Dom has effectively cut off Eve from her friends, work and family. Eve becomes afraid, distant and restless as Dom becomes more uncommunicative. Eve also becomes obsessed with Dom’s former wife Rachel and spends all her time researching her and wondering what happened to her. Dom still refuses to talk about Rachel, but Eve has learned that Dom and Rachel had planned on living in Genevriers together. Eve soon finds a lady in town, Sabine, who implies that Dom may have killed Rachel. Per Sabine, Rachel was pregnant and disappeared unexpectedly…

 As the haunting of Eve begins, the reader starts learning the ominous past history of the farmstead. The farm is where Marthe Lincel, a famous 1950’s perfume creator grew up as a child. Eve often smells the strong scent of lavender which was the inspiration for Marthe’s signature scent. Soon Eve is also researching the story of Marthe, who disappeared at the height of her career.

 In an eerie bit of foreshadowing, Dom and Rachel have decided to replace the pool in the garden…what will they discover? Throughout the novel I thought of Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, there are many parallels that cannot be ignored.

 For me, this novel is much more descriptive and enthralling than Du Maurier’s Rebecca. Here is an example of the language, “Outside, the figs fall, the wasps drone at the sugar bursting on the ground and on the branch, the scents of summer are overblown in the heat.” Magnificent descriptors, I highly recommend this novel for any fiction readers and book clubs. Alas, this novel is not yet available in paperback.