Stuff As Dreams Are Made On…

Hey guys! Remember me? I’m still here. I had disappeared for awhile due to NaNoWriMo, but sadly, that has ended for me. I was about four days behind where I should be and started getting super stressed out trying to catch up and I don’t need the added stress right now. So I’m bowing out. I’ve learned that NaNo is not a good writing mechanism for me. I’m too much of a perfectionist just to pump out the words and not worry as much about the quality. Though I do think that NaNo is amazing for those who can do it and I’ll continue to support them every year and donate and buy a tshirt. Anyways, to the rest of you still participating, I wish you all the best and hope you rock it!!!!!

What have I been doing in the mean time? Stressing :/ What I do best. Work has just been CRAZY lately. I don’t know what’s happening, but the mental health system in New Orleans just seems to be getting more and more crowded with less and less resources. I was kind of pissed when we reelected Bobby Jindal as governor seeing how he’s pretty much destroyed the mental health system that was already suffering. I’m sorry, but I think the man is a total asshole. I get pissed just seeing his face these days.

Also having a post Matt visit funk. Matt and Renay came to visit me a couple of weeks ago and it was AMAZING!! I love them both so much. But it’s always so hard having to say goodbye. I can’t wait til the day when there are no more goodbyes between me and Matt. It’s really rough. I think the distance has been good in some ways. It’s allowed us to take our relationship slower and really build it. But at the same time, it’s rough not being able to get a hug whenever I want one.

But onto happier things! Reading! Well…it’s not so happy, lol. I haven’t finished a single book this month yet…though I’m reading some good ones! I’m reading Umberto Eco’s new book, The Prague Cemetery. I decided to get that one after hearing an excellent interview with him on the Diane Rehm show. Also reading Catch 22 for the first time EVER! And I’m loving it! Then there’s The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins and Dave McKean which is so incredibly cool. A book of poetry by Margaret Atwood. AND Dark of the Moon by John Sandford, the first book in the Virgil Flowers series. Yeah…think I’m reading too much at one time? I do too :p The sad thing is, I’m really craving some non-fic to throw into that…well The Magic of Reality is nonfic, lol. But I’m thinking of starting either Boyhoods or A Queer History of the United States. Dying to read both!

Other good things…I made pineapple jelly this weekend!!! It’s easily the best jelly I’ve EVER made!! It’s actually supposed to be pineapple butter, but I think it came out more like jam. Here’s a pic of it And here’s a link to the recipe I used!

And that’s all for now folks…though I hope to be back with some book reviews EVENTUALLY! Miss everyone!!!

So it’s been six months since the last bad bloggers round ended. Which means that it’s time to announce the baddest blogger for the last six months. But FIRST! A few more books and blame. And by a few, I mean

1. I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith (paperback swap) (Point to Ana)

2. The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom (Bought it)

3. The Woman Who Gave Birth to Rabbits: Stories by Emma Donoghue (Paperback Swap)

4. The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (Bought it) (Point to Ana)

5. Harbor by John Ajvide Lindqvist (Bought it)

6. Carnival by Elizabeth Bear (Paperback Swap) (Point to Memory)

7. Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (Paperback Swap) (Point to Amanda)

8. Oranges are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson (Paperback Swap) (Point to Jason)

9. Bad Blood by John Sandford (Bought it)

10. The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley (Bought it)

11. Dark of the Moon by John Sandford (Bought it)

12. The Passion by Jeanette Winterson (Paperback Swap) (Point to Jason)

13. Rules of Prey by John Sandford (Paperback Swap) (Point to Debi)

14. Rough Country by John Sandford (Paperback Swap)

15. Heat Lightning by John Sandford (Paperback Swap)

16. The Unwritten Volume 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey (Bought it)

17. Gate 7: Volume 1 by CLAMP (Bought it)

18. The Door by Margaret Atwood (Bought it)

19. The October Country by Ray Bradbury (Bought it)

20. An Elegy for Amelia Johnson by Andrew Rostan (Bought it)

21. When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead (Bought it)

22. Bruiser by Neal Shusterman (Bought it)

23.Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire (Bought it)

24. Woodswoman by Anne LaBastille (Paperback Swap) (Point to The Fabulous Beekman Boys)

25. The Museum of Dr. Moses by Joyce Carol Oates (Gift from a friend) (Point to Debi)

26. Habibi by Naomi Shihab Nye (Paperback Swap)

27. You are My Only by Beth Kephart (Bought it) (Point to Amy)

Are you guys ready for this??? Someone BEAT ANA for the first time since I’ve been doing Bad Bloggers! And it’s only by one point! LOL….And that person is Debi!! Debi, let me know which you book you want! Any book that I’ve ever reviewed is yours! Here’s the breakdown of points this time:

Debi – 9
Ana – 8
Renay – 5
Carl – 4
Heather – 4
Becky – 3
Nancy – 3
Lu – 2
Matt – 2
Diane Rehm – 2
Rich – 2
Octavia Books – 2
Annie – 2
Jill – 2
The Beekman Boys – 2
Jason – 2
Rebeca Makkai – 1
Bellezza – 1
Ibeeg – 1
Patrick Ness – 1
Michael Pollan – 1
Neil Gaiman – 1
Trish – 1
Sid – 1
Lisa – 1
Pat – 1
Other Chris – 1
Amanda – 1
Andi – 1
Heather (Age 30+) – 1
John Green – 1
Nurse Katie – 1
Amy – 1
Memory – 1

Next Bad Bloggers will wrap up April 30th of 2012. Couple of side notes. If I’m even MORE of a stranger (if that’s even possible), it’s because I’m doing NaNoWriMo this month! Going good so far!! If you’re participating and we’re not friends, please add me!! My name is chrisa511. I HATE the look of the new Google Reader. And I LOVE the new Florence and the Machine album. That is all.

Let me start that saying that this is a book I never would’ve picked up had it not been for my friend Debi. And it will likely be my favorite book of the year. This is something that I’ve come to love so much about blogging. My reading habits have expanded so greatly and I’m a better reader and indeed, a better person because of that. I can find something in just about every section of the bookstore now that I’ll enjoy whereas I never would’ve been able to say that before.

I used to use the blanket statement “I’m not a fan of thrillers or crime fiction.” And that probably holds true for most novels written in the genre, but DAMN this book was amazing. Amazing in that makes you sob huge ugly disgusting noises while you’re reading it and then makes you laugh and then makes your heart just about beat out of your chest kind of way.

Shadow Man delves into everyone’s greatest fears. It pushes the boundaries further than any novel that I can think of that I’ve read, yet it’s also one of the most empathetic and character driven books I’ve read. Agent Smoky Barrett is trying to figure out whether or not she should go back into the FBI. She’s just recently had severe trauma inflicted upon her by a serial killer that she was hunting. She’s walked away with scars, both emotionally and physically. Her body is covered in scars that the killer inflicted upon her and her husband and daughter have both been killed by him. Everything she feared came true.

Until she’s contacted about a new case. Her high school friend has been killed. And not just killed, but raped, tortured, mutilated and tied to her still living daughter. I know you’re thinking “this book is not for me” right now…but read on. Me and Debi actually had this conversation. At this point, I think most of us would put this book aside. But what Debi pointed out to me which holds true for me is that this book is so touching and so amazing because he gives lives to the victims. It’s not just the FBI tracking a killer, but they’re also trying for justice for someone that we’ve come to care about.

But things really do get much worse before they get better. And as this is a thriller, I won’t tell you much more except for that the killer thinks he is a direct descendant of Jack the Ripper and kills in that fashion. Hunting “whores” and wanting to be hunted by the police. McFadyen’s characters are some of the best I’ve read. I felt such a strong connection to them. Especially Smoky, a truly AMAZING woman.

I remember writing a NaNoWriMo novel one year and writing Ana an email saying that I don’t think I could write a female character because I can’t put myself in their shoes. And then after talking with her some, realized that I was being a total ass. And I think this is a problem that a lot of writers fall into. They think “oh if I’m writing a woman character, I have to follow certain stereotypes” which is so stupid. Writing a female character is just writing another person. Same for a female writing a male character. And McFadyen gets this right. He’s written some of the most amazing female characters I’ve read. They’re strong people who all have their weaknesses and he makes them face those. And he had me sobbing as they did.

Did you read Ana’s sunday salon post? I think it’s one of THE most influential and inspiring posts I’ve read in a long time. I’m sitting here trying to think…what COULD I be critical about in this book…are there things that I feel ambivalent about here? And honestly, I can say “no.” This book was really just about perfect. Yes, it has some of the most disturbing scenes I’ve ever read in it, but they are there for a reason. It stresses the nature of certain people and gives us a peek into the minds of serial killers. And then it stresses the power of people and what the human brain can handle.

Anyway, can you tell I liked this book? Wow…I did!! Amazing. And there are three more out in this series!! So excited!!

Also, this wraps up my RIP reading for this year…here’s what I read…and yeah, my favorite was this book! Though all around I read some damn good books. The Night Circus and The Name of the Star are likely to be favorites this year as well.

1. A Tale Dark and Grimm by Adam Gidwitz
2. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley
3. Spooky South by S.E. Schlosser
4. The Dreaming Volume 1 by Queenie Chan
5. Every You, Every Me by David Levithan
6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
7. Handling the Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist
8. Bad Blood by John Sandford
9. Halloween edited by Paula Guran
10. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson
11. Shadow Man by Cody McFadyen

I honestly did not expect to like this book as much as I did. I really don’t know why…I mean it’s Maureen Johnson…but for some reason, I thought it was just going to be so so…and it does start off a little slow, but STICK WITH IT!! This might be my new favorite series out there. And that’s saying a lot. My biggest disappointment in this book was the cliffhanger ending and my need for the second book right now!

Johnson’s heroine in this book is Aurora, a young girl from Louisiana. Yeah, liked that right off the bat. And Aurora is an AMAZING character. She’s moved to a boarding school in England when her parents decide to move there. Rory has never seen anything like it…it’s like something straight out of a Victorian novel. Her fears are quickly subdued when she meets her roommate, Jazza and they hit it off pretty much right away.

But all is not sunshine and roses. There’s a killer on the loose in the vicinity of her new school. A killer that is killing in the shadows of Jack the Ripper. There are strict rules put in place as to when they can leave the school and where they’re allowed to go. But it wouldn’t be a boarding school YA novel if those rules weren’t broken. On one of the nights that the new Ripper is supposed to attack, Rory and Jazza sneak out to the boys dorm roof to get a bird’s eye view of the town. When they sneak back, Rory is greeted by a man outside of their windows. A man that Jazza can’t see.

We quickly find out that Rory has an ability that no one else has. And she’s targeted by the paranormal police to aid in this investigation. And I really can’t say any more than that because this book is filled with twists and turns and surprises all along the way.

I will say that most of this book was pretty predictable. There weren’t any huge shockers to me until toward the end of the book when things just got crazy and I literally couldn’t put the book down. What I love about Maureen Johnson is that she can imbue humor into pretty much any situation. Hey guys..this murder book I just read…it’s HILARIOUS! For real. I read on twitter that this series will be at least three books long and I really just can’t wait for more more more!!!

So I made a list for Debi of 50 books that I want her to read before she dies and realized how much I absolutely ADORE this list!!! It is not all of my favorite books…it’s just 50 of my favorites that I know she hasn’t read yet. And I thought I’d share this list with you all. Any of these that are favorites of yours too? Any of these that you absolutely hated? Or any that you’re dying to read too? I think I just love lists and I love books and I love talking about books so making this list made me all kinds of happy :p

1. Mirabilis by Susann Cokal
2. Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice
3. The Witching Hour by Anne Rice
4. The Bone People by Keri Hulme
5. Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card
6. Lisey’s Story by Stephen King
7. Greenmantle by Charles DeLint
8. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
9. The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy (novella)
10.  The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
11.  Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris (Essays)
12.  The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima
13.  Wind Follower by Carole McDonnell
14.  Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
15.  The Book of Flying by Keith Miller
16.  The Wood Wife by Terri Windling
17.  The Bone Doll’s Twin by Lynn Fleweling
18.  When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris (Essays)
19.  Bonk by Mary Roach (non-fic/science)
20.  Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest
21.  Dream Homes: From Cairo to Katrina, An Exile’s Journey by Joyce Zonana (autobiography/memoir)
22.  A Fine and Private Place by Peter Beagle
23.  Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
24.  The Horse Boy by Rupert Isaacson (nonfic/memoir)
25.  Wetlands by Charlotte Roche
26.  Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
27.  The Screwed Up Life of Charlie the Second by Drew Ferguson
28.  Fingersmith by Sarah Waters
29.  Between Mom and Jo by Julie Anne Peters
30.  The Wild Things by Dave Eggers
31.  Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger
32.  A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote
33.  Luna by Julie Anne Peters
34.  Looking For Bapu by Anjali Banarjee
35.  Mare’s War by Tanita S. Davis
36.  Push by Sapphire
37.  Transformations by Anne Sexton (Poetry)
38.  Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (memoir/environmental)
39.  The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender
40.  The Bells by Richard Harvell
41.  The Armless Maiden and Other Tales For Childhood Survivors Edited by Terri Windling
42.  London Triptych by Jonathan Kemp
43.  The Fox Woman by Kij Johnson
44.  Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen
45.  Wicked by Gregory Maguire
46.  Turn of Mind by Alice LaPlante
47.  The Radiation Sonnets by Jane Yolen
48.  Habibi by Craig Thompson
49.  The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
50.  Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides

So this past Saturday I was MISERABLE at work. I hate working weekends to begin with, but this weekend was made even worse by the fact that it was so dead at the hospital…I had nothing at all to do. So I told the receptionist to hold my phone calls that I was going to Walgreens to get a book. Now we all know how wonderful of a selection pharmacies have for books </sarcasm>. I searched through the ten books that they had to offer and decided this one would be the least disastrous. As it turns out, it was a truly thrilling and emotional read! I’ll be damned.

Frankly, I’ve never even heard of John Sandford, but apparently he’s kinda a big deal on the mystery/thriller/detective novel scene. I get that now. This is the fourth book in his Virgil Flowers series. Luckily, you don’t have to read these books in order. They have their own stories with just a central investigator named…you guessed it…Virgil Flowers. And he’s a pretty cool guy. I thought he was a total douche at first, but it turns out he does have a heart and he’s a pretty genuine guy.

Bad Blood holds a riveting story but one that’s not easy to read. The book starts out with a series of murders/suicides. We don’t know which they are at first, but the answer to that quickly becomes clear. The murders are centered around a local church called the World of Spirit. The church seems odd to some people, but until they dig into it, no one realizes just how fucked up things are. There’s some sick sexual shit going on here. Child abuse, spousal abuse, murder, rape, etc. These are your trigger warnings. If you can’t read about those things, you probably should not read this book.

It’s not gratuitous though. I’ve tried to pose the question to myself why do some books with rape really bother me (in that I think it shouldn’t be written about) and others don’t. And my answer is simple. When rape is glorified in a book or there is no retribution whatsoever because of it…it pisses me off. I’m thinking specifically of the Peter Straub story in the Stories anthology. I can never read anything by that man again because of his disgusting story. But when it’s shown as a part of what sadly goes on in this world and is shown as the disgusting, hurtful, did I mention disgusting act it is..I’m ok with it being in a story. In Bad Blood, it’s the latter.

Virgil Flowers is sent in to investigate and bring down this ring of crime in the small farming town and works with female officer, Lee Coakley on solving the case. Personally, I would LOVE to see a Lee Coakley series written because she was incredibly awesome!! Of course there’s some romance that spawns between the two, but I thought it was done very well. I enjoyed the love story as well.

So I went from skeptic to fan with this one book…I’ve now ordered the first three books in the Virgil Flowers series along with the first book in Sandford’s Prey series. Looks like I may have found a new favorite author to read when I’m looking for a good mystery/thriller.

How do you review a book that you know is an instant favorite? How do you review a book that you can’t even fathom the writing process of? How do you do that and hope that it’ll live up to the experience of reading it. I don’t think you can do that successfully, honestly, but I’m going to try here.

Ana has been trying to get me to read Middlesex for years. Literally. I tried reading it three years ago and it was just the wrong time for me. I know it was ME and not the book because it’s now hard for me to put into words how much I loved this book.

The narrator of Middlesex is Cal, born Calliope. Yes, this is the journey of Cal transitioning to life as a male after being born with a genetic abnormality that caused him to be born intersex, but it’s much more than just Cal’s story. In fact, we don’t even meet Cal for the first time until halfway through the book. It’s the story of the Stephanides family.

Middlesex is the story of two greek immigrants, brother and sister, who become husband and wife. It’s the story of old traditions vs. new transitionings. It’s the story of immigration, of love, of self-discovery. It’s a history of Detroit in the 1920’s moving through the 1970’s. And yes, it’s a study in gender and how exactly our gender defines us. GENDER not SEX.

I couldn’t even fathom how Euginides wrote this book. It’s epic! All of the little details are there. The scope of the novel is huge. And yet the book remains so personal. I loved all of these characters so much. They won’t be leaving my mind any time soon. I fell in love with Cal from page one, but there are so many other amazing characters in this book.

Desdomona. Oh how I loved her so much. She’s the beginning of what will eventually cause the genetic deformity once she marries her brother. She’s an amazing woman! Holding so heartily to the traditions of her homeland as she travels to Detroit as a stranger. Always a strong woman who has her weak moments at times. But a true matriarch.

I was taken aback by my feelings towards the incestuous relationships in this novel. I found myself not being appalled by them in the least bit. Desdomona and Lefty loved each other. That was clear. They were not aware of the possibilities of genetic deformities being passed on. I still can’t really describe exactly why the relationship didn’t bother me. I think it’s Eugenides’ writing. Not that he made things appear to be one way in particular, but that he showed us the humanity and the love between these two. And showed me a family that I came to love so much.

I listened to this book on audiobook and I have to say that I think all other audiobooks are forever ruined for me. Kristoffer Tabori was the narrator and he is STUNNING!! He brought the characters to life so well. Like I was amazed by Eugenides, I was also amazed by Tabori’s reading and performance abilities.

Whichever way you choose to read this book, read it. I highly recommend the audio…it’s done wonderfully and is incredibly engaging…but of course for there to be great audio, there had to be a great book behind it. And this one indeed is.

Guys I made a freaking ham! All by myself! Well not entirely by myself…with the help of the Beekman Boys’ Heirloom cookbook which is absolutely amazing by the way and you should have it in your kitchen library. This thing tastes so freaking good!! The flavors are all definitely there and I kind of never want to stop eating this…but I have to because we plan on eating this on french rolls tomorrow during the Saints game. So here’s the recipe guys!! If you want more great recipes like this, visit Beth Fish’s Weekend Cooking AND/OR go buy the Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook.

Note: This recipe calls for no rosemary :p It’s just me trying to make the ham look pretty.

Currant Glazed Baked Ham:

Ingredients:

1 Fully cooked, bone in half ham (6 to 8 pounds), preferably from the butt end (Note: I actually got a boneless ham…used a Hormel Cure 87..half ham)
1 Cup Pineapple juice
1 Cinnamon stick, split
8 Whole Cloves
2 Bay leaves (used them from my own tree )
1/2 Cup red currant jelly (I actually used black currant jelly for mine!)
2 Tablespoons Brown mustard
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Place the ham on a rack in a roasting pan with a lid. Using a sharp knife, score the fat on top of the ham in a diamond pattern. Pour the pineapple juice and 1/2 cup water into the bottom of the pan along with the cinnamon stick, cloves, and bay leaves. Cover the ham (if you don’t have a covered roasting pan, oil a large piece of foil and cover the pan, oiled side down); roast for 45 minutes.
In a small skillet, melt the jelly over low heat. Stir in the mustard, brown sugar, and ginger.

Uncover the ham and brush it with one-third of the jelly mixture. Bake for 10 minutes. Brush with half the remaining jelly mixture, baste with the pan juices, and bake for 10 minutes. Brush the ham with the remaining jelly mixture and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 140 degrees.

Let the ham rest for 10 minutes before slicing.

FREAKING ENJOY IT!

Seriously…I think it’s going to be time to purge my shelves again soon :/ I BUY TOO MANY BOOKS!!! But I’ll never stop, lol. I’ve tried putting restrictions on myself before and it just. doesn’t. work. I’m an addict and always will be, lol. I’ve accumulated so many books that I’m just going to list them here and dole out the blame…here’s what I’ve gotten:

1. Habibi by Craig Thompson (reviewed) (bought it!)

2. A Yuletide Universe: Sixteen Fantastical Tales edited by Brian M. Thomsen (Paperback Swap)

3. Halloween: short stories edited by Paula Guran (Bought it!)

4. Best of the Best From Lousiana Recipes Vol. 2 by Gwen McKee (Gift from Mom)

5. The Beekman 1802 Heirloom Cookbook by Brent Ridge and Joshua Kilmer-Purcell (Bought it…point to the Beekman Boys!)

6. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Reviewed) (Bought it! Point to Andi!)

7. Deja Dead by Kathy Reichs (Paperback Swap)

8. Belly Up by Stewart Gibbs (Bought it)

9. The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block (Paperback Swap)

10. The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells (Paperback swap…point to Heather at Age 30+!)

11. The Sign of the Four by Arthur Conan Doyle (Paperback Swap)

12. The Name of the Star by Maureen Johnson (Bought it)

13. Wise Children by Angela Carter (Paperback Swap…point to Heather at Capricious Reader!)

14. The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow by Cory Doctrow (Bought it)

15. Alligator Bayou by Donna Jo Napoli (Bought it)

16. 1491 by Charles C. Mann (Bought it)

17. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins (Bought it)

18. The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (Bought it)

19. As Simple as Snow by Greg Galloway (Paperback Swap…Point to John Green!)

20. An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor (Paperback Swap..point to Nurse Katie at work!)

21. The Worst Noel: Hellish Holiday Tales edited by Symons Mitchell (Paperback Swap)

22. The Magic of Reality by Richard Dawkins and Dave McKean (Bought it…point to Ana!)

I thought I was in trouble when I started this book. A.) It starts out in second person. B.) Everyone loves it and it’s been extremely hyped. I worried about A because OH NO I HATE SECOND PERSON and about B because…well…this isn’t fair, but I tend to automatically have a dislike of books that are hyped. But I soon found that there are only tiny vignettes throughout the book that are in second person and they’re actually done quite well and are effective and also fuck hype…this book is good!

What truly made me go ahead and buy this book was an interview I heard with Morgenstern on NPR. She was intelligent, she was laid back, she was NOT pretentious, and when she talked about her book it just sounded amazing. And then to top it off, she quoted Neil Gaiman in the interview. Yeah…she won me over with that. And I’m so glad she did.

This is a tale of magic and love and loss and more magic and just total beauty. There are so many LEVELS to this story. There’s a challenge between two magicians that neither has truly chosen. Rather it was bestowed upon them at a young age when their talent for true magic was discovered. There’s the circus itself which is like nothing I’ve ever read about before which serves as the battle ground for the face off between the two magicians. There are the relationships between the circus goers and the circus performers and then the relationships between the individuals. And then there is the relationship between the two magicians, Celia and Marco.

I’m not going to tell you much more than that because this book is best left as something to uncover, layer by layer. It’s haunting. It has some of the most beautiful imagery I’ve ever read…I actually wanted to say “seen” there, because it’s that vivid. I wanted to BE at this circus. To walk it’s alleys and enter it’s tents. To see real magic performed before my eyes and wonder if it really COULD be real. I wanted to be a reveur and follow them in their travels when the tents mysteriously and suddenly appear in a new location.

Really everything about this book is magical. Not just the magic itself, but the writing…the characters…the history…the settings. It’s all so beautiful. It all takes you away to another place entirely as a good story should.

I had one qualm with this book and it has nothing to do with the book actually…more with the marketing. I’ve heard many people…bloggers and publicity say “oh no, this is not a YA book…it’s an ADULT book.” Why? Why does it matter? And I guess this doesn’t have to do specifically with this book…this just happens to be the latest to do that. I ADORE so many books that fall into the YA category. But I kinda hate that it’s a category (it’s not a genre people). Why CAN’T this be a YA book? It’s not like there’s explicit sex (though there’s some) or heavy drinking or drugs or whatever else you’re gonna say. Yes, it’s not childish. But YA doesn’t have to be. For that matter, “childish” books don’t have to be just for children either. I guess I have no problem with the YA label…but it’s when something is “oh no, definitely not YA” that I get aggravated. Because it almost infers that if a book is intelligent or has deep meaning that it can’t be read by young adults.

Anyway…OFF OF MY SOAPBOX NOW!! Read this! Read it now!! Adults AND Young adults!