Monday, October 29, 2012

The Night Circus

The Night CircusThe Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm pretty conflicted on how much I liked this book (Three or four stars?). It was beautifully written, no question about it. A very talented author with an incredible imagination! However I think it just comes down to the fact that it wasn't as thrilling as I felt it could be. I think perhaps the ending didn't quite sit right with me either. It seemed like we were taken through so many years and got to know so many characters so well, that I felt a bit let down how it came to an end.

This was a slow read for me. I found I could easily set the book aside when the chapter changed time periods. In a way I appreciated that because I could think on it a little bit, but also a wee bit annoying.

I do like the concept of the book, I liked the magic and use of alchemy, I just wasn't as impressed by the story itself as it appears others were.

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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

The Shoemakers Wife

The Shoemaker's WifeThe Shoemaker's Wife by Adriana Trigiani
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

FAAAAAAN-tastic!

There was so much to this book and spanned so much time, it was a journey I will not soon forget! Lovely, lovely story.

This beautiful tale starts in the early 1900's in the gorgeous and airy Alps of Italy. Two children, Enza and Ciro, are living a few miles apart but don't meet until a tragic event brings them together ever so briefly at 15 years old. Before this new found crush can come to fruition, Ciro is sent to America to avoid a work camp as an unfair punishment for something he witnessed in a Catholic church. Enza, who did not know why Ciro left or where he went, heads to America too to help her family earn money to build a home back in Italy.

Through a series of chance run-ins in New York City, Enza and Ciro are never in the right place to make a go of the feelings they have for one another. It isn't until what seems the worst time for them to come together that Ciro steps up and risks his heart to claim her heart as his. Is Enza willing to give up the glamour of New York and The Met? Is she willing to risk an unknown life with this great man who claimed her heart so many years ago on the mountain?

Family tragedy, a near death sea voyage, a war, these two struggle through good times and bad to find what love really is.

I found myself reading this entire book with an Italian accent in my head. Ha ha! The writing was so beautiful and descriptive and I had no problems whatsoever picturing the mountains, The Met, and all the characters clearly in my mind.

An absolutely amazing, brilliant, heartwarming love story that will surely become a classic.


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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault in Our StarsThe Fault in Our Stars by John Green
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I wouldn't call my review a spoiler, but it is such that once you start reading this book, you may catch wind of what I refer to below and figure it out. If you elect to read this book and want to be blissfully ignorant of it's content, then read no more. BUT! Feel free to come back after you're done. :)

Holy crap. Oh my gosh. My emotions were going haywire reading this book. I think anyone reading this review must know by now that it's sad. Incredibly sad. I should have seen it coming but I didn't therefore on a Friday night as I finished the book laying in bed, I had to change my pillow case because I cried so much. Thank heavens my husband was working so he didn't have to see what a blubbering fool I was. To offset that sadness there was humor unlike anything I've read before. The ease these kids felt in giving each other crap about cancer was eerily refreshing knowing that they were being eaten from the inside out. If only everyone could have a sense of humor like this!

I don't like to read reviews before I read a book. I'm so glad I didn't with this book especially. I like to be surprised for most of the books I read and this book did not fail in the "SURPRISE" department.

I loved the banter between Hazel and Augustus. Yes, I had my dictionary app at the ready because they use long wordy words but it only added that much more to the story. They were two kids who have gone through hell, lost a part of their lives, and had to rely on their parents and other cancer kids to mentally survive.

The emotional highs and lows did not cease until the end of the story. It took a hold of my emotions and wouldn't let go and I'm still struggling to free myself. But I loved it. I absolutely loved this book.

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Monday, October 1, 2012