The Night Circus - Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is certainly creating some buzz lately. So, I was excited to receive a copy and see what all the talk was about.

"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Le Cirque des Réves

(The Circus of Dreams)

Opens at Nightfall

Closes at Dawn."

But what visitors don't know is that the circus is a venue for a game. A game between two enigmatic magicians (although they are much more than simple magicians) of indeterminate age and otherworldly skills.  Each has chosen a player and trained them for many years. And now that the circus is open, the game begins. The young players, Celia and Marco, are not even sure of the rules, how a winner will be dictated or what the playing should even consist of. And so we follow the circus, the game and the lives of everyone touched by the magic.

Where Morgenstern absolutely excels is in imagination. She has conjured up fanciful, magical places and times. Her prose are rich and lush, painting very vivid images. I often found myself rereading these passages and imagining what one of the attractions would be like. For the attractions at the Cirque des Réves are unlike any other. Each tent contains an unfathomable wonder that you may have only dreamed of.

I loved the following imagery - books as both vehicle and voyage.

"When she opens her eyes, they are standing on the quarterdeck of a ship in the middle of the ocean.  Only the ship is made of books, it's sails thousands of overlapping pages, and the sea it floats upon is dark black ink. They stand silently together as the ship drifts toward the endless horizon."

Where the book fell from a five to a four for me was in the pacing and character development. The first half of the book moved a little too slow for me. I did end up putting it down for a few days. When I picked it back up, the second half moved much faster, with more action and consequences happening.

Although Celia and Marco are the main protagonists, there are many, many others integral to The Night Circus. Celia and Marco remained for me attractions - I never became truly invested in their love story or struggles, despite the fairy tale feeling of it all.  I found myself drawn to many of the other players, especially Bailey. His character is more tangible and I was able to believe him in him more. This could simply reflect the pragmatic nature of this reader.

The Night Circus is a intriguing, inventive foray into a magical world that, deep down, every one of us wishes existed. A very strong debut novel. And a bit of a magical time for Morgenstern - movie rights to The Night Circus have been sold to Summit Entertainment - who also brought you the Twilight movies. It will interesting to see what movie magic can do to reproduce The Night Circus.

Read an excerpt of The Night Circus. Or listen to an excerpt. You can find Morgenstern on Twitter and on Facebook.

Giveaway - Prophecy - S. J. Parris

Ohhh. here's one for the mystery and history fans in the house! Newly released from author S. J. Parris is Prophecy.

What's it about? From Doubleday Publishing:

"S. J. Parris returns with the next Giordano Bruno mystery, set inside Queen Elizabeth’s palace and steeped in period atmospherics and the strange workings of the occult.

It is the year of the Great Conjunction, when the two most powerful planets, Jupiter and Saturn, align—an astrologi­cal phenomenon that occurs once every thousand years and heralds the death of one age and the dawn of another. The streets of London are abuzz with predictions of horrific events to come, possibly even the death of Queen Elizabeth.

When several of the queen’s maids of honor are found dead, rumors of black magic abound. Elizabeth calls upon her personal astrologer, John Dee, and Giordano Bruno to solve the crimes. While Dee turns to a mysterious medium claiming knowledge of the murders, Bruno fears that some­thing far more sinister is at work. But even as the climate of fear at the palace intensifies, the queen refuses to believe that the killer could be someone within her own court.

Bruno must play a dangerous game: can he allow the plot to progress far enough to give the queen the proof she needs without putting her, England, or his own life in danger?

In this utterly gripping and gorgeously written novel, S. J. Parris has proven herself the new master of the historical thriller."


Read an excerpt of Prophecy. You can find S.J. Parris on Facebook. A Reader's Guide is available as well.

And I have two copies to giveaway to two lucky readers. US only. Ends Sat. July 2nd. Simply comment to be entered. 

Winners - Twice a Spy

And the two lucky winners of a copy of Twice a Spy by Keith Thomson, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. Petite

2. Bakers Dozen

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing addresses. Please respond within 72 hours.

Giveaway - Twice a Spy - Keith Thomson

Thanks to the lovely folks at Doubleday Publishing, I have two copies of Keith Thomson's new book - Twice a Spy - to giveaway.

From the publisher:

"On the heels of Once a Spy, which PW hailed as a “wildly original debut [with] an action-packed story line,” Keith Thomson returns with a breakneck thriller that’s twice as explosive as the original.

In the tradition of Robert Ludlum, with a witty twist, Thomson’s second novel featuring a former spy and his son once again poses the question: What happens when a former CIA agent can no longer trust his own mind?

Charlie and Drummond Clark are now in Switzerland, hiding out from criminal charges in America and using the time to experiment with treatments to retrieve Drummond’s memory. When NSA operative Alice Rutherford, with whom Charlie has fallen in love, is kidnapped, the Clarks must dodge a formidable CIA case officer and his team to get her back. "

Read an excerpt of Twice a Spy.  You can find Keith on Facebook as well.

Sound good? Simply leave a comment to be entered. Open to US only. Ends Sat. May 28th at 6 pm EST.

Winners - The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady

And the two lucky winners of a copy of The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady by Elizabeth Stuckey-French, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. cellis
2. Miranda WardI never got a reply from Miranda, so Patti V - a copy is yours!

I've contacted you by email for your mailing address. Please respond within 72 hours. Thanks to all who entered - check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways.

Giveaway - The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady - Elizabeth Stuckey-French

I've got a great giveaway to start off the week! Two copies of  Elizabeth Stuckey-French's quirky novel The Revenge of the Radioactive Lady to giveaway.

What's it about? From Doubleday Publishing:

"Seventy-seven-year-old Marylou Ahearn is going to kill Dr. Wilson Spriggs come hell or high water. In 1953, he gave her a radioactive cocktail without her consent as part of a secret government study that had horrible consequences.

Marylou has been plotting her revenge for fifty years. When she accidentally discovers his whereabouts in Florida, her plans finally snap into action. She high tails it to hot and humid Tallahassee, moves in down the block from where a now senile Spriggs lives with his daughter’s family, and begins the tricky work of insinuating herself into their lives. But she has no idea what a nest of yellow jackets she is stum­bling into.

Before the novel is through, someone will be kidnapped, an unlikely couple will get engaged, someone will nearly die from eating a pineapple upside-down cake laced with anti-freeze, and that’s not all . . .

Told from the varied perspectives of an incredible cast of endearing oddball characters and written with the flair of a native Floridian, this dark comedy does not disappoint."

Read an excerpt of The Revenge of The Radioactive Lady. A book discussion guide is also available.

The book trailer is pretty fun too:



Simply comment to be entered. Open to US only. Ends Sunday May 1st at 6 pm EST. Good luck - check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways.

Winners- At Home - Bill Bryson

And the two lucky winners of a copy of Bill Bryson's latest book At Home, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. Maureen
2. garretsambo

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing addresses. Please respond within 72 hours. Thanks to all who entered - check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways.

Winner - The Wave - Susan Casey

And the two lucky winners of a copy of The Wave by Susan Casey, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. Susan
2. Laura C.

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing address. Please respond within 72 hours. Thanks to all who entered - check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways.

At Home - Bill Bryson - Review and Giveaway

Subtitled: A Short History of Private Life.

I'm a long time fan of Bill Bryson. I jumped at the chance to read his newest book At Home.

The premise for the book was fascinating. Bryson lives in a Victorian parsonage in a quiet part of England. He decided to go room by room and write about the history and impact on personal lives. So, for example the bedroom investigates sex, death, sleep, the bathroom - hygiene, the nursery- children's lives, the kitchen provides a wealth of subject matter. Indeed Bryson covers 17 different areas of his home, including the attic, stairs, the fuse box, the garden and many more. But if you think it's just household minutiae, you're mistaken. The narrative begins in the house buts slips out on tangents to encompass a much broader picture and then comes back full circle.

I loved At Home. It's not a book to be devoured, but rather slowly sipped and enjoyed. Bryson's investigative skills combined with his talent for turning those facts into absolutely captivating anecdotes made this a truly enjoyable read. I love British history and At Home was an entertaining account told in a totally unique manner.
 
Read an excerpt of At Home.
 
Two lucky readers will win a copy of At Home for their home, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing. Simply comment to be entered. Open to the US only, no PO boxes please. Ends Jan 2/11 at 6 pm EST.

Giveaway - The Wave - Susan Casey

Thanks to the lovely folks at Doubleday Publishing, I have two copies of Susan Casey's new book The Wave to giveaway.

What's it about? From the publisher:

"From Susan Casey, bestselling author of The Devil’s Teeth, an astonishing book about colossal, ship-swallowing rogue waves and the surfers who seek them out.

For centuries, mariners have spun tales of gargantuan waves, 100-feet high or taller. Until recently scientists dis­missed these stories—waves that high would seem to violate the laws of physics. But in the past few decades, as a startling number of ships vanished and new evidence has emerged, oceanographers realized something scary was brewing in the planet’s waters. They found their proof in February 2000, when a British research vessel was trapped in a vortex of impossibly mammoth waves in the North Sea—including several that approached 100 feet.

As scientists scramble to understand this phenomenon, others view the giant waves as the ultimate challenge. These are extreme surfers who fly around the world trying to ride the ocean’s most destructive monsters. The pioneer of extreme surfing is the legendary Laird Hamilton, who, with a group of friends in Hawaii, figured out how to board suicidally large waves of 70 and 80 feet. Casey follows this unique tribe of peo­ple as they seek to conquer the holy grail of their sport, a 100­-foot wave.

In this mesmerizing account, the exploits of Hamilton and his fellow surfers are juxtaposed against scientists’ urgent efforts to understand the destructive powers of waves—from the tsunami that wiped out 250,000 people in the Pacific in 2004 to the 1,740-foot-wave that recently leveled part of the Alaskan coast.

Like Jon Krakauer’s Into Thin Air, The Wave brilliantly portrays human beings confronting nature at its most ferocious."

Read an excerpt of The Wave.

Two copies up for grabs. Open to the US only, no po boxes please. Simply comment to be entered. Ends Sunday December 19th at 6 pm EST.

Winners - The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise - Julia Stuart

And the two lucky winners of a copy of The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. Colleen Turner
2. Renee G.

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing addresses. Please respond within 72 hours. Thanks to all who entered - check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways!

Rules of Betrayal - Christopher Reich

Rules of Betrayal by Christopher Reich is the third book in his Dr. Jonathan Ransom series. This was the first book I'd read by this author.

Ransom is a physician with Doctors Without Borders and is married to Emma, who just happens to be an international spy. Emma has disappeared and no one, not even her handlers are sure what side she's on anymore - America's or Russia's.

Jonathan is brought in by the head of 'Division' - they want to send him to try and find Emma and the arms dealer she may be with. The dealer is looking to use a weapon of mass destruction against the US.

Lots of crosses, double crosses, espionage, intrigue and plot lines taken straight from current headlines. The story moves along quickly and there's no lack of action. Although this book could certainly be read as a stand alone, I did feel a little out of the picture as I didn't have a firm grasp on what had gone on before. Emma is a shadow figure until 3/4 through the book. Ransom is an interesting character and it would be worth going back to start at the beginning to know him better. And there's definitely a fourth book in the works.

I can see this series being made into a movie a la Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Fans of Brad Thor and Vince Flynn would enjoy this series.

Read an excerpt of Rules of Betrayal.

Giveaway - The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise - Julia Stuart

Thanks to the lovely folks at Doubleday Publishing, I have two copies of The Tower, The Zoo and The Tortoise by Julia Stuart to giveaway!

From the publisher:

"Brimming with charm and whimsy, this exquisite novel set in the Tower of London has the transportive qualities and delightful magic of the contemporary classics Chocolat and Amélie.
Balthazar Jones has lived in the Tower of London with his loving wife, Hebe, and his 120-year-old pet tortoise for the past eight years. That’s right, he is a Beefeater (they really do live there). It’s no easy job living and working in the tourist attraction in present-day London.

Among the eccentric characters who call the Tower’s maze of ancient buildings and spiral staircases home are the Tower’s Rack & Ruin barmaid, Ruby Dore, who just found out she’s pregnant; portly Valerie Jennings, who is falling for ticket inspector Arthur Catnip; the lifelong bachelor Reverend Septimus Drew, who secretly pens a series of principled erot­ica; and the philandering Ravenmaster, aiming to avenge the death of one of his insufferable ravens.

When Balthazar is tasked with setting up an elaborate menagerie within the Tower walls to house the many exotic animals gifted to the Queen, life at the Tower gets all the more interest­ing. Penguins escape, giraffes are stolen, and the Komodo dragon sends innocent people running for their lives. Balthazar is in charge and things are not exactly running smoothly. Then Hebe decides to leave him and his beloved tortoise “runs” away.

Filled with the humor and heart that calls to mind the delight­ful novels of Alexander McCall Smith, and the charm and beauty of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise is a magical, wholly origi­nal novel whose irresistible characters will stay with you long after you turn the stunning last page.
 
Read an excerpt of The Tower The Zoo and The Tortoise. A reader's guide is also available.

Open to US residents, no po boxes please. Simply comment to be entered. Ends Sunday Nov 14th at 6 pm EST.

Red Hook Road - Ayelet Waldman

Ayelet Waldman's book is the story of two families in the town of Red Hook Maine. The Copaken and Tetherly families are about to be united by the marriage of Becca Copaken and John Tetherly. The union is short lived as John and Becca are tragically killed immediately after their wedding in a car accident.

Red Hook Road follows the aftermath of this tragedy over the course of four years and the effect on the family and friends left behind.

The two mothers - Iris Copaken and Jane Tetherly are the main characters and the ones we come to know the best. Waldman's strength lies in her characterizations.  I truly disliked Iris despite her losses. Her sense of right, her scheming and manipulations added up to someone I would not enjoy knowing. Although her actions are not all bad, it is the way she achieves them that I found objectionable. Jane is portrayed a a 'typical' Mainer - stoic, spare with words and hard working. Despite her brusqueness she is the character I enjoyed the most. Supporting characters are just as strongly drawn, particularly Iris's father.

The sea, boats and classical music all play a role in the novel and are used by Waldman as allegorical vehicles.

Those looking for an action filled story won't find it here. Rather, they will find a thoughtful, carefully portrayed narrative of the feelings, emotions and actions of those left grieving after a heartbreaking loss.

Read an excerpt of Red Hook Road.

Winners - Blind Man's Alley - Justin Peacock

And the two lucky winners of a copy of Blind Man's Alley by Justin Peacock, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. mjmeeks5
2. farrell

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing addresses. Thanks to all who entered - check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways.

Winners - Dracula in Love - Karen Essex

And the two lucky winners of a copy of Dracula in Love by Karen Essex, courtesy of Doubleday Publishing are:

1. Margay
2. Angela

Congratulations! I've contacted you by email for your mailing addresses. Please respond within 72 hours. Thanks to all who entered and check the sidebar for ongoing giveaways!

Dracula in Love - Karen Essex

There's lots of vampire fiction out there to choose from and I am rather picky on which ones I sink my teeth into. (Sorry couldn't resist) Dracula in Love by Karen Essex appealed to me as it is written from Mina's point of view. Mina, of course was at the centre of Bram Stoker's classic novel Dracula. Mina acknowleges that another novel has been written about what transpired, but it is false and she wants to tell the true story.

Essex cleverly uses many of the characters from Stoker's novel and completely retells the tale with Dracula not as a monster, but as a protector and lover of Mina.

I enjoyed the historical detail of the time and period. Essex has done a great job with bringing 1890 to life. Her descriptions of the asylums and 'modern' psychiatric methods in women's care were chilling, even more so as they are fact based. This theme is in direct contrast to Mina's awakening sexuality and plays a pivotal role in Essex's re imagined Dracula. The sex scenes read as very mild erotica.

I was completely caught up in this altered tale and actually liked Dracula, hoping he and Mina would finally end up together. But Dracula is not the focal point of Essex's novel. Rather it is Mina and Lucy who take centre stage. The depictions of all characters were strong though and fairly leapt off the page.

Essex has taken great pains to research eternal life through the ages with an eye to explaining the presence of vampires in the world. It's very well done, but I found myself glossing over a bit during these pages. I was in a rush to see what the final outcome would be.

Not your usual vampire fare - instead an intriguing mix of history, romance and the paranormal that combines for a pleasurable read.

Try it for yourself - read an excerpt of Dracula in Love. You can find Dracula in Love on Facebook too.

**** You've got until Saturday Sept 25th to enter to win one of two copies.***

The Nobodies Album - Carolyn Parkhurst

The Nobodies Album is the first book I've read by Carolyn Parkhurst.

Author Octavia Frost has been estranged from her rock star son Milo for over 4 years. Milo and Octavia's rift stems from a family tragedy - the fallout never resolved. When Milo is accused of murdering his girlfriend Bettina, Octavia reaches out to help him. But, Milo can't remember anything of the night Bettina died.

The book Octavia is currently working on is a collection of rewritten endings for her seven published novels. I found this book within a book within a book vehicle extremely clever. The original stories were engaging and changing the endings even more so. Each of the narratives related to the main story and gave us subtle hints and understanding of the unspoken tragedy.

"In a way this is what I've been waiting for - a chance to explain. Well to explain what, I'm not sure. That I'm changing my legacy, if I can be grand enough to call it that and that in some convoluted way I'm doing it for him, that I've written myself into my books and I have some kind of overly literal idea that by changing the books I can write a new ending for myself."

Although the whodunit is easily solved, it was only a small part of the book for me. It was the character of Octavia that captured my interest. The book is told from her perspective in first person narrative. We are privy to all of her hurts, doubts and emotions concerning her life. Perhaps it is because we are restricted to Octavia's voice that I really never engaged with the other supporting characters, even Milo. But that being said, it is a book I thoroughly enjoyed. Judge for yourself - read an excerpt of The Nobodies Album.

Giveaway - Dracula in Love - Karen Essex

Want a chance to sink your teeth into Karen Essex's new book Dracula in Love?
Thanks to the generouse folks at Doubleday Publishing I have two copies to giveaway!

What's it about:

From the publisher:

"London, 1890. Mina Murray, the rosy-cheeked, quintessentially pure Victorian heroine, becomes Count Dracula’s object of desire. To preserve her chastity, five male “defenders” rush in to rescue her from the vampire’s evil clutches. This is the version of the story we’ve been told. But now, from Mina’s own pen, we discover that the story is vastly different when told from the female point of view.

In this captivating, bold act of storytelling, award-winning author Karen Essex breathes startling new life into the characters of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, transporting the reader into the erotic and bizarre underbelly of the original story. While loosely following the events of its classic predecessor, Dracula in Love deviates from the path at every turn.
From the shadowy banks of the river Thames to the wild and windswept Yorkshire coast, Dracula’s eternal muse—the most famous woman in vampire lore—vividly recounts the joys and terrors of a passionate affair that has linked her and the Count through the centuries, and her rebellion against her own frightening preternatural powers."

Read an excerpt of Dracula in Love. You can find Karen on Facebook as well.

Two copies up for grabs, US only, no po boxes please. Ends Sat. Sept 25th at 6 pm EST. Good luck!

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake - Aimee Bender

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender is a book I've been looking forward to reading this summer.

Rose has never stood out. At school, she has just the one friend. At home, her father is loving, but distant, unable to fully interact with his children. Her brother Joe removes himself from as much of life as possible, preferring to be alone with his scientific formulas. Her mother is like a hummingbird, flitting from one interest to another, always in motion.

When she is nine, her mother, who loves to cook, makes Rose a chocolate lemon cake. The taste of the ingredients are there, but Rose is shaken to discover that what she inexplicably finds is:

"...the taste of smallness, the sensation of shrinking, of upset, tasting a distance I somehow knew was connected to my mother, tasting a crowded sense of her thinking, a spiral, like I could almost even taste the grit in her jaw that had created the headache..."

She tries to explain to her mother, the school nurse and the doctor - and it's all brushed away with reasonable explanations. The only one who does take her seriously is her brother's only friend George.It's not a one time occurrence. Rose now tastes the feelings and emotions in any and all foods. She is able to identify the origins of any ingredient. She survives by mostly eating mass produced junk food from the school vending machine.

When she is twelve, she tastes a secret in her mother's dinner - one she doesn't want to know.

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is utterly original and absolutely captivating. It's the story of Rose - a character I fell in love with. Her attempts to understand what is happening, her acceptance of it and efforts to have a regular life all tugged at me. But it's also the exploration of dysfunctional family relationships. Joe frightened me and I found his part of the story somewhat disturbing. Dad was a sad, touching character. Mom - well, I know she loved her children, but I just couldn't warm up to her at all.  well. I really enjoyed the characters introduced at the end and think there's a story there as well.

I think readers are either going to love this book or hate it - the magical realism may turn some readers off. You have to suspend disbelief to become fully immersed in the story. I loved it - it reminded me of  the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time crossed with Addison's The Sugar Queen.

Read an excerpt of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. A friend of mine is discussing this one for her book club - here's the discussion guide.