Mamaroneck reader Julie Salicrup’s column of book reviews and recommendations for book clubs:
This book was a birthday present from my sister. She went to a local bookstore and inquired about a recommendation. The salesperson, without a second thought, handed her this book and told her that I would not be disappointed…….and I wasn’t.
The Night Circus is a mystery, love story and fantasy all wrapped up in 500 pages. The story centers on a travelling circus that opens at midnight in various cities without any notice. For those readers with a love for animals and a dislike for circuses – no worries, this type of circus features feats of strength, illusionists and fortune tellers. These are real people with true talent.
The story centers on Celia and Marco – students of illusionists being groomed for the ultimate test. They are practicing for their final showdown but the circus has a secret. The characters of this novel give the circus life. You may not be able to relate or find any common ground with most of the performers but you admire their talent and sympathize with their struggles. The author is so descriptive in her writing that you can picture every tent and candy apple clearly in your mind.
The book also tells the story of Bailey…..a farm boy who is searching for the meaning of life. And when the circus comes to town – he finds it. All these stories connect when all will be revealed like a true magic act at the climatic end of the novel.
Below is a list of books our book club has read:
The Magician’s Assistant
Sugar
Miss Understanding
Amy and Isabelle
Midwives
Jenna Jameson Autobiography – How to Make Love like a porn star
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Wednesday Letters
The Book of Air and Shadows
The Namesake
Shattered Dreams: My Life as a Polygamist’s Wife
The Thirteenth Tale
Julia’s Chocolate
Middlesex
The Memory Keepers Daughter
The Year of Pleasures
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan
You’re Not You
The Myth of You and Me
Disobedience
Abundance
The God of Animals
The Cure for Modern Life
The Queen of the South
The Whistling Season
Of Human Bondage
The Lace Reader
The Beautiful Things that Heaven Bears
Time is a River
Testimony
Lima Nights
The Watchmen
Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
The House on Mango Street
The Condition
I Capture the Castle
Same Kind of Different as Me
Three Junes
Puppet Child
Solstice
This is Where I Leave You
Dinner with Anna Karenina
The Likeness
Let the Great World Spin
The Broken Teaglass
Cutting For Stone
The Imperfectionists
13 Reasons Why
Very Valentine
Sima’s Undergarments for Women
Ham on Rye
The Madonna’s of Leningrad
The Wednesday Sisters
Room
A Week at the Airport
The Lock Artist
Running the Book: The Adventures of a Prison Librarian
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
Reading Jackie – Her Autobiography in Books
Bringing out the Dead
Girl in Translation
Sister: A Novel
Breakfast at Tiffany’s: A short story and 3 stories
Miss New India
Enders Game