#184 *The Night Circus*

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Number #184- Make a list of 100 books and read them all.  Looks like I am crossing off number 1 on that list (finally).

And to add to that, I have recently found the local library.  The library in my neighborhood is very small, but is in a walking distance and scanning through the 5 isles of fiction I found this book and remembered it was on my list of books I wanted to read.

The Night Circus initially caught my eye because I saw one of my friends reviews on it, and it also contained the words "circus" and "magic".  Who doesn't love a good magic book?  By the way, there is a "tragic" (depending how you look at it) love story within the plot; The Night Circus is ideal for guilty pleasure reading. 

The Night Circus is about a young woman and a young man who are bound together as children to have a life-long magical battle held within a circus.  What I love about the magic element in this book is that the author implies that anyone can produce magic, it isn't something that you are given the ability to do, but that if you study the right materials you can learn.  It made me excited like a five-year-old girl.  Morgenstern is a very good visual writer.  The descriptions of the tents within the circus were believable and I felt like I was there while I was reading.  However, like most modern books the characters lacked a lot of depth and emotion.  Reading The Night Circus reminded me a lot of reading The Hunger Games because of this writing style. 

Overall The Night Circus was very enjoyable for me.  I wasn't looking for some "grand" novel (thats why the book is listed on my guilty pleasure list).  I was looking for a good story and I got one.

#184 Make a list of books I want to read and read them all

#16- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins


Ok folks, now that the semester is finished I can go back to the books I want to read on my bucket list.  I am not ashamed to admit that I read The Hunger Games in one day.  It was really good.  It's not overly poetic or filled with amazing examples of literacy, but it is definitely an enjoyable read.

If you haven't heard of The Hunger Games, then I will assume that you are living under a rock because this book really reached it's height when "they" announced it was going to be a movie.  And of course when a book is about to become a movie there is a frantic line of book lovers at the cash register itching to  compare the book to the movie (hey now, it's ok I do this too).

The Hunger Games is about a young girl named Katniss (comment on this name below- I am still searching for baby names!) who volunteers to take her sisters place in this gladiator horror "reality show" for the superior land of their nation.

This story is basically a wicked twist on communism in the world after ours.

Entertaining, yes. And The Hunger Games is the first book I have read in a while that I actually shed tears (even multiple times) and I will not blame my crazy pregnant hormones!

I know I only listed the first book on my list of books I want to read, and I really want to move on but I have to say I am sucked into the series and will be continuing the next book later tonight.

#184 My list of Books: The Bluest Eye

My professor has really chosen some heartbreaking books for our class this semester. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison just happened to be on my list of books that I had made that I wanted to read. I just killed two birds with one stone!


The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison, is about a young black child who only wishes to have blue eyes so she can be "beautiful". The little girl, Pecola, idolizes Shirley Temple because Shirley is "the perfect American girl." It is truly sad knowing that The Bluest Eye was written in 1970 and that we, as as society, have not progressed very much. In today's society adults still put pressure on their little girls to be perfect, when in all reality perfection is unrealistic. I guess one could say that I am "fortunate" enough to not know what it feels like to be discriminated and disliked because of the color of my skin like the main character in this novel. But, what Morrison does do in the process of shedding light on the color issue, is also shed light on the "cover-girl" issue also. Morrison uses a girl character to really show the problems with children forming their own identity in today's society.

The Bluest Eye also focus's on the importance of family and one's upbringing. We see that children who have what I like to call, "daddy issues," tend to have a harder time in life. The reader see's this in many character's throughout the book. One of the most prominent is Cholly, Pecola's father who is shown to have the worst "daddy issues." Cholly's issues result in a very violent act toward his own child, and because Morrison does such a great job explain Cholly's background, the reader tends to feel sympathy towards him (not saying that what he does is right because it's down right horrible).

I enjoyed The Bluest Eye a lot. I think Morrison brings to light a lot of issues whether it's race, society, religion, self-image, or simply family dynamics. I would highly recommend this book for anyone who likes a good read. It's also in Oprah's book club if that convinces you further.

#184 Make a list of 100 books I want to read and read them all!

 

      #23 Wicked by Gregory Maguire

      I don't even know where to begin with this review. I have mixed feelings about Wicked. I enjoyed the fantasy aspect of the novel, but there is too much going on. There are way too many themes-- family; good vs. evil; Existence of a soul; religion; communism; revolution; greed; revenge etc. It seems like Maguire was trying too hard for his novel to become a great studied novel with all the themes going on. Maybe I am a little disappointed because I thought Wicked was going to be this AMAZING book and it's been on my reading list for a while - it just isn't what I thought it was going to be like.
     
      I really wanted to know why the witch was green. Unfortunately, it is never answered so if you are picking up Wicked to know why the Wicked Witch is green, don't bother.
     
      The book is not like the play either, so if that's the reason why you are reading this Wicked, again, I would suggest not reading.
   
      I do like the map that was drawn in the inside. Reminded me of Lord of the Rings. Because I was reading Wicked on my kindle I didn't see the map until the very end of the novel. Maybe the map could have made me visualize better where everything was happening. What can I say, I am a sucker for pictures even at the age of 22.
   
      If you enjoy fantasy, or even really liked the movie "The Wizard of Oz",  I believe you will at least enjoy Wicked. You may not LOVE it, or the book may be disappointing, but it's a pretty good story (besides all the unanswered questions..."why is the witch green?", "Did she really kill Madame Morrible?" "Why does Nessarose have no arms?" Who is the Wizard and where is he from?").