Water for Elephants by Sarah Gruen
I joined a new book club last month (my old one kind of disintegrated), and this was the first book I read with them. I already had it checked out to read for myself, so that was kind of cool.
It's #1 on the NYT Paperback list right now and has been a popular book club pick for a while, with justification, I think.
It takes place during the Depression and is mostly set against a circus backdrop, although all those scenes are flashbacks of the main character who is currently in a nursing home. I'm not going to tell you much more--if you like to know the plots of books before you read it, just google the title; personally I want to know as little as possible when I start reading!
It is a fast, enjoyable read with well-developed characters and an interestingly-painted background, which is also well researched. The first third contains some very explicit scenes. They could be justified--one of the author's points seems to be to point out how people's animal desires run their lives, especially in this setting.
A bigger literary issue is the ending (small spoiler alert)--it seems unrealistic in that it is too neat and happy. However, it is interestingly done.
Other than this book, I've been reading kids' and teens' books. If anyone's interested in hearing about those, let me know!
1 comment:
The book sounds interesting. I may check it out from the library to see what it is like. I read lots of kids and tweens and teens books too! I like to preview them before we read them aloud.
I am glad that you enjoy my blog and I did send you an invite. I think that Kris has finally been persuaded to start a blog, so hopefully that will happen soon and help you out with keeping in touch. ♥
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