Fairest Of All by Serena Valentino

This is the story of “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” from the Wicked Queen’s point of view. How did she get to be where she is? How did she become Queen in the first place? What type of life did she and Snow White have together before the King’s death?

Here we get her side of the story, beginning with her wedding day and how she met the King in the first place. I love redone fairy tales, as you know, so I was very, very excited to find this book in Half Price Books today. It is 250 pages long and has an Accelerated Reader level of 5.8 so that students could most definitely use for their A.R. Tests in school.

11/22/2011 – FINISHED - This book was very good and so very sad. Valentino did an excellent job tracing the downward spiral of a woman torn by grief and loss of love. It rather echoes Gregory Maguire’s question: “Are people born wicked or are they made that way?”

It’s a quick read once you sit down with it so if you’d like something to evoke those fairytale memories, this is the perfect book for you!

The Man in the Moon by William Joyce

As the forerunning book in the new Guardians of Childhood series, The Man in the Moon practically leapt off the bookshelf at Target and into my heart. Admittedly, what caught me first as the books stunning cover. Those of you who know me personally know that I have a deep, abiding love for storybooks and this one only serves to fuel it and whet my appetite for future additions to the Guardians of Childhood series.

This book tells the story of MiM, the Man in the Moon, his parents, and their amazing flying moon-ship. The illustrations are lusciously colorful, the story beautiful and engaging. This is a story that I would recommend for any child and I am hoping that it will be one that my students know by heart someday.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

9/22/2011 –  I bought and started this book while on a weekend vacation in New Orleans a few days ago. It has been quite a long time since I have been instantly captivated and charmed by a book and The Night Circus does that beautifully. The characters are intriguing, the world colorful and lovely and intriguing. It is a world that you want to sit and watch unfold and that is a very encouraging start to a book.

9/26/2011 – I’m still mesmerized. Celia’s audition for Les Cirque de Reves  was simply amazing! And the challenge has begun!

Morgenstern’s way of weaving color, image, and action  makes everything flow like water around you, like a river that you cannot stop, nor would you want to. It’s too beautiful, too…much. You just want to lie back and let the river take you where it will.

9/30/2011 - How is it possible that almost every chapter of this book makes me smile, marvel, and re-read in some way, shape, or form? It does and I am amazed by it. Single lines, entire descriptions, quick moments or quips…these all catch me and make me thrill all over again. It has been a long, long time since I have been so enthralled by an author and I think I shall just keep praise Morgenstern over and over again until she proves me otherwise.

One of my favorite passages:

“So proper for a circus girl,” Mme. Pava says with a gleam in her eye. “We shall have to loosen those corset laces if we intend to keep you as intimate dinner company.”

“I expected the corset lacing would take place after dinner,” Celia says mildly, earning a chorus of laughter.

“We shall be keeping Miss Bowen as intimate company regardless of the state of her corset,” Chandresh says. “Make a note of that,” he adds, waving a hand at Marco.

“Miss Bowen’s corset is duly noted, sir,” Marco replies, and the laughter bubbles over the table again. (page 136)

10/5/2011: I will say that we must needs credit Ms. Morgenstern with being the author who convinced me to purchase my first book on a Kindle. I decided that The Night Circus is so amazing that I simply must share it with friends. But what would I do when I no longer had the book in my possession? I would be bereft. So I asked my husband’s permission to purchase a copy of the book on his Kindle so that I would always have access to it. So…brava, Ms. Morgenstern. I am not fully converted but I am willing to note uses. ^_^

10/7/11 - Few books have affected me, surprised me, dismayed me, and delighted me so that I had to put them down for a little while. This is one such book. I will not give away the moment, as that would be unfair to others.

While some may find Morgenstern’s back and forth between past and present jarring, I still feel that it flows fairly well as, by that point, you are absorbed into several different threads of the same tale, each their own story in and of themselves. I find myself able to move fairly easily between Celia and Marco, Laynie and Mr. Barris,  Marco and Chandresh, Bailey and the Murray twins, and, when they all finally come together in a startling moment, the effect is quite striking. And, yes, jarring.

The kind that leaves my heart pounding and aching for more.

10/8/2011 – FINISHED: I finished this book in the quiet of a sleepy Saturday morning and in the company of friends. No better way to do so, I think. I have to say that I was quite pleased with the ending, with the way that the important parts of the stories were laced together and bowed, like the laces at the entrance to Widget’s dream and memory tent.

This has been the first book in a long while to capture me as it has and I must tip my hat to Miss Morgenstern. She has perhaps only one grammatical quirk that could tend to annoy me, if I decided to let it. But I won’t.

Thank you, Erin, for an amazing debut. May all your future efforts be as fruitful and, if I and other reveurs may hope, perhaps someday we may all return to the Circus together.

The Night Circus is Coming…. by nekomel featuring a cloche hat