The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Published by Doubleday in Sep. 13, 2011
Genre(s): Historical, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction
Format: Audiobook/Kindle
Pages: 400

Goodreads synopsis: 

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices plastered on lampposts and billboards. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not.

Within these nocturnal black-and-white striped tents awaits an utterly unique, a feast for the senses, where one can get lost in a maze of clouds, meander through a lush garden made of ice, stare in wonderment as the tattooed contortionist folds herself into a small glass box, and become deliciously tipsy from the scents of caramel and cinnamon that waft through the air.

Welcome to Le Cirque des Rêves.

Beyond the smoke and mirrors, however, a fierce competition is under way--a contest between two young illusionists, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood to compete in a "game" to which they have been irrevocably bound by their mercurial masters. Unbeknownst to the players, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will.
The premise of this novel is captivating, and definitely keeps you interested; however, the author incorporates tedious detail throughout the story, making for a very long read. The plot unfolds rather slowly, as well, threatening to be boring at times, but I never wanted to stop reading- I had to know what would happen next. Because of the intricate aforementioned details involved in the magic and fantasy of The Night Circus world, the events that occur are hard to understand at times. I found myself flipping back to earlier chapters to comprehend something being discussed pages later. Even at the end, I found the way things concluded to be complex and a bit far-fetched, even by magical standards.

There are a lot of story lines entwined within each other, and the organization of the novel was hard to follow at times, as well, as subsequent chapters often occur years before and after one another, rather than in chronological order. This definitely added to the suspense of the tale, but again, if you aren't mindful of the date of the chapter you are currently reading the entire time reading it, a lot of backflipping occurs, here, too.

If you like a story about magic, fantasy, and romance, and don't mind working a little to stay focused on the complex plot lines, you'll love it. Suspenseful and surprising at times, The Night Circus was definitely interesting and overall, an enjoyable read.

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Born A Crime

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
Published by Doubleday on Nov. 15, 2016
Genre(s): Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Cultural, Adult, Humor, Historical
Format: Audiobook
Pages: 304

Goodreads synopsis: 

The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed. 

Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. 

Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother: his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.

The eighteen personal essays collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love. 

I never really had much interest in Trevor Noah. I wasn’t even aware of him until he replaced Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Once I saw a couple episodes around the 2016 election, I started to like him, so once I saw that he was releasing a memoir, I knew I had to read it.

By now, it’s probably obvious that I love a good memoir, and a humorous one nearly always makes for an enjoyable read. I listened to Trevor Noah's book during the peak of the semester when I was too busy to be able to actually read, turning it on each time I got in my car. As I said, I never really knew much about him as a person before picking up his book, but now, I definitely have a new respect for him.

He starts out his story by discussing bits of his childhood, growing up in South Africa, born to a black, South African mother and a white, German father, making him a product of interracial relations, a crime punishable by law under apartheid. His story moves mostly chronologically throughout his life, with the exception of tales he inserts about his mother's past prior to his birth.

Integrating his wit whenever possible, Noah tells a beautiful story about a young man's journey through a life plagued by racism & poverty, and how the bond between a mother and child can withstand all of that and worse.

Even if you've never heard of this comedian before (catch his show weeknights on Comedy Central), his tales of a South African childhood will leave you laughing, crying, and in awe of the beauty in human differences.

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Silence

Silence by Shūsaku Endō
Published by Taplinger in 1966
Genre(s): , Fiction, , Historical, Cultural, Religion, Classics
Format: Paperback
Pages: 201

Goodreads synopsis: 

Father Rodrigues is an idealistic Portuguese Jesuit priest who, in the 1640s, sets sail for Japan on a determined mission to help the brutally oppressed Japanese Christians and to discover the truth behind unthinkable rumours that his famous teacher Ferreira has renounced his faith. Once faced with the realities of religious persecution Rodrigues himself is forced to make an impossible choice: whether to abandon his flock or his God.

Winner of the 1966 Tanizaki Prize, Silence is Shusaku Endo's most highly acclaimed novel and a classic of its genre. It caused major controversy in Japan following its publication in 1967.

Silence will soon be a major film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Liam Neeson, Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver.

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The Art of Hearing Heartbeats

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Published by Other Press in 2002
Genre(s): Historical, Romance, Fiction
Format: Kindle
Pages: 337
Goodreads

A poignant and inspirational love story set in Burma, The Art of Hearing Heartbeats spans the decades between the 1950s and the present. When a successful New York lawyer suddenly disappears without a trace, neither his wife nor his daughter Julia has any idea where he might be…until they find a love letter he wrote many years ago, to a Burmese woman they have never heard of. Intent on solving the mystery and coming to terms with her father’s past, Julia decides to travel to the village where the woman lived. There she uncovers a tale of unimaginable hardship, resilience, and passion that will reaffirm the reader’s belief in the power of love to move mountains.

This is a beautiful story and a very compelling read. I have no idea what made me want to read this book, as even reading the description, I don't remember being particularly intrigued. However, it is, without a doubt, one of the best books I have ever read, to date. As the description explains, the story follows a young woman to Burma as she goes on an unexpected but beautiful journey to discover her missing father's past in an attempt to find him. She ends up learning more than she bargained for about her father's childhood including an unimaginable tale of hardship and a powerful love story. This novel was an easy read, and the author does a great job of grasping the reader to truly feel the emotions on every page. I definitely recommend this story to anyone interested in a beautiful love story filled with passion, courage, and so much heart.

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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I didn't really get to read in November because I was so busy between work and preparing for finals, but once school wrapped up, I jumped back in to my reading list. The next couple posts will be featuring my December reads.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Published by Mariner Books on Apr. 4, 2006
Genre(s): Contemporary,Historical, Adult, Fiction
Format: Paperback
Pages: 326
Goodreads

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is an inventor, amateur entomologist, Francophile, letter writer, pacifist, natural historian, percussionist, romantic, Great Explorer, jeweller, detective, vegan, and collector of butterflies. When his father is killed in the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Centre, Oskar sets out to solve the mystery of a key he discovers in his father's closet. It is a search which leads him into the lives of strangers, through the five boroughs of New York, into history, to the bombings of Dresden and Hiroshima, and on an inward journey which brings him ever closer to some kind of peace.

I liked the story, it was raw and allowed for a different perspective of historical events that I might have never truly been able to understand. I felt that the characters could have been better developed and a couple certain plot lines could have been further explained. Overall, it was a good, easy, and quick read that I very much enjoyed. It was not emotionally draining or anything like what I was expecting. Instead, it was thought provoking and feeling inducing, causing me to reconsider life in general- why and what we live for, things like that. I worried it would be dark and depressing, but even though it centered around a sad and touchy subject for our society, it was so much more than that. It gave me perspective in an unusual way. Like my feelings on the characters, I wish some topics might have been further explored and discussed, as I felt slightly confused at the end. Overall, I quite enjoyed it.

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