What I've been reading
Like many others on my friends list, I will shortly be moving to Dreamwidth. I hope to keep my same name or something similar. I'll post it on LJ when I've made the move. In the meantime, this is what I've been reading.
"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern as an audibook. The atmosphere of the book is what drew me in and dazzled me. In a magical Victorian London and U.S., two old sorcerers are pitting their best students against one another in a magical contest. The unusual Night Circus is the venue for their magical duel. You meet many of the unusual characters in and around the circus and get to see how the competition between Celia and Marco plays out, turning out to be more of a collaboration than a competition over time. It's a lovely and magical novel. I adored it.
and
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte, one of the lesser-known Bronte sisters. The book concerns a woman with a young son who begins living in the decrepit Wildfell Hall and the young man, Gilbert Markham, who becomes intrigued with her. Rumors start swirling around the woman, Helen, and Gilbert tries to defend her from the gossip but begins to believe it might be true when he witnesses her talking to a man he believes is her secret lover. The middle part of the book is Helen's diary, explaining who she is and how she came to be living under an assumed name in the country. I love Anne Bronte's descriptions of people and of nature, and her observations about family life. I appreciated that Anne doesn't shrink away from describing domestic abuse, alcoholism and other subjects very taboo in the Brontes' society. It's marvelous, and I recommend it highly if you have enjoyed novels by the other Bronte sisters.
My full comments on both books here.
"The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern as an audibook. The atmosphere of the book is what drew me in and dazzled me. In a magical Victorian London and U.S., two old sorcerers are pitting their best students against one another in a magical contest. The unusual Night Circus is the venue for their magical duel. You meet many of the unusual characters in and around the circus and get to see how the competition between Celia and Marco plays out, turning out to be more of a collaboration than a competition over time. It's a lovely and magical novel. I adored it.
and
"The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Bronte, one of the lesser-known Bronte sisters. The book concerns a woman with a young son who begins living in the decrepit Wildfell Hall and the young man, Gilbert Markham, who becomes intrigued with her. Rumors start swirling around the woman, Helen, and Gilbert tries to defend her from the gossip but begins to believe it might be true when he witnesses her talking to a man he believes is her secret lover. The middle part of the book is Helen's diary, explaining who she is and how she came to be living under an assumed name in the country. I love Anne Bronte's descriptions of people and of nature, and her observations about family life. I appreciated that Anne doesn't shrink away from describing domestic abuse, alcoholism and other subjects very taboo in the Brontes' society. It's marvelous, and I recommend it highly if you have enjoyed novels by the other Bronte sisters.
My full comments on both books here.