{read: magical debut} The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

This book is imaginatively conceived, impeccably plotted, and elegantly written. The Night Circus is one of those books that makes you both happy and said when you're reading it. While you can't wait to find out what happens next, you're also dreading turning the last page.

The plot revolves around a "game" in which two illusionists train their students and pit them against each other. Yet the illusionists in question - in this case, Marco and Celia - don't know the rules of the game or its stakes. They start to find out what exactly they've become enmeshed in when they discover that one of the circus's performers was the winner of the game's last round.

Morgenstern explores the delicate interplay of love, trust, loyalty, responsibility, and consequences in this amazing first novel. While magic is part of the novel, it is the tool that the author uses to illuminate the characters and the relationships among them rather than the central showpiece of the story.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Doubleday, 2011)
My rating: 5 stars

{crafts} Pumpkin Balloons

I love these pumpkin balloons from Martha Stewart, and how easy! Check them out at marthastewart.com.

Pumpkin Balloons

From felt fiends to sinister silhouettes, these handmade touches are sure to give your home an extra-spooky feel this Halloween.

A gaggle of helium-filled jack-o'-lantern balloons hovers near the refreshment table. The simple features are drawn onto the inflated balloons with permanent marker; choose an assortment of geometric shapes that are easy to create freehand.

{a thought for Thursday} Life's mystery

The real trick is to let life, with all its ordinary missteps and regrets, be consistently more mysterious and alluring than its end. -- Gail Caldwell, Let's Take the Long Way Home

{wordless wednesday} Calm at the Water

Happy Wordless Wednesday!

{read: spy thriller} Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre

In honor of the upcoming movie remake of the John Le Carre 1970s classic Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy novel, I offer this review of his most recent spy thriller.

This is the first book by le Carre that I've read, and I would definitely pick up another one. The plot was engaging and the characters were real enough to be interesting even though they felt a little two dimensional at times. I wanted to be entertained, and I was. Two young English people, Gail and Perry, go on holiday only to meet up with Dima, a self-proclaimed Russian mobster looking for asylum. He latches onto Gail and Perry, who then get tangled up in a web of British intelligence officers and their plans for Dima and his family.

** spoiler alert **

At the end, I had a premonition of bad things as soon as Luke said that he was looking forward to the beginning and the ending of what was to come. By the time they got to the airport, though, I thought they were safe and the explosion took me by surprise. I liked the ending, although I think it left many unanswered questions. Some are easy (who did it? probably the Prince, although it's also possible it was just an accident or that it was rigged by the British people who didn't want the whole thing to come to light) and others are more complex (what happens to Tamara and the family? where do they go now? What do Gail and Perry do?). Le Carre doesn't get into any of that. Dima is dead. The story is over. I have to admire an author who doesn't try to tie up all the loose ends in a pretty little bow.

Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre (Viking Adult, 2010)
My rating: 4 stars

{a thought for Thursday} Seize the moment

The golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand; the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone. -- George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life

{wordless wednesday} Moooooooooooooooo!

Happy Wordless Wednesday!