Cannonball Read 15

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“Whatever the hardships involved in being connected with it, this was the circus; and it was pure magic.”

Circus Doctor by J.Y. Henderson (as told to Richard Taplinger)

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CBR14Bingo: Elephant (there are a bunch of elephants in this book) Circus Doctor is, as its straight forward title suggests, an autobiography of a circus veterinarian. At the time he wrote this book, J.Y. Henderson had been working for Ringling for ten years, and from some cursory Googling it looks like he ended up working there for over forty. You can tell from the book how caring and passionate he is about caring for the vast variety of animals under his care, so it makes sense […]

An Informative Memoir by the King of Clowns

Grock: King of Clowns by Grock

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This was a pleasant read and Grock was a cheerful raconteur of his interesting life story. Grock was one of the most famous performers of his day, but as he himself writes, “Clowns too are soon forgotten.” I think the fact that clowning is an art best experienced live, combined with it not usually being recorded for posterity, leads to the progressive cultural memory loss of people like Grock, except by those with an intense knowledge of the field (there are videos of him that […]

“I still knew I was going to keep my lion and train him.”

Here, Keller -- Train This by George Keller

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Here Keller — Train This is about the life of George Keller, who yearned his whole life to become a lion/big cat trainer at the circus, but ended up being an art professor at State College. One day, his friend ships him a mountain lion in a crate with a sign on it saying “HERE KELLER — Train This.” His friend does this as part joke and part challenge, as everyone knows how much he loves training animals. He takes it home and decides to actually […]

A Brief But Fascinating Circus Autobiography

Last of the Forty-Horse Drivers by Jake Posey

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This brief but information-packed autobiography details the life of Jake Posey, who drove forty-horse teams for several circuses during the late 1800s and early 1900s. He traveled with Barnum & Bailey, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and other important but now not generally known circuses like the Sparks Circus. I really enjoyed this book, as I am very into circuses and circus history. If you don’t have a general knowledge of the history of the circus, this might not be the book for you, as […]

You don’t want a ticket for this carnival

Carnival of Souls: Graphic Novel by Jazan Wild

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I found Glose (an online reading source) by accident and noticed they had a few free titles, but most must be purchased. With online content, frankly, I am not a fan of buying. Therefore, I hunted around to find any free content. Most of that was classical stories (not a bad deal honestly, as it’s a great way to expand my reading of the classics) but I was able to get a few free contemporary books as a signing up deal. While looking in graphic […]

Discussing a beloved favourite in book club can be disheartening

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

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4.5 stars Official book description: The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway – a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. […]



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