Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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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. […]

I would probably have liked this better if the protagonist was the sister

The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler

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Official book description: Simon Watson, a young librarian, lives alone in a house that is slowly crumbling toward the Long Island Sound. His parents are long dead. His mother, a circus mermaid who made her living by holding her breath, drowned in the very water his house overlooks. His younger sister, Enola, ran off six years ago and now reads tarot cards for a traveling carnival. One June day, an old book arrives on Simon’s doorstep, sent by an antiquarian bookseller who purchased it on […]

Freedom and Chains

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This is my Backlog book. I have been meaning to read this book for a while now. Once I started it, I realized I was rereading it. Which, I will say, fits this because I had forgotten about this gem called Chained by Lynne Kelly. To work off a debt, Hastin leaves his village in India to work as an elephant keeper for a man who wants to restart his circus. Innocent Hastin only sees a way to help his mother and ill sister, not […]

“No one is truly honest.”

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I picked this up because it appeared to be a YA book with a The Night Circus feel, and I liked that book, so why not?  The premise is kind of similar.  There is a traveling extraordinary circus show that performs once a year.  The audience can either participate or watch, but the participants are playing a giant game to win a prize. This year’s prize just happens to be a wish.     Scarlett Dragna has always wanted to see the mysterious Caraval, encouraged […]



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