The Book of Speculation in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Feb 06, 2018 Melanie rated it really liked it

Shelves: family, weird, magical-realism

This was such a long, slow read for me, but I really enjoyed it. I loved the synchronicity and the history and the interesting tidbits about the carnival. It had such an overarching sadness, though, that often it felt hard to want to read it - it dragged me down into that feeling with the doomed, damaged characters. Slow reading made it really stick, though, and kept it from becoming overwhelming. The writing is lovely and the images she puts in your head are great.

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Jun 21, 2015 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Writing was a bit uneven, but I really liked this. Curses! Tarot cards! Circus people! And lots of books and librarians. Who wouldn't like it? ...more

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May 31, 2015 Julianne Dunn rated it liked it

More like a 3.5

I picked this up in a small bookstore on a Canadian island. I was intrigued by the mermaids and the circus and librarians. The book starts strong with enough mystery to keep me reading. The story switches between the library Simon Watson as he lives his life in a house that is slowly being claimed by the sea and is still recovering from the traumatic deaths of his family and the abandonment of his sister. The other half of the story is told through the traveling circus log from al ...more

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May 23, 2015 Kerry rated it liked it

Circus performers, family curses, a house by the sea hanging by a threat and a librarian. If you are intrigued pick it up. I will never look at horseshoe crabs the same way again.

It was all a bit too much for me. The thread came loose in my ability to suspend reality and get engulfed in the story and I had a hard time keeping up with all the strangeness of it all as time went on....

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