From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

Water for Elephants

Sara Gruen

Start date: January 1, 2015

Finish date: January 2, 2015

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What Members Thought

Sep 13, 2009 Angie rated it it was amazing

I. Loved. This. Book. It's been sitting on my bookshelf for a year and a half. I had no idea what it was even about, I had just acquired it because it was getting a lot of buzz as a top seller. When I saw a recent movie trailer for the upcoming film I was slightly more intrigued by it and decided I better read it before the film came out. Wow. I LOVED this book! Now before I gush too much I should say, there were quite a few "big" curse words when a few characters spoke. They were scattered and ...more

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Sep 07, 2011 Jeff Scott rated it really liked it

Shelves: overdrive-library, audiobooks

Bittersweet tale of Jacob Jankowski, who after learning of the death of his parents, jumps a train, realizing later that it is a circus train. Through his perspective we see the inside of a depression era circus. We meet the show’s ringmaster, the crooked Uncle Al, the beautiful performer Marlena, and her psychotic husband August.

It’s a good read for the historical aspects of the circus and Jacob’s role as the circus vet. There is so much great detail about the care of the animals and how the p ...more

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Apr 27, 2008 Julie rated it it was amazing

I don't even know how to explain this book -- everything was wonderful and mesmerizing from the first sentence. The entire story was an adventure you take along with the narrator and I LOVED learning the behind-the-scenes aspects of a circus, especially during the 1920s and 30s. You could tell how much research Gruen went through for this book, describing these scenes, characters and events to the fullest detail that it seems as if you're living in that period. I don't usually think this about b ...more

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