The Night Circus

Written By Jess Pancholi
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The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Reviewed by Jess
📕📗📘

November is Na No Wri Mo and this magical tale is a product of this creative writing project - and creative it certainly is! The metaphor of the circus is extensively used in this story. The tent might look boring on the outside but the contents are a mystery, a wonder, and even slightly scary. Marco and Celia are bound together by magicians when they are small children, and are forced to compete with each other using magic, tricks and illusion til there is literally one man left standing. The only problem? They fall in love. This book is fantasy writing at it's peak, with amazing imagery, dark moments and descriptive wordplay, but only if you throw yourself into it head first. It took me a while to get used to the surrealism, and fantasy and magic books aren't normally my thing. I did like this though - not love it unfortunately - so thanks to Becky for the recommendation!

Jess Pancholi

I’ve got to start this off by thanking Linda for putting together this amazing group of ladies who I love dearly! Linda was my uni/PhD wife for 8 solid years and books were one of the many things that bound us together - pun intended! I really think our book family is amazing, diverse and we really influence each other to push our reading boundaries (and crack each other up with our banter and jokes haha!) The family extends to you followers too - and we are just getting started!

According to everyone in my family and numerous home movies I was forever reading books.  Spot the Dog and anything Beatrix Potter were my jam. They say your love of reading never dies and I can absolutely say that is true! The books might be more grown up but I’m still there, book in hand (and snacks to boot!) ready to lose myself in a story.I can’t say for sure what my preferred genre of book is - I’ve read everything from biographies to epic modern novels and classic tales too - and of course as a scientist I dabble in a little popular sci lit on the side. I’m always willing to try something wacky and weird, even if I don’t like it in the end but I guess that’s why I’m part of The Candid Book Club, eh?

If you asked me to recommend some books to you, I would say that Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy is my absolute favourite ever; its worth it, I promise!I also love: Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli (shout out if you read this in high school - it’s YA that really sticks with you) Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla (this is ESSENTIAL reading) Sputnik Sweetheart by Haruki Murakami A Little Life by Hanyayan Agihara, Yes Please by Amy Poehler. And of course- The Tale of Jemima Puddleduck by Beatrix Potter

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