Book Review: The Night Circus

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! I actually really loved this.
It was a bit confusing at the start, as each chapter has its own date and the time doesn't flow from one chapter to another but rather jolts you all over the place bringing you the understanding you need as you need to know it.
I love the parts that read as if you yourself are in the circus. I found this really brought me into the story.
The midnight dinners are a wonderous idea, and I would dearly have loved to attend one.
First course served on the stroke of midnight.
The circus itself sounded brilliant, a real specticle of wonder.
The idea that magic could be all around us still and yet kept subtle due to our disbelief of magic appeals to me.



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Craft Project

Bought these guys on eBay for a bargain price.

They are Keypers, a toy that was popular when I was little.

I had a swan

They are toys/trinket boxes that have a hidden compartment and open up for you to store your treasures.

These come without the keys and with out their little friends but are in pretty good condition I'd say.

So My plan is to repaint and decorate them.

This is the actual photo used in the listing, below are individual photos I got off google.

The Snail

I like this ones compartment as its in its shell. Maybe a gothy look will suit the underlining pink

Lady Bug

This one also has a rather cool compartment

No idea what I want to do wit it though

This is the same lady bug but a different variation.

I'm thinking this ones underlining colours would be great for a steampunk repaint.

The squirrel

I am keen to make a steampunk squirrel I must say.

I don't really like this ones compartment but have never had a squirrel so it might be ok still.

So I have to

1. receive items
2. work out their paint jobs
3. figure out how to dye doll hair
4. get sand paper for the repaint of the hard plastic
5. figure out how to mold the locks to make new keys
6. get some bits and pieces to add decoration to them.

I don't think I will make them companions but I would like to make accessories

I will be on knife edge till they arrive

I am very keen to get started on these.

Book Club Book #2 for July

9 Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I loved this book, so much so that I found it very hard to put down and subsiquentially finished in two days.
Callie has low self esteem but doesn't always show it, after all she is a lady and ladies do not show self pity. She is burning with a desire to break free from the shackles of what society expects of her and at the "on the shelf" age of 28 she finds herself drawn to experiencing things in life that men have taken for granted. Starting with her first kiss. Callie does not do things by halves and when she could simply try a scotch in the comfort of her own home, safe from ruin, she instead decides she will take her first glass of scotch in a public house (something a lady never does).
I think though set in a different time period this underlining storyline (besides the romance of course) is very relevant to today, no matter how far woman have come we still have a perceived place in society that not all of us fit into and there are still some freedoms we much take with judgement of our character.




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Book Club Book Review

Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


The book is well written and the character building is great.

I struggle with the virgin woman and the "extremely experienced" man always being coupled and its still insulting that the woman never knows what she really wants and even when she is saying no its assumed she really means yes she just doesn't know it yet. The virgin, while loosing her virginity before marriage, of course is never touched by another man making her solely "his", while the man of course has a list of ex-lovers too long for him to remember all their names.

The main character, Lady Roberta St. Giles, starts off likable as I felt sorry for her situation but it soon becomes apparent she is a simpering idiot who doesn't think about her actions and is on the whole very imature.

There seems to be a lot about Jemma in the start then she all but dissapears towards the end. The big chess game she is in with the Duke of Villiers is a focus towards the start,even listing moves played, but the end of the game is mearly announced after the fact. The friend who requested her to humiliate Villiers isn't even mentioned again.

We don't really find out much about Damon, the Earl of Gryffyn as all he seems to do is seduce Roberta, Though it is hinted that he plays the stock markets. His devotion to his illegitimate six year old son is touching and is the only thing that gives him depth as a character.

I did enjoy the banter and the colourful characters at the start of the book.



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