Score!

I finished another book, with just a few hours to spare before the year's end. It was recommended by my brilliant cousin—who is brilliant for many reasons, only one of which is her excellent taste in books.

The Night Circus, by Erin Morganstern. I highly recommend it for pretty much anyone, but particularly for those who like Shakespeare, and old legends and fairy tales. The atmosphere and imagery is beautifully dark and tempestuous—in a magical rather than depressing way, and it doesn't insult your intelligence like so many recent books do. The best comparisons I can make to it are Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and The Prestige, only not quite so dark as either of those. 8.5

It is also worth noting that the audiobook is read by Jim Dale, who is quite good (he does the American versions of the Harry Potter books). I listened to part of it and read the rest on paper (I've actually owned a copy of this book since it was first published, and several people recommended it to me, but none of them were the sort whose taste I completely trusted ... until my cousin). Both the audio and print were good experiences.

Here's to 2014! May we all have a blessed year.