RTW: Best Book of October

Welcome to our 102nd Road Trip Wednesday!


Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question that begs to be answered. In the comments, you can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic. We'd love for you to participate! Just answer the prompt on your own blog and leave a link -- or, if you prefer, you can include your answer in the comments. 


This week's topic: What was the best book you read in October?


Happily and oddly enough, October has been a very fruitful reading month for me. I don't know how it came to happen that I've read so much since it seems like October has been the busiest month of my entire life, but I like to think that the book fairies know I need to read to stay afloat and they took pity on me. So, with that all in mind, I have a rather large selection to pick from this month, but thankfully there has been one book in particular that stood out, so the decision wasn't too stressful.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern is absolutely gorgeous. I was lucky enough to actually get to meet her at an event in my hometown a few weeks ago, and she is such a sweet person. Here is a little background on the novel, in case you haven't heard of it, and if that's the case, I'd be surprised since it's quite popular at the moment. I really can't say it any better than the jacket sleeve and Goodreads.

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. 

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. 

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. 

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

While reading this, I fell in love not only with the characters, but also with the circus itself. It's a living, breathing entity that easily captured my imagination. I only wish that I could be a part of Le Cirque des Rêves.

The Night Circus isn't a YA novel, but it isn't entirely an adult book either. It's something that I would put in a category with the Harry Potter series and The Lord of the Rings, if only because of the rare illusive quality I'm trying and failing to describe. I suppose y'all will just have to read it to find out for yourselves.