50-Book Challenge: Water for Elephants

I've been a little delinquent in posting this update. Shannon, the boys, and I just moved out of our house (after selling it!) and we are in the process of tying up loose ends before moving to Japan. I finished this book over a week ago.

The next book in my challenge is Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This was a delightful book and I encourage anyone looking for an enjoyable summer read to buy. This novel tells the story of Jacob Jankowski, a retired circus veterinarian, who is "ninety or ninety-three" at the beginning of the of book and living in an assisted living center. Early in his life, Jacob responded to a family tragedy by running away with a traveling circus. A fateful decision that exposed him to desperation, brutality, love, and deceit. And then, later in life, largely alone and forgotten,  Jacob's memories from that time in his life start visiting him when a circus comes to town and sets up next to the assisted living center.

Ms. Gruen's book is a nicely written and meticulously researched look into life on a train-borne circus. It's not long into the book before the reader, almost without knowing it, has adopted the circus vernacular of rubes, performers, roustabouts, cooch tents, and first of Mays. And what a wonderful setting! A story of an indigent and naive college student who hops a train and finds himself (quite accidentally) amidst a depression-era circus. Really, if you're looking for a book to read, how can you go wrong with Water for Elephants?