THE TRANSFORMATION OF BARTHOLOMEW FORTUNO by Ellen Bryson

This book has been compared to Water for Elephants, which I never read but I was intrigued by the premise in this civil-war era book.
P.T. Barnum's American Museum in NYC showcases among other things, live perfomances by freaks. The fat lady, the strongest man, the rubber man, the world's thinnest man. The latter, the thinnest man is Bartholomew Fortuno, who sees himself as a gift to humankind, not a freak but a Curiosity. The story is narrated by Bartholomew. He is a proud, reserved man. Matina, the fat lady, is his best friend. The Curiosities all live at the museum and perform daily. There are also Gaffs, those that are considered lesser because they do not have natural born gifts but instead made themselves into freaks.

One night, Bartholomew sees Barnum return from a trip with a woman whose face is covered by a veil. He expects that she is a new addition to the museum, but when she does not appear the next day, Bartholomew becomes curious. He eventually finds the mysterious Iell. She is extremely beautiful and has a long red beard. Bartholomew becomes captivated and ends up in the middle of Iell and Barnum, who has Bartholomew spy in Iell and fetch her mysterious packages in Chinatown. During one of these excursions, Bartholomew is given a root, that a medicine man states "will help him find his true self". Bartholomew finds himself feeling different and acting different and the other Curiosities begin to wonder about him and he begins to question himself and everything he thought was true.

I enjoyed this read immensely.  Bryson brought a lot of heart to her characters and made them much more than freaks. Bartholomew was especially fascinating, so proud of who he is and his gift.

My God, what was I doing? I looked around the table, everyone's eyes on me. Without my gift, I'd be like everyone else, and the world was already full of normal people. It was us the the world needed, we Curiosities.

The obsession he has with Iell is what really makes Fortuno question himself and the life he is leading.

This book was also an interesting look into a world I know very little of and the world of P.T. Barnum before he ventures into the circus world.
This was complex, moving, engaging, and fascinating read. I highly recommend this book.

my rating 4.5/5

THE MOTION OF THE OCEAN by Janna Cawrse Esarey

I love travel memoirs, especially when the writer is not all smug about how wonderful everything is. This was exactly what I wanted to read: the story of a newly married couple taking two years to sail around the world. Both of those things scare me to death; quitting my job and sailing on the ocean.

Janna and then fiance, Graeme, have been together on and off for ten years. She wants to get married but he is not in any hurry. Graeme thinks Janna is too caught up in her work as a teacher and that she needs to relax. They shoot around some ideas of an adventure they can have together and eventually they decide to sail the world. They don't have the money to do this so they scrimp and save and do a lot of the work on an older sailboat themselves. Janna also does not want to go without being married, so Graeme agrees it is time. She puts together the wedding while he puts together the trip.

They certainly encounter a lot of ups and downs such as beautiful locales, other cruisers, but also storms, fear of pirates and long stretches with no wind and little gas. But by the second year, Graeme seems to get a bit tired of sailing. Janna is in heaven as she has discovered writing and becomes consumed by it.

After a while, this memoir turns less travel and more a marriage memoir, comparing the ups and downs of the trip with the ups and downs of a relationship. It got to be too much. I can only take so much. I think that is what her husband was thinking also.  I wish she had stayed with the travel part, it could have been so much more an exciting and interesting read. As it was, it was just okay.

my rating 2.5/5

THE PASSAGE by Justin Cronin

I know there have been tons of reviews of this book out there in the blogosphere so I will keep this short and sweet. The Passage, all 766 pages of it, is a great summer read. I read one review that described it as Stephen King meets The Road and I think that is a good comparison.

In 2014, the military experiments on twelve death row inmates, using a virus from a band of vampires in South America, to create nearly indestructible humans for warfare. Then they decide to try it on a small child, six-year old Amy, abandoned by her mother and left with nuns. But then the original twelve escape and the virus becomes an epidemic and the country is in chaos. The FBI agent that brought Amy to the military compound tries to save her and heads for the mountains.
Fast forward 100 years to a colony in Northern California, where people were brought by the army. They don't know if anyone is left alive in the country or world except the "virals" who come out at night. They are only safe because they have powerful battery operated lights that keep the virals away, but they know it is a matter of time before the batteries die. Then Amy finds her way to the colony and they have to make a difficult decision.

This was not a scary read but it was dark and enthralling. I would have read the book faster if it wasn't so heavy! It dragged a bit in the middle but picked up and moved quickly again. It is definitely not your typical vampire novel. The vampires are called virals and a more like grotesque creatures, not Bill or Eric from True Blood. The is also a dystopian novel which may not appeal to everyone. But it isn't the kind of book I usually read and I enjoyed it very much. Definitely add to your summer reads list.

my rating 4/5

SO COLD THE RIVER by Michael Kortya, a mini-review

from the publisher:It starts with a beautiful woman and a challenge. As a gift for her husband, Alyssa Bradford approaches Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a 95-year-old millionaire whose past is wrapped in mystery. Eric grabs the job even though there are few clues to the man's story—just the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he's kept his entire life.
In Bradford's hometown, Eric discovers an extraordinary history—a glorious domed hotel where movie stars, presidents, athletes, and mobsters once mingled, and mineral springs whose miraculous waters were reputed to cure everything from insomnia to malaria. Neglected for years, the resort has been restored to its former grandeur just in time for Eric's stay.
Just hours after his arrival, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase and draw Eric deeper into the area's dark history. He discovers that something besides the historic resort town has been restored—a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain its lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense with a racing, unstoppable current.

I liked this novel but not quite as much as others bloggers. It was a  good mystery but something seemed missing for me. Eric's visions were an interesting way to show the past but it was a little more supernatural than I like. This just didn't have enough suspense and it seemed to ramble in places. The idea was good, it just seemed to miss on the execution. Good for a summer read though it is 500+ pages.

rating 3.5/5

THIS MUST BE THE PLACE by Kate Racculia

(from the publisher)The Darby-Jones boardinghouse in Ruby Falls, New York, is home to Mona Jones and her daughter, Oneida, two loners and self-declared outcasts who have formed a perfectly insular family unit: the two of them and the three eclectic boarders living in their house. But their small, quiet life is upended when Arthur Rook shows up in the middle of a nervous breakdown, devastated by the death of his wife, carrying a pink shoe box containing all his wife's mementos and keepsakes, and holding a postcard from sixteen years ago, addressed to Mona but never sent. Slowly the contents of the box begin to fit together to tell a story—one of a powerful friendship, a lost love, and a secret that, if revealed, could change everything that Mona, Oneida, and Arthur know to be true. Or maybe the stories the box tells and the truths it brings to life will teach everyone about love—how deeply it runs, how strong it makes us, and how even when all seems lost, how tightly it brings us together. With emotional accuracy and great energy, This Must Be the Place introduces memorable, charming characters that refuse to be forgotten. 

I really enjoyed this novel. It was filled with interesting, quirky, and vivid characters and they each got to tell their story. We begin with Arthur Rook, who has just lost his young wife, Amy, and when he finds a shoe-box full of mementos,  he heads to Ruby Falls. Amy left Ruby Falls when she was just a teenager and Arthur knew little about her life there. But now he wants to know everything so he can keep Amy alive in his memories, though he has started to blur reality and imagination.

Mona is a fun-loving singe mom, who adopts the lost Arthur when he comes to stay at her boardinghouse. She doesn't want Arthur to know her secrets but she can't help but fall into the Amy memories.

Oneida is brilliant and different. She is a teenager who doesn't care about fitting in. But she knows her mom has a secret and begins to resent the time her mom spends with Arthur. Oneida's story is also a beautiful coming-of age story as she juggles the perils of high school with a first love.

And then there is Amy, selfish but loving, creating a world that leaves others out, though she was the center of theirs. We only know her in flashbacks, but the author brings this complicated character to life.


This book has everything: romance, mystery, humor, magic, and drama. It is extremely well-written and engaging, slightly off-beat (in a good way) and I highly recommend it.


rating 4.5/5


Thank you to the publisher for sending me this copy in exchange for my honest review