WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (Sara Gruen) - April 1/11

This slightly overlong yet thoroughly entertaining book certainly held my attention from start to finish, although some of the descriptions of the mistreatment of animals were hard to take. Likewise, Gruen occasionally goes a little overboard in describing the ins and outs of the circus life. But I enjoyed the love triangle and I was relieved that Jacob and Marlena got together in the end. (I feared that Marlena would get killed or something.) The climactic stampede is extremely well done and very exciting, and I liked that last little twist (Jacob joins the circus once more). ***1/2 out of ****