Monday review - Erin Morgenstern's The Night Circus (Part 1)

I couldn't wait until I finished this book to tell you about it. There are a couple of reasons for this. The first is that I'm savoring it, working my way slowly through the wonderful prose, enjoying every minute of the journey -

Now, I'm a gulper. I gulp down books at a tremendous rate. If I have a whole day to myself with nothing to do, I might read two or three books. I can't help myself - I'm always desperate to find out what happens at the end and NO, I absolutely do not ever read the ending first.

So, I'll write about the book in the fullness (I'm assuming) of its beautiful self when I'm finished it - probably sometime in the next couple of weeks.

But what I really wanted to talk about right now is the physical book. Not the words. Not the writing. Not the story or the characters. But the book itself.

It is, without doubt, the most beautiful book I've picked up this year. From the cover to the frontispiece to each individual chapter. It is gorgeous -

And the drawings and the art of it - as far as I can tell so far - just add to the reading experience. It's dark. It's beautiful. It's a little bit frightening. And so is the art. The designers did a terrific job in taking the story and turning it to truly evocative art.

I love it. Next time I'll tell you about the book.

Kate