WWW Wednesday (36)

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?

• What did you recently finish reading?

• What do you think you’ll read next?

01. Currently Reading:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. Very fantastical and bizarre. I'm completely loving it, but having trouble keeping the timeline straight as each chapter has a date.

02. Recently Finished:
Goodnight, Brian by Steven Manchester. Moving and inspirational novel about defying the odds and the love of family.

03. Reading Next:
The Burning of Isobel Key by Jen McConnell. A present day girl searches for the answers behind a witch burning in Scotland years before. Review to be posted on January 14th. =)

Teaser Tuesday (43)

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The Night Circus (p.48)
   - Erin Morgenstern

"These people mean nothing," her father says. "They cannot even begin to grasp what it is they think they see and hear, and it is easier for them to believe they are receiving miraculous transmissions from the afterlife. Why not take advantage of that, especially when they are so willing to part with their money for something so simple?"

Should Be Reading @ Wordpress

Goodnight, Brian

Fate was working against little Brian Mauretti. The food that was meant to nourish him was poisoning him instead, and the doctors said the damage was devastating and absolute. Fate had written off Brian. But fate didn’t count on a woman as determined as Brian’s grandmother, Angela DiMartino – who everyone knew as Mama. Loving her grandson with everything she had, Mama endeavored to battle fate. Fate had no idea what it was in for.

An emotional tale about the strength of family bonds, unconditional love, and the perseverance to do our best with the challenging gifts we receive, GOODNIGHT, BRIAN is an uplifting tribute to what happens when giving up is not an option.

*May Contain Spoilers*

Steven Manchester sets his characters up against impossible odds in his newest novel, Goodnight, Brian. The inspirational novel is focused around two main characters, though the supporting cast list is quite extensive. 

Brian is a child who was poisoned by a soy product as an infant which resulted in a mental disability. Mama is the grandmother who refuses to give up on her grandson, pushing him to defy the insurmountable odds. 

Brian is a lovely boy. The story is never told from his perspective, but readers are able to see his emotional standpoint. His actions speak louder than anything he dares to say. He's a child who is full of love, over generous, supportive, open, and unbelievably resilient. 

Mama is the epitome of tough love. She knows that the only way Brian will excel expectations is to be pushed. If he's treated like a learning deficient child then he will act like a learning deficient child, is Mama's motto. She's determined to teach Brian everything that doctors said he would never do. Readers will love her feisty personality, her never-give-up attitude, and her faith. 

The plot of the novel covers the time between Brian's birth and (close to) Mama's death. Manchester shares Brian's struggles and accomplishments, while also showing Mama's faith and the family's hard work. Because the book covers such a large span of time (roughly 18 years) then sometimes the story seems to jump around a lot, which can be a bit confusing. Though the chapters are all accompanied by a year to keep everything in a timeline. The character interactions seem stiff at times but this doesn't stop Manchester from getting his point across to the readers. There are many life lessons within the pages of this book that everyone should learn. Highly recommended. 

Rating: 4/5 Cups

Goodnight, Brian

The Ghosts of Nagasaki: Silence

One night a foreign business analyst in Tokyo sits down in his spacious high rise apartment and begins typing something. The words pour out and exhaust him. He soon realizes that the words appearing on his laptop are memories of his first days in Nagasaki four years ago. Nagasaki was a place full of spirits, a garrulous Welsh roommate, and a lingering mystery. Somehow he must finish the story of four years ago--a story that involves a young Japanese girl, the ghost of a dead Japanese writer, and a mysterious island. He must solve this mystery while maneuvering the hazards of middle management, a cruel Japanese samurai, and his own knowledge that if he doesn't solve this mystery soon his heart will transform into a ball of steel, crushing his soul forever. Though he wants to give up his writing, though he wants to let the past rest, within his compulsive writing lies the key to his salvation.

*Review of sample: "Silence"*

Daniel Clausen's sample of his book, The Ghosts of Nagasaki, has my interest piqued. The creativity that accompanies this book is astounding and I have no doubt that the full novel will hold readers hostage until the final period. 

The sample, Silence, seems to take place in the early-middle of the novel. The main character has already met the ghosts and the people in his life are becoming them (or perhaps, vice versa). He's a very open character who is aligned with the apostatized (someone who renounces their beliefs). The ghosts that surround him are a part of some mystery that he needs to solve. I think readers of the full novel will connect with him based on his openness and honesty, as those are the two biggest traits displayed in the excerpt. Though I firmly think that the mysterious and paranormal aspects of the plot will keep the readers reading. 

For readers that love historical fiction, fantasy, and paranormal genres, this book is highly recommended. 

Rating: 3.5/5

The Ghosts of Nagasaki