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Agua Para Elefantes = Water for Elephants
Agua Para Elefantes = Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth . It was the early part of the great Depression, and for Jacob, now ninety, the circus world he remembers was both his salvation and a living hell. A veterinary student just shy of a degree, he was put in charge of caring for the circus menagerie. It was there that he met Marlena, the beautiful equestrian star married to August, the charismatic but twisted animal trainer. And he met Rosie, an un-trainable elephant who was the great gray hope for this third-rate traveling show. The bond that grew among this unlikely trio was one of love and trust, and, ultimately, it was their only hope for survival."
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kissmehardy
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Pickpick

Picked this up because the stage musical is premiering soon and I'm glad I did! Not necessarily a surprising story, but a well-told one, and an immersive one as well. Jacob might be the only person who ever successfully ran away and joined the circus! #historicalfiction

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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
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#Movietime
#DecemberDreams

Loved this one!! 🎥 🐘 ❤️📚

TheSpineView I loved that movie too. I got to meet the author at a private screening for the movie. She was super nice. 3mo
AmyG Yes, this was a wonderful book. @TheSpineView Nice! (edited) 3mo
Eggs Great book and film 👏🏻🥰👌🏼 3mo
62 likes3 comments
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Tonton
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Eggs
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Love elephants 🐘 7mo
76 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Jenken1998
Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
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Pickpick

This has been on my TBR since it was published. Finally got to it. I enjoyed it despite the animal abuse. I knew it was coming though...because circus.. Story of Jacob who joins a Depression era circus. He recalls that summer and all its horrors as an old man. It was enjoyable. I give it 3 stars.

lazydaizee The animal cruelty nearly had me in tears, especially the poor elephant. 8mo
57 likes3 stack adds1 comment
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Eggs
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I love elephants 🐘 10mo
Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks That is why I chose this 🐘 10mo
65 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CollapsingLibrary
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Pickpick

Hauntingly gorgeous story of a man‘s time working in a circus during that Great Depression. The author doesn‘t shy away from the grim and horrific realities. I loved both the story line of the man while working in the circus and then as an elderly man living in assisted living. Often the story can be hard to continue due to the graphic nature of some scenes but I kept listening because of my curiously how the story would end. Cont ⬇️

CollapsingLibrary (Cont) it could be argued that it reads as trauma porn with little redemption. I enjoyed the story enough to make it a pick but I don‘t want to say it‘s for everyone. CW: animal abuse (this was a big one), domestic abuse, death of family 11mo
68 likes1 comment
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aperfectmjk
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Pickpick

Thanks to #trappedonanisland I have finally finished this one. It's been on my TBR for YEARS! It started off kind of slow for me, but then it really picked up. Now, I can finally watch the movie. 😁

@HeathHof #bookspinbingo @TheAromaofBooks

HeathHof Yay! I still need to watch the movie myself. 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!!! 2y
perfectsinner I've read this 3x. Haven't seen the movie though 2y
1234567891011 Y'all have gotta watch the movie; it's breathtaking. 2y
49 likes4 comments
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cinda.marie
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Pickpick

🎪🎪🎪🎪🎪 The story of a college kid who joins a struggling circus in the 1930s. This was an excellent book! I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction.

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Betty_Boa
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Pg. 298
Still not ok 😭 Did Camel and Walter just get redlighted?? 🥺Why couldn't he just stay put!! I mean he didn't even go through with what he intended.

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Betty_Boa

I'm on page 258 and I'm Sobbing 😭 I'm not okay

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KaylaD
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Pickpick

Found this at a yard sale in the free box so I had to take it!! Took me a minute to get into it but about half way through I couldn‘t put it down!! Very good book happy I stuck to it!!

AmyG This was a good one. 2y
21 likes1 comment
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CoffeeNBooks
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#BigJuneReadathon #PhotoChallenge #RelatingToWater This one has been on my bookshelf for a long time- I've heard it's a great book, I just never seem to pick it up to read.
@Clwojick

Clwojick It‘s good, but hard to read at times. Hope you get to it soon! ❤️ 2y
Roary47 Yes, it‘s a good one. I couldn‘t put it down when I read it. 😊💛 2y
49 likes2 comments
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Eggs
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Kshakal
Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks I enjoyed this one! 🎪 2y
Eggs Perfect❤️🎪👍🏼 2y
31 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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AmandaBlaze
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Eggs Perfect 🐘 2y
32 likes1 comment
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Blueberry
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Eggs Great choice 2y
Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 📚🚂❤️ 2y
CaitZ This picture brought back many happy memories. As a kid, we would take a train from Chicago to Milwaukee to watch the circus train come in (I got the worst sunburn of my life when it derailed and was 5 hours late) and then go back to watch the parade. 2y
Blueberry @CaitZ memories ❤️ 2y
perfectsinner Love that book, read 3x 2y
54 likes5 comments
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MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm
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Pickpick

4 ⭐️s
I really enjoyed this story, especially Jacob‘s later years. It‘s not a happy tale through most of it, but little snippets of the better parts of humanity shine through and give the reader a breather. The idea that staying on a circus with sadistic, abusive “leaders” that didn‘t always pay you was better than leaving to look for something else during The Great Depression is mind blowing. I truly loved the ending. Rosie is the best character!

KathyWheeler I read this years ago and it was one of my favorites from the year I read it. 2y
Erinsuereads This is one of my favorites 😍 2y
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MegaWhoppingCosmicBookwyrm Lol, also one of my #Roll100 reads for March @PuddleJumper 😅 I‘m terrible at remembering to tag my challenges/hosts this month apparently. 🤣 2y
TheAromaofBooks Woohoo!!! 2y
PuddleJumper Whoop! That's great! 2y
47 likes1 stack add6 comments
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TheSpineView
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#Movie2BookRecs @Klou
Prompt: Greatest Showman

Sara Gruen lives in Asheville (or did) and I had the good fortune to meet her at a private screening of the movie as a Humane Society event. She was lovely and very humble.

KristiAhlers I‘ve been wanting to read this one for awhile now. 2y
TheSpineView @KristiAhlers Great book! Hope you enjoy 2y
Klou Fantastic!!! 2y
71 likes5 stack adds3 comments
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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
Pickpick

I strongly disagree with the choices of casting for the movie. Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon should not play the main love interests in this story. That being said, I really enjoyed this revisiting of a book I loved in high school.

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Sjoanns
Pickpick

I had a hard time through most of this book. I enjoyed the writing but honestly life in the circus (and the treatment of the animals) just made me uncomfortable, even though the author spoke the truth. And there were times where I felt the protagonist was lacking a spine. But I was so glad I stuck with the book. The last 15% of it packaged it all up in a bow for me and I finished the book with a smile on my face (what more could you want?)

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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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I am ninety. Or ninety-three. One or the other.
#FirstLineFriday @ShyBookOwl

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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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I hope you‘re all enjoying your Wednesday evening as much as I‘m going to enjoy this. I really need proper wine glasses. These medal cups are pretty much unbreakable. As you can see, the same can‘t be said for the paint on them ?‍♀️ Also, I love Terra Sávie Rosé. It has taken a while, but I‘ve definitely found my favorite to enjoy at home ?

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smalldogs_bigbooks2419
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Can someone teach me how to blur out the rest of a page, so I can highlight a quote? The paragraph that starts with “Sometimes I think that if I had to choose between an ear of corn or making love to a woman, I‘d choose the corn.” is what I wanted to highlight. After about a half hour of fussing with different settings on my phone, I gave up and I‘m posting a pic of the whole page. 🤦‍♀️

Crazeedi There should be a button on bottom of pic before posting that is a pen of any color, you should be able to use to blur the lines you want. Or use pic collage app that you can do the same 2y
rwmg When you add a picture to a post, you will see controls at the bottom. The far right one (you may have to scroll over) is marked 'focus'. Tap that and then use 'linear'. That is how I blur part of the picture. 2y
28 likes2 comments
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LifeInPages
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Pickpick

I know it was a love story & that it would have a happy ending. (I haven't seen the movie) What makes it different is that its not a love story that starts away like most of them do. It starts out with a person trying to find themselves after literally loosing everything & trying to get through it all. It approached first of finding yourself thro grief & then still being able to love everything more or less round you.

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Rachel.Rencher
Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
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I'm re-reading a favorite novel this week. 🐘 I'm packing to move, and conveniently found this bookmark, too!

LindaLaforgeAuthor Would that be packing a trunk I wonder?! 3y
72 likes6 stack adds1 comment
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this_teacher_reads
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Really enjoying this book!

KathyWheeler It‘s been awhile since I read it, but I remember loving this book. 3y
39 likes1 stack add1 comment
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MoonWitch94
Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
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https://www.vulture.com/article/sara-gruen-charles-murdoch.html

Ever wonder where Ms. Gruen‘s next book is due out? You‘re in for QUITE a surprise 😱😱😱🥺🤯
This has the makings of a Dateline episode of ever I thought so! Wow! #waterforelephants

Bookwormjillk Wow, that‘s wild 3y
Librarybelle I was absolutely shocked when I read this a couple weeks ago! 3y
Erinreadsthebooks That. Is. Bonkers!! 😧😳🤯. I heard Annie Jones mentions this article on her From the Front Porch podcast and I‘m so glad you shared it. 3y
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Julsmarshall Wow! 3y
AmyG @Erinreadsthebooks Exactly. Bonkers. 3y
Eggbeater I loved Water for Elephants. I'm so sorry to read this. I hope she recovers. It sounds like a mess. 3y
LiteraryinLawrence Whoa. I just read the article and that is so crazy. Oh man. 3y
ChasingOm Holy cow. 😳 3y
MatchlessMarie Holy hell what a ride 😲 3y
Eggs Fascinating article 3y
Reagan I remember the Hatchimals! Her intentions were good but that was just a terrible idea. 3y
Branwen Wow! 😲😲😲 3y
That-Bookish-Hiker I loved Water for Elephants. It makes me sad to hear that this situation is happening to her and hope she recovers. 3y
53 likes13 comments
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AlisBookNookCorner
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Pickpick

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ https://suspensebookreviews.home.blog/2021/04/20/water-for-elephants-by-sara-gru...

I LOVED this novel! Can I give this more stars please?! I was not expecting to enjoy this one, as the circus is not something of my interest, but I was proven wrong. This novel was marvelous in so many ways! The writing was beautiful, and filled with detail. The characters were brilliant. There was so much more to this than a circus. A new favorite!

Tattooedteacher I really liked this one also. So much that it‘s stuck with me years later. 3y
ICantImReading This is one of my favorites!! 3y
AlisBookNookCorner 🖤🖤🖤 3y
APLitlife My absolute favorite! 3y
AlisBookNookCorner 💛 💛 💛 3y
44 likes1 stack add5 comments
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AlisBookNookCorner
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Book Spin Pick: WATER FOR ELEPHANTS by SARA GRUEN - I am actually not a fan of circuses, for a magnitude of reasons, but this novel sounds amazing. I was able to read a bit already and I'm hooked! Lovely!

LoverOfLearning The ending is beautifully written! I loved this storyline. 3y
43 likes1 stack add1 comment
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j.rye
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Pickpick

🐘🐘🐘🐘/5

36 likes1 stack add
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Valhalla
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"When two people are meant to be together, they will be together. It's fate" Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

12 likes1 stack add
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LatrelWhite
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🎧 Has been on my TBR FOREVERRRR!

18 likes1 stack add
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MothAndMoons
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Used bookstore haul
$13.97 for this beautiful stack!
The only one I‘ve read is Water for Elephants but it‘s been years and it‘s been on my heart to reread it for awhile this year.

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FantasyChick
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OriginalCyn620 🎬📚🎬 4y
48 likes1 stack add1 comment
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scripturient
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I‘m totally in love with this book. Have 95 pages left over and don‘t want it to end. 😍

StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego One of my faves! 4y
Prairiegirl_reading I loved that book! ❤️ 4y
75 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Kelsyereadsbooks
Water for Elephants | Sara Gruen
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Mehso-so

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 I love elephants so much, so it was hard for me to read this one with all of the violence toward animals. The story was pretty good. Just hard to get past the uncomfortable bits.

JanuarieTimewalker13 I‘ve owned this book forever and this is exactly what I‘m afraid of. I love elephants too🐘❤️ 3y
4 likes1 comment
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Princess-Kingofkings
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My husband & I had a date afternoon. A trip to purchase a headband for me via Marketplace. Dinner at The Sandbar & Grill, where our son is a cook. A short walk at the Rabbit River Nature Trail. As an added bonus, there was this LFL at the entrance to the trail. I intended to leave the 4 books I photographed. You can see why I was thankful I had a basket of books in the car. I left them all & straightened up like the librarian I am! 📚

marleed How nice for you. My June fun has been to walk to separate LFLs and donate some like-new books. And If full, replace the wrapped and weathered. There s one LFL just a few houses away, and I notice every book I donate is gone within 2 days but the weathered ones don‘t get picked. It‘s actually been super fun. I‘m going to start leaving notes in each book about how fun it is to donate inspired by a note in an LFL book I picked up! 4y
Princess-Kingofkings @marleed I saw two books that were a bit water damaged. I won't keep those in my own library. Since this was my first time visiting this Library, I didn't remove them but if I visit again and see them, I'm bring them home to recycle. ♻️ 4y
29 likes2 comments
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Curiouser_and_curiouser
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Love this Quote by Dr. Suess!

My 11yr old daughter picked a book up from my 2020 TBR pile this week & was caught in the first chapter. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to read a book together with her.
In the past we have only read a handful of novels together & the process is so slow that it takes each book about a year to complete.
Loving this time together, sharing & growing the love of books & stories.

MrsMalaprop Love sharing books with my 11yo. We read Black Beauty during our ‘lock down‘. 📚🥰 #raisingreaders 4y
Curiouser_and_curiouser @MrsMalaprop ooohhh, lovely! We have started that one a couple of times but veered off to other books. I must bring that one out again. Perhaps for my youngest if 11 yr old grows past "animal" themed books. My 11 year old loves being read Enid Blyton's Children of Cherry Tree Farm and Willow Farm books atm :) 4y
51 likes1 stack add2 comments
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CatLass007
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I just received a housewarming present from the lovely @Mynameisacolour ! Thank you, Miss Heather! #JB #JustBecause

HeathHof You're welcome! 💛 & congratulations on your new home! 🏡💕 4y
54 likes1 comment
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ShelbyA7
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Mehso-so

Book #8 - I read almost all of this one over Memorial Day weekend outdoors: at the pool, at the dog park, on the patio. When I opened it up, I found that the bookmark within was a flyer for a club that we used to go to during my study abroad, nearly 7 years ago.

LoverOfLearning Oh wow! Old bookmark. I loved this book! I had never seen the movie or known what the book was about before reading it. I adored the ending so much. 4y
12 likes1 comment
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LitTraveler
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Mehso-so

Book 1 of #bookspinbonanza completed! ⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ It was pretty good; there were some major cliches, but overall a decent read 👍🏼 On to the next!

TheAromaofBooks Great work!! I agree with the so-so rating. I read this one quite a while ago and was rather underwhelmed by it. Plus I have trouble with books where adultery is one of the major methods of moving the story forward, even if the person getting cheated on is a horrible person. 4y
HotMessJess Sad, I loved this read! I kn is it‘s definitely a tough one for some!! 4y
35 likes2 comments
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LitTraveler
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First up for #bookspinbonanza ☺️ This book has been sitting on my shelf for AWHILE so I‘m excited to finally read it!
I am embarrassed to say that I can‘t start the #pemberlittens S&S because I realized, on April 30th, that I owned EVERY SINGLE Jane Austen novel...except that one 🤦🏻‍♀️ So I am still waiting for the book to come in the mail. I am just dumbfounded that I own Mansfield Park, but not S&S 😂

Gissy Amazing! 👍 4y
StillLookingForCarmenSanDiego Great book! 🐘 4y
46 likes1 stack add2 comments
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danibel
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Currently reading (listening on audio)

rather_be_reading great great book! 4y
9 likes1 stack add1 comment
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saraegreen
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KristenDuck
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Pickpick

Loved it. Water for Elephants follows Jacob Jankoeski after he accidentally stumbles on a circus train and becomes the veterinarian for a traveling circus! Set in the time of the Depression, a lot was unsure, and this book certainly shows us the ups and downs of life!

Loved the characters, the drama, and the whole circus aspect. Easy listen, and while I had read this when it first came out, listening to it reminded me of parts I had forgotten!

runswithscissors007 I loved this as well. have read one other by Sara Gruen and it didn't hit the same note for me. but I will definitely try again! 4y
Pageturner1 I saw the movie now I am afraid to read the book. I didn‘t really care for the movie. 4y
LoverOfLearning LOVED this book! 4y
99 likes3 stack adds3 comments
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Jess861
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I loved the concept of this book - circus during the depression era but this book was just so-so for me. The ending was great but most of the book fell flat for me. I felt that many aspects of the story were one dimensional for the most part.

#Animal #ReallyRandomFebruary #Fiction #UnpopularOpinion

@OriginalCyn620 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Not one of my favorites either... 4y
OriginalCyn620 I actually ended up loving this one but I was skeptical when I started it. 🐘 4y
Andrew65 I was thinking of this one too. 4y
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Buechersuechtling I just researched how I rated book because I could recall I “recently” listened to it. That I “picked 👍🏼” it surprised me because looking back I also wanted to rate it “So-So” but then I re-read my review and recalled that I loved everything about the circus but the love story not so much. So, yeah, I definitely get and share your point. 4y
Jess861 @Buechersuechtling - Completely agree! I love a good circus story and that was the part of the book that I enjoyed. However, I felt that the book had so much more potential than what it was. 4y
Jess861 @OriginalCyn620 - I'm glad you loved it! I definitely enjoyed aspects of it but other aspects just fell short for me. 4y
39 likes6 comments