The circus arrives without warning, mysteriously appearing overnight, and leaves as quick as it comes. It contains no color, only black, white, and all the shades of grey between. The astonishing feats of the performers defy explanation, even in comparison to other circuses. The illusions performed may well not be illusions at all. If you like books with mysterious challenges, mysterious characters, mysterious happenings, and a mysterious resolution, this may be the book for you. The Night Circus skirts the edges of romance, fantasy, and steampunk. Interested?

I heard differing opinions about this film before seeing it, so I was a little hesitant about checking it out. I'm very glad I did. I thought it was excellent. The film is not nearly as much of a comedy as the advertising campaign made it out to be. You'll notice that the library has it in the Drama section, not the Comedy section. That is not to say that it doesn't have some very funny moments. It does. Octavia Spencer has a well-deserved reputation as a great comedian. That said, I thought the film was engaging while staying respectful of the harsh realities of the society it portrays. And what an ugly society it is. Perhaps one needs to have lived in Mississippi in order to judge its culture, but that's an experience I'm glad not to have had. The Help is a riveting movie.

This is a true Steven Spielberg film in that its plotline constitutes an adventure film, but it's really about family. Two kids on the verge of adolescence are going through a rough patch with their fathers. One father is mourning the recent loss of his wife, and the other is a troubled alcoholic. The two kids become friends through unlikely circumstances, and although their fathers hate each other, the kids become confidantes and allies. It's a good thing too, because all is not well in town. A huge train crash that nearly kills them sets off a chain of events involving missing persons, stolen technology, a secretive operation by the Air Force, and eventually the complete evacuation of the town. Stay tuned during the film credits to see the homemade zombie movie that the kids have been working on.

Despite the fact that it is humans who devise the miracle Alzheimer's drug that somehow gives apes a vastly heightened intelligence, the humans in this film are mostly fools and/or jerks. Conversely, the apes all seem pretty darn intelligent even before they get gassed with BrainDrug 112. By the end, I was seriously jonesing for the ape-perpetrated killing spree that I assumed was coming. Human hating aside, I enjoyed the film. Andy Serkis is fantastic in his role as Caesar, the brainy chimp. Caesar was certainly the most sympathetic character in the film, and when he stands up to Draco Malfoy, it gave me chills.

The Kingdom of Gods was a good finish to the trilogy. In the first book, the protagonist is a human. In the second, the protagonist is a demon. This time, the protagonist is a god. The theme of three as a symbol of completeness is pretty overt in this book, and it does seem like Jemisin spends a lot of time wrapping things up nicely. This was my third-favorite book in the trilogy, but if you liked the first two, you'll enjoy this one too.