Water for Elephants amazed me. It was not at all what I expected. I knew it was about a circus, and obviously for the title, an elephant was involved. What I was not prepared for however, was the cruelty it showed. And I don’t doubt for a minute, that even though this was fiction, that these atrocities didn’t happen in real circuses.

We are introduced to a death in the prologue. While it is fuzzy and hard to tell who’s who, we are witnesses to a scene that the narrator, Jacob, has viewed and never forgotten. Mayhem abounds as we discover that the menagerie of a circus is on the stampede.

We are then reintroduced to Jacob, many years later, as he is a resident at a nursing home. He is ninety three, or ninety one, he can’t keep it straight and a circus is in town and being set up within sight of the nursing home. This causes him to reminisce about his time spent with the Benzini Brothers circus.

As a runaway college student, after the death of his parents, he finds himself hopping a train that turns out to be part of the circus train. There, instead of being thrown off, he is taken in by an older man named Camel who secures him a job with the circus mucking stalls, which later turns into a position as the circus’s veterinarian.

He falls in love with Marlena, the wife of his schizophrenic boss August. While he keeps his love hidden, August, dangerous and unpredictable makes life tough for Jacob in the circus while in his better moments is a best friend to him.

He also makes the acquaintance of Walter, a dwarf clown whom he bunks with and together they help Camel in his time of need. He also makes an unlikely friend in Rosie, an elephant picked up from another failing circus whom he feels a bond with and devastation at her treatment from the cruel August.

Throughout the book it cuts back and forth from Jacob at the nursing home, to his reminisces of the circus and its happenings. One of the ending chapters recaps the prologue, only with more detail.

Gr
Mighty Super Machines In

This cable is certainly worth the money. It does exactly what it promises – no more; no less.
An Abridgement of John

I love running with my new Forerunner 305…I was using an online program to figure out my distances, but was limited to running roads and paved trails. This allows me to do a little offroading. It calculates distance perfectly, the heart rate monitor is much better than the Timex monitor I used to wear, and the pace feature is great. The elevation feature varies a bit, but gives a good overall picture. I haven’t used the training features nor have I used the compass settings so I can’t comment on their effectiveness. The Garmin connect online tool is great for analyzing all of the workout data, and I would recommend that over the software that comes in the package. I haven’t had any problem with mine yet, and I’ve had it for a couple months now. It’s a great deal for the price here on Amazon.
Macally mMouse Height Adjustable

As a college student, I find it a real shame that assignments can almost without exception be accepted in Microsoft Word format… However, I got a great deal (under $70), so thank you Amazon!! I think that the products nice, I definitely get a lot of use out of it.
Wish I could put it on more computers though!
Brutal Reasoning Animals Rationality

#1 I believe in God, but not to the extent that I’m right of center.
#2 This is the only book I freely admit to having thrown into the trash bin.
Moving Blanket Pro 7

I recently read the Catcher in the Rye, and I didn’t think it was all that great. I found it a bit boring actually. I couldn’t read the last 3 or 4 pages of chapter 25 because I got so tired of main characters whinning. It also seemed very likely that he had bipolar disorder.

The reason why I think I was able to keep reading the book up until the end is because I can kind of identify with Holden. Aside from that, Nothing.

It was basically a book where nothing happened and I was very disappointed with the way it ended.

Las Viejas Del Patron

Bought this for my son who is now nearly 9 months. He had it less than 2 weeks before one of the prongs on the center part broke off. He does love it but it scares me to get another one for fear that he could break another one off and put it in his mouth with the jagged edge.
Tiny Love Grip and

We purchased the Schwill Mark III bike trailer for our 2 year old son. We used it several times and then returned it. Here are the things we did not like:

1. The bottom of the canvas seat actually sits on the metal frame below so my son’s [...] was bouncing on the aluminum bars under the seat. We ended up putting a pad under the seat to act as a cushion.

2. the “sling style seat” was not a great design. My son kept sliding forward in the seat and the only thing that kept him from sliding off the front was the strap between his legs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think that would be too comfortable.

3. There was no relief or recessed area above the seat back to accomodate a child’s helmet. The back of the seat kept pushing my son’s helmet forward so that it came down over his eyes. He would cry and we would have to stop and fix the helmet about every 10-15 minutes.

4. There is no reclining option for the seat back. When your kid falls asleep, their heads will slump forward or to the side.

The features we did like, but that weren’t enough to justify keeping it:

1. The bike trailer and jogging trailer combo at an affordable price.

2. The bike attachment arm and jogging stroller arms fold away underneath the trailer when not in use (but that is what the kid ends up sitting on).

Before we returned this we purchased a Chariot Cougar 2 trailer and tried them both out with our son. He said he liked the Chariot better because the other one was “too bouncy”. We love the Chariot, but be forwarned it is very expensive. We spent $[...] for the trailer, bike attachment and stoller wheels. But this has everything we wanted in a trailer except for the reclining seats. This is also the only trailer we could find that has a shock absorbsion system so that the child gets a smoother ride.
Schwinn Mark III Double

Very good value for the money. Good power, lightweight and reliable. We will be buying more.
The Liquor Tax Law

I bught one of these for myself about 2 years ago. It works perfectly and a battery lasts about a year. I am a dancer and the pedometers I used in the past were never sensitive enough to record my dance steps; this one does. However it is discriminatory enough to not record riding along a rough road in the car. Also I found the separate recording of aerobic steps and total steps to be useful.

Then my girfriend asked for one for her birthday, so I got her one also. She loves it, says it makes her more likely to get out and walk on a rainy day which in our climate is a pretty useful feature.
Forever Collectibles Disney Fairies