Nearly Done The Night Circus and A Paper Doll-o-rama

One of my good friends and fellow Orange readers found Erin Morgenstern' s the Night Circus disappointing, she refused to say much more than that and I'm hoping once I've finished we can have a really good chat about it. I really love our book talks I get to feel like I'm using my brain for something other than making up songs about changing diapers and I get somebody's perspective on a book, which is like working within a group of artists, there's an energy that builds when ideas and thoughts get bounced around. It can really get your brain going.

I'm nearly done "Circus"myself and while my thoughts on the book are still being processed; (the two main characters are fairly glossed over; the book as a whole reads as a longish fairytale, the circus itself reads like a fantastical art performance piece and I would love to see it in person) I've been finding excuses to get back to the book at every opportunity. Once I'm done I've got a big stack of books that snuck into my holds when I wasn't paying attention  that I've got to get to. 

• Island of Wings by Karin Altenberg 
• On the Floor by Aifric Campbell 
• The Grief of Others by Leah Hager Cohen - On deck
• The Sealed Letter by Emma Donoghue 
• Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan - Finished
• The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright
• The Flying Man by Roopa Farooki - Finished
• Lord of Misrule by Jaimy Gordon 
• Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding 
• Gillespie and I by Jane Harris 
• The Translation of the Bones by Francesca Kay
• The Blue Book by A.L. Kennedy 
• The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - Nearly Done
  
• The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
• Foreign Bodies by Cynthia Ozick - Finished
• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
• There but for the by Ali Smith
• The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard
• Tides of War by Stella Tillyard - On deck
• The Submission by Amy Waldman  - On deck

And reading isn't the only thing that's been taking over my attention. We've decided to go with a "Using Your Imagination" party theme for the Peanut's 6th birthday. (she really can't be six already, I'm serious, her being six is just about breaking my heart) With the husband not working a regular job, getting more creative with our party planning is more important than ever. So far we have plans for all the large moving boxes that have been in storage in our shed; hide and go seek with boxes in the back yard, box tag an making a fort are all on the program as is dress up and an art table. I've been drawing paper dolls for each of our prospective guests; both boys and girls. The plan is to have a sheet of dress up options for them to colour and collage onto, with some robot, astronaut, dinosaur and fancy dress options. I've been using The Black Apple's Paper Doll  Primer as a jumping point and I'll be using some tracing paper to get the outfits to fit just right. Having a scanner/printer handy is going to make the whole process a lot of fun.

I've also been getting a little painting done for the husband's stomp box venture. I'll write about that soon, with all the links and exciting details.