Water For Elephants
Books are entertainment. There are some that get taught flying lessons, but overall, most manage to accomplish that goal. Some you enjoy while the book is open and then forget as you close the cover on the last page. Some may stay with you a day, a week, a month. These you probably tell your friends about. Most are interruptible if something else comes along. The phone rings, your neighbor comes knocking, cat fight in the yard, world peace is declared; you dog-ear the corner, set it aside and get back to it later.
And then there is that rare book you open to the first page and several hours later, your butt numb, your joints stiff from inactivity, your eyes misting, your vision blurred, you close the cover on the last page. That rare book that sucks you in so completely you lose track of time and place. You look up from the page at your surroundings and feel a momentary confusion. The morning light that was streaming through your window when you started reading is now afternoon light coming through the door. That rare book that, as you race mid-way through, you wish with all your heart it would never end. That rare book you long to jump into, become a part of, live forever in.
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen is such a book.
