Subject Guides » Books » Reading Lists » If you liked Water for Elephants...
If you liked Water for Elephants...
- The Circus in Winter
Cathy Day
YF 2005
Spanning the years from 1884 to 1939, a unique novel in stories charts the long relationshipbetween the Great Porter Circus and a small town in Indiana, where circus folk and small-town inhabitants mingle in a series of long-term relationships that cross into both worlds.
- The Final Confession of Mabel Stark
Robert Hough
A fictionalized autobiography tells about the life, loves, and adventures of Mabel Stark, the greatest female tiger trainer in circus history.
- Metropolis
Elizabeth Gaffney
Following a fire in P.T. Barnum's circus stable, a young German immigrant becomes caught up in New York's criminal underworld while falling in love with an Irish girl, as he becomes the target of a city-wide arson investigation.
- The Aerialist
Richard Schmitt
A disenchanted young man, Gary signs up to be a circus hand in Venice, Florida, and discovers, much to his delight, the secret life under the "Big Top."
- The Blue Moon Circus
Michael Raleigh
Together with a magician, a snake handler, a Russian animal tamer, and a nine-year-old orphan, ringmaster Lewis Tully tours the American West in 1926 with his circus act for one last time before settling down.
- Dancing to 'Almendra'
Mayra Montero ; translated by Edith Grossman
Cuban journalist Joaquin Porrata believes there is a connection between the assassination of Mafia boss Albert Anastasia and a dead hippopotamus in the Havana zoo, and Joaquin gets caught up in a fight for control of casino operations in pre-Castro Cuba.
- Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe
Fannie Flagg
Mrs. Threadgoode's tale of two high-spirited women of the 1930s, Idgie and Ruth, helps Evelyn, a woman in a sad slump of middle age, to begin to rejuvenate her own life.
- Niagara Falls All Over Again
Elizabeth McCracken
During thirty years together as a famous comedy team, conniving comedian Rocky Carter and his straight man, Mose Sharp, a small-town boy from Iowa, have enjoyed a warm relationship, but when Rocky commits a desperate act of betrayal, their friendship is endangered.
- Lost Mother
by Mcgarry Morris
Enduring the Great Depression from within a tent during a Vermont summer, Henry struggles to support his two young children and considers a proposition from a wealthy neighbor, who would hire the children as companions for her homebound son.
- 1929
by Frederick Turner
A novelization of jazz artist Bix Beiderbecke's early jams at a Capone-controlled casino, grueling cross-country tours, disastrous cinematic efforts, experiences during the stock market crash, and his final musical efforts.
- Arthur & George
by Julian Barnes
Chronicles the lives of two boys--one who is forgotten by history, and one who becomes the creator of the world's most famous detective--as they pursue their separate destinies until they meet in a remarkable alliance.