The Most Addictive Books of the Last 25 Years
Here they are, in no particular order: the books we passed on to our closest friends,
fought over at book club, lugged with us on every move and think about still. You can
view the full list or start with...
21 of 34
Water for Elephants
By Sara Gruen
350 pages;
Algonquin Books
Because who doesn't love a pachyderm and a happy
ending?
This depression-era tale of life with a third-rate
traveling circus centers on orphaned animal caretaker Jacob, the woman he loves
and her cruel and abusive husband, who happens to be the boss. Jacob, now 90 or
93 (he can't recall), narrates from a nursing home, with vivid memories of the
freaks, the clowns, the drunks, the grifters, the rubes and of course the
animals (including one very special elephant). The seemingly star-crossed love
affair kept us turning pages, and the ending made us glad we had.
— Dawn Raffel
Published 04/03/2015
