Title: Queen of the Air: A True Story of Love and Tragedy at the Circus
Author: Dean Jensen
Genre: Narrative nonfiction
Year: 2013
Publisher: Crown
Acquired: NetGalley
Rating:

Briefly, From Blogger’s Recommend: Lillian Leitzel climbed her way out of poverty to become the biggest star in the most famous circus of the 1920s. But Leitzel’s success in the ring was a stark contrast to the frustrations in her personal life. Her one true love was Alfredo Codona, the greatest trapeze flyer of his time, but their reign as king and queen of the circus could lead only to their downfall.

Review: During the 1920s and 1930s, Lillian Leitzel was the biggest star of the most famous circus in the world. Born to a single mother (also a successful circus performer), Leitzel, as she would eventually be known, was an aerialist sensation almost from the moment she was born. Her pixie-like physique, unarguable beauty, and take-no-prisoner’s attitude helped elevate her to a mega-celebrity. But for all her success in the ring, her personal life remained in shambles, including her dramatic and fairy-tale romance with another circus celebrity, trapeze flyer Alfredo Codona.

In Queen of the Air, Dean Jensen tells Leitzel’s story as well as a brief history of the traveling circus, from it’s origins in the 1880s through the heyday of the ‘20s and ‘30s when Leitzel was a star. Queen of the Air is gritty and romantic and dramatic and sad — a great piece of historical nonfiction.

There’s always been something fascinating to me about the world of the circus, especially early circuses where the requirements for safety were much lower, making the dangers of the tricks much higher. Since I didn’t know anything about Lietzel or Alfredo going into the book, it felt as if any moment one of them would go flying through the air to their death, especially given the subtitle, “A true story of love and tragedy at the circus.”

Queen of the Air is billed as a real-life Water for Elephants which is, honestly, not that far off when it comes to the setting and historical context. The biggest difference is probably something that Katie at Doing Dewey pointed out in her review of Queen of the Air: unlike Jacob and Marlena, Leitzel and Alfredo were incredibly selfish people in both their professional and personal lives.

Leitzel demanded an extravagant salary and traveling arrangements, in stark contrast to the conditions of nearly everyone else in the circus. She was generous to some degree, giving big tips to other performers and hosting educational time for circus children in her tent, but overall looked out for herself first. Romantically, both she and Alfredo were impetuous and easily distracted from their partners, both leaving a trail of broken hearts behind them. While I can see how this would be a problem for some readers, it didn’t affect my enjoyment of this story; in truth, there’s something compellingly voyeuristic in reading the story of two people who were such forces of nature (for good and for bad).

I thought Queen of the Air was a great read. For all their flaws, Leitzel and Alfredo are compelling characters who provide a wonderful centerpiece to a broader look at the history and impact of the circus around the world. I highly recommend this one.

Other Reviews: Doing Dewey | Daydreams and Rainy Days |

If you have reviewed this book, please leave a link to the review in the comments and I will add your review to the main post. All I ask is for you to do the same to mine — thanks!

Time // 10:30 a.m.

Place // At my desk in cold, rainy rural Minnesota.

Eating // A fried egg on toast with extra sharp cheddar cheese with a side of cherries. I’m still obsessed.

Drinking // Good Earth Cocoa Chai Tea.

Reading // I’ve been a rather indecisive reader all week. I finished two books — Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (my 50th book of the year!) and The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy for a TLC Book Tour next month — but have dipped in and out of several others. The book I’d really like to finish is The Last Harvest by Witold Rybczynski, a look at the history of urban development through a project in rural Pennsylvania. The small town I live in this right in the middle of its own development project so this book is interesting to me on several levels. I also read a couple chapters in Duel with the Devil by Paul Collins (because I am in love with the subtitle) and The Other Typist by Suzanne Rindell (because I’m tempted by hype and unreliable narrators). I also read the introduction of The Society of Timid Souls by Polly Morland, a look at historic and modern conceptions of bravery, that I think will be very good.

Watching // I’ve been trying to avoid getting sucked into another television show until the boyfriend and I finish Arrested Development and this season of Game of Thrones, so I didn’t spend much time in front of the television this week. I did watch the first couple episodes of Ugly Betty last night while I was trying to get to sleep, and I think that one will be fun. Two big movies finally came to our one-screen movie theater this week — Star Trek: Into Darkness and The Great Gatsby — so I think the boyfriend and I will be going to those at some point.

Listening // With Audiobook Week coming up later this month (hosted by Jen at Devourer of Books), I should be trying to finish up at least one audio book. But I just haven’t been in the mood. I’ve been listening to podcasts and NPR Music’s 100 Favorite Songs of 2012. I think I’ve mentioned that particular Spotify list before, but if not I highly recommend it. About every other song makes me chair dance while I’m typing.

Blogging // Last week on the blog I posted a review of The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, shared my monthly wrap-up, and introduced the Harry Potter reading project my sister and I are taking on this summer. I’m not sure what the plan is yet for this week — depends what I can get written today!

Hating // The last few weeks at work have been oddly stressful. I’m not quite sure what is going on, but I know that work is starting to get to me when my snack drawer fills up with fruit snacks and Rice Krispie Treats. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to get any calmer over the next three weeks while I work on putting out three editions of the paper, an extra special section, and prep for my vacation during the first week of July. I love my job, truly, but it’s hard too.

Also, the weather, but that’s become such a common refrain it’s hardly worth mentioning. I went to an outdoor picnic this week bundled up in a coat and gloves. It’s June, not October!

Loving // After toying around with several online/Android task management programs, I think I’ve finally settled on Todoist. It’s very clean and easy to use, and it offers several ways to organize and review tasks.

Avoiding // I really need to clean my desk. There are books and pens and paper and candy wrappers and miscellaneous junk laying everywhere. I’ll probably have to do that this morning before I can settle in and write this afternoon.

Anticipating // Vacation! It’s still about three weeks away, but part of the joy of any trip is looking forward to leaving. I’ve already started trying to decide which books I am going to take with me. The stack is tall at the moment.

Happy Sunday, everyone! What are you reading today?

Long-time blog readers may remember a few years ago when my sister, Jenny, and I read and reviewed each others favorite books. Jenny and I have vastly different reading tastes — she’s into chick lit and lots of YA fiction, which I’m more of a nonfiction and literary fiction gal myself — which made some, I think, interesting conversations.

That picture at the right is me and Jenny when we were kids. I’m the sort-of-blondie on the left and she’s the brunette on the right. Even as young tykes, we loved to read.

One of the series that we both love and have fond memories of reading is Harry Potter. When a group of bloggers started doing a re-read of the series in January I wanted to join along with Jenny, but neither of us could get our ducks in a row. Instead, we decided to save our re-read for this summer. We started last week with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (we both have British editions of that one), and plan to continue through the series until just after Labor Day (if the schedule holds).

I’m not sure what the posting plan is, exactly, but I think we’ll be doing conversational reviews like this as we finish each book (rather than every week as the other HP readalong has done). I hope you enjoy!

What is your first memory of reading Harry Potter?

Jenny: I have small recollections of reading the first couple. I remember the spider and snake in book two freaking me out and trying to read the books as fast as I could so no one could ruin the surprises. But I think my first big memory came when we were reading three or four, the first one that we read the day it came out. We only had one copy that we had to share so we had to take turns. I was slower at reading then you so you would get annoyed at how long I was taking, and I would get mad cause you kept saying that if I just gave you the book you could be done in an hour or two and than I could read it. We fought for several days about who’s turn it was to get to read the book and who had to wait. Then you finished first I was bummed. The next book came out and we did it again and again and again until number seven when we got two copies cause we knew waiting was not an option.

Kim: I remember that too! I think we didn’t get into the series until book two or three, but I definitely remember going to Barnes and Noble with Mom to pick up our copy of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the day it came out. I think to stop the fighting about who could read when, Mom instituted a system — one person was the “First Reader” who had priority for the book until they were done. But if the First Reader wasn’t reading, the Second Reader could have the book until the First Reader wanted it back. Smart Mom.

[continue reading…]

I had another really full month of reading in May. I finished 12 books, a pretty good mix of nonfiction, fiction and young adult books. I’m not feeling super chatty today, so let’s just get into the books!

Books Read in May

1. Hanagarne, Josh: The World’s Strongest Librarian (memoir)
2. Chabon, Michael: Telegraph Avenue (fiction)
3. Winder, Elizabeth: Pain, Parties, and Work (nonfiction)
4. Gilbert, Jennifer: I Never Promised You a Goodie Bag (memoir)
5. Woodward, Bob and Bernstein, Carl: All the President’s Men (nonfiction)
6. Jensen, Dean: Queen of the Air (narrative nonfiction)
   
7. Brown, Daniel James: The Boys in the Boat (narrative nonfiction)
8. Wolitzer, Meg: The Interestings (fiction)
9. Stotts, Stuart: Father Groppi (MG nonfiction)
10. Allen, David: Getting Things Done (nonfiction)
11. Manger, Barbara and Smith, Janine: Mary Nohl (MG nonfiction)
12. Rowling, J.K.: Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (YA fiction)

I’m mostly caught up with the nonfiction that I want to write full reviews of (or have reviews scheduled), but I am woefully behind on mini-reviews of fiction and YA titles. I’d like to end June caught up with those reviews, if I can, so I can start the second half of the year fresh.

Other Books Reviewed

• Grossman, Austin: You (fiction)
• Brooks, Max: World War Z (fiction)
• Schuppe, Jonathan: A Chance to Win (narrative nonfiction)

Books I Want to Read in June

• My list of review copies for June is really short, since I finished off two of them in May. The three I have left are Antonia Lively Breaks the Silence by David Samuel Levison (fiction from NetGalley), Eating on the Wild Side by Jo Robinson ( nonfiction about eating for optimum health from Little, Brown) and Big Brother by Lionel Shriver (more fiction from Harper). I’m not sure if I’ll get to any or all of them (since two were unsolicited and one is an e-galley), but I’d like to try. 
• Because of my participation in Bloggers Recommend (are you signed up for the newsletter?), I need to read a couple of July books to submit. I’m thinking about The Society of Timid Souls by Peggy Morland (nonfiction about bravery) or Thinking in Numbers by Daniel Tammet (essays on mathematics), but I somehow have a ton of books for July to choose from so it may not be either of those.
• I have two books out from the library that I definitely want to read: Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg (checked out for the second time…) and Last Harvest by Witold Rybczynski (a look at development of a residential subdivision outside Philadelphia).

Writing Around the Blog/Internet

This month I celebrated my five year blogiversary, which feels like big deal. Five years is pretty old in Internet time. This month was also Armchair BEA, and since I wasn’t at BEA I wrote several posts: an introduction, a post about how I make money blogging, a post on blogging ethics and transparency, and a post where I offered to do personal nonfiction recommendations.

I had three posts over at Book Riot in May: I recommended five books to look for in May, confessed that I have an addiction to spoilers, and suggested five books for The cOlbert Book Club.

I’m going to skip the goals review this month and so a six month review at the end of June, so there you have it — my May in books. What was your favorite book in May? What are you looking forward to reading in June?

PHOTO CREDIT: ROB WARDE VIA FLICKR