I had put off reading Water for Elephants.  I knew it received lots of critical acclaim, but also knew it was about the circus and elephants, so I thought it must be a horribly sad book, possibly grandstanding on the treatment of animals in circuses.  Fortunately my more literate friends assured me I was horribly wrong!  This was a fantastic book, very well written, about a circus veterinarian set just after the depression, written from the perspective of old age and a nursing home.  Yes, there were some said stories, but it also found the glory of the performance, human (and animal) triumph’s.  All in all, it seemed a better life than the captivity of a nursing home.