What do readers think of The Book of Speculation by Erika Swyler? Write your own review.

The beginning of the book drew me in right away. Both storylines were fascinating. As the story progressed, and tarot cards/mysticism became more prevalent, I began to lose interest. The ending was a bit too far-fetched for me.

Really liked this book! This book includes a librarian, a circus, and mermaids! Loved the way the author jumped from the present to his relatives in the past. I thought the story stalled a little here and there, but I really enjoyed.

I don't mind immersing myself in a book that is a little bit magical and wonderfully weird! Fortune tellers, mermaids, doomed lovers, a family curse, and ocean storms preceded by thousands of horseshoe crabs. I will not be recommending it to my book club, an unadventurous bunch that hated my selection of The Night Circus!

I found it very interesting that the author studied book binding and offered her manuscript to publishers as replicas of the antique book that Simon receives in the novel. What a way for her to get notices. Wouldn't it have been fun and an adventure to read such a book!

Unsure of all the reasons why, but I did enjoy this read even though it played too much to the fantastical for my preference. The bother's, sister's, bookseller's and neighbor's stories all wove together well and keep the story's pace moving briskly. I could have done without the crabs and the preponderance of the tarot cards, but others may appreciate these facets. The revealing of the interlocking pieces satisfied though.

I liked the story that connected current and past families and how they were connected in the early deaths of women. The chapters are either current or in the past. I also liked the history of early traveling side shows.

Erika Swyler has penned a mystery filled with love, superstition, a family curse, genealogy, and tales of a traveling carnival. The story begins to unravel when Simon, a reference librarian, receives an eighteenth century journal that was kept by a carnival director. The mention in the journal of his grandmother leads to the discovery that his mother was only one of the carnival's "mermaids" who died by drowning...always on July 24. Simon feels he must somehow protect his sister from the same fate. The setting for the novel...Simon's house on the eastern shore which is in disrepair and about to be dashed into the ocean by the next storm, and a modern carnival for which his sister and her tattooed lover work...adds to the suspense. This is a fast-paced and enjoyable read for fans of this genre and there is much in it that would provide a good discussion for a Book Club.

This is a story of magic, told slowly, layer by layer, alternately between the past and the present. Simon and his sister Enola are the only surviving members of his family. Enola works in a circus telling fortunes and Simon is a librarian in a small coastal town, living in a dilapidated house built in the 1700s. Simon's mother committed suicide by drowning, and his dad died of an aneurysm not long after. Simon describes his family as a sad family, perhaps cursed, a fear given new life when a bookseller sends hm an old book that mentions Simon's grandmother. Simon is launched into an investigation of the history of his mother's family to find out if he can keep his sister from meeting the same fate as their mother. It is a story of discovery, of tangled family lines, and ultimately of redemption. I would have given it 5 stars, but the plot moved very slowly until the reader had enough clues to follow the story. Some readers may not want to stick around that long. It is a marvelous, magical story peopled with quirky characters and definitely worth reading.

For a debut novel I think this was well done. Ms. Swyler's writing style was agreeable, and her research impeccable. My only problem, character development. I couldn't seem to connect with any of the main characters. "Night Circus" was a better read in my opinion.