As any loyal reader of my reviews (I like to dream, okay?) knows, I’m a book snob. I turn my nose up at the “Recommended” table at my local bookstore and never look twice at the bestsellers list on Amazon. However, I’m learning that I’m not always right – a huge step – and giving in to those recommended reads, often with great results.

Which brings me to my current position curled up in bed, my latest read lying next to me (which is next to an empty pudding container): “Water for Elephants.” Since this book was published in 2006, I’ve yet to hear a bad comment about it. Somehow, I managed to avoid it for the past 4 years but with it being turned into a movie (with RPatz!), I thought it was time to give it a whirl.

“Water for Elephants” tells the story of Jacob Jankowski. It flips back and forth between the present when Jacob is ninety or ninety-three (he is a little unsure and doesn’t really care) and when he was 23. The modern-day Jacob lives in a nursing home, where he is far from happy and very aware of his gradual, but inevitable demise. One day, the circus comes to town and sets up close to the home. This triggers memories in Jacob that he has tried to suppress and so begins the switching between the 1930′s and modern day.

In 1931, Jacob is just finishing up his training at Cornell Veterinary School when his parents perish in a car accident. Distraught and broke, Jacob leaves in the middle of finals examinations and eventually finds himself on a the train of the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth, a traveling circus. Initially, the members of the circus aren’t too happy to have a stowaway, but when they find out he is essentially a vet, they are thrilled and he is hired. Jacob works hard at caring for the animals and through his work, meets Marlena, the beautiful star of the show. Of course, she is already married, to August, the horrible and unpredictable Equestrian Director. Along with Uncle Al, the deranged head-honcho, Rosie, the elephant, and a few other characters, the cast is rounded out. Read More »

This week our usual Fashion Porn was placed on the back burner to make room for the fashion lover’s Christmas: Mercedes Benz Fashion Week.

As fashion week wraps up, I already have a long shopping list of what I must find once Spring clothes hit the shelves.  While I’m aware that this is months away, the collections this year were so beautiful that I’m going to have to start saving up in order to stock my closet with the affordable versions of the designs I saw this week.

And although it’s hard to play favorites with the many diverse collections that walked the runways, there are five fabulous designers that really stood out amongst the prints, sky high heels, and oversized accessories at this year’s NY Fashion Week. Fashion Week MVPs, if you will

The Fashion Week All-Stars. Read More »

Looks like no one cares to see Britney Spears perform anymore.

We want berry lips like Megan Fox.

Green jobs are best for recent grads.

Is Miley Cyrus single?

14 tips to look better in the buff.

Oh no. Kristen Stewart is so gonna ruin Dakota Fanning.

Creeper [kreep-ur] -noun. 1. A person or thing that creeps. 2. A domestic fowl having malformed, short legs, due to a genetic defect. 3. An individual who stares, lurks or makes awkward and unwanted advances to undeserving women.

Today, College Candy readers, we will be learning about Creepers (definition 3…who may also fall into description #2) and what one can do to deflect their advances. We have all been at a bar or some type of similar venue and had a creeper (of varying severity) approach and had no idea how to handle the situation. Well, here’s your answer. Read More »

Forget Jesus. Kanye West is here!

Nicolette Sheridan – have you learned nothing from Britney?

We love when Justin Timberlake shows up on SNL.

Weekend gun scare at Princeton.

Real Housewife Gretchen to promote gold digging?

Martha Stewart’s dog killed in an explosion?!

Tom Cruise is even creepier than I thought.

Check out Britney back on stage.

Losing weight vs. gaining muscle. The truth is here.

Sorry, peeps. Amy Winehouse will not be coming to Coachella.

And one last link…because we had to.

Britney Spears- Circus:

“There’s only two types of people in the world. The ones that entertain, and the ones that observe.”

So opens the title track on Britney Spears’ latest CD, Circus. Britney is clearly in the first category. And this is the album we’ve all been waiting for. The one that marks the start of her comeback. Wait, wasn’t her last album supposed to be her comeback? Well, forget about that because this time it’s for real. If you happened to take an hour out of your life to watch to her MTV documentary on Sunday night, you’d probably say she appears to be back on track. Then again, we’ve seen that before. But if Circus is any indication of Britney’s well-being, it’s safe to say the girl is back on her game.

Songs like “Circus” and “Kill the Lights” chronicle the tough times Britney’s had being in the public eye, but they’re not downers in the least bit. She even squeezes in a song about motherhood (wait, remember she’s a mom?) right at the end called “My Baby.” Let’s just hope she actually remembers that she has two babies. Circus is also loaded with songs I can see myself getting down to in the basement of my favorite bar. Clearly I’ve already done so with “Womanizer,” but “Leather and Lace” and “Mmm Papi” also have highly danceable beats.

Mr. Photographer? I think Britney’s finally ready for her close-up. Read More »

Here’s a head-scratcher: after months of kooky behavior (like, I dunno, shaving your head and flashing your va-jay-jay all over LA), after the media and public alike had written her off as Queen of the Looney Tunes, America woke up this morning and decided to accept Britney Spears back into the fold of elite pop stars.

Yep, forget the wacko driving-with-your- infant-son-dangling-from- the-driver’s- seat incident, Ms. Spears is a drool-worthy role model again. If you happen to have access to the internet (which I’m assuming you do, if you’re reading this), you can’t be more than a mouse click away from a Britney love fest. Today, her newest album, Circus, was leaked online just one week before its official release, and the world is abuzz with Brit.

How does the album fare? As far as pop records go, Circus ain’t too shabby. We’ve all heard the tour-de-force “Womanizer,” and the new single “If U Seek Amy” (is she referring to Ms. Winehouse? If Britney’s looking for her, she need look no further than a London crack den) is as gritty and caustic as I imagine Ms. Spears would be after a night of boozing. But a lame vehicle for singles (and moolah) this isn’t: the song “My Baby” perked my ears right up. Could Britney–gasp– actually be crooning? Her voice shines through clearly and tenderly on what is a sweet ode to her children.

I’m still confused at how Brit Brit has achieved her massive reinvention. I mean, check her out on the cover of Rolling Stone for godsakes! As she says in the opening to the title track, “There are two kinds of people in this world: entertainers and observers.” If baffling the public counts as entertainment, then Brit, baby, you’re a star.

Check out her album, Circus, on Imeem.com

And, damn, she looks good.

Election day is tomorrow, but the voting has already begun.

Simon Cowell gets dumped.

No matter who wins tomorrow, fashion will make its way to the White House

Did Lil Wayne die? WTF?

Need some help with time management?

Top 10 classic sneakers that never go out of style.

Yay! Free Starbucks for voters!

Organic makeup must-haves.

Cindy Crawford is kinda old, but still looks better than me.

Campus theft is on the rise. Protect yourself!

No, read that a little slower. I don’t want it ruff, I want a ruff. Okay, maybe I want it, too, but if that were the main theme of this article, I would have used the correct spelling of the word. Moving on.

I remember going to the circus once in my life and not being particularly enchanted by it. The modern acts didn’t thrill me at age 6, and I certainly wouldn’t pay a couple hundred dollars now to watch unhappy, mistreated animals plod around with their heads down, or to laugh at completely generic, mindless slapstick comedy routines (that’s what George Bush and Britney Spears are for). There’s something I’ve always loved, however, about antique circus art, be it from the harlequin-oriented Victorian era or the tattooed 20′s. Where are today’s knife throwers, horseback dancers and puddle divers?

I suppose most of them probably died practicing their craft, and not many have attempted to recreate the feats more recently. I know I wouldn’t. Read More »