JP reading event focuses on ‘Night Circus’ novel

A new group called JP Reads is encouraging all Jamaica Plain residents to read the bestselling novel “The Night Circus” and join in a month-long series of local events to celebrate it.

The book’s author, Boston resident Erin Morgenstern, will appear at the Footlight Club on Fri., Oct. 5 for a discussion and book-signing. Other events through Oct. 14 at various locations include book discussions, film screenings, a lecture on circus history, and “Le Cirque de JP,” a circus-style family event at the Loring-Greenough House. J.P. Licks is even whipping up a “Night Circus” ice cream flavor.

JP Reads was formed last year by three JP residents: Barbara Rhodes, the children’s librarian at the Jamaica Plain Branch Library; Lynn Waskelis of the Loring-Greenough House; and Nina Berger, a publicist for museums at Wellesley College and Brandeis University. They were inspired by a similar community-wide reading event in West Roxbury that they all joined.

“Our intent was to create a fun, community-building shared reading experience with multiple events at different locations around town,” Berger said in an email to the Gazette.

“The Night Circus” is a tale of two magicians who fall in love while traveling with a mysterious circus company. Heavily hyped even before its publication last year, it has become a hit and already has a movie deal in place.

The book is available locally at the Tres Gatos bookstore/restaurant at 477 Centre St., and at the Connolly, Egleston Square and Jamaica Plain branch libraries.

For a full list of events, see the Sights & Sounds listings. For more information about JP Reads, see jpreads.org.

Corrected version: This version corrects the day of the week of the Oct. 5 event.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *