Every time I hesitate to think I’ll find a book that is captivating, entertaining, and that will keep my interest and keep me thinking about its characters long after the book is over, I somehow seem to find myself happily surprised. Water for Elephants was one of those books. It was really that good.

I heard good things about it, always saw it on the shelves at bookstores, but it wasn’t until recently that I decided to give it a chance. Why? A book about a circus in the depression/prohibition era is probably as far away from my “normal” reading zone as I can get. But I’m telling you – it doesn’t matter! Not one bit.

Entertaining and engrossing from the very first chapter, I was taken away on this journey with the characters. Nothing short of fascinating, in ways I wouldn’t have thought possible. Part love story, part coming of age, this is at its roots, a story about life and the unexpected paths it may take. I really came to love the character of Jacob, and sympathize with his situation and his love for animals. It’s been over a week since I’ve finished the novel, and I still think about the characters every day. I really got caught up in their world which is something, I must say, is sometimes way too rare in the books I read. Many are good stories, but with Water for Elephants, I really felt like I was traveling along with them in their adventures. A pleasant surprise.

Overall, I have already recommended to more than a few friends, and would encouragingly recommend it here. It may just be one of those precious few books that when you finish it, you stop and, at a loss for words, say – wow.

BMW Touring Mountain Bike

GMC Topkick. This bike is phenomenal, i enjoy riding GMC Topkick Dual-Suspension Mountain Bike AFTER i assembled, i do not reccomend this bike to people who are begginers to the world of Mountain Bikes. I found NO assembly instructions for this bike inside like many others. Luckily i have assembled bikes before. When i opened the bikes packagind it wasnt the best box,I believe it was handled poorly. When assembling the bike i noticed the Disc Brakes took ALOT of tweaking. My rear disc break was not properly fit for the bike, OR shipping bumped it and damaged the rear disc,causing it to bend and mechanical failure. I found myself NOT using the Rear Brakes anymore,it was rubbing on the caliper constatly making a noise and slowing me down. I decided to just take off the top and tie back the wire. I reccomend looking into a more exspensive shipping unless you want bent parts. Its a nice bike, but small things like that make the company look poor in the eyes. So i reccomend looking into an inch smaller Rear Disc Brake. A good bike that needs a little more than assembly. Hope my review helps Customers!!

The panzer of bikes. It’s amazing how a light weight bike (And a low prize bike) can hold my 205lbs, in my 2 hours daily workout around Granada golf course in Coral Gables. Definitely a must buy.

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Dual-Suspension GMC Topkick Mountain Bike headache

We’ve had Pacific Evolution Girls Mountain Bike for 3 weeks, so I have can review it for everything but longevity. Its not too bad, but not too good either. Pluses are 6 speeds, cam adjustable seat height, comes with kick stand, attractive design. Basic assembly was easy, but derailler adjustments less so. Minuses are cheap construction (not than an 8 year old would notice) like very visible welds and cheap parts. Manual isn’t model specific. In my case, the shaft for the handlebars was a bear to get into the frame. I would have liked the seat to go a little lower, but my daughter’s growth will fix that in a month or two. But I can’t use the red reflector at the seat height she needs now. Rather than not have a rear reflector, I mounted a reflector on the back of the seat.

The hand index shifter broke while I was trying to get the speeds adjusted. (Out of the box it wouldn’t go to either end of the range). Probably my fault (hint – don’t try changing gears without cranking the pedals). Called the 800# and got the replacement in 4 days. So, customer service seems pretty good (although I was a little scared when they said the shifter was backordered and didn’t have a shipping date).

Took my time this time and got all 6 speeds shifting fine in about 1/2 hour. If you can’t handle pliers, hex wrenches and a phillips screwdriver, don’t get a bike online (and definitely don’t get this one). But if you’re somewhat mechanically inclined and don’t want to shell out more than $250 bucks for a bike your kid will outgrow in a couple years, this one is worth considering.

I’m hoping its built to stand up to kids’ ordinary use and abuse to last while my dauther goes from 8 to 10 or 11. But if it doesn’t, I won’t be out much $$ and I may have bought enough time for her to grow into a 24″ that she’ll have for a while.

Excellent bike for the price!. We went all over town to buy a 20″ 6 speed bicycle for our 7 yr old daughter. Kmart was the only place that had one, but the one they had was the last one and the rear wheel was bent on it. They weren’t getting any more in for almost 3 weeks. [..]- Great, we’ll take one! It arrived yesterday and didn’t have a scratch on it. Took about 20 minutes to put it all together and then another 10 minutes to adjust the seat height, handle bar height and angle, and then to adjust the brake levers. The derailer needed a little adjustment that took my wife and I about 30 minutes to accomplish. The book that came with the bike gave very good instructions on how to make all the adjustments and I learned something new, so it wasn’t all that bad. The bike looks very nice, shifts nice and is just nice all the way around for only [..]. I would recommend this bike to anyone!

6ood bike, but they didn’t pay attention to details. I bought this for my 7 year old, since she recently did a 10.5 mile bike trip on her single speed bike. She needed something bigger w/gears. This bike has what she needed, but these are the downfalls… The controls are too hard to use. The brake levers are designed for an adult, a child’s hand can’t reach them very well. Even the grip shifter is to hard to use. I also don’t like the gearing. To me, it needs a larger sprocket in the front. It appears she peddles almost at the same rate as her old bike. I’m going to take to a local bike shop and see if there is anything they suggest. If she could shift, it would be a good mountain bike. If it was geared better, it would be good for asphalt riding. Overall, the bike is decent, what you would expect fo [...]