the well written - erin morgenstern

Chandresh’s guests remain there until just before dawn, and when they do finally depart 
there are three times the number of diagrams and plans and notes than there had been when 
they arrived, strewn and pinned around the study like maps to an unknown treasure.

- Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

If you haven't read it, it's wondrous, so you should.
And take a look at some great fan art below:

Tonight by Cleonique Hilsaca

Tsukiko from The Night Circus by Michaela Lydon

Penelope by Makoviczki Dora

Dixon (a.k.a. Widget)

Le Cirque du Reves by Sam Schechter

Consequences of Love by Kaiya

Celia Bowen by Anne-Julie Aubry

The Snow Queen

Young Celia Bowen by Qixuan Lim

the well written - erin morgenstern

Inside, the train is opulent, gilded, and warm.  Most of the passenger cars are lined with thick patterned carpets, upholstered in velvets in burgundies and violets and creams, as though they have been dipped in a sunset, hovering at twilight and holding on to the colors before they fade to midnight and stars.

- Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

By Francois Roca

photo stories - the circus

I recently finished reading The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
(a wonderful tale).  Some truly wonderful stories have been written
about circuses, illusionists, and so on (ex. Eisenheim the Illusionist
by Steven Millhauser).  In 2000, Michal Chelbin did a series of
photographs documenting the traditional circus performers of
Europe and Israel, and the result was exquisite.  Take a look and
dream a circus of your own.