Current mood:	accomplished
Entry tags:	books

April Book List
1. Emma vol. 3 by Kauru Mori
2. The Age of American Unreason by Susan Jacoby
3. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
4. Emma vol. 4 by Kauru Mori
5. Emma vol. 5 by Kauru Mori
6. The Plot Against America by Phillip Roth
7. Gothic Classics comic compilation
8. Emma vol. 6 by Kauru Mori
9. The Circus Fire by Stewart O'Nan
10. Antique Bakery vol. 1 by Fumi Yoshinaga
11. Antique Bakery vol. 2 by Fumi Yoshinaga
12. The Dispossessed by Ursula K. LeGuin
My favorite fiction books this month were The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and The Circus Fire.
The Diary is an autobiographical account of Alexie's childhood, told through the character Arnold. Arnold was born on the Wellpinit Indian reservation. He was born hydrocephalic, which left him with seizures and poor eyesight. The rez eye doctor only has one kind of glasses, so at about age 3 he had big, black Buddy Holly glasses. He had 10 extra teeth, and there was only one day of the year to go to the dentist, so he had all the extra teeth pulled on one day. Plus, the rez dentist thought that Native Americans were more resistant to pain, so he only used half the novicaine he would normally use. Arnold eventually decides to go to school off the rez, in Reardon, and the book follows the consequences of this action. The book is well-written, entertaining, and suprisingly touching.
The Cirucs Fire is the graphic account of the 1944 Hartford circus fire. Back in the day, circus tents were treated with paraffin and gasoline to make them waterproof. Unfortunately, that made them incredibly flammable. On a very hot day in July, the tent went up. Between 7,000 to 8,000 people attended, and between 167 to 169 people died (It's hard to tell how many died, due to the unidentified body parts.) The novel details what happened on that day. There were stories of heroism, like the man that helped throw children over the big cat chute so they could escape, and there were stories of cowardice like the soldier who broke a woman's jaw so he could escape. Most of the dead were found crowded around the exits. The book tells a graphic story with care and sensitivity, yet managed to still satisfy the morbid bastard inside me.