That last book will be the "history" square, which is one that had me stymied for a bit until I remembered I'd purchased The City Is More Than Human at the author's reading at University Bookstore what turns out to be nearly two years ago. Huh. Time flies, etc. The subtitle is "An Animal History Of Seattle" and it's about (I think) how livestock used to just be part of city life and how that changed over time, with some animals (cats, dogs) being accepted as pampered pets while others (goats, pigs, etc) were banished to beyond the city limits. I expect it will be a fine read, even if I do really want to be reading the UK edition of Early Riser that appeared in my mailbox a week or two ago.
So. I picked some books just because they were short, and some of those turned out to be remarkably good. I'd never read Of Mice and Men before and it turns out to be truly, truly amazing. Scott told me not to finish it the night I started it--"You'll cry," he warned, and I waited until the next morning to read the final forty pages. He was right. I knew the basic storyline, of course, but the writing was just so beautiful and the final scenes so moving. I wept. Is there higher praise?
I'd been meaning to read Persepolis for years; book bingo was the final impetus I needed. It too was a fabulous story, told oh so very well. I'm never going to become a serious fan of graphic novels, but reading this one, you can see how maybe that's a mistake. (My not-so-insightful observation is that a book should start as a graphic novel; "graphications" of existing books likely don't work so well.)
I opted for The Fire Next Time because it was short. (I'm going to have to read Ellison's Invisible Man when I'm not trying to read twenty-four books in three months.) It had some overlap with some other Baldwin I've read, but it was still mighty good. Similarly, Lawn Boy may have covered some of the same ground as some earlier Evison novels, but it was still a fun (and quick!) read. And it led to some reflections on my life in the early '90s when government cheese and the like were significant portions of my diet. It occurs to me that there is some overlap there with Down and Out in Paris and London which I've just finished; there's a difference between being truly on your own and being broke but knowing you have a safety net. Too many Americans, I suspect, think that because they've occasionally been hard up but survived that they're better than those who truly have no place to turn. Were I Orwell, I could do something with that. I'm not, so I just throw it out there and vow to be a better human being.
The near-final book bingo card:
I look at The City Is More Than Human and am relieved to discover that close to 100 pages are notes, bibliography, and index. Because that's what #BookBingoNW2018 does to one.
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