Book #22 was "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian" by Sherman Alexie. I've read some of Alexie's other work (Short story collection "The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" and the novel "Indian Killer") and enjoyed it, and I'd heard good things about this book, which is his first foray into YA. The book is "semi-autobiographical," and you can tell he uses bits from his real life in his fiction often since I recongized some characters and relationships from "Lone Ranger" and even "Indian Killer" popping up again in this one. I should mention that the book is not a graphic novel but it does have illustrations by Ellen Forney which are fabulous and contribute a lot to the story, since the main character, Arnold Spirit, is an aspiring cartoonist/artist. The book is told from the viewpoint of a young Spokane Indian who wants to get off the reservation and make something of himself, despite the poverty, alcohol abuse and other challenges that surround him. He is ostracized by Indians and not quite accepted by the white kids at his new school, so the book is very much about Arnold finding his place in life, I can see why it gets challenged and people have tried to ban it from school librariees, because Arnold talks frankly about getting erections, masturbating, alcoholism, bulimia, racism and a lot of other controversial topics. I laughed out loud in places and cried in others. It's a very funny and very moving book and I highly recommend it.
1. The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood [non-fiction]- James Gleick
2. Stones from the River [fiction]- Ursula Hegi
3. The Penelopiad [fiction]- Margaret Atwood
4. Woman Warrior [non-fiction/memoir]- Maxine Hong Kingston
5. The Son of Neptune [ficiton]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
6. The Poe Shadow [fiction]- Matthew Pearl
7. Nat Turner [non-fiction graphic "novel"]- Kyle Baker (illustrator)
8. Artemis Fowl: The Opal Deception [fiction]- Eoin Colfer (unabridged audiobook)
9. The Daughter of Time [fiction]- Josephine Tey
10. Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) [non-fiction/biography]- Stacy Schiff
11. Gilgamesh: A New English Version [literary criticism/epic poetry]- Stephen Mitchell
12. Back When We Were Grownups [fiction]- Anne Tyler
13. Red Azalea [non-fiction/memoir]- Anchee Min
14. The Mark of Athena (#3 in the "Heroes of Olympus" series) [fiction]- Rick Riordan (unabridged audiobook)
15. The Mosquito Coast [fiction]- Paul Theroux
16. The Fantastic Laboratory of Dr. Weigl: How Two Brave Scientists Battled Typhus and Sabotaged the Nazis [non-fiction]- Arthur Allen
17. The City of Devi [fiction]- Manil Suri
18. The Lovely Bones [fiction]- Alice Sebold (unabridged audiobook)
19. The Office of Mercy [fiction]- Ariel Djanikian (unabridged audiobook)
20. A Thousand Acres[fiction]- Jane Smiley
