The other day I was browsing the shelves at my Grandfather's house and came across The Circus Fire. The title caught my attention after reading Water for Elephants a few years back.
The Circus Fire is a compelling true story of the great Ringling Brothers fire in 1944, where 167 people were killed when the big top caught on fire. As gory as the tragedy was, Stewart O'Nan wouldn't let me put the book down. I found myself cheering on the crowd, hoping against hope that they would all get out, even though I knew they wouldn't. I would encourage anyone who is interested in history to think about reading this book.
But, to talk about one of my favorite books (and no, this one is not kiddie lit...)
Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob Jankowski, a nonagenarian in a nursing home who is looking forward to an outing to the circus that has set up down the street. The story is told as events in the home trigger flashbacks of his youth in the circus. The juxtaposition of joy in youth and longing for the past in old age was poignant; even more so in the audiobook where two distinctive voices traded with the scenes. I found myself sympathizing with 90 year old Jacob in a way that I would have never thought about before, and mourned with him as he reminisced about the life that he had lost.
I have passed this book on to many people already, and encourage all of you to read it as well, this blog post can hardly do it justice. Will you read it if I guarantee that it's not kiddie lit?
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