Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Books read in June 2020

1. Fire Power, by Chrystos (1995)

What a gift. Her poems nail the balance of smarts, grace, and simplicity. Ranges over topics like: being a poet, child abuse, lesbian relationships, the alienations of being Native American in the 20th century US of A, and women's experiences in mental health "care" institutions. And bless her, she manages to do it all without sounding like she is trying to sound edgy.

2. Goat Song, by Dodici Azpadu (1984)

Strange little volume. I enjoyed the tone of it somehow. Odd and so dark in parts.

3. The Law of Return, by Alice Bloch (1983)

One of those books that changed my days, on the days when I was reading it. The story of a young American woman's immigration alone to Israel in the '60s, and her return to the US where she has a proper 1960s coming out. Lyrical and well-smattered with not-entirely-plotty scenes. Beautiful descriptions of being lonely/independent/in a foreign country as a young woman. I think that's what I liked best. Vivid, graceful, a little unusual at times. (I thought this was going to be a classic fluffy 1980s lesbian novel, but it's much more literary than that.)

4. Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley (1818)

I read this in my two-woman book club (a.k.a. on Skype with my college best friend over a period of months). Frankenstein is an unbearable obtuse little prick. And so dramatic. This book is, to paraphrase my friend, much more about the hubris and ludicrously poor foresight of men in their early twenties than it is about actual monsters.

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