Books read in September 2020

1. Emperor Mage, by Tamora Pierce (1995)

 Reread from a favorite series of my childhood. I checked out this e-book from the library to cope with my sister's announcement that was moving out of state.

2. Breaking Dawn, by Stephenie Meyer (2008)

Yes, after finding the first three books in a Little Free Library, I went on Buy Nothing to purposefully track down this final book in this series. I have to say, her writing did get better as the series went along. And I had been prepared by watching the movies (Breaking Dawn Part One being particularly uncomfortable). But the lack of conflict/consequences (even ones that had been promised previously) was strange. Everything was very perfect for Bella and I wondered a lot about why none of the vampires - or as I prefer to call them, whampires - have jobs or serious passion projects, given their unlimited time and resources. And while I did not like Jacob's narration, the combination of mind-readers and future-readers added some plot interest to his sections in particular.

3. The Window: Poems, by Dahlia Ravikovitch, translated & edited by Chana Bloch & Ariel Bloch (1989)

 Her earlier poems were difficult for me to understand. I sort of liked some of the later ones. Honestly, I read this more because I like the translator (both her translation and her own poetry) than out of direct interest in the poet.

4. Left Neglected, by Lisa Genova (2011)

Well written and thoughtful but also quick. I read the first 100 or so pages in one evening. The main character's narration is interesting, funny, and very self-aware. This is the story of a high-powered working mother who comes out of a car wreck with a type of brain damage I'd never heard of before - Left Neglect, where the brain ignores most input from the left side of the body and the left field of vision. (As a nice touch, the author is also a neuroscience phD.) I really enjoyed what I learned about rehabilitation and disability from this.

5. The Realms of the Gods, by Tamora Pierce (1996)

Another one from that childhood favorite series. I don't like this one as much because it's the one where the almost-30-year-old man takes up with his 16-year-old student. Real question, did people think that was okay in 1996?