Books of 2016- Installment #15

71. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
This is a beautiful Bildungsroman set in El Paso, Texas in 1987, which makes the main characters only a couple of years younger than me. 

72. Twenty Questions for Gloria by Martyn Bedford
Movies and novels tell stories in different ways. That's not a comment on which is better; it's just a statement of fact. Now this book was like a movie- a coming of age movie.

 














73. Catwings by Ursula Le Guin
This is a cute children's book about flying cats. I read it in honor of our new little one.

74. Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri translated by S. Fowler Wright
This epic poem would probably be easier to understand if you understood the political situation of 14th century Italy. Additionally, I question the quality of this translation. I spent half my time reading wikipedia just to understand what I had read, and on more than one occasion I said, "Wait? What? There was a ... in that canto?"

75. Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan

This is a great book to read to learn about a horrible period in history and yet not feel like you're in a history lesson. It's so engaging and made me reflect on both my time in Taiwan and on history. Beautiful Taiwan! :)