Bugged by the Bug

Reading Challenge 2017: book by an author from a country you've never visited. I chose The Metamorphosis, by Franz Kafka, to fit this challenge.  I used to teach this to juniors in IB English and read it aloud to them.  The last time I read this was 2008.  It was not the same as having read it and taught it. It was a much faster read, as I had read it so many times before that I had much of it memorized.

Gregor Samsa seems dirtier than before, and not just physically.  Maybe I have a better understanding of cockroaches at this point, or maybe I am more fastidious in my cleaning. I could see the fuzz clinging to his body and smell the rotten food he did not eat.  I could see the slimy tracks on the walls where he moved during his incarceration in his room.

From a psychological standpoint, Gregor has many issues that need be addressed, including the idea he would get better and the sexual tension he created, or rather the author created.  Keeping a glossy picture (obviously from a magazine) of a nearly nude woman on the wall in a frame he had made tells how depraved Gregor is.  The author's use of visual imagery with sexual connotations leaves me wondering if he was in love with his own sister and sexually needy as his character.

It took an hour to read the short novel, which less me wondering why is this book so important. The impact is just not there any more.  I realize it is a good book to annotate, but where is the connection that students need when reading literature to their own lives.  They live in a modern world full of technology.  I find it difficult for them to connect to the underlying theme of dirtiness and duty to family which is found throughout the book.  

One unanswered question always plagues me.  Why would the Samsas have a housekeeper or cook when they could barely afford living expenses.  It seems to be a conundrum that will be unanswered by the now dead author.  

Here is another book where the cover art brings the novel into question.  Is that the sister, Grete, in her undergarments?  Is that his father and mother looking exasperated?  And lastly, is that the housekeeper waiting for non-transformed Gregor to die?

What Was Lost?

Another slow-moving Doc Savage novel by Kenneth Robeson, The Lost Oasis does not deliver. He and his five companions come to the aid of Lady Nelia Sealing, a wealthy British woman who is captured by two slavers Yuttal and Hadi-Mot. The language learned is Egyptian. Lady Nelia seeks help from Doc Savage to free people who have been enslaved by the villains to mine diamonds in a deadly oasis, populated by vampire bats and carnivorous plants. Once again, Savage finds a wealth of treasure which is used in his institutions to rehabilitate criminals and as funds for hospitals. The travel is in an airship, the Aeromunde, which is a large dirigible. Poison, gas, stealth, and special weapons are again used. The length of time the novel took to accomplish this seemed slow and plodding. It will not stop me from reading more novels.

I always enjoy learning bits and pieces of a new language from these novels.  However, the Egyptian seemed more like jargon and curse words that they cannot be interspersed in regular use with English.

The cover depicts Doc Savage battling a horde of vampire bats with a machine gun.  The bats are at first considered to be a mysterious black cloud of death until he figures they are just poisonous versions of their cousins under the control of the villains.  The title is also misleading at the oasis turns out to be inhabited by vultures, poisonous snakes, and giant carnivorous plants (yes, they have vines that kill people).  All for some diamonds.

The interesting part was the travel and use of a dirigible, giving it a hint of steampunk flavor, without all the mechanical gadgets.  I am sure at the time, these great airships were a thing of awe.  Now we look on them as bloating banners or viewers of football games.  I was sure the Aeromunde would explode at one point, but it was required for the freed slaves to escape.  Thank goodness the Hindenburg exploded, or this might have been a regular means of transportation in the world.

A woman also was enamored of Doc Savage, only to figure out that he cannot have females in his line of duty and resigned that she would get nowhere with the bronze man.  I would like to figure out what makes his skin bronze and his eyes swirl.

Hey You Guys!

Reading Challenge 2017: book you got from a used book store.  Brand of the Werewolf, by Kenneth Robeson had a misleading cover. I expected, as the cover depicts, that Doc Savage would be fighting a werewolf during this novel.  However, there was no werewolf, only the symbol of one whenever people were knocked unconscious by a sleeping agent (inconspicuously found in butter at one point).  However, a werewolf was blamed as if all lycanthropes had this power.


Doc and his five friends must rescue his niece Patricia Savege and her Indian servant Tiny after his brother, Alex Savage, was killed in the Canadian wilderness.  We think it is from a heart attack, but we discover it was from poison.  Tiny's husband Boat Face was also killed as well by the individuals after the ivory cube.
The Indians speak like classic Hollywood movie Indians in that they have a "heap problem" speaking white man's words.  It made me giggle, as that is probably how people of that time period thought all Native Americans spoke.  
The adventure starts on a train (why are they not flying to Canad) where we are introduced to Senor Oveja and his daughter Cere Oveja and their companion El Rabanos (which means radish in Spanish) who think Doc Savage is after them through a misunderstanding.  Typical running on top of the fast-moving train, the engine getting unhooked, and visits to the dinner car happen.
We get Spanish words translated for us (the language learned as in every book) and discover there is a treasure on a hidden Spanish Galleon, ancestors of the Ovejas.  There is a carved ivory cube that has a hidden map of the galleon inside that Mr. Radish and his people are trying to locate as they want the gold too.  We discover that Boat Face is not so stupid as portrayed in the story in that he figures out the riddle of the ivory cube, relocates the treasure, all before being killed by Mr. Radish's men.  Patricia Savage looks like Doc, and foreshadows her role in future novels.  






I still am unsure of why a werewolf battling Doc Savage was on the front of the novel, as that never happened.  I expected a local mythology surrounding this, which also never happened.  I was disappointed to say the least.  The story reminded me of an adult version of The Goonies, without all the comedy, even though Ham and Monk continue to jibe each other through out the story.  

But What About the Bear?

Reading Challenge: a book with an eccentric character.  In The Polar Treasure, by Kenneth Robeson, Doc Savage and his five companions are definitely eccentric.  They are self-made millionaires who each specialize in a science such as chemistry, archaeology, electronics, engineering, and law.  Savage tries to aid a blind violist see and ends up saving his wife and daughter who have been stranded in the Arctic for 15 years.  Why aren't they dead?  Maybe because the Eskimos have helped them.  We also discover that the ocean liner the family had been on was carrying treasure, run aground, pirates had stolen the treasure, two pirate captains contested who owned the treasure, a map only revealed through x-rays was tattooed on the musician's back, and that Inuit was the language of learning in this novel.  Roxey Vail, the daughter of the blind violinist Victor Vail, falls in love with Doc Savage.  We are reminded that he cannot love a woman as it would be too distracting from his adventures.  We are also reminded of Savage's two-hour routine for improvement, the institute where all criminals he captures go for rehabilitation, and the special mercy bullet shooting guns he invented.  I thought this novel to be a bit dull and less exciting that the others.  I am sure it was all formulaic when it was originally written.


I have never been to the Arctic Circle, but I cannot imagine that a stranded woman with an infant daughter would survive for 15 years, much less allowing the daughter to grow up into a strong woman.  I realize the Eskimos, who are portrayed as savage and evil, might have helped her, but it seemed they were always on the run from them, so not likely.  What did they eat?  Where did they stay? Why didn't they leave?I was disappointed that a polar bear was dispatched easily by Doc Savage, intended for meat and fur, only to be left behind in the adventure.  Again, Savage miraculously chokes the bear to death, allowing his escape.  Having seen a polar bear at the KC Zoo, I cannot imagine this is possible, as it is enormous.  
Definitely not one of my favorite Doc Savage novels.  At least it was a fast read.



Another astounding miracle is Doc Savage operating on Victor Vail's eyes, which were blind from birth, and allowing him to see.  I am not sure that is even medically possible today, but Doc Savage is a renowned surgeon, so anything is possible.  

The Sky is Falling

Reading Challenge 2017: book by an author who uses a pseudonym. Meteor Menace, by Kenneth Robeson, is is where modern science and somewhat science fiction meet and cross, leaving one behind. A blue meteor is causing troubles for Doc Savage and his men. They race to the aid of Rae Stanley, a young woman who has lost her father to an evil genius named Mo-Gwei. We discover that the meteor is part of a larger piece of radioactive space debris which causes humans to lose all brain function. It is likened to radium, which scientifically does not cause this phenomenon. The twist at the end, very much like Scooby Doo, is the discovery that Mo-Gwei is Professor Stanley, the girl's father, who has been negatively affected by the radioactive substance and gone crazy. Action from beginning to end, as is usual with Savage's stories, including Tibetan language, travel from South America to Asia, and local mythology supporting the story.

This reminds me of the old myth of "duck and cover" to escape an atomic blast.  We did not know much about radioactive substances in the 30's, much less the 60's of my youth, so anything was possible when confronting this material, even having your mind erased.  The savages in the story claim it is from their god, while Savage knows it is just a piece of space debris that is used to confound the unintelligent and uncivilized.  Much like taking a lighter or flashlight into a jungle tribe today who has never seen white man, they would make up a mythology around the science, since Zeus creates lightning and we all go to heaven when we die.  Science unravels that mythology, piece by piece, until the enlightened understand what it really is - something that is logical and explainable.

I kept thinking of Gizmo from Gremlins who was a mogwai from China (close to Tibet) and wondered if that word did not find itself into the silly movies of the 80's.  But then Furbies were a plagiarism of a mogwai, so nothing is every truly original.

A Thousand Body Parts

Reading Challenge 2017: Book by an author who uses a pseudonym. The Thousand-Headed Man by Lester Denton, otherwise known as Kenneth Robeson, kept me going through the entire short novel. Thousand-headed men of the title, turned out to be costume-wearing natives with venom-throwing cobras and the main antagonist of Doc Savage and his five friends. It had hints of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, only to discover that the mysterious hidden city was full of snake-carrying cowards. Treasure found was shared equality with the survivors of the adventure and the rest donated to needy people. That is Doc Savage's maxim after all. It was a fun romp through Indo-China. I am liking the stories more and will continue with the series. 

Doc Savage and his five friends continue to be heroes, even though they get caught and have to be rescued numerous times.  The technology they use, which is pretty theoretical for the 1930's makes the story more action-packed.  A tri-propeller plane, guns that shoot "mercy" bullets that do not kill, sleep inducing thimbles all make for a spy/action novel.  Of course, Savage's wealth pays for all of their adventures, even though these men were in the army at one point, allowing them to play action hero and not work.

The language we learn as reading is Malay and usually has the definition for such things as specific birds, crocodiles (buaya), turtles, and jungle plants.  Even though Robeson wants the reader to learn words from another language, he still talks down the culture and people.

The natives of Indo-China are treated as savages and sub-par humans.  There is definitely a white, elitest viewpoint as Savage wants to help those who cannot help themselves, yet smashes in the heads of the evil savages who are fighting his band of brave men, who also tend to get captured and need to be rescued at least once or twice throughout the novel series.  There is also quite a bit of outdated slang and colloquialisms such as "phiz" for face, "short" for male pig, and "pippin" for cute woman.  Speaking of women, Savage and his men cannot be distracted by women stating that they would make them weak as the lesser sex could be more threatened.  I wonder if there is a tad bit of bromance, even though they never seem very close, with one exception of Monk and Ham who continually badger each other.  This might have been considered a man's man novel in the 1930's, but these guys need some sort of release or romance as it cannot be all fight and adventure.  I mean, consider Doc Savage...beautiful body, bronzed, blond, and definitely a calendar model, who does not like the company of women.

Before There Was a Superman

Reading Challenge 2017: First book in a series you haven't read before.  The Man of Bronze by Kenneth Robeson was definitely a strange novel.  It was a quick read about Clark Savage, Jr. (known as Doc Savage), a man who is almost superman due to two hours a day of intense exercise and mental studies.  He and his five former army buddies go against a Mayan cult in order to save a tribe in Hidalgo, Mexico, get some gold, and generally do good for others.  It reads like an action hero story, complete with gadgets, fast planes, and feats of superhuman strength.  At points it was unbelievable until I realized that it was reading candy for those who like fast-paced stories with intrigue.  Sort of an Indiana Jones meets Captain America.  I had to look up a few words, especially those in British slang, to understand what the characters were speaking of.  Overall, it was enjoyable enough to read the second book of the series of over 90 novels.

First published in 1933, Doc Savage predates Superman by a few years and has interesting parallels.  He is the man of bronze whereas Superman is the man of steel.  He has a fortress of solitude, just like Superman.  However, rather than being an alien, he is a human who has aspired to be better than others in more than just physical ways.  That impresses me more as he was not born that way but has to work at it to be stronger, faster, smarter, and generally impressive.  

The novel is infused with foreign words, both Spanish and Mayan, and includes references to deities such as Quetzlcoatl and Kulkukan, Aztec and Mayan winged serpent gods.  It slanders the Mayans, making them seem as savages, which only makes Savage and his crew seem more noble.  It was a quick read and pretty fast-paced, with lots of action.  It is definitely something that can be read in a couple of hours.

Another reason I chose this novel was due to the Bantam Publisher artwork on the cover.  I loved looking at the slim 75 cent novels and their artwork, which is one of the reasons I read mostly from this publisher.  I look forward to reading more of Savage's adventures.

Boy on a Boat on the River

Reading Challenge 2017: book about travel. One For the Gods, by Gordon Merrick, is the second of a trilogy involving Peter Martin and Charlie Mills. Starting on the island of Saint Tropez, Charlie and Peter travel in a sailboat with the Kingsley's, a couple with issues of their own. I could sense that there would be trouble as Jack Kinglsey and his wife Martha seemed to eager to have the guys sail with them.  I did not trust them. They sail in the Aegean Sea, stopping at various Greek islands, until Charlie has a fit, leaves the boat and buys a house on Hydra Island, which ends their journey. A storm at sea, lusty bandits, a drunk captain, a possibly pregnant wife, friendly islanders, and a self-realization make for an interesting tale. This only makes me want to travel to Greece to visit as well. The second book of the trilogy is a vehicle for the third in that it gives Peter and Charlie a reason to leave America behind and live on the Greek island.

Peter and Charlie are up to their old tricks in that they cheat on each other and make up.  Charlie cheats with Martha as he wants a child.  Then he realizes he is jealous of Peter, which is the reason for him cheating.  Peter is almost raped by a group of thugs on one island, but manages to get away.  He seems so frail, as Charlie is always protecting him, which makes it unbelievable that he could fight off the bandits.  Jack is a drunk and horrible captain of the Cassandra.  He is the catalyst for Charlie stepping up to be the actual captain of the boat.

There are thrilling spots such as the storm and possibility of Charlie wanting to crash the boat and end the journey on some rocks in the ocean, but Peter talks him out of it.  I think Charlie is bipolar, which causes him to buy the dilapidated house on Hydra Island, as well as sleep with Martha and constantly act out sexually with others than Peter. 

I have never been sailing but spent many summers in my youth on the family pontoon in the Mississippi River.  I learned how to drive the boat, dock and moor it, as well as pull it out of the river.  We even weathered a storm one summer while beached on an island in the mighty Mississippi.  I had brought my current boyfriends with me on two occasions.  Both Jeff and Kevin had been on boats, so they enjoyed it.  I am no longer in contact with either of them, who are both married with children. I would go to college, which ended my excursions on the pontoon, never allowing me to have a party barge scenario. My most vivid memory was when my little sister stepped on a fish fish, which punctured her foot, and had to be taken to the emergency room.  I miss the days of getting tan, swimming in the river, playing in the mud from the bottom of the river, and riding the waves produced by the barges that traveled up and down the Mississippi.  Learning to swim in a river is much different than swimming lessons in a public pool.  You had to swim in a current, could not open your eyes under water, and avoid the fish that swarmed in the muddy river.  

I have only swam in the Mediterranean once, and that was the summer of 1982 in Monte Carlo.  I was fascinated by the salty water and the swimmers who would strip down to rinse the salt off right on the beach.  Being a very modest boy, I would never have considered doing that myself, even though it was a cultural norm.  If I only knew then what I know now.

The Lord Won't Mind, But Grandma Does

Reading Challenge 2017: book about an interesting woman. The Lord Won't Mind by Gordon Merrick  is also a reread from yesteryear as I read it when it came out in the early 70's.  I had thought it was published later, but discovered that Avon Publishing distributed the paper back in 1971. I used a picture from the original cover, as that was what drew me into the novel originally.  I could see that it was a novel about two men, which was something of a rarity in that time.  I imagine I would have read it in high school, having purchased it at B. Dalton's (a now defunct bookstore) or possibly at Waldenbooks (another defunct bookstore) based on the cover art by Victor Gadino.  His art would intrigue me to collecting the other novels by Merrick largely due to how he portrayed the main characters.


 My perspective now makes gives me the feeling of reading a Fitzgerald novel with erotic scenes, as if he had written Harlequin romance novels. Charlie Mills meets Peter Marshall through his grandmother C.B. who almost forces them to be together, even though she does not approve of it. It is a boy meets boy, boy leaves boy and gets married to a psychopathic theater girl, boy becomes rent boy, and then they end up together in a twisted turn of fate which involves a bandage around a delicate appendage. There is a surprising twist involving C.B.'s real father (it has to do with a plantation) that makes the lovable woman almost as much as a lunatic as Charlie's wife Hattie. I guess this is a book about two interesting women, from a psychological viewpoint. One thing that bothered me was where did all the money come from that everyone seemed to manifest out of thin air. C.B. was rich. Hattie's parents were rich. Even Walter, an art collector who literally wanted to own Peter simply tossed $50K away like it was nothing. All this pre-World War II. This is book one of a trilogy that I plan to read this year. Three decades after the initial reading, I found it quaint but out of place today.

The title refers to a minor character telling the boys that as long as it is love, the Lord won't mind.  Interestingly, Sapphire, the former servant of C.B. (a foreshadowing of the secret twist) would become a famous singer, something unheard of in the 30's for a black woman.  This would contrast with the judgmental vision of C.B., Hattie, and other white characters who thought themselves above black people.

This novel was pretty daring for its time, as I do not recall many other gay romance novels in the 70's, especially ones sitting in plain view in the fiction section of a mainstream bookstore.  Now you would find reprints (with horrible cover art) in the gay section, almost hidden away so that only people who know where to look would find them.  I was one of those people.

It reminded me of my own romance during college that ended traumatically for me as I could not be with someone I thought I loved as much as Peter loved Charlie.  He also would leave me for a woman (hiding behind her raucous laughter and hyperbolic personality) until he came to his senses and found another man to call his own.  I was ready to leave everything behind and start over (not once but twice) until I came to my senses and realized I could never be with someone as flighty and superficial (or as tall) as he.  

A Different Sort of Elf

Reading Challenge 2017: book involving a mythical creature.  I fell in love with Richard and Wendy Pini's wolfriders in the early 1980's.  ElfQuest was graphic novel that allowed me to fall in love with a different sort of elves than Tolkein's elves.  Through a complex storyline that provided an extensive lore and discovery of the various tribes of elves, I fell in love with the art and characters.  Cutter and Skywise, soul-brothers who shared "recognition" in their youth were the protagonists of the series.  Humans were considered evil and always striving to destroy what they considered to be "demons" as they were misunderstood.  The lore provided such as "sending" and "recognition" added to time travel, interaction with trolls and the fairy-like creatures known as Preservers to create a new mythology around elves.  This world building fascinated me as I followed the adventures of the Wolfriders, Sun Folk, Gliders, and Go-Backs.  


I only had three of the graphic novels, as future publications were not available.  It would be decades before I was able to purchase the collected editions of the comics turned graphic novels.  The thick tomes seem daunting, but are quick reads that rack up pages in my Goodreads collections.  At the written of this entry, I discovered that a fourth collected edition is forthcoming in May of this year.I think what captured my imagination the most was the art supporting the story.  While cartoonesque, there were subtle adult viewpoints of the elves, such as the ripped abs of Cutter, the often nude scenes after recognition, and the adult story line that would not be for younger children.  This is supported through the cult-like following and cosplay at conventions.  I did not discover the series until after high school, which would be a perfect time for a new reader to discover.

During my freshman year of college, there was a costume party during Halloween.  I made my own costume of one of the High Ones, including sword and beard.  I was so proud of the costume, emulating one of the High Ones stepping from the Palace to meet humans for the first time.  Of course, nobody knew what I was as cosplay was not even a thing in the 80's, or at least not that popular yet.  I wish I had been braver and continued with it, as going to a convention dressed as an elf would have been fun.

Shaken, Not Stirred

Reading Challenge 2017: an espionage thriller.  I had originally chosen to read Casino Royale by Ian Fleming for this category.  Two chapters into reading the book, I realized I would not be able to finish it.  James Bond is in my mind as Sean Connery, Roger Moore, and Daniel Craig.  What I could not get into my mind was the writing style.  Having made it through Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, I realized that my brain could not handle the written version and put Casino Royale down.  I would not force myself to read something that was not enjoyable, just to check a topic on my list.  I went to the internet to look for a suitable replacement.  Interestingly, Andrew Horowitz's Alex Rider: Stormbreaker came up as listened under espionage thriller.  I had seen the movie, which I enjoyed, and thought a quick jaunt through a YA novel would satisfy the requirement and not force me to invest myself in an uninteresting novel.  Maybe I am just not interested in the topic of want to read about it.

Alex Rider, after finding out his uncle Ian Rider has died, cannot believe this meticulous man would drive a car without a seat belt, the purposed reason of his death.  With a little investigation, Alex would discover his uncle had not been a bank, but a spy working for MI6.  Quite unbelievably, this British organization would ask Alex to be a spy in his place, fitting their needs, and realizing his uncle had trained him to be a spy after taking over guardianship when his parents had died.  I say unbelievable, because I could not suspend my disbelief that a top intelligence organization would use a 16-year-old boy to accomplish what a well-trained spy should have done.  I laughed to myself and realized it was a hook to pull in young adult readers into the world of espionage - a gateway drug for reading books about Jason Bourne or James Bond.  I do not see how that transition would occur, as Horowitz is a good YA writer in that the story pulls the reader through, but not enough to entire someone to upgrade to Fleming or Ludlum.  I could settle for watching the action packed movies, but not the overly detailed less than action novels.

Roger Moore was my first James Bond.  The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, and For Your Eyes Only stand out in my mind as the real James Bond.  My parents would refer to Sean Connery as the real James Bond, prompting me to watch Goldfinger and Thunderball, movies made when I was born.  Many years later I would enjoy Daniel Craig's James Bond in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, making me consider reading the novel I had originally selected for this category.  However, after two chapters, I realized I will be left with the visual version and not the written version as being my favorite.

We Will Always Have Rome

Reading Challenge 2017: book about a difficult topic, I chose André Aciman's Call Me By Your Name, which will be made into a movie later this year.  The difficult topic was a 17-year-old intelligent boy being obsessed with a 24-year-old graduate student he meets one summer on the Italian Riviera.  Elio stalks Oliver methodically, not realizing that Oliver is only feigning interest in him, even though he desires him as well.  The main character is affluent and intelligent in that he is transcribing Haydn, can speak more than one language, has read many classical books, and uses language that 17-year-old atypically is unfamiliar with.  The book was riddled with Italian, forcing me to look up translations online, even though some phrases are translated in the dialogue for the reader.  Visiting Italy reminded me of my own two visits to Europe.

My first venture to the European continent was with the Midwest Youth Chorale in 1982, the summer of my senior year.  I was 18 and very naive in an Iowan born sort of way. Having rarely traveled stateside, this was to be my first big journey.  It was my first airplane ride, transcontinental at that.  It was my first visit to countries where English is not the first language.  I spent time in the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Germany, and France.  I walked the streets of Amsterdam, bought lace in Geneva, chocolate in Brussels, had a beer in Baden Baden near a castle, and wine in France.  Looking at the world from the viewpoint of a fresh 18-year-old, I did not really see it.  The Louvre did not have as much meaning as it was only painting and sculptures.  Seeing the Anne Frank house had absolutely no meaning to me.  When the border patrol entered the bus in Berlin, I was afraid, but not as frightened as I should have been.  I did not even go up the Eiffel Tower due to my fear of heights.  My first trip to Europe was nothing more than a tourist's scratching of the surface of something wonderful.  I will admit that singing in the Notre Dame Cathedral inspired awe, but only from the viewpoint of a Catholic in a beautiful church.  I was along for the ride and sights.

My second trip to Europe would be the summer of 2010 with a EF Tours group of students from Sumner academy.  Having flown all over the United States with the Writing Project, I was ready to face the European continent with different eyes.  We spent a considerable amount of time in London where I rode around Piccadilly Square, had tea at Covent Garden, drank beer and ate poor man's supper in a pub, ate fish and chips and bangers and mash, as well as petted the lion statues at Trafalgar Square.  I saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace and purchased a Manchester United scarf at Windsor castle after seeing the crowned jewels at the Tower of London.  I cried while riding the Eye of London, holding hands with an Italian lady who shared my acrophobia.

A very fast train ride through the Chunnel to Paris and I revisited the Notre Dame Cathedral, climbed nearly to the top of the Eiffel Tower (further than I had gone in 1982), rode a boat on the Seine River, visited the Arc de Triomphe, and ate escargot, paté, and chutney in a small café near the cathedral.  I lived while there, rather than riding with the pack.  I saw the architecture and the art from an adult viewpoint and appreciated it.  I realized the world was much older than where I lived, and much more beautiful.  I checked off items from my bucket list.  And I shared my experiences with others.

As I read Aciman's novel, I felt a kinship with Elio in that he only saw what he desired and did not allow himself to live what he wanted.  It would be many years later, still obsessed with Oliver, that he would see the world differently and wished he could have done things differently.  I had chosen to live my adventure in Europe and not let a tour guide drag me through what he thought an American wanted to see.

As I consider my own students, I wonder how many of them will get to experience something outside of their safe neighborhood, city, or county.  Will they live or just follow the drove of lemmings as it leaps over a cliff to what is expected of them.  I can only hope they wish for more than that.

The Edge of a Knife

Reading Challenge 2017: book written by someone you admire. When I think of "on the edge of a knife", I usually consider a perilous situation where someone is in danger and could possibly be cut or fall off the edge.  After reading Robin Reardon's A Secret Edge, I now think of it as a metaphor for a way of living.  Jason Peele, the main character, had an edge to him.  He was a good runner and possible track star.  He also had an edge as in "sharp" personality, being quick to anger and lashing out with violence.  The "secret edge" the title refers to is his hidden knife that he keeps to protect himself from bullies.  I also see the "secret edge" as Jason's ability to notice others who are like him.  Some might call it gaydar, but in essence, it is all the subtle clues we look for in others like us.

Even though Stonewall and the riots surrounding the movement are further back in time than when I came out, it was a "knife" for many who were tired of being bullied and wanted to be recognized and respected.  I remember my own "secret edge" as feeling that I could sense others who were like me, but after of being on the knife's edge, I was worried about falling off or being cut. I was always looking for clues, hints, suggestions from people who I could trust with my secret or at least accept me for who I am.  This long journey would culminate in me finally telling my parents when I was 21, in much the same way Jason, A Secret Edge's main character, experienced.  I thought I had lost someone.  My mother knew.  My family supported me.  It was also a time where I discovered that friends can be better that lovers.

I would love for young people to understand that it was not always easy being who you are.  We have come a long way, yet the journey continues.  Five years ago I would hear my students say "that's so gay" meaning stupid or disparagingly.  I have not heard it once this year, which is definitely a leap in a positive direction.

I have enjoyed every novel written by Robin Reardon, and yes, I own them all.  I am now sad that I have read the last one in my Reardon Library.  Well, except for the Kindle novel Guiseppe and Me, which I plan to read during Spring Break.  I learned about Hindu philosophy and Gandhi, the importance of nonviolence versus cowardice, and coming to terms with who you are as a person.  I always learn something interesting in her novels. Like one of my colleagues says, wouldn't it be fun to teach a class where students read and share books they choose?  The Reardon Library would be on my shelf and suggested for everyone to read and learn from.

This book fulfills my Reading Challege 2017 topic "Read a book by someone you admire".  I definitely admire Robin Reardon in that she can write such wonderful novels with colorful characters who are very real in my mind, as well as teach a teacher something new.

Reading Challenge 2017

I am posting my Reading Challege 2017 list.  It has been updated and modified so many times.  It will probably be modified again.  The books I have finished have an asterisk next to them. As of this posting, I have read 32 of the 52 books and I am only three months into the year.

Reading Challenge 2017

1. *Book recommended by a librarian                                       Boys Don't Knit
2. Books that's been on your TBR list for way too long                     The Last Star
3. *Book of letters                                                               Almost Like Being in Love
4. *Audiobook                                                              Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
5. Book by a person of color                                          Night Pleasures
6. Book with one of the four seasons in the title                      Winter Moon
7. *Book that is a story within a story                                A Monster Calls
8. Book with multiple authors                                         Tapestries
9. *Espionage thriller                                                             Stormbreaker
10. *Book with a cat on the cover                                         The Cat Who Could Read Backwards
11. Book by an author who uses a pseudonym                     Metor Menace
12. Bestseller from a genre you don't normally read                     Body Double
13. *Book by or about a person who has a disability                     Wonder
14. *Book involving travel                                                    One for the Gods
15. Book with a subtitle                                                   Perfume: Story of a Murder
16. *Book that's published in 2017                                     At the Edge of the Universe
17. *Book involving a mythical creature                                 The Complete Elfquest #3
18. *Book you've read before that never fails to make you smile                     Grasshopper Jungle
19. *Book about food                                                              Food: A Love Story
20. *Book with career advice                                                       Manuel of Aeronautics
21. Book from a nonhuman perspective                                         Plague Dogs
22. *Steampunk novel                                                               Leviathan
23. Book with a red spine                                                               The Good Life
24. Book set in the wilderness                                                  The Revenant
25. *Book you loved as a child                                                 The Tower Treasure
26. Book by an author from a country you've never visited                     Crime and Punishment
27. Book with a title that's a character's name                               Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
28. *Novel set during wartime                                                    Behemoth
29. *Book with an unreliable narrator                                                    Diary of an Oxygen Thief
30. Book with pictures                                                                        Hollow City
31. *Book where the main character is a different ethnicity than you                     Joy Luck Club
32. Book about an interesting woman                                          Forth Into the Light
33. Book set in two different time periods                      Library of Souls
34. *Book with a month or day of the week as the title                     The Wednesday Wars
35. *Book set in a hotel                                                             The Lord Won't Mind
36. Book written by someone you admire                                          A Secret Edge
37. *Book that's becoming a movie in 2017                                 My Friend Dahmer
38. *Book set around holiday other than Christmas                     Dark Harvest
39. *First book in a series you haven't read before                     The Man of Bronze
40. *Book you bought on a trip                                                   A Question of Manhood

Advanced

1. *A book recommended by an author you love                      Three Truths and a Lie
2. *A bestseller from 2016                                                    A Dog's Purpose
3. A book with a family-member term in the title                      The Son of Neptune
4. *A book that takes place over a character's life span            The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5. A book about an immigrant or refugee                                The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down
6. A book from a genre/subgenre that you've never heard of      Goliath
7. *A book with an eccentric character                                  The Polar Treasure
8. A book that's more than 800 pages                                The Lord of the Rings
9. *A book you got from a used book sale                                     Brand of the Werewolf
10. A book that's been mentioned in another book                      Watership Down
11. *A book about a difficult topic                                          Call Me By Your Name
12. A book based on mythology                                          The Mark of Athena

Let Me Introduce Myself

Blog's should always begin with an introduction of the blogger, or at least the explanation of the title.  My name is Michael and I am an educator.  I have taught for over 20 years in public education and post-secondary education.  I have had the thrill of teaching subjects such as English, Humanities, Psychology, Yearbook, and even French one summer.  I have taught freshmen through seniors, college students, and other educators.  Teaching is in my blood and it is all my grandmother's fault.

When I was much younger, during elementary school, both of my parents worked.  That's what Iowan do to support their families.  When my younger sister and I were off during the summer, we often stayed with our mom's sister, or with both our paternal and maternal grandparents.  My father's mother, who we all knew as "Nanny", took care of us during certain days of the week. 

Cleo Florence Lane had not graduated from high school, made it through a grade in elementary before having to leave education and work in a glove factory.  However, she taught herself to read by devouring either romance or western (quite a contradiction) novels.  I had never seen her without a paperback, one casually stuffed in her overlarge purse (along with plastic bags for bringing home food from restaurants to eat as leftovers), and there was always one on the arm of her rocking chair, next to the large free-standing ashtray and end table with sugary Lipton's tea.  The covers of these novels had fascinated me whether is was the windswept hair of the man and woman on the romance novel, or the lone cowboy on the western novel.  This woman would forever change my life due to this obsessive behavior of reading.

We often went to market with Nanny during the summer, to pick up food for lunch or go shopping in the local Kmart.  I loved the ham salad or egg salad sandwiches that were served in the small cafe's inside the department store, and begged to eat lunch there whenever I could.  I also knew that Nanny would buy my sister and I something to take home with us at the end of the day, be it a small toy or trinket from the under-a-dollar end caps near the cash registers.  However, what happened that summer would forever change me as a person and professional.  We were allowed to select something from the newsstand in the Kmart as our reward for being good.  My sister had already chosen a pink Barbie sticker book, hugging it to tiny body like a treasure.  I had just started collecting comic books, as boys in the early 70's did, and picked up a Justice League issue, cover art drawing me in to the story inside.  Comics were a quarter, or fifty cents for the thicker ones, so keeping to the dollar rule, I selected my reward.  Nanny had a different perspective though, suggesting that I choose a book instead, as comics were for kids who couldn't read and only liked pictures.  She spun the wire book carousel, almost suggesting a Louis L'Amour western (her favorite) for me to choose when I spied Star Trek 7 by James Blish, published by Bantam Books. 

This seventy-five cent novel would be the catalyst for my life. Not only would I forever be a Star Trek fan, I would love to read.  I devoured books whenever I could.  I kept a book in my bookbag to read on the hour bus ride to and from school.  I would pull out a book to read after I was done with my homework in class.  I would curl up on the couch while my family watched television and read until bedtime.  If we watched a movie, I wanted to read the novelization.  They provided more than what a movie could offer and give me an in depth story. I often say, "the book is so much better" and compare the two like a critic.

And here I am decades later, reading books, rereading books, and sharing my reading list with friends.  To end this exposition of why I am a reader and why the title for this blog, I plan to share my reading with anyone who wants to read my blog.  I will be honest and share whether I liked the book or not (thank you other grandmother who was Irish) and give a short summary, sans too may spoilers, to share with anyone who might consider reading the book I just read.  Feel free to follow.  Feel free to leave comments.  I am not offended by anything.