Breast Cancer & Comic Books

Yesterday, I woke up early and walked for breast cancer. I was supposed to walk in the NYC AIDS Walk. I raised money, then finally met up with a fella one night, and never ended up actually walking. While I didn't fully complete the breast cancer walk, I did get almost all of the way through it. I should have done the whole thing, but the weather was so bad I decided to duck out early before I got sick from the cold and rain. Judging on how I feel today, I may have ducked out too late :-( I raised $50 bucks (thank you my dad, Ben H. and my roommate Kay!!), which is less than the AIDS Walk but still pretty respectable. I really did it for the free t-shirt... I couldn't find the library team yesterday, so I thought I might miss out. But they're gonna send me the t-shirt anyway, so score.

To take a break from my babbling about reading and tell you a fun library story, I have this kid who comes into the library. He's I think 17 years old. I told him he should start coming to the YA events. And he just did. I've only ever asked a dozen or so kids to come to events sincerely (which is probably why my numbers aren't super big right now), but I always think, at least with people, it's quality over quantity. This kid is the only one who has come more than once, and he's now of the I would say 3 fixture YAs at my library. He told me a few weeks ago he likes superhero comics and complained the library doesn't have them. He's right. So I brought some from home and I'm letting him borrow them one at a time. Sometimes my job can be... frustrating. I mean, I always make the best of everything, but I've been a little down lately. Letting this kid borrow my comic books? This makes me feel great; it's like, why I became a librarian. Anyway, I know that's probably not that inspiration or anything, but it did give me a boost. And as my gentle reader, when I get a boost, you do too... don'tchya?

Big Gay Librarian

For the next few months, I'll be focusing on LGBTQ fiction. I've read a couple, so here they are: I'll admit it. I've picked small ones to start.

When I was still organizing my shelf, "The Slow Fix" by Ivan Coyote stood out for me. I picked it up and read it within the week. Coyote has been up for, and I believe won, some ALA awards for her writing before. This, well... it's more of a collection of essays, is pretty much autobiographical. It doesn't really follow a linear format; sometimes Ivan is talking about her girlfriend, then in the next story she's single, then back to the girlfriend for example. I enjoyed reading it. There was a story about her queer nephew who grows up to be not so queer which is sort of sad and beautiful. It's worth reading, but is super quick to read and the stories don't really compliment each other. It seems kind of like a bunch of stuff was slammed together here. Some works, some doesn't. I liked it, though, and I'm glad I picked it for my first book.

Followed by "Shuck" - a loose fictional account by a first-time author who somewhat lived what poorly named main character Jaeven goes through. I liked this book, pretty much alone among the other reviews of the book I've read. Maybe I'm easy to please when it comes to fiction. I don't think the point is to like Jaeven here... he's pretty much as unlikeable as you can get. His relationship with his roommate/friend/boyfriend is bizarre, but... well, aren't most relationships? I didn't find the book highly sexual, which I guess was a big selling or discussion point for it. Not a lot of actual sex occurs. Really there's just that art gallery thing with the goth boy towards the end. The book is very New York and got me smiling on the references (esp. Dr. Zizmor). A good read- I think I know a lot of gays who would love the book, but also probably not the best in the end.

Lantern's Light

So, if you know me, you know it's weird that I would buy a Marvel or a DC graphic novel and then not immediately read it. Well, what happened was... I got one for free. Then I put it next to my alarm clock. Then it ended up under my alarm clock. Then I would look at it every night before bed... taunting me. Yesterday, after a day filled with watching television on my computer (I quite literally ran out of 'new' shows to watch) and ordering pizza, I decided it was time to take the plunge. I finally buckled down and read that damn Green Lantern graphic novel.

And it was pretty good. It was a volume 2, which was totally also something I would not have bought myself. I would have gone for a volume 1. I'm more into DC trade paperbacks lately because the stories are usually more varied and they are much, much cheaper than Marvel ones. Sorry, Marvel. You are the bulk of my comic book collection, but I got most of that when I was paying for you. My mom was. God, I miss Tina... she certainly did spring a couple of bucks for the newest X-Men... but NO MORE! So DC? You're fun to read and you're cheap. You're like that tranny down the street who blocks my entrance into the subway.

BTW, sorry for the long space between posts. Turns out? I can't update my blog at work. It crashes not one but multiple computers, all of which are the only ones I can really use. When I'm at home, I'm more using my computer for recreational activities. While I guess you could say this is for recreation... I mean jeez. It always feel like damn work. I'm going to try harder. Would it help if I just didn't talk about what I was reading all the time? COMMENT BELOW!!