Book 39 Drama

 

Drama by Raina Telgemeier fulfilled the prompt “Read a Banned Book During Banned Book Week Sept. 20-26” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. The graphic novel was banned for three years in Texas for being explicitly sexual, and “promoting the homosexual agenda.” (Quotes from the Wiki article that quoted the ACLU of Texas.)

Drama depicts a coming of age story for several middle school children while they work on a school play. Cassie, the main character, experiences the pitfalls of seventh-grade life—falling for the wrong person, dealing with friends, and being in the school play. She is not the only character to grow and change as the story moves forward. Many of the characters experience life-altering emotions and events that push them toward adulthood.

Cassie befriends a set of male twins at the start of Act II. (It’s written as a five-act play.) One brother wants to try out for the play and as the two get to know each other, he shares with her he is gay. Cassie is remarkable in her response—one mature, one totally seventh-grader. She hugs Justin and promises to keep his secret. Then she considers his brother Jessie as a love interest. As the book goes on, more drama occurs and more tough times and heartbreak for Cassie—though she is amazing in dealing with all her disappointments. In an age when many middle-schoolers are wracked by depression and anxiety, Cassie holds her head high but also lets the tears go when she needs to.

Spoilers ahead!

I believe the book was banned because it depicted a kiss between two boys (probably both were around thirteen), one of whom is in a red dress. Since it’s a graphic novel, we see the kiss. It was a beautiful moment. Our wonderful Jessie steps out from the shadow of his brother (a place he chose to be allowing his twin shine).  He goes out on stage, pushing all his anxiety behind him, and saves the show. And it means playing the female lead and wearing her costume. The real actress refused to return to the stage because of drama. Jessie gets to sing, perform, and kiss the boy he has a crush on. West, who plays the other lead, goes with it and kisses Jessie without hesitation.

I loved it. Such a monumental moment for a great character. But knowing the homophobic attitude I see in some parents, I’m not surprised it was banned. I’m so glad I let my kids read this book. (Actually, my fourteen-year-old stole it from me and read it twice this week.)

Ms. Telgemeier is the author of two popular graphic novel series—The Babysitters’ Club and Smile/Sisters. My children, like many others, ravenously ate up those stories and craved anything else she wrote. Perhaps conservative parents were shocked to have LGBTQ+ characters in the book, much less a full-on smooch. But this is the world our kids live in. Teens today are very open about gender, sexuality, and personal preferences. They are not bogged down as older generations are with what is “normal” and what is “wrong.” They just see people and love them for who they are.

I’m so happy this book is in the world. I loved reading Jessie’s story and cheered for him when he could finally be himself. I felt for Cassie too, chasing all the wrong boys. By the end of the story, she learned her lesson about not “liking” every guy who is nice to her. I hope Ms. Telgemeier writes more stories with LGBTQ+ themes.

I give Drama by Raina Telgemeier Five Big Cannon Pops.

Book 38 Norwegian Wood

Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami fulfills the category “Book Set in Japan” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. The book takes place in Tokyo.

I have some things about this book. But starting with the prompt is best.

The novel was a great choice for the prompt. Toru lives in Tokyo as a student. He meets a young woman, Naoka, on the street one day. The two used to be friendly in high school through a mutual friend, Kuzuki. Naoka grew up with Kuzuki, and they were dating. Toru was his best friend. The boy committed suicide, devastating both of them. When they meet again in Tokyo, Toru ends up walking with Naoko all over the city and surrounding area.

I have no concept of Tokyo except from Godzilla movies. I enjoyed hearing all the places they went and how they got there. The walking and train travel said much about the city and their relationship. And the reader got a walking tour of the city. Perfect for the prompt.

After I read the book (audio again, which helped with pronunciation), I did a little research to find out why the book is so acclaimed. It’s on all my list challenge prompts as a modern classic. People who’ve read it, rave about it. I wasn’t delighted with the story. There seem to be two camps—loved or hated—no in-between. I didn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Ugh, I’m trying not to trash a novel the world raves about. But that’s half of the blog posts I write, right?

For me, the book was long, drawn-out, and boring. It was not a love story despite several recommendations I saw for it. It’s a journey of maturity, but I’m not sure Toru ever gets there. He seems very lost the entire story, passive, and unthinking. He’s a slug, moving through the world. his love for Naoko, a woman he can never be with, stops him from living.

His schoolwork baffled me. Why study a subject you have no interest in?

When the other woman, Midori, appeared, I had hope for him to begin living, but no. We slogged on through more chapters with no life to our Toru. How can I root for a protagonist who doesn’t live?

Another thing that threw me about the novel (and the book’s age might be the answer) was the sexuality embedded in the story. Sex, homosexuality (only for women), and masturbation were discussed freely and in public. I have no problem with a story that realizes sexuality is part of the human condition and actually happens in real life. (I write romance after all). But the writing felt juvenile, like a middle schooler seeing what they could get away with. (I was that middle schooler…) It was blunt, almost harsh. Tenderness was absent, even in the sex scenes. Dry and blunt do not make for salacious reading, and I understand that wasn’t the purpose of those scenes. Perhaps I’m missing how dead Toru was inside. Therefore he did everything with a zombie-like mentality.

Anyway…

A few other tidbits bothered me. Toru slept with almost all the female characters. Eww, especially Naoko’s friend. Very egomaniacal. Also, every female seemed damaged. Two ended up dead from suicide, one was ostracized because of her sexual talk, and a third was in a mental institution. Is this how the author sees females or how the protagonist does? Am I, as a reader, supposed to believe Japanese women are like this? Yeah, I don’t think so.

After I finished the book, I considered asking my thirteen-year-old for a manga recommendation with strong female Japanese protagonists. Again the age of the novel might be part of it, but this woman is tired of male authors trashing females to build up the male ego. I’d rather read a story about Midori where she kicks butt and takes names.

Welp, I guess you can tell Norwegian Woods was not my cup of tea. It’s too late in the year to find another book for the prompt. I promise next week there will be a book I loved (and read twice for the blog).

I give Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami Three Beatles Songs.

 

 

 

 

Book 37 Devil May Care

Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters fulfills the category “Book with a Book on the Cover” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge. Both the audio book cover and the paperback/digital cover have a book present. Important because....books....(No spoiling!)

Disclaimer: I messed up the blog. This was not the entry planned for today and not the book I presumed to use for the category. I was all set to blog Drama by Raina Telgemeier for the Banned Book Week entry when I realized that’s next week, Sept 20. According to my handy schedule, I could’ve switched to A Killer Read by Erika Chase, if only I had finished it.

Yikes. Time for Plan B.

I can usually run through a short audio in three to four days. Paper books take me forever. I can’t explain why. Anyway, my Gold Membership at Audible turned gold this week. I realized I could get many older titles for free. I don’t know what the entire deal was, but free Elizabeth Peters titles and some MC Beaton too? (See entry 2). Yes, thank you. I grabbed a ton. And conveniently, the list included novels I hadn’t read by Ms. Peters. Seven hours later, here I am penning the blog (that should be up already but you all are sooooooooo understanding.).

Devil May Care is a cozy, stand-alone mystery written in 1977. Yes, it’s older, but it still has some great elements that transcend time. The story follows a young woman house-sitting for her aunt when mysterious events begin to happen. The aunt—eccentric to a fault—has a house perfect for a haunting. Poor Ellie must endure a treasure trove of pets, various ghosts scaring the life out of her, and a cute lawn-boy who’s really a medic. The dialog is wonderful, and the characters are fun. Some stereotypes are prevalent, and a romance hides in the story’s depths. Ms. Peters makes a few references to Agatha Christie along the way with a tongue-in-cheek tone. I loved it.

I’ve read most of Ms. Peters’ Amelia Peabody novels. Egyptology was a fad for me in my twenties. I loved her strong female characters she uses in all her books. Perhaps a product of the Feminism movement of the seventies, the main female characters are never wishy-washy waifs. Aunt Kate in this tale had a feel of Amelia Peabody, adventurous, strong, and determined. Ellie, who was the focus of the story, was not as strong, but she pulled through. She seemed to grow as the story rolled over her.

A note on that: The book began oddly. Well, odd for a what would be today’s writing conventions. Ellie’s fiancé holds the point of view for a while (on audio, so I didn’t notice chapters…). He’s a huge jerk—arrogant, pompous, and condescending to Ellie. I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep reading after a fifteen minutes of this ass telling how he would train Ellie to be the perfect wife. But I knew it was Elizabeth Peters, so I kept going, hoping Ellie would pop him one and move on. In the current literary market, an author could never have such a vile character start a cozy or a romance. Readers might not stand for it, and publishers would turn it down flat. Interesting how reading and writing have changed over forty years.

I also loved that there wasn’t a murder! A crime book with no murder? Crazy, right? Ms. Peters presenting a great who-dun-it without the ghastly aspect of a dead body. (Though there were a few times I thought we were headed there…)

All in all, a nice, quick read over a Wednesday night, and most of Thursday.

I give Devil May Care by Elizabeth Peters Four Rare Books on Genealogy.

 

 

Book 36 The Adventures of the Deadly Dimensions

 

The Adventures of the Deadly Dimensions (Sherlock Holmes vs Cthulhu #1) by Lois H. Gresh fulfilled the category “Book Who’s Title Caught my Attention” for the PopSugar 2020 Reading Challenge.

I work in a library. At least one hour of every shift, I check in returns. The bright green cover with all the gold filigree passed through my scanner, and I was done. Not only did I outright buy the book rather than just borrow it, but I also bought the entire series from Amazon. Also, there are some books by James Lovegrove with eerily similar titles and covers. I probably read the wrong novel. Oops.

It might have been a premature purchase. While I liked the premise of The Deadly Dimensions and though the author recreated Watson’s voice well, the book did not move me.

In this 500-page novel, Sherlock Holmes, and Dr. Watson stumble on a bizarre murder in a rough part of London. It seems a machine is murdering humans and no one can turn the thing off. At this point in the Holmesian universe, Watson has married and had a child. They play a significant part in the story. Holmes continues to pull his friend into adventures, while Watson wants to start a normal life with his wife and child. Through the investigation into the murders at the hands of the tram machine, the two men are pulled into other cases involving unexplained things. One case involved furniture of bizarre dimension and impossible design, much like the tram machine.

I thought the story would be quick when we as readers realize our villain is in the first few chapters. We, in the know, see Fitzgerald’s obsession with the Old Ones (Cthulhu) immediately. But the novel takes a 400-page journey away from this simple explanation and goes down tunnels, to the sea, to France and back again. I’m not sure why it all happened, and I’m not sure the whole point of it all. Because Holmes with his scientific, cynical mind would never admit to creatures like Cthulhu or the Old Ones. That’s why I couldn’t wait to read this title.

Sigh, nothing really happened. There was much running around, some interesting passages in minor characters’ points of view, more running around. In the end, Holmes did not solve the case, Watson did not resolve with his estranged wife, and neither of them really believed in Cthulhu.

I know the legends of the Old Ones involved secret societies and bloody sacrifices. We had those, but not as I expected and without a good spin on the idea. (Here I’ll mention I’ve read Lovecraft books, Lovecraft Country, and The Ballad of Black Tom to give me some street cred about the monster lore. That’s not a drop in the barrel of what’s out there, but I have read some Cthulhu.)

I admit I read the paperback. Paper takes me so much longer to read and it is a huge book. But those two things can excuse how badly the book bored me. I liked it, but in a “this is fine to read for a few minutes” way. Not much in the tale compelled me to stick with it for hours. Perhaps Book Two of the series will interest me more. Or maybe I’ll read Lovegrove’s story and see how it compares. Either way, I’m good on giant, lurking monsters that have little use for humanity. Maybe it’s time for some romance with paranormal elements—a few vampires or shifter stories? Sounds great to me.

I give The Adventures of the Deadly Dimensions (Sherlock Holmes vs Cthulhu #1) by Lois H. Gresh Three Tentacles.