2023 Reading List Monthly Update: April

Books read in April of 2023:

"The Flowers of Buffoonery" (Osamu Dazai) 4-4-23

"A History of the Middle Ages" (Joseph Dahmus) 4-5-23

"Winter in Sokcho" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 4-7-23

"The Guest Cat" (Takashi Hiraide) 4-13-23

"The Great Empires of the Ancient World" (Various/Edited by Thomas Harrison) 4-16-23

"The Turkish Lady and Other Writings" (Jean Lorrain) 4-17-23

"Raun" (Ruggero Vasari) 4-20-23

"I Will Not Come" (Arnaud Rykner) 4-22-23

"The Secrets of Cabalism" (Ana Jane Vardill) 4-26-23

"Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages" (Richard Barber & Juliet Barker) 4-29-23

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2023 Reading List Total:

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1. "The Medieval Underworld" (Andrew McCall) 1-11-23

2. "Impure Thoughts" (Golnoosh Nour) 1-12-23

3. "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (Judith Herrin) 1-15-23

4. "The Baron's Coffin and Other Disquieting Tales" (Ada Buisson) 1-17-23

5. "Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black" (Naomi Parry + Various) 1-21-23

6. "Convenience Store Woman" (Sayaka Murata) 1-25-23

7. "Do You Like Big Girls? Vol. 1" (Goro Aizome) 1-27-23

8. "Strange Weather in Tokyo" (Hiromi Kawakami) 1-31-23

9. "The Shards" (Bret Easton Ellis) 2-4-23

10. "Lie With Me" (Philippe Besson) 2-7-23

11. "The Lover" (Marguerite Duras) 2-9-23

12. "Tokyo Ueno Station" (Yu Miri) 2-12-23

13. "Boycrush" (James Nulick) 2-16-23

14. "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 2-17-23

15. "The Adventure Zone Vol. 5: The Eleventh Hour" (The McElroys/Carey Pietsch) 2-19-23

16. "Octopus Pie: The Other Side" (Meredith Gran) 2-22-23

17. "Octopus Pie Eternal" (Meredith Gran) 2-23-22

18. "The Book of Imaginary Beings" (Jorge Luis Borges) 2-25-23 

19. "Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art" (Susan L. Aberth) 3-4-23

20. "Pictures of Apocalypse" (Thomas Ligotti) 3-11-23

21. "Vermilion Sands" (J.G. Ballard) 3-17-23

22. "Berserk Deluxe Edition 13" (Kentaro Miura) 3-23-23

23. "Tombs" (Junji Ito) 3-30-23

24. "The Flowers of Buffoonery" (Osamu Dazai) 4-4-23

25. "A History of the Middle Ages" (Joseph Dahmus) 4-5-23

26. "Winter in Sokcho" (Elisa Shua Dusapin) 4-7-23

27. "The Guest Cat" (Takashi Hiraide) 4-13-23

28. "The Great Empires of the Ancient World" (Various/Edited by Thomas Harrison) 4-16-23

29. "The Turkish Lady and Other Writings" (Jean Lorrain) 4-17-23

30. "Raun" (Ruggero Vasari) 4-20-23

31. "I Will Not Come" (Arnaud Rykner) 4-22-23

32. "The Secrets of Cabalism" (Ana Jane Vardill) 4-26-23

33. "Tournaments: Jousts, Chivalry and Pageants in the Middle Ages" (Richard Barber & Juliet Barker) 4-29-23

*= book I have read at least once in the past
+= book I have read before, but not this reprint/edition/translation

Currently Reading: 

"Neo-Decadence Evangelion" (Various/Edited by Justin Isis)

"The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Kings & Queens of Britain" (Charles Phillips) 

Memories Dreams Reflections 19: Random Memories of the 80's

Other random memories I have from the late 1980’s: reading some of H.G. Wells’ books, mainly The Time Machine (which began my lifelong interest in the theory of time travel) and The War of the Worlds. Spending time with Rusty, our pet cat. Playing games with my siblings in the large field behind our house. Looking for Waldo. Reading Calvin & Hobbes collections (my favorite newspaper cartoon strip at the time: the first Calvin & Hobbes comic strip I ever read was the one that appeared in the The Providence Journal newspaper on January 10, 1988, in which Calvin hits Susie in the back of the head with a snowball and, to get back at him, she pretends he knocked her eye out. When he frantically bends over to help her find it, she kicks him in the ass and calls him a “poop head.” Hobbes appears in the final panel and asks Calvin what he’s doing, and Calvin grumbles that his eye was knocked out. I was a little confused as to why Calvin was speaking to a walking and talking tiger, and one that was wearing a scarf no less, but for me what made me a fan was that the strip had used the word “poop head”). Some TV shows my siblings and I enjoyed watching included Perfect Strangers, Family Matters, and The Wonder Years. We were probably just getting into the whole Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze at this time period as well (it wouldn’t be until the early 90’s that we all became Batman fanatics). 

Some other things I remember about childhood in the 1980's, during the first decade of my life: the creepy clown painting hanging up on the wall of the waiting room of the office of my childhood pediatrician (in terms of scary-looking clowns, this one was less Bozo and more Pennywise: my mother would usually have to drive to the back of the building and let me in by the back door so that I would avoid the waiting room altogether). I recall that the walls of the actual examination rooms of this doctor’s office were painted with characters from Sesame Street and the Muppets, the better to lull one into a false sense of security. Playing The Legend of Zelda on sultry summer afternoons (after all these years, the first Zelda game remains my favorite in the series: the vibrant color scheme of the game is a thing of beauty). Walking around the playground of Bernon Heights during recess in the winter and watching my breath freeze into shapes resembling transient castles of ghostly ice, frozen fata morganas. The wrestling game my siblings and I used to play with our dad, where we would play-wrestle on the bed and try to knock each other off. Watching my mom working on a new quilt. Playing Clue with my family (I always played as Mrs. Peacock because she was blue, my favorite color: of course, Clue was just one of many borad games we played). Class field trips to Rocky Point Amusement park (where my favorite ride was the haunted house one, the so-called House of Horrors; no great shocker there). Playing video games at the Dream Machine Arcade at Lincoln Mall (an annual birthday treat). 

Here are some more pictures of me from the 1980's:

Christmas 1981 (age 1)

1982 (age 2)

1982 (again) (age 2)

Christmas 1984 (with my mom in the background) (age 4)

King's Castle field trip 1985 (age 5)

With my parents and my brothers Tom and Bill, plus Andrew, who had just been born that year (1986). The stuffed animal I'm holding is Shark Puppet, who was my favorite stuffed animal as a child 

Birthday 1986, surrounded by gifts (age 6)

Christmas 1986 (one of my favorite childhood pictures of myself)

1986 Kindergarten Graduation 

Mystic Aquarium 1986

With my mom and 3 younger brothers, sometime in the mid-1980's

1987 Birthday, with my brothers Tom and Bill (and my dad in the background)

1987 Birthday, with my grandparents 

1987 Birthday: my grandmother made the Ghostbusters-themed cake

A better view of the cake 

1987 Birthday: in my hands are two of my beloved shark hand puppets, the gray one being Shark Puppet and the teal one being Sammy 

June 1987 (age 7)

With my brothers on Halloween 1987. Our mom made the costumes

Birthday 1988 (age 8)

At Mystic Aquarium in 1988. Notice again the aforementioned Shark Puppet and Sammy. Yeah, I was obsessed with sharks when I was a kid. 

With my dad and 3 younger brothers, probably sometime in the late '80's 

October 1988, with praying mantis. This is from the backyard of our old house: we moved to our current location the following year, August 1989

With my brothers on Halloween 1989. I'm the vampire; again, our mom made the costumes 

2023 Reading List Monthly Update: March

 Books read in March of 2023:

"Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art" (Susan L. Aberth) 3-4-23

"Pictures of Apocalypse" (Thomas Ligotti) 3-11-23

"Vermilion Sands" (J.G. Ballard) 3-17-23

"Berserk Deluxe Edition 13" (Kentaro Miura) 3-23-23

"Tombs" (Junji Ito) 3-30-23

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2023 Reading List Total:

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1. "The Medieval Underworld" (Andrew McCall) 1-11-23

2. "Impure Thoughts" (Golnoosh Nour) 1-12-23

3. "Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire" (Judith Herrin) 1-15-23

4. "The Baron's Coffin and Other Disquieting Tales" (Ada Buisson) 1-17-23

5. "Amy Winehouse: Beyond Black" (Naomi Parry + Various) 1-21-23

6. "Convenience Store Woman" (Sayaka Murata) 1-25-23

7. "Do You Like Big Girls? Vol. 1" (Goro Aizome) 1-27-23

8. "Strange Weather in Tokyo" (Hiromi Kawakami) 1-31-23

9. "The Shards" (Bret Easton Ellis) 2-4-23

10. "Lie With Me" (Philippe Besson) 2-7-23

11. "The Lover" (Marguerite Duras) 2-9-23

12. "Tokyo Ueno Station" (Yu Miri) 2-12-23

13. "Boycrush" (James Nulick) 2-16-23

14. "This Side of Paradise" (F. Scott Fitzgerald) 2-17-23

15. "The Adventure Zone Vol. 5: The Eleventh Hour" (The McElroys/Carey Pietsch) 2-19-23

16. "Octopus Pie: The Other Side" (Meredith Gran) 2-22-23

17. "Octopus Pie Eternal" (Meredith Gran) 2-23-22

18. "The Book of Imaginary Beings" (Jorge Luis Borges) 2-25-23 

19. "Leonora Carrington: Surrealism, Alchemy and Art" (Susan L. Aberth) 3-4-23

20. "Pictures of Apocalypse" (Thomas Ligotti) 3-11-23

21. "Vermilion Sands" (J.G. Ballard) 3-17-23

22. "Berserk Deluxe Edition 13" (Kentaro Miura) 3-23-23

23. "Tombs" (Junji Ito) 3-30-23

*= book I have read at least once in the past
+= book I have read before, but not this reprint/edition/translation

Currently Reading: 

"A History of the Middle Ages" (Joseph Dahmus)