Honey, I don't read...I'm read to.

Done with a few reads and re-reads in the past couple of weeks and my head is buzzing...buzzing I say.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling

I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I've yet to buy a Harry Potter book on anything but the opening day, although I'm not the kind of guy who reserves ahead of time...hell, I don't do anything ahead of time, so who am I kidding? (See previous DMV posts) Not to give anything away, but I did NOT see what happens at the end coming. And I'm a little perturbed. A little saddened. A little betrayed. And while I'm at it, I'm a little peeved that Ginny Weasley is now the whore of Hogwarts. Not to be judgmental and all but...she's a big ho. Attention hikers all roads lead to Mount Ginny. Now, Oliver Wood...meeooowww. Is he just British or is he gay? Yeah, I'm a big dork.

How I Learned To Snap by Kirk Read

Now one of my favorite books of all time. Read recounts his middle and high school years as a writer, music afficianado, fashion guru, theater writer, budding homo and general wise-ass making his way through the world with a little style and a lot of dignity. I've read this book 2 or 3 times in the last year or so, each time in a single sit-down. It's funny. It's witty. It stings and barbs. It hugs and cuddles. It resonates with every boy who ever struggled to understand the world and how to live in it. My favorite quote comes from Read describing the older gay boy who showed what it meant to live:

"The bravest of angels often travel with dignity as their only weapon. Jesse also packed a knife throughout high school, just in case."

Dr. Kinsey and the Institute for Sex Research by Wardell B. Pomeroy

After reading this book, the Kinsey movie was a letdown. A big letdown. Dr. Pomeroy, one of the research assistants on the Human Behavior series, describes the enigmatic character that was Dr. Alfred Kinsey; he does it not so much as an extended list of characteristics and motivations, but by recounting vignettes that begin to expose the core of the man who legitimized discussion of the diversity in all things sexual. Originally written in 1972, it does leave out certain parts of Kinsey's life that seem to have been common knowledge among the people, like Pomeroy, who were closest to Kinsey: the same-sex experimentation/experiences among the staff and their families, Kinsey's motivations (if only secondary to his scientifc ones) to explain and, in some ways, justify/normalize his own homosexual sexual drives. But, considering the irrational and baseless accusations that have been leveled at Kinsey's work from then until now (which not coincidentally are similar to, if not the same as, the "arguments" against homosexuality), I'm not the least bit surprised at the missing pieces.

The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics and Culture by John D'Emilio

A compilation of writing from Dr. D'Emilio that reflects on the successes and struggles simplified into the slogan-esque term "The Gay 90s." What happened between the 1950s and the 1990s carrying over into the 2000s? No five-word soundbites here. Here's a quote from the introduction that stuck in my mind as I read each part:

"If I had to summarize succintly the nature of the difference between the present moment and the Stonewall era...pretty much every gay man or lesbian...came of age believing that we were the only person like us in the world, and that what we were was not good. Today, when I listen to the undergraduates in my...courses, I hear something very different. However much my queer students may be struggling with their emerging identities, and however uninformed about gay life my heterosexual students may be, all of them begin with the assumption that gays and lesbians are very much a part of the world in which they are reaching maturity. It's a starting point much to be preferred to the conditions that prevailed a generation ago. It offers more openings for dialogue, more possibilities for continuing change, more hope for the future. And this transition came about in the course of the 1990s."

Now, I'm onto some new reads:
The End of Gay and the Death of Heterosexuality by Bret Archer
In The Game: Gay Athletes and the Cult of Masculinity by Eric Anderson
Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them by Al Franken
Life Outside by Michelangelo Signorile
Beyond Queer: Challenging Gay Left Orthodoxy edited by Bruce Bawer

So, I swear, when I'm sitting at a coffee shop with a big cup of coffee and an open book, I'm not there to cruise. Well...everything in moderation, I guess. And, I've found a new coffee shop since Comet was turned into a bar/restaurant: Alterra on the Lake. I can work on the tan, do some good reading, eat something almost healthy and...yes, I'll admit it, watch the hottie shirtless runners go by.