More Books I've Read in 2009

It's been a while since I posted one of these literary updates. I guess all you MBIRI2009 fans are thinking I've forgotten how to read. But such is not the case. I unfortunately have limited free time and I spend much of that now working out and reading fitness magazines and blogs. And then foam-rolling to recover from my workouts -- oh, and eating several times a day and shopping a couple times a day. But I still make time to read. I read these two books a while back.
And I liked them both, but I don't remember enough particulars about either to blog much about. This is the book that I'm reading in the bathroom.
And I gotta tell the back cover irks me every time I pick it up. Particularly this sentence: "Whilst grateful for the success he has endured, on the whole he (Dolenz) would rather have been a physician." What irks me about this sentence? Well, besides the attitude and the ego, there's the word "whilst". What kind of archaic, crepuscular word is "whilst"? I don't think I've ever seen anyone other Dolenz and some of the more florid Victorians use that word non-ironically. Then there's the word "endured". You endured your success, Mickey? Somehow managed to survive the money, the parties and the groupies? What a testament to the human spirit. Anybody who got rich and famous with no more than that thimbleful of talent you possess should be more grateful for that success. And whilst millions of music-lovers might wish you had become a physician instead, it's most unbecoming of you to cry about how tough it's been enduring your good fortune.
And just yesterday I finished this book:Here's it the copyright and library info that irks me, specifically this classification: "1. Graphic novels -- Switzerland -- translated into English"
Why does that tick me off? Because it's not a novel, graphic or otherwise, it's a memoir. Literary snobs have been reluctant to admit that comics can be literary and now that they have no choice they have forgotten the distinction between fiction and non-fiction and call everything with pictures a graphic "novel."
The boook itself I enjoyed very much, about a young man coming to grips with his lover's (and his lover's child's) HIV. The only thing that took a little getting used to was the fact that he drew the young lady in question's eyes so big even a manga editor would say, "Whoa, that's just not right."