Dont forget! For those of you who are joining in on the current Wordshaker reading of The Wife’s Tale, we are going live with our posts and conversation on October 6th! It’s not too late to join in. There will be an authors chat and a BIG GIVEAWAY with signed additions to Lori Lanssen’s books. Those who are doing the read-a-long with me and linking their reviews on the 6th will receive an extra entry in the giveaway.
Stay tuned!
Morning! Ok let’s try that again.
Good morning! 😛
Sunday morning here and Banned Books Week is officially over. Wow. I kind of miss it. I had a week of reading books that I have wanted to read for quite some time as well as experiencing a couple new to me titles. Over all, I did not read one book that I could say I found offensive and agreed that this book should perhaps have limited access to certain ages. In fact, most of them really surprised me that they were banned and some I had to look up to see exactly what people found so offensive.
Of course, as I mentioned yesterday morning, I still have banned books checked out from the library and if I can squeeze a couple more in as I return to my regular reading habits I sure will.
I do not have a lot of time this morning as I am getting ready for church and as usual am pushing the time envelope but I want to leave you with what I would like to refer to as a great theme song for Banned Books:
And… well honestly…. if you are an 80’s fan…. just a great song – period. 😀
Have an awesome Sunday everyone! Tonight we are going out to dinner with Navy son. It’s hard to believe he leaves tomorrow, but he is going to be in Florida for a while and with a little luck – back for Christmas. 😀
Good morning! 😀 Where was I? Coffee Cup… check…. making Snickerdoodles for this afternoon… check…..
Oh Yeah. A Girl Walks into a library…. oh wait, that’s me. And it’s true! I walked into the library yesterday afternoon to return the banned books I had on loan for Banned Books Week. At the beginning of banned books week I had mentioned how disappointed I was that I had been in our library, local bookstore, and a few other books stores in the area in the past week no one had even a peep up around banned books week.
So… I am in the library (every time I say what I want to add with the candle stick or the rope…) AND as I am returning my books I see behind a glass case police tape saying “CRIME SCENE” and a banned book display. In the center of the display was a large book with a padlock punched through it making it impossible to open.
Pause for dramatic effect.
I was thrilled and as I went up to the window to look at their selections I seen books I would love to read. When I asked the librarian she I could borrow whatever books I wanted to in the case and they would replace them with the books I had just returned. (LOVE my library!) So I left with three books out of the display as well as the books I had on reserve when I walked in.
Why is Beloved Banned? They cite violence and sex. I read also that is very graphic as it is about a woman who kills her daughter to keep her from becoming a slave.
Why is The Lorax banned? The Laytonville, California School District challenged this book on grounds that it “criminalizes the forestry industry.” The book says that cutting down trees is bad.
Why was Black Boy banned? ‘Black Boy’ is a memoir about growing up in the Jim Crow-era South, a story of survival in a sick society that treated 1/3rd of its population as sub-human chattel. Black Boy was not banned because of Wright’s Communism (excusable considering that-until the 1950s-the US Communists were the only political party committed to racial equality) but rather because it offended many Southerners, and also due to the book’s frank descriptions of sex, violence, and racially-charged language.
“The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” is about a young resident of an Indian reservation who decides to attend a white high school.There is sexual language and foul jokes, along with themes encompassing racism, alcoholism and violence. There are also descriptions of how the protagonist, Junior, tries to realize his dreams while surviving both life on the reservation and at a new school.
This last one just looked interesting and I looked through it a bit last night. It lays out 100 different banned books with author, publisher, date of publishing, what the book si a about and why it was banned. I wish I would have found this book at the beginning of the week.
And yes, today is the last day of banned books week and here I am with another pile of books as well as a couple from my original trip to the library. Maybe they do not all get read this time around…. maybe I will find that some are not for me. I really have enjoyed learning more about the books and why they were banned and what I have read so far this week has been an adventure in reading and one I would gladly hop on board for again.
Today I am helping at a funeral for most of the early afternoon. I plan to be home in time to finish the lawn (seems like I am always mowing these days!) and pick out a new audio at audible.com for my mowing enjoyment. Any audio suggestions? Any fun plans this weekend?
The background story: Fahrenheit 451 takes place in an unspecified future time (some dialogue places it after 1990) in a hedonisticanti-intellectual America that has completely abandoned self-control. This America is filled with lawlessness in the streets ranging from teenagers crashing cars into people to firemen at a station who set their ‘mechanical hound’ to hunt various animals by their scent for the simple and grotesque pleasure of watching them die. Anyone caught reading or possessing illegal books is, at the minimum, confined to a mental hospital while the books are burned by the firemen. Illegal books mainly include famous works of literature, such as Walt WhitmanWilliam Faulkner, as well as the Bible and all historical texts.
My synopsis: The book opens with Fireman Guy Montag coming home after a long day at work. As he gets close to home he meets his new neighbor Clarisse who is young and free spirited. As they walk and talk Guy finds her talk strange… speaking of taking time to look at the grass and enjoy a summer. yes, even after their brief encounter he can not get what she spoke of out of his head.
Once home he finds his wife laying on the bed having taken an entire bottle of sleeping pills. When Montag calls for help a team comes and cleans her out as thought they were carpet cleaners. Their cold regard to a human life starts Montag really thinking about the state of society and about why he does what he does.
Fireman in this futuristic read do not put out fires… they start them. In fact in this world the fireman we all know, never existed. Firemen always started fire. And why? Well to burn books of course. Reading is BANNED and if you are caught with books they are all burned, many times your home too, and occasionally the home owner. During one such raid, Montag catches site of a line in one the books as it is being burned, “Time has fallen asleep in the afternoon sunshine.” This prompts Montag to steal a book…..
… and it’s not the first time….
This book should be the king of the banned books week. Why? Because it is actually a book about banning books. It’s brilliant – and so is Bradbury who I have never read before.
Honestly, before I listened to this book (yup – audio…. while I mowed the lawn and when I would get ready for work in the morning…) I had no idea what it was about. Well.. sure I thought it had to do with fire… but if I would have known this was a book about burning books. I probably would have made this one a priority long before now.
Books, according to the story do nothing but put ideas into people’s heads. And really who needs free thinkers all willy nilly coming up with their own ideas?
I really was impressed by this reading and was surprised really how much I enjoyed the story line. I have never been one for sci-fi or futuristic reads but have to make an exception in this case. For as old as this book is (originally published as The Fireman in 1951), it is almost spooky how it speaks of censorship.
I really enjoyed this audio – if you remember I had one audio of this I gave up on due to the narrator. Unfortunately that narrator was Ray Bradbury himself. I hate to say it, but I could not understand him. I sent that copy back tot he library and purchased a different narrator at audible.com, read by Christopher Hurt, this one was amazing.
It’s frightening to think that as book stores close, libraries fight to stay open and e books become more popular… that I picture my library becoming paper contraband… hiding my books in the basement under lock and key and the pretense of a storage room…
Why was Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury banned?
The banning of “Fahrenheit 451” Ray Bradbury’s 1953 book about the evils of book banning and censorship is one of those circular jokes that we see every once in a while. The initial complaint was that the words “hell” and “damn” appeared in it making it a corrupting force on society. Opponents then noted that one of the books burned was a Christian Bible and took the position that the author advocated burning Bibles (rather than the opposite that he was trying to show how bad things had become)
A more obvious reason seems to exist. One of the main themes of the story is that a government which tries to suppress freedom of expression should be opposed. In the early 50’s, when this book was written, this advocacy of opposition was seen as a bad thing by real world authoritarian groups (e.g. McCarthyism) that claimed to have all the answers.
Like the opposition to “1984”, the opposition to “Fahrenheit 451” seems to grow as the depicted society grows too similar to our own. One of these uncomfortable parallels is today’s increased use of entertainment in place of learning and culture. Ray Bradbury has stated that this dumbing down was one of the concerns he was trying to raise.
I purchased this copy from audible.com
Morning bookish people! Last night was so fantastic! Brad (Navy son) and two of his buddies, Adam and Andy hung out at the house for dinner and a lot of laughter. I love Boot Camp stories… I never get tired of them! Brad is such a card and I can just picture the stories he shares!
Of course Navy Son trumps almost everything else going on in my life now so my banned book a day review fell off the “banned wagon” yesterday…. but only for the day! Instead I had to pop in a very late in the evening but made the deadline review of The Guernsey Literary Potato Peel Pie Society ( the pinky swear was to read it in September!)
But look at me ramble on about all things not about the post title…. SO… whats up with that?
I am so glad you asked!
SSQQQUUUEEEEEE!!!
I was invited to be on my first ever panel for The Twin Cities Book Festival. I am super pumped and a little nervous…. so I am going to share with you now what they sent me and I would love to hear your thoughts on this discussion.
The Changing World Of Publishing: Getting Books To Readers
Our problem is not too few good books, but too many. How does a reader decide what to read next despite the growing stack of options on their night table? How does a new author break into a dedicated reader’s “To Be Read” queue when traditional media outlets are disappearing fast? What role will new technologies like social media play now that authors are largely responsible for promoting their books themselves?” Our panel will tackle these big questions, and invite your tips and tricks for finding great books as well! (10:30 am, Hennepin Room)
Moderated by Kevin Smokler, co-founder and CEO of BookTour.com and editor of the anthology Bookmark Now: Writing in Unreaderly Times.
Tim Brown has worked behind the scenes at the Printer’s Row Book Festival in Chicago and at the Independent Press Center in New York City. He has also published three novels and his poetry and nonfiction have appeared in hundred of publications.
Sheila DeChantal is a bibliophile who lives in northern Minnesota. Her blog, “Book Journey,” contains reviews, interviews, and all things bookish.
Andrew Ervin is the author of Extraordinary Renditions, just out from Coffee House Press. He is also a noted reviewer of books for The Believer, New York Times Book Review, Rain Taxi Review of Books, and other fabulous periodicals.
Jeff Kamin moderates the “Books & Bars” reading series in Minneapolis, which won a City Pages Best of in 2009. He’s also a freelance writer, publicist, and event coordinator at the blog “Mustache Robots,” but only after being El Jefe to his two young boys.
Steph Opitz is the membership director of the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses in New York, and the former publicist at Red Hen Press in Los Angeles.
Slipping in right under the dead line – I pinky swore with Alita from Alita.Reads that we would both read this book in September. She totally smoked me…. but I am done with the book and here is my review. Thanks Alita – what a blast! 😀
The letters comprising this small charming novel begin in 1946, when single, 30-something author Juliet Ashton (nom de plume Izzy Bickerstaff) writes to her publisher to say she is tired of covering the sunny side of war and its aftermath. When Guernsey farmer Dawsey Adams finds Juliet’s name in a used book and invites articulate—and not-so-articulate—neighbors to write Juliet with their stories, the book’s epistolary circle widens, putting Juliet back in the path of war stories. The occasionally contrived letters jump from incident to incident—including the formation of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society while Guernsey was under German occupation. Juliet finds in the letters not just inspiration for her next work, but also for her life.
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic “documents” such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use. The word epistolary comes from the Latin word epistola, meaning a letter.
I know I know… I could have written my own synopsis… but honestly… I am tired and my brain is fuzzy and words to describe this delightful book are totally escaping me so if I would have written the synopsis it would have been one word:
Delightful.
Uniquely written, this book is made up entirely of letters. Yes! Letters! Correspondence back and forth, fun and witty and informative – letter by letter we piece this story together… the remarkable start of The Potato Peel Pie Society and the books they enjoyed! I love books – about books!
Pride and Prejudice
Wuthering Heights
Past and Present
The Cantebury Tales
The Pickwick Papers
Selected Essays Of Elia
The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen
Letters of Seneca
Selections from Shakespeare
I have enjoyed a few books centered around war this past year and have to say this is the best one I have read. As I mentioned earlier, books about books is really a soft sell for me…. I just love to rad about other book lovers. They fascinate me! I loved reading about other people in the “Society” and how the book club developed. I group that started out as a “cover story” that became rea… did I mention that I love that?
I know I am gushing and repeating myself and doing all sorts of things that when I read this review tomorrow I will roll my eyes – but honestly I have to get this out there – read this book! Warm and welcoming characters that will invite themselves into your heart.
This would make a wonderful book club read!
I wanted to include a recipe for Potato Peel Pie… I did not have the time to make this as I had hoped to… however if I ever get my book club to read this I think I will have to put in the effort:
- 2 cups raw, grated potato skins (I added some of the white part to keep the texture somewhat tender), use mashed potatoes for filling
- 1/3 cup grated onion
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 Tbs flour
- beetroot
- sour cream (optional)
- chives (optional)
- butter (optional)
- garlic (optional)
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter a small pie plate. Mix grated potato peels with egg, onion and flour. Press the mixture into the pie plate and up the sides to form a crust. Bake crust for 20-25 minutes. While the crust is baking, cook potatoes, drain and mash. You can add your favorite mashed potato flavorings here i.e. garlic, onion, milk, butter, salt, etc. Fill crust with mashed potatoes and sprinkle with beetroot. Bake in oven at lower temperature of 375 for 10 minutes or until browned.
I received this book for review
LOL…. oh come on, I have been saving that post name all week….
*giggles to myself*
I had to use it.
Ok, Coffee Cup and I seem to be running late today so I will move on (although it still makes me smile…). I have been having a fun week of reading books that I have selected not only because it is banned books week, but also because many of the titles are books that I have always wanted to read. I have a few that are too big for me to get reviewed during this week, but I still plan to read them. One of those books would be Pillars of The Earth, another would be A Prayer For Owen Meany. Both books I currently have checked out from the library.
Last evening I put up my review of SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson. I did not plan on posting it that late, but I had an insane day and after work was home all of 15 minutes before I ran out to a much-needed dinner with friends. Sometimes just hanging out with people and having time to laugh and enjoy what happening in their lives can be like medicine for the soul. When I got home after 8 pm, I still had a couple of touches to put on the review so I finished it up and it went live last night. I hope you can take a minute to read it if you have not already. This is the book that I had just started hearing about a couple of weeks ago and the controversy surrounding a particular part of the book. When I heard the opposite side of this argument, how many people the book was reaching… I dived in cautiously waiting for the part in the book that was causing the uproar. Seriously, it was so tastefully handled. I even called one of my friends and read the part to her over the phone looking for a second opinion. She too thought it was handled quite appropriately. Of course I get that the battle is not necessarily about the wording but about the subject matter. Anyway – enough of that…..
Today I work. Then I mow. (All that rain last week put me on the mower again!) On the bright side, I hope to finish the audio of Fahrenheit 451 as I mow. This is so the right book to read/listen to during banned books week as it is about book burning. AND yes, I am enjoying it and yes I had given up on it recently due to the narrator, however I found it on audible.com with a different narrator and that made all the difference. More on that in my review. 😉
Finally – the best part of my day today is that tonight Navy Son (who surprise returned home last week) and I are hanging out tonight. I am thinking I will make turkey burgers and maybe we will go to a movie or a bike ride. What a great way to complete my day! 😀
Why was A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving banned?
Banned and censored around the United States for its stance on religion and criticism of the US government regarding the Vietnam War and Iran-Contra.
Good Morning. Picture this. I am up but I am not. It is early and I am here with Coffee Cup trying to relax a bit and scrape in some caffeine before I go to the gym. My hair is everywhere….. My eyes I think are still slits….
The dogs get out of bed. I hear the “thwump” as their little shih-tzu feet hit the floor. They wander out of the bedroom and I open the door to the deck so they can go out for their morning jaunt.
I go back to the lap top…. where was I? Oh yeah…. working on my post for later today…. great read…. what should I say ne….
“Woof Woof!”
Seriously. They have been out all of a minute…. maybe a few seconds more …. I look over my shoulder at Elmo and Bailey wagging their tail waiting to be let in. I ignore them. It’s not cold out… in fact its lovely… must be almost 60 degrees already, I will just…
“Woof Woof.!!!!!” “Woof Woof!!!”
GAH.
I let them in and they parade past me like I am scum. I am so beneath them. They do not even throw me a kind glance.
I shuffle to the kitchen rubbing my eyes and refilling my cup. Elmo comes up and looks at me.
“What?” (That’s me saying that.. not the dog…. although I am not sure if it would surprise me.)
He does his excited “follow me” dance where he looks at me and runs to the entryway and then comes back to get me and runs again and makes sure I am following.
I look at the kitchen clock. I have to get moving. Elmo is still doing his Lassie and Timmy is in the well impression. He should have been an actor. Seriously he is wasting good talent here in central Minnesota.
I go to the entryway… yup. The water dish is empty. I fill it.
I go back to the lap top…. look at my post. I will have to finish it later.
Why was The Color Purple by Alice Walker banned?
2010
Challenged and or banned for offensive language, being sexually explicit and unsuited to age group.
2009
Challenged in Burke County schools in Morgantown (NC) by parents concerned about the homosexuality, rape, and incest portrayed in the book.
2008
Banned for sexually explicit and offensive language and homosexuality.
2003
Challenged in Fairfax (VA) school libraries by a group called Parents Against Bad Books in Schools for “profanity and descriptions of drug abuse, sexually explicit conduct and torture”.
He who shall not be named has once again… oops…. scratch that….. I guess I am a little deep into the story line yet….
*shakes head* Starts again….
Voldemort is once again causing a bit of destruction and mayhem in the wizarding world. It is the fifth year at Hogwarts and Harry has emerged into full-blown adolescence, including a crush, rage, and questions about his future. Dumbledore has taken to avoiding him at all costs and it seems to Harry that everyone has forgotten that he almost had died last year and had saved the school from yet another horrifying evil.
Then there is the new addition to the school compliments of the Ministry of Magic, Dolores Umbridge. A short toad like of a woman who is scrutinizing everything going on in Hogwarts much like a child would do to an ant with a magnifying glass. In no time at all she has Harry off the Quidich team … banned for life (there’s that dirty word banned again!) and in desperation the Griffindor Team puts Ron in as Keeper.
“Hem Hem”
Things are not so wonderful at the school as they had been in the past and Harry is really wondering what sort of future he is going to have if this keeps up….
I listened to this one on audio, which haveI been doing all year, and highly recommend the audio versions if you have not yet experienced Harry Potter that way. Narrator Jim Dale is an experience in itself and you will not believe the many voices he uses for the different characters. I swear Hagrid is the real Hagrid and when Dale does Delores my skin crawls just like it did when I read the books!
While listening to this audio what I really noticed that I had not before (during my many readings of this book) is that this really is the book where Harry comes to the realization that his father was not the hero that he had built him up to be in his mind. Harry is introduced to some hard truths about his dad and has to learn that everyone has faults.
As I thought about Harry’s feelings about his dad I had to think that this was another great move on J K Rowling’s part. I swear, the more I listen and or read the books, I find more things that impress me. I thought about how easy it is to put someone on a pedestal when they have passed away…. how we forget the annoyances, and focus on the wonderfulness and what we miss. J K shows Harry a side of James that not only gives us a glimpse at why Snape loathes Harry so….. but also a look at his true father…. a fifteen year old hot-shot kid who thought he was super cool and loved to show off for his friends. This book really shows us a good message about relationships and Harry comes to realize that while his dad was not the perfect man he had imagined, he was still a very good man.
If you have not taken the time to experience Harry Potter on Audio I highly (HIGHLY) recommend it. This rich installment won Jim Dale a Guinness World Record for the most character voices in an audio book. The series has won the Audies Hall of Fame Award. Fifth in the series. “Dale’s exciting, nuanced performance wholly captures the story’s irrepressible humor and magic.”—Booklist
Why was Harry Potter and The Order Of The Phoenix by J K Rowling banned?
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, along with the rest of the Harry Potter series, has been attacked by several religious groups and banned in some countries because of accusations that the novels promote witchcraft. However, some Christian commentators have written that the book exemplifies important Christian viewpoints, including the power of self-sacrifice and the ways in which people’s decisions shape their personalities. Educators regard Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and its sequels as an important aid in improving literacy because of the books’ popularity.
In July 2002, the parents of a student in Cedarville, Arkansas, filed suit against the School Board’s decision to restrict access to the Harry Potter series. The Board’s decision limiting the availability of the book only to students who received parental clearance came in response to a parent’s complaint that Rowling’s books promoted witchcraft and defiance of authority.
If only we could wave a magic wand and educate parents and school boards about the First Amendment.
I borrowed this audio from my wonderful local library
Good morning! Coffee Cup and I are off to a good start today. After a really good weekend and a pretty decent Monday here we are back again.
So…. fact about me… I really like about three tv shows. Survivor, Biggest Loser and Amazing Race. I love the challenges, I love to see them succeed…. I love to cheer for my teams. SO… on Sunday evening Al and I sat down to watch the season premiere of Amazing Race. They had one challenge where the teams had to use a big sling shot with watermelons to knock over life-size suits of armor that were lined up in a field. It was a pretty cool challenge and this one team of two girls was really struggling. And well….. look for yourself:
Can you even believe how that happened? I was amazed that she didn’t break her nose or knock out some teeth. How she was able to go on from that was like….. “Whoa!” Unbelievable! Poor girl!
Anyway – had to share that with you.
In other news…. I hope you had a chance to check out my new sticky post. We are currently looking for Mini Challenge Hosts for the Dewey read A Thon and we would love to get some new people involved who haven’t hosted a mini challenge before. Check out the Read-A-Thon site for more information. Basically all you do is plan a giveaway around a little challenge. It can be to answer a question, do a little task….. whatever, then you offer a prize to your winner. It is a two-hour commitment and will drive traffic to your blogs. If you need any help thinking of a challenge let me know and I can try to assist you. Please consider being a mini-challenge host for the October 9th event.
Oh – I was also featured on Reading Minnesota yesterday promoting the Twin Cities Book Festival and Book Blogger meet up. If you have a second stop by and check that out.
And finally yes…. the “Banned Wagon” is still moving full steam ahead.
I am off to work and tonight I have kick ball (feel free to insert giggles here). Hope you have a fantastic day and moments of good reads! 😀
Book Journey 