It is banned book week, which means that everyone is talking about banned books, which means that I am going to blog about banned books. Mainly, when people talk about wanted to ban books, it is that they don't want kids to read certain books. Lots of challenges happen in middle and high school libraries and in teen sections of public libraries. I have been having an issues with writing intelligently about age appropriateness of books because I am having a hard time remembering what I read in middle school and high school. It sounds weird, but I can't remember how old I was when I read Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging. I think high school. I have no idea when I started reading The Cat Who Books (not that they have anything objectionable in them). So, I am going to do my best to remember what I read and then just go with what I think I would be comfortable reading now if I were in middle school/high school.
I had a tendency to read challenged books without even realizing that they were challenged. I read a whole ton of Caroline B. Cooney books, which got challenged a lot in the late 90s/early 2000s; I read Philip Pullman before there was any controversy about them; I read Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging books before most people had even heard of them; two of my favorite books as a kid were The Giver and Bridge to Terabithia. Apparently I turned out ok, even after reading such controversial books. As I got older, I continued reading "inappropriate" books, like Stephen King (what 13 year old doesn't want to read about a kid whose father goes crazy and tries to kill him with a roquet mallet?), Harry Potter, and many others throughout the years. I like controversy!
Books can be challenged for many reasons: bad language, violence, sex, anything gay, religion, magic stuff, politics, or the ever popular inappropriate to age group. The books that tend to make the least sense to ban are the religion/magic ones. Like Harry Potter. It gets challenged because it has witchcraft in it. But it is a fantasy book. And they are wizards casting spells; they aren't out sacrificing virgins and drinking chicken blood. I mean, really. Kids books have all sorts of fantasy things, like boys who can fly, fairies, magical pots of spaghetti, dragons, unicorns, etc. Fantasy is outside of our normal world, so our normal politics and religion don't really have any baring on the goings on. Bad Language or profanity gets used as a challenge a lot. A lot. And in books for middle school and high school kids. I can understand not wanting to have books with lots of swear words in it in an elementary school library. But by middle school? Have people met middle schoolers? We swore in middle school. Most people not a whole lot, but we knew the words and we would say them when adults weren't around. In high school...people swore a lot. It is just what you do at that age. Reading a book with a "naughty word" in it isn't going to scar kids. It is kind of the same argument for sex. By middle school, you know about sex. And yeah, at that stage, most kids are still at the "giggle awkwardly at the thought of it" stage, but it isn't like reading a book that discussing sex is going to be something new. And having "homosexuality" as a challenge. That is just stupid. Books challenged or banned because a character is gay. Really? Do we live in the 50s? So stupid.
People get so concerned about "protecting the children" that they want to keep kids from reading really good books. Or from reading really stupid books. Or from reading fun books. There are books now that are big time challenged that I have never read: Real Story of a Part-Time Indian, Speak, Crank. If I were a middle school kid right now I probably would't read them. The material just doesn't interest me. However, I would not have been offended if I had read them at that age. I was always so bored with the crap they made us read in middle school, I actually may have read them just for something exciting. High school was a little bit better in that we got to read some fun challenged books like Huck Finn, Invisible Man, Catcher in the Rye, Lord of the Flies, and the Sound and the Fury. I liked those books a lot more than most anything they had in the school library. There is nothing wrong with exposing high school students to things that are uncomfortable. Was I comfortable when we read sections of Huck Finn outloud? No. There are certain words used that are not in my vocabulary ever, but there was a point to it. We discussed why it was used in the book, why it wasn't used now, how we felt with the words said outloud. It was a learning opportunity. I think that is what people who ban books miss, that opporunity to teach their kids something.
A book that has a lot of swearing, talk with your kid about why it isn't ok for them to swear like that. A book with sex in it, talk to your kid about why you don't think sex at that age is appropriate. A book that has a different religious or political view, talk to your kid about what you believe, what they believe, and any questions that arise from a different opinion.
My parents let my sister and I read whatever we wanted. I read The Shining by Stephen King when I was 13. My sister read Gone with the Wind when she was pretty young (no idea exactly when). My parents knew what we read, encouraged us to talk to them if we had questions, but then pretty much just trusted us to know what was appropriate. Two final stories, when I was 16 or 17 I went on a church mission trip. The book I happened to be reading at the time was Carrie by Stephen King and I brought it along on the trip. I thought nothing of it. One of the adults on the trip with us talked to my mom after the trip to ask her if she was aware that I was reading a Stephen King book. I was old enough to drive and could get into R rated movies, but someone else's parent didn't know if it was ok for me to read Stephen King. And lastly, when I was a freshman in high school I had to read a book off of a recommended reading list. I chose Cold Sassy Tree (no idea why). When I went to check it out from the public library, with my mom standing right there, the librarian asked me if I knew that it was a rather mature book and asked my mom if it was alright for me to be reading that. That is where censorship comes from. A concern that something might be offensive. But it wasn't anyone's problem except for mine. No one else should be able to tell someone what they can or can't read. Everyone has a different read level, tolerance of offensive material, and perspective. We all just need to leave everyone else alone and just read what we want to.
Most banned book week posts encourage you to read a challenged book. I am not going to. I encourage you to read whatever the hell you feel like reading. If that is a banned book, great. If that is a completely non-offensive story, great. Just read what you want and tell everyone else to screw off.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Banned Book Week!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_ts3726
The absolute problem with book banning in general. The book in question is rated as 4th to 7th grade. The author has an issue with her fourth grader to read it. So she thinks that it should be banned from the school library. Yeah, see, that is the problem. She doesn't think her kid should read it, so she has decided that no 4th grader should read it. When I was in 4th grade I would have been plenty mature enough to read it. Many 4th graders can probably deal with a fleeting mention of strippers. If you don't want your kid to read it, that is fine. It is your choice. However, you don't get to tell every other kid that they can't read it either. Hence why book banning is bad.
**not the most impressive of writing, but it is timely since it is banned book week.**
The absolute problem with book banning in general. The book in question is rated as 4th to 7th grade. The author has an issue with her fourth grader to read it. So she thinks that it should be banned from the school library. Yeah, see, that is the problem. She doesn't think her kid should read it, so she has decided that no 4th grader should read it. When I was in 4th grade I would have been plenty mature enough to read it. Many 4th graders can probably deal with a fleeting mention of strippers. If you don't want your kid to read it, that is fine. It is your choice. However, you don't get to tell every other kid that they can't read it either. Hence why book banning is bad.
**not the most impressive of writing, but it is timely since it is banned book week.**
Monday, September 27, 2010
Book Review: Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
I finally read Hunger Games. I feel like I am one of the last people to jump on the bandwagon, at least around where I live. And I gotta say...what a fabulous bandwagon to get on. The short of the story: Katniss Everdeen lives in a dystopic future where 24 teens are chosen to participate in a fight to the death for food for their District. Katniss, from the poorest district, volunteers to take the place of her sister who was chosen. The other person chosen from her District is Peeta, the baker's son, who is the same age as Katniss.
There is a lot to the story, but I don't want to really get into too much of the plot because I found it pleasant to go into the books with no idea what was going to happen. However, I do have some thoughts on the book.
First of all, it reminded me a whole lot of The Running Man and The Long Walk, both by Stephen King. Reality tv type show, only one winner, forcing people to kill each other...pleasant things! For the most part, Hunger Games is fairly tame. It isn't really about the killings or the games so much as the story of a 16 year old girl.
Secondly, Katniss totally rocks. Like, hardcore. She is very kickass. She is a very strong female, capable of defending herself and others, though not ruthless in her game play. She cares deeply for her sister and does everything she can (whether illegally hunting or taking her place in the games) to protect her sister. Katniss has a drive to survive which cannot be beaten.
Next, I've read some comparisons between Hunger Games and Twilight, to which I call bullshit. Yes, Katniss has a few times where she has to be saved by a guy, but mostly, she protects others and is very proactive in her life. Katniss does not go along with anyone's plans without knowing the reason why and is willing to do what she has to for survive.
Last, there is a bit of a love story involved in the plot, but I think that the way Collins writes it, it feels natural, not forced, and driven by the plot instead of driving the plot. It is also manipulated by Katniss. Again, anything to survive.
Overall, I was very impressed with Hunger Games and am getting ready to start reading Catching Fire. Pretty much the only thing I didn't like was the ending of Hunger Games because it was a bit of a cliffhanger and I wanted more story (hence the necessity to read the sequal asap). I would highly suggest every read it, especially if you like actiony books that are an easy read, but still make you feel something. Also, I would recommend this to all teens, both male and female. It is first person by Katniss, but is still something I think teen boys would be able to enjoy (I may be wrong as I am not, nor was ever, a teen boy).
Also, if you want another opinion (with a bit more about the plot), read Stephen King's review on EW http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20223443,00.html. He sums everything up nicely. I think I liked it a bit more than him due to being closer to the teen girl demographic and not reading enough "literature" to be able to tell if a writing style is lazy.
There is a lot to the story, but I don't want to really get into too much of the plot because I found it pleasant to go into the books with no idea what was going to happen. However, I do have some thoughts on the book.
First of all, it reminded me a whole lot of The Running Man and The Long Walk, both by Stephen King. Reality tv type show, only one winner, forcing people to kill each other...pleasant things! For the most part, Hunger Games is fairly tame. It isn't really about the killings or the games so much as the story of a 16 year old girl.
Secondly, Katniss totally rocks. Like, hardcore. She is very kickass. She is a very strong female, capable of defending herself and others, though not ruthless in her game play. She cares deeply for her sister and does everything she can (whether illegally hunting or taking her place in the games) to protect her sister. Katniss has a drive to survive which cannot be beaten.
Next, I've read some comparisons between Hunger Games and Twilight, to which I call bullshit. Yes, Katniss has a few times where she has to be saved by a guy, but mostly, she protects others and is very proactive in her life. Katniss does not go along with anyone's plans without knowing the reason why and is willing to do what she has to for survive.
Last, there is a bit of a love story involved in the plot, but I think that the way Collins writes it, it feels natural, not forced, and driven by the plot instead of driving the plot. It is also manipulated by Katniss. Again, anything to survive.
Overall, I was very impressed with Hunger Games and am getting ready to start reading Catching Fire. Pretty much the only thing I didn't like was the ending of Hunger Games because it was a bit of a cliffhanger and I wanted more story (hence the necessity to read the sequal asap). I would highly suggest every read it, especially if you like actiony books that are an easy read, but still make you feel something. Also, I would recommend this to all teens, both male and female. It is first person by Katniss, but is still something I think teen boys would be able to enjoy (I may be wrong as I am not, nor was ever, a teen boy).
Also, if you want another opinion (with a bit more about the plot), read Stephen King's review on EW http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20223443,00.html. He sums everything up nicely. I think I liked it a bit more than him due to being closer to the teen girl demographic and not reading enough "literature" to be able to tell if a writing style is lazy.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Book Review: Aunt Dimity's Death by Nancy Atherton
I read the first few Aunt Dimity books when I was in high school and I remember really liking them, but then I never read more than about the first 4. So when I saw the first Aunt Dimity book at the library, I decided to reread it. And I really enjoyed it again. I remembered pretty much nothing about Aunt Dimity's Death from my first reading, so I was very into the book the whole time. Aunt Dimity's Death is a mystery book, though not a murder mystery. I usually don't care too much about mysteries that have no murder in them, but it really works for this book.
Now for plot synopsis...Lori, our main character, heard bedtime stories about Aunt Dimity from her mom, but never knew Aunt Dimity was a real person until she received a letter that Dimity Westwood had died. Lori is at a particularly low point in her life, which in some ways makes her very willing to follow out the crazy conditions of Dimity's will, which include moving to a cottage in the middle of nowhere England. Lori is accompanied by the son of the lawyer who is handling the estate. The son, Bill, is approximately Lori's age, but is much more cheerful than Lori and tries his best to fight through Lori's bad mood. For about the first half of the book, it is a pretty standard mystery, with lots of entertainment for the reader. About half way through the book, the ghost of Dimity makes an appearance. Cha! All of the sudden, the mystery book turns into a mystery paranormal! But in a way that really doesn't have you questioning that a ghost is a character in the story. It works and doesn't make the book seem any less real than before.
I really enjoyed the story and found myself really caring about the characters. While reading, I was trying to remember why I stopped reading the Aunt Dimity series and at the moment, I have no idea. I'm pretty sure my mom owns the whole series, so they must be consistently good. I think I'll chaulk it up to being in high school and therefore incredibly busy. I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, after reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman that I started a couple weeks ago, but got distracted from by Aunt Dimity. Maybe her ghost encouraged me to read her book again?
**Yeah...I really have been planning on blogging more, but what with Doctor Who (and now Torchwood), lovely weather, and Jenny coming to visit me, I haven't been. I will blog more soon. I promise!**
Now for plot synopsis...Lori, our main character, heard bedtime stories about Aunt Dimity from her mom, but never knew Aunt Dimity was a real person until she received a letter that Dimity Westwood had died. Lori is at a particularly low point in her life, which in some ways makes her very willing to follow out the crazy conditions of Dimity's will, which include moving to a cottage in the middle of nowhere England. Lori is accompanied by the son of the lawyer who is handling the estate. The son, Bill, is approximately Lori's age, but is much more cheerful than Lori and tries his best to fight through Lori's bad mood. For about the first half of the book, it is a pretty standard mystery, with lots of entertainment for the reader. About half way through the book, the ghost of Dimity makes an appearance. Cha! All of the sudden, the mystery book turns into a mystery paranormal! But in a way that really doesn't have you questioning that a ghost is a character in the story. It works and doesn't make the book seem any less real than before.
I really enjoyed the story and found myself really caring about the characters. While reading, I was trying to remember why I stopped reading the Aunt Dimity series and at the moment, I have no idea. I'm pretty sure my mom owns the whole series, so they must be consistently good. I think I'll chaulk it up to being in high school and therefore incredibly busy. I am really looking forward to reading the next book in the series, after reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman that I started a couple weeks ago, but got distracted from by Aunt Dimity. Maybe her ghost encouraged me to read her book again?
**Yeah...I really have been planning on blogging more, but what with Doctor Who (and now Torchwood), lovely weather, and Jenny coming to visit me, I haven't been. I will blog more soon. I promise!**
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
My Excuse for Low Numbers of Blogs...
I have an excuse for not blogging much recently. And it is a great reason. Really! I've been watching Doctor Who! I have watched an episode of Doctor Who here or there because Jenny loves it, but I had never really watched it and was kind of meh on the whole thing. A couple weeks ago, I saw that Torchwood was on Netflix and I really want to watch Torchwood. But you can't watch Torchwood without watching Doctor Who. And as I had borrowed Seasons 1-4 of Doctor Who from Jenny way back in April, I decided to start watching. And Holy Crap! Doctor Who is awesome! How have I not been watching this show for the past 5 years? Seriously!
Anyway, as a result of watching many episodes of Doctor Who and many Doctor Who episodes with commentary and special features about Doctor Who, I haven't been reading much and I haven't been blogging much. It is a decent excuse, right? If you watch Doctor Who, I'm sure you understand. And a benefit came out of watching it...I thought of a great blog topic!
TV/Movie Genres vs. Book Genres
I love watching Sci-Fi Movies and Tv shows. Doctor Who, Total Recall, Star Wars, Star Trek, Eureka, Eraser, Killer Clowns from Outerspace...if it has aliens/weird technology, I probably love it. But I don't read Sci-Fi. Or at least not much. I've read "We can remember it for you wholesale" by Philip K. Dick because I wanted to read the story Total Recall was based on. And I've read the Jumper series by Stephen Gould. And I have Douglas Adams. But besides that, I really don't read Sci-Fi ever. Now, I like fantasy books just fine. Dragons, alternate universes, time travel that falls more into fantasy than sci-fi...love it! Spaceships...no!
Now, on the opposite spectrum, I love anything mystery, whether book, tv, or movie. I started reading mysteries when I was in first or second grade. And I started watching Diagnosis Murder around that time too. And Dragnet. My current favorite shows are Bones, White Collar, Lie to Me, Eureka, Doctor Who, Covert Affairs. I like shows that are a mystery a week. I also enjoy medical dramas like House and Royal Pains where it is a mystery as to what the ailment is. And I love crazy movies that are essentially a murder mystery on screen. Mysteries...any format I love; Sci-fi...not so much.
Anyway, as a result of watching many episodes of Doctor Who and many Doctor Who episodes with commentary and special features about Doctor Who, I haven't been reading much and I haven't been blogging much. It is a decent excuse, right? If you watch Doctor Who, I'm sure you understand. And a benefit came out of watching it...I thought of a great blog topic!
TV/Movie Genres vs. Book Genres
I love watching Sci-Fi Movies and Tv shows. Doctor Who, Total Recall, Star Wars, Star Trek, Eureka, Eraser, Killer Clowns from Outerspace...if it has aliens/weird technology, I probably love it. But I don't read Sci-Fi. Or at least not much. I've read "We can remember it for you wholesale" by Philip K. Dick because I wanted to read the story Total Recall was based on. And I've read the Jumper series by Stephen Gould. And I have Douglas Adams. But besides that, I really don't read Sci-Fi ever. Now, I like fantasy books just fine. Dragons, alternate universes, time travel that falls more into fantasy than sci-fi...love it! Spaceships...no!
Now, on the opposite spectrum, I love anything mystery, whether book, tv, or movie. I started reading mysteries when I was in first or second grade. And I started watching Diagnosis Murder around that time too. And Dragnet. My current favorite shows are Bones, White Collar, Lie to Me, Eureka, Doctor Who, Covert Affairs. I like shows that are a mystery a week. I also enjoy medical dramas like House and Royal Pains where it is a mystery as to what the ailment is. And I love crazy movies that are essentially a murder mystery on screen. Mysteries...any format I love; Sci-fi...not so much.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Would you judge your date by his book's cover?
Apparently, a bookstore in Brooklyn has a new dating service - matchmaking based on your book preferences.
Apparently, Word Bookstore has a corkboard where people can post their favorite books and contact information in an attempt to find a hot date.
Cute, right? I would have been all over that when I was a swingin' single nerd lookin' for love. Sometimes, finding out peoples' favorite books can tell you a lot about them.
But I can also see this being an invitation to total douchebaggery. Some people will judge you on the books you love, and if there's even one "wrong" book or writer on your list, they will reject you, and that's just lame. It's the same as rejecting somebody immediately because they like to listen to ABBA or watch "Survivor."
If my husband and I judged each other on our book tastes exclusively, we probably wouldn't have ended up together. Although we have encouraged each other to read some of our favorites (I read a "Star Wars" novel; he FINALLY read "Harry Potter"), our tastes in books really don't overlap that much ... and that's OK. A relationship would get boring if you and your significant other liked all the same things.
Spending time with somebody with different tastes than you (in anything, not just books) also expands your horizons. There are things I never would have experienced and ideas I never would have considered if I would have married a clone of myself, with all the same tastes.
I'm not saying that a book isn't a great way to start a conversation that could lead to friendship or a romantic relationship, and I love that people are using books to find other people. But if you do, don't let differences of taste on something like books come between you and an interesting person. The truth is, the books can be a great conversation starter, and a great thing to talk about over dinner or on a long car ride for years to come.
What do you think? Do you judge a person by the book he or she is reading? Is this a good way to pick up a date?
Apparently, Word Bookstore has a corkboard where people can post their favorite books and contact information in an attempt to find a hot date.
Cute, right? I would have been all over that when I was a swingin' single nerd lookin' for love. Sometimes, finding out peoples' favorite books can tell you a lot about them.
But I can also see this being an invitation to total douchebaggery. Some people will judge you on the books you love, and if there's even one "wrong" book or writer on your list, they will reject you, and that's just lame. It's the same as rejecting somebody immediately because they like to listen to ABBA or watch "Survivor."
If my husband and I judged each other on our book tastes exclusively, we probably wouldn't have ended up together. Although we have encouraged each other to read some of our favorites (I read a "Star Wars" novel; he FINALLY read "Harry Potter"), our tastes in books really don't overlap that much ... and that's OK. A relationship would get boring if you and your significant other liked all the same things.
Spending time with somebody with different tastes than you (in anything, not just books) also expands your horizons. There are things I never would have experienced and ideas I never would have considered if I would have married a clone of myself, with all the same tastes.
I'm not saying that a book isn't a great way to start a conversation that could lead to friendship or a romantic relationship, and I love that people are using books to find other people. But if you do, don't let differences of taste on something like books come between you and an interesting person. The truth is, the books can be a great conversation starter, and a great thing to talk about over dinner or on a long car ride for years to come.
What do you think? Do you judge a person by the book he or she is reading? Is this a good way to pick up a date?
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