Banned Book Week

It's banned book week, and David Brin (a famous Science-Fiction writer and one of my favs) posted this picture.

Which got me to thinking about these books. I've read six of them, and have been thinking about reading two of them for a few years now. (The remaining three don't interest me at all.) A random sampling of 11 books is unlikely to get such a high rate of completion, but a sample of banned books... well, they usually have something quite interesting to say. Something quite powerful. Not all of course and not for everyone of course, but they provoke. And that is almost always interesting.

Lolita is one of the most beautifully written books I have ever read, and oh, how I hate it. Being stuck in that pedophile's head for the duration of the book was dreadful and was only made worse by the beauty of the prose. I have such a visceral and enduring reaction to that book. And unbeknownst to me, I had brought into a country where it was contraband. About a quarter of the way through, I learned that I was reading a banned book in a country that had banned it. And the person who informed me that I was doing so was at the time a member of the country's military. I was truly reading a dangerous book.

To Kill a Mockingbird has always been a beloved book. When I read it as a child, I was struck by Boo Radley, mesmerized by him. As an adult, I was struck by how much more there was, how even though I was fully aware of race relations and the dangers inherent in this society, our society, it wasn't something that engaged me deeply as a child. I think that could be said for Scout as well. To have a book that remains beloved but can be engaged in on different levels at different times is precious.

So read banned books. Read them because you can, and not everyone can. Read them because they provoke, they challenge, and they linger.

Books of 2016- Installment #15

71. Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz
This is a beautiful Bildungsroman set in El Paso, Texas in 1987, which makes the main characters only a couple of years younger than me. 

72. Twenty Questions for Gloria by Martyn Bedford
Movies and novels tell stories in different ways. That's not a comment on which is better; it's just a statement of fact. Now this book was like a movie- a coming of age movie.

 














73. Catwings by Ursula Le Guin
This is a cute children's book about flying cats. I read it in honor of our new little one.

74. Dante's Inferno by Dante Alighieri translated by S. Fowler Wright
This epic poem would probably be easier to understand if you understood the political situation of 14th century Italy. Additionally, I question the quality of this translation. I spent half my time reading wikipedia just to understand what I had read, and on more than one occasion I said, "Wait? What? There was a ... in that canto?"

75. Green Island by Shawna Yang Ryan

This is a great book to read to learn about a horrible period in history and yet not feel like you're in a history lesson. It's so engaging and made me reflect on both my time in Taiwan and on history. Beautiful Taiwan! :)

 

Reading Challenge for 2016

This year back in January, I decided to do this reading challenge. Good news! I just finished!!! Overall, it was great! It made me read some books I never would have read (Catcher in the Rye, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and Dante's Inferno). And I'm so glad I read The Elegance of the Hedgehog! Such a good book!!

Books of 2016- Installment #14

66. I Almost Forgot about You by Terry McMillan
This is the story of an unhappy woman trying to find her way back to happiness. I wanted to love this book. For the bulk of the story I was sad, but it ended well. 

67. This Night So Dark by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner
This is technically a short story, but I loved the book prior to this one (These Broken Stars), so I had to read this!

 



 

 






68. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
This is a wonderful book about three sisters visiting their mother in Oakland for the first time in their lives. It doesn't go where I thought it would and it was a wonderful ride.

69. Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
This book is a sad one. It's about a family rocked by a death, but it digs deep. It's really well done, and honestly I don't think I've ever read a book about an American couple where the wife is a white woman and the husband is a Chinese man. It is not my marriage but it does mirror mine.

 




70. A Mango-Shaped Space by Wendy Mass
This is a really interesting book about synesthesia told from a child's perspective.

 

NetGalley (Goodreads) Book Tag

I am following this tag from If all were to go swimmingly…, a blog by a friend and writer! Check it out!

THE RULES

• Link back to the tag’s creator (Kourtni Reads)
• Thank and link back to the person who tagged you
• Answer the questions the best you can. If you don’t use NetGalley, you can substitute other sites or places where you get books!
• Tag a few people to do this too

Auto-Approved: Who’s one author whose books you automatically want to read, regardless of what they’re about?
 
Easy-peasy! Sherman Alexie. Damn I love him! Wait? One? Can I sneak in a second from my list? (Alice Hoffman)

Request: What makes you want to request a book that you see on Goodreads/NetGalley?

I find this a hard question. I pick books to read without knowing I've picked any. But I must pick them because I have a stack knee deep waiting to be read, and I've read 70 so far this year. My process is mysterious to myself, but I can say that the title usually grabs me first. Intrigues me. A smile across a room. The cover isn't as important, but it's in there. It's part of the appeal. What does the back of the book say? Even if it's online, it's got a "back" to tell me something. Online, I get to see what someone else said. Sometimes that intrigues me, sometimes it turns me off. I usually prefer to just read it's description. Earlier this year I attended a conference in Hawaii (I know so sad...) and the speakers (librarians!) suggested tweeting what you're reading to your students. Facebook, Instagram, anything to show them what you're reading. I've read close to a dozen student recommends since January when I started sharing what I was reading with my students. In fact one of the books currently out from the library is a student recommend, and a second is a recommend from a friend's daughter!

Title, cover, premise, recommendation... that's how I pick books...

Feedback Ratio: Do you review every book you read? If not, how do you decide what books to review?
 
I don't review any of the books I read. I do share them with my students, and I've started sharing the books with a quote from the book that grabbed me. This is easier when I'm reading on my Kindle... (I don't belong to NetGalley or Goodreads...)

Badges: If you could create your own badge to display on your blog, what would it be for?

Well, I haven't considered a badge before, but I did decide just last night that I was going to give an award to 5 books I read this year that moved me. That seem to be a part of my being now. Books that I can't let go of or rather books that can't let me go...

Wish for It: What’s one book that you are absolutely dying to read?

Well, the only reason for me to be dying to read a book is it's not out yet. I literally can't read it. So that would be the latest Harry Dresden book (Peace Talks). I love Jim Butcher's writing and I so love Harry!!!

I am very interested in the next Charley Davidson book ( Eleventh Grave in Moonlight by Darynda Jones) and This Shattered World (the next book in the Starbound Series by Amie Kaufman & Megan Spooner).

But if we are talking about books that don't exist... I'd looooooooove to read Sherman Alexie's sequel to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian told from Rowdy's perspective. Or... another story from Thomas Builds the Fire. I love his voice!!! "Hey, Victor!"

2016 Goodreads Challenge: What was the last book that you received as an ARC that you reviewed? If you’ve never received an ARC, what’s the last book you reviewed?

I can tell you the last book I read was Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng. And holy crap!!! It's AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Tagging (Feel free to ignore if you’re not interested):

You! If you want to do it.