Oh my goodness. I inhaled this book in just a few hours and it left me with so much joy for George, I was almost in tears. George is afraid to tell anyone that she’s really a girl. What will they think? But as she slowly starts to share her secret, she finds so much love and acceptance. The road isn’t perfectly smooth—that would [...]
This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt at That Artsy Reader Girl is "Favorite Book Quotes." Now, I love some good book quotes. Back home, I have journals filled with them, now I have some saved on my computer, and I have a lot on GoodReads too. But this is Banned Books Week and I try to focus exclusively on that every year. I'm going to post my Top Ten Favorite Banned Books. I'll probably circle back to the real prompt at another time. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein was a perennial favorite of both my sister and me. We re-read these poems often, but we still giggled every time we read them. The National Coalition Against Censorship says this collection of poems was banned because it "glorified Satan, suicide and cannibalism, and also encouraged children to be disobedient.” Ummm.... Did we read the same book? I can sort of see the "disobedient" thing but my sister and I both knew those poems were just funny fantasies. We would never have dropped dishes on the floor, for example. But it was fun to dream about doing it! Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowry--I can't say that I remember any particulars about these books but I clearly remember searching for them every week at the library. According to Banned Library, it's been banned because of "a vulgarity for human waste, as well as the use of a slang term for sex." Well, that didn't scar me, obviously, because I don't remember any of that. I was remarkably sheltered as a child but even I heard my dad drop the occasional "S-word." I can only conclude that some people need more important things to occupy their time. The Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling--I'm well aware of the J.…
Marlon Bundo is the BOTUS, the Bunny of the United States. He lives a lonely life in a big, boring house until one day he meets Wesley, the most bunny-beautiful rabbit in the garden. It’s love at first sight. They decide they want to get married and hop together forever. But the Stink Bug tells them that boy bunnies can only marry girl bunnies. What can they do? [...]
It's time for Banned Books Week 2020! This is the reading community's annual campaign to bring awareness to the problems of book banning and censorship. I normally plan a full week of reviews and posts but it snuck up on me this year. As I write this, I have a review of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey (banned for "pornography," violence, and "human elimination") scheduled for Wednesday but that's all for now. I'm going to try to read and review at least one other banned book this week because this is an important topic to me. I just looked up the top 10 most frequently challenged books for 2019. There's one recurrent theme in the complaints: LGBTQIA+ content. Seriously. Individuals challenged eight of the ten titles for this reason. The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood (challenged because of "vulgarity and sexual overtones") and the Harry Potter series (challenged because of its magic content) round out the catalog. (I find the top ten list a bit ironic this year given the controversy surrounding J. K. Rowling) *Please note I've done my best to use correct terminology and phrasing below. If I've made any offensive errors, please let me know (nicely) in the comments or my contact form and I will correct them as soon as possible. Some of my loved ones are part of the LGBTQIA+ community. I love them wholeheartedly as they are and it makes me happy to see them happy. Some of them knew they didn't fit the mold expected of them at very early ages but they didn't have the words to express how they felt or they were afraid to come out to their families. Imagine how empowering it would have been for them to read books about characters and people who…
Welcome to my weekly update for September 27, 2020! The rain has continued this week here in Portland, Oregon so that means the smoke has stayed away. Yay! According to the fire map I check, the Riverside fire, which is the one closest to where we are, is at 138,000 acres burned and 34% contained. Considering that it was 0% contained about 10 days ago, I think that's great progress. I'm so thankful to the firefighters and their families! We haven't been hiking just because we aren't sure about closures and which areas might be smoky. We did venture out to the North American Bigfoot Center on Wednesday and that was fun. I wrote a bit about it at the end of a review I scheduled for next week. Banned Books Week: One part of my brain did know that this is Banned Books Week and I even read one banned book and scheduled a review for Wednesday. That part of my brain did not otherwise communicate well with the part of my brain that chooses my next books so that's as far as I got. In past years, I've scheduled banned book reviews for the entire week! Oh well. My mental state is not conducive to reading banned books and their often-difficult topics this year anyway. I'll try to do better next year. Posted: Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary--5 Stars--I personally felt that this book has held up well over the years. The children's freedom to wander unattended felt unrealistic for these times, but otherwise Beezus's relationship with Ramona is one that will resonate with a lot of siblings. It was especially fun to re-read this after I went on my Beverly Cleary Walking Tour of Portland a month or so ago. Fable by Adrienne Young--4 Stars--I ripped…
This was exactly the kind of book that I needed right now. It was fast-paced with characters I liked who acted in ways that largely made sense to me. Fable is a survivor who will do a lot of things to get by but she does have her own set of morals. She has a bit of the hopeful optimist about her. Most people would hate the...
I’m 42 as I write this so it’s been 30 - 35 years since I read any of Beverly Cleary’s books. I always enjoyed them as a child, and can clearly picture exactly where they were on my local library’s shelves. I called it a good library day when I found a new one. Who am I kidding? Every library visit was a good library day, but...
This week's Top Ten Tuesday prompt at That Artsy Reader Girl is Books On My Fall 2020 TBR. I'm not that organized; I just read whatever looks good when it's time to choose a new one. So I decided to list the Top Ten Books I Read in Elementary School. Beverly Cleary has been on my mind lately because she lived in Portland, Oregon, where I am now. I posted a walking tour of sites from her life and books last week and have a review of Beezus and Ramona scheduled for tomorrow, so this seemed like good timing. I'm going to date myself with this list! I'm currently 42 so I was reading these in the mid- to late-80s. A few may creep into middle school territory. I tried to choose the covers I remember for the sheer nostalgia of it. Anastasia Krupnik by Lois Lowry--I remember checking for more books in this series every week at my local library. Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace--I remember checking this series out from my elementary school library. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein--My sister and I owned all of Mr. Silverstein's poetry. Somehow, I think she got all of those books when I moved out. Hmmmm.... The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis--Who doesn't love Narnia? Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery--Ask what my favorite book is and odds are, this will be the first book I list. Little Men by Louisa May Alcott--I have never cared for Little Women. I'm not even sure if I've ever finished it. I know I got to Beth's scene. You know the one. I don't think I've ever made it much past that point. I got Little Men in one of those book fair grab bags…
Welcome to my weekly update for September 20, 2020! We finally got rain in Portland on Friday! Woohoo! Air quality has improved a lot. We've still got an air quality warning in place as I write this but our numbers on the Weather Channel app have dropped from 535 on Tuesday (I think that was the day I took the screenshot) to 32 [...]
I wanted to like this. The concept is strong and I couldn’t help comparing it to The Night Circus, another book I wanted to love. But there was way too much description, infinitely too many unanswered questions, and too little actual plot to please me. This is author Janella Angeles’s debut novel and unfortunately, it shows. She...