Banned Books Week take two!
For those of you who checked out this week’s earlier post on this book loving celebration of our freedom to read, this quiz should be easy! (For those of you who somehow missed it, click here and check out 2014’s Most Challenged Books and the Most Challenged Classics.)
How much do you know about banned and challenged books?
Censorship is wrong. Period.
If a person doesn’t like something in a book, than THEY don’t have to read it. But they have no right to restrict another person’s access to information and ideas.
Banned Books Week (September 27−October 3, 2015) is an annual event celebrating open access to information and the freedom to read. During Banned Books Week, the entire book community— librarians, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types—join in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas, even those some may consider unorthodox or unpopular. (Those are usually the best ones!)
“Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions.
It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.”
-Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas
We all have the freedom to choose what we read and the freedom to express our opinions even if that opinion might be considered risque, or dare I say wrong. Want to learn about history? Read about it, even the dirty little subversive parts. Schoolbooks often gloss over our “glorious” past and humans have been known to be a nasty, blood-thirsty race. Those who don’t learn about all parts of our history are doomed to repeat it. (Sorry, I’ll get down off my pulpit. Oh, wait, I have the freedom of speech and this is my blog, so I can write whatever I want.)
Banned Books Week often makes me think of a button I pinned to my backpack in college days:
So why do people “challenge” books, and try to keep others from reading them? Often challenges are motivated by a “desire to protect children from “inappropriate” sexual content or “offensive” language”. Sorry, but as a parent, you can decide what your kids read, but not mine.
According to the Office of Intellectual Freedom, the top three reasons reported for challenging books:
By whose standards and authority?
Certainly not the First Amendment.
“If there is a bedrock principle underlying the First Amendment,
it is that the government may not prohibit the expression of an idea simply
because society finds the idea itself offensive or disagreeable.”
-Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., Texas v. Johnson
Below is the ALA’s list of the top ten challenged books last year. It’s a bizarre mix of children’s picture books, graphic novels, and powerful novels that will make you laugh, cry, and, heaven forbid, THINK.
And you know what I find pee-in-your-pants funny? None of the graphic and sexually explicit best-sellers of the last few years (hello Fifty Shades!) are on the list. Ahem. I guess if you’re reading it under the covers, it’s okay, bondage and all. No double-standards around here.
Anyway, check these horribly inappropriate books your library. Buy them at your local bookstore or even Amazon. Tell those closed-minded tight-asses that they will not take away your rights just because a passage in a book may conflict their beliefs.
Heartbreaking, funny, and beautifully written, this book chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he was destined to live. Reasons: anti-family, cultural insensitivity, drugs/alcohol/smoking, gambling, offensive language, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group, violence. Additional reasons: “depictions of bullying”
Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s powerful memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Reasons: gambling, offensive language, political viewpoint. Additional reasons: “politically, racially, and socially offensive,” “graphic depictions #1 Best Seller n Literary Graphic Novels
The heartwarming true story of two penguins who create a nontraditional family. (Narrated by award-winning actor Neil Patrick Harris in this book and CD package!) Reasons: Anti-family, homosexuality, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “promotes the homosexual agenda”
A powerful examination of our obsession with beauty and conformity, Toni Morrison’s virtuosic first novel asks powerful questions about race, class, and gender with the subtlety and grace that have always characterized her writing. Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “contains controversial issues”
For two decades, this universally acclaimed book on sexuality has been the most trusted and accessible resource for kids, parents, teachers, librarians, and anyone else who cares about the well-being of tweens and teens. Reasons: Nudity, sex education, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group. Additional reasons: “alleges it child pornography”
Winner of the 2013 Hugo award for Best Graphic Story. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. Reasons: Anti-Family, nudity, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
The unforgettable, heartbreaking story of the unlikely friendship between a wealthy boy and the son of his father’s servant, this beautifully crafted novel is set in a country in the process of being destroyed. It is about the power of reading, the price of betrayal, and the possibility of redemption; and an exploration of the power of fathers over sons—their love, their sacrifices, their lies. Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited to age group, violence
One of my recently read favorites, this cult-favorite coming of age story takes a sometimes heartbreaking, often hysterical, and always honest look at high school in all its agonizing glory. Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, homosexuality, offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group. Additional reasons: “date rape and masturbation”
9) A Stolen Life: A Memoir
Kidnapped at age eleven and held captive for eighteen years, Jaycee tells her story in an unblinking and harrowing narrative. Reasons: drugs/alcohol/smoking, offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group
When drama and romance—both onstage and off—cause problems, middle schooler Callie finds that set design may be the easiest part of putting on a play. – Reasons: sexually explicit
Check out this cool infographic provided by the American Library Association. (And visit their website for tons of Banned Book Week information and goodies.)
And just for fun, here’s another ALA list of subversive and inappropriate books (according to some schmucks, not the ALA). According to the Office for Intellectual Freedom, at least 46 of the Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century have been the target of ban attempts. (Those omitted have not been officially challenged.) Find the ridiculous reasons here.
How many have you read?
1. The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald
2. The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
3. The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
5. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses, by James Joyce
7. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
8. The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
9. 1984, by George Orwell
11. Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
15. Catch-22, by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
17. Animal Farm, by George Orwell
18. The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell
27. Native Son, by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin
38. All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren
40. The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien
45. The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
48. Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence
49. A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening, by Kate Chopin
53. In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote
55. The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie
57. Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron
64. Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence
66. Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace, by John Knowles
73. Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence
80. The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer
84. Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller
88. An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser
97. Rabbit, Run, by John Updike
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This time last year I sat at my laptop pondering my costume options. It was my first year working at the library on Halloween, and I was finally given the go-ahead to dress up like I haven’t done in eons.
But what to wear?
I love books. I love writing. And it had to be work-appropriate. (None of those NSFW hooker costumes for me, thanks.) Who better to be than a BOOK FAIRY? I imagined myself fluttering between the stacks sprinkling fairy dust, bestowing books upon grateful patrons. (Okay, so maybe I snorted some of that fairy dust by accident.)
A Book Fairy I’d be. But how?
I scanned Pinterest and found a few examples Book Fairies, Library Fairies, and a cute Diction-fairy. Perfect. Now how to make the wings?
I rang a bell, but nothing happened. (Oh wait, that’s an angel gets her wings…) No magic would help me. I had to murder a book. Mea culpa.
I Instagrammed this pic while doing the dirty deed:
And my book loving friends and followers united in their animosity.
But seriously, this was a donated book past its prime. It had lived a good life. And I like to think of it as recycling. Upcycling. Okay, I still felt an itty bitty bit guilty ripping the pages from the spine, but it had to be done. It wasn’t like boiling a live lobster.
The repressed Crafty-Girl in me had a blast designing the wings, cutting out favorite fairy tale passages to highlight, and making everything sparkle. Figuring out how to attach the wings AND make the straps adjustable for comfort—well, that straddled the line between mystery and adventure, but I figured out how to get my Happily Ever After. You can always cobble your own set of wings together with a nose twitch, duct tape, and shoelaces, but the method below worked for me.
(Please pardon the dorky pics. My hubby snapped a few photos before I ran to work, and of course, I was too shy to pose at the library!)
Supplies:
)
or small screwdriver (to make hole in book cover)Instructions:
1. Carefully rip the pages from the book binding. (Mutter apologies and try not to cry.) Set aside.
2. Draw wing template. I freehand drew mine—it doesn’t have to be perfect! Start by placing the book on one sheet of poster board. Decide what wing shape you want (I went for butterfly) and in pencil, draw an outline of the wing. Make it as tall as the poster board, so you have plenty of wingspan, and make sure the inside edges are smaller than the height of the book.
3. Like your wing design? Good. Cut it out. Use it as a template to cut out your other wing.
4. Rip or cut up your book pages. Creativity level is up to you. If you’re using a special book, maybe you’ll want to have favorite paragraphs or lines highlighted on your wings. If you’re using a book with small print, it might not make a difference. You can have rough edges, cut pages into scale or feather shapes—go crazy. If you’re in a rush—who cares—just get those pages ready to glue. (Since I had a large print book of fairy tales and I am a total dork, I artfully tore favorite passages from stories such as The Velveteen Rabbit, Peter Pan, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, etc. You don’t have to go through nearly as much trouble.)
5. In a small bowl, pour glue. Add a tiny bit of water to make it easier to spread. (No more than 3 parts glue to 1 part water). Now, using the sponge brush, coat each book page and glue it to the wings–front and back. It’s like decoupage. You can be as creative as you’d like. Once both sides are covered, let your wings dry for several hours or overnight. (They’ll harden, yet still rema
in slightly flexible when dry).
6. Meanwhile… Using your awl or something sharp and pointy, punch four holes in the back of your book cover. Make sure holes go all the way through the back cover only.
7. Have dry wings? Good. Hold them up to the holes you made in the book cover, mark the holes, then punch holes in your wings about 1 inch from the inner edge. (Hole punch does this nicely.) Strengthen the wing holes using reinforcement labels and/or tape.
8. Cut about 1.5 yards of ribbon for each wing. (My wing holes were 7 inches apart. If you have a taller book, you’ll need more.) NOW PAY ATTENTION: the tricky part is coming up! With the inside of the book cover facing you (wings outside), thread about 1 foot of ribbon through the top hole, leaving it dangling outside. (This will be one of your adjustable ties.) Thread the rest through the inside bottom hole. Make a large loop on the outside of your wings (I used 2 feet) and thread it into the top (outside) hole (where you have that 1 foot of ribbon dangling). This will be your arm strap. Still with me? Pull ribbon somewhat snugly inside (but leaving that 2 foot loop outside) and thread end again through bottom hole.
It should now look like this:
INSIDE with two loops
OUTSIDE—two strings to pull to adjust the length of the big loop, a.k.a. shoulder strap
Got that? The purpose of all these loops is to make the shoulder straps adjustable. We’re all different sizes, and if you’re like me and wearing these babies all day, you want to be comfortable.
Now, Tie the strings in a pretty bow (yes, it can be ugly or pathetic—it won’t really show) and test out your wing sizing. Doesn’t have to be perfect, just close.
{NOTE: If your craft-cussing, spatially-challenged hands are a-flapping right now because this seems WAY too complicated, relax. You can always pick your strap size, thread each end into a hole, then tie a nice granny knot and be done with it.}
Yes, the book cover will be flapping open. We’ll take care of that next.
9. GLUE. Glue the covers together. Use good craft glue if you have it. Depending on the inside cover paper type, hot glue may or may not work. (My paper was glossy, so the hot glue didn’t hold.) Make sure no glue goes near your ribbon straps–we want this part to remain adjustable, remember, so limit your glue to around the edges. Now is also a great time to glue your wings to the cover of the book. I used heavy duty craft glue and clear packing tape to secure them.
Let it all dry.
10. Do a final wing sizing. Figure out the rest of your costume. Literary-themed dress or skirt? Fairy-like gossamer gown? Vintage dress? (I found the dress I’m wearing at a Salvation Army back in college. Think it was a homemade 1970s bridesmaid dress!) Funky steampunk leather and tights? The options and themes are endless!!!!
You can dress up your wings with glitter or rhinestones, as well. I had bought some metallic gold hairspray, but after reading the warning labels, decided it would destroy/incinerate/permanently discolor my hair. So I sprayed it on my wings, adding a delightful golden patina to the pages. It doesn’t show well in photos, but the subtle sparkle is absolutely perfect!
I added a tiara studded with aqua Book Page Roses—love!
I updated a gold leaf crown from an old Greek goddess costume, adding homemade blue book flower roses. Wish I’d had one of these for my wedding!
An extra Book Page Rose turned into a delicate pendent.
And this cheesy wand I made in less than two minutes.
Have fun! Make it magical! And spread your book love on Halloween!
BOOK NERDS—er, FAIRIES—UNITE!
*cue dramatic music*
The scene: It was a quiet Sunday afternoon in the Sunshine State.
Moments before the library doors opened to the public,
I strolled up to our customer service desk.
I felt eyes crawling over me. Huge, glassy eyes. Upon the wall hung this dead pop star:
Yes, it’s Michael Jackson.
Any yes, he’s made entirely of candy.
For once, words fled me. I wasn’t quite sure if I should be amazed or horrified.
I’m still not sure.
My fellow staff members and I used our keen investigative skills to deduce which sweet treats made up this oh so unique piece. While the peppermint background appeared obvious and it wasn’t hard to conclude his hair and suit involved various brands of licorice, figuring out his skin tone was far trickier. After a close examination, we decided that M.J.’s skin was comprised of a mixture of chemicals most closely resembling —gummie bears. Who imagined the legend would end up as sugar and spice and everything nice instead of Botox and silicone? 
We discovered Candy Michael Jackson wasn’t the only unique artwork installed that day.
To his left hangs:
Yes, that is a tarantula.
And yes, that is a Spiderman scene painted on its cephalothorax.
Did it escape from the Neverland Ranch? Honestly, this dude creeps me out. But it led me to wonder what inspires an artist to paint in miniature on a arthropod corpse? How close must you get to create such details? Do you use a magnifying glass? Force you face to hover over its hairy dead legs for hours?
And where, for the love of God, did these pieces of art come from?
I noticed an oversized portrait gazing at me from across the building. Over the bowed heads of patrons busily filling out job applications and playing Candy Crush, the dearly missed master of comedy Robin Williams stared soulfully back at me. At first, I believed the melancholy portrait to be a normal oil paninting, but we know nothing about Robin Williams was ever normal.
(And I mean this in an awesomely amazing and reverent way.)
For this Robin Williams was painted entirely with…TOOTHPASTE.
But this work was signed! I had a clue to the mysterious origins of these pieces.
The artist is Cristiam Ramos, and he holds the World Record for the creation of the sculpture of a full size motorcycle made more than 20,000 candies. Who knew?
Next time we will explore the world of miniatures painted on dead butterflies:
The Mona Lisa, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, and even The Last Supper.
I MUST remember to take my camera back to work.
If you work in library land, this year’s SRP theme Every Hero Has a Story has you living and breathing superheroes. (For those not invested in the library world, SRP is the call sign for SUMMER READING PROGRAM: the 2 1/2 month stretch when you’re inundated with thousands of bored kids who will trash your shelves, leave Cheez Doodle presents on the floor, and make you dedicate your life to constant children’s programing.) It’s something amazing to be a part of…especially when it’s almost finished.
SRP also means themed displays, and my coworkers stepped up to the challenge. As we slide into the final stretch of summer, I thought I’d share some super-powered sticky note displays they created. They’re bold, attention-grabbing, and pretty darn cool— fun for a library, classroom, or even a superhero themed party.
These guys were a hit with the library patrons. Lesson learned though: make sure you wash the walls before you start your design. Sticky notes don’t like years of dust coating the walls.
If you’d like to see a better pictures that can be used as a template, check out this superhero-themed office on Gzimodo. Thanks for the idea!
Since it’s July 1st, and I’m heading off to camp!
Actually, I’m retreating into my home office (a.k.a. writing cave) to bravely attempt to make some damn progress on book #2. ::GULP::
For those of you who think Camp NanNoWriMo still sounds like a quaint summer camp in the Adirondacks (they all have Native American sounding names, don’t they?) here’s the official rundown:
“National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is a fun, seat-of-your-pants approach to creative writing. Participants work toward the goal of writing a 50,000-word draft during the month of November. Valuing enthusiasm, determination, and a deadline, NaNoWriMo is for anyone who has ever thought fleetingly about writing a novel.
Camp NaNoWriMo is a more open-ended version of our original November event. We have Camp sessions in both April and July, and we welcome word-count goals between 10,000 and 1,000,000. In addition, writers may attempt non-novel projects. Camp is a creative retreat for whatever you’re working on!”
So yay! I have my cabin assignment, and I’m “bunking” with ten other enthusiastic writers.
Did I mention I’m terrified? Yeah, I may not have to worry about scorpions in my sleeping bag or being carried off by a swarm of mosquitoes, but I have to write. Real words that flow—576 of them per day to meet my goal. That might not seem like many, but my muse has been quite bitchy lately, and she might also be suffering from a slight case of bi-polar disorder.
And I can’t get homesick. I don’t have the luxury of hiding away in the woods from real life. So what if summer is the busiest time of year in my real job? Yesterday, I ran a library program for 84 people (including 69 antsy KIDS) all by myself. Can you say managed chaos? It went very well, thank you, but work is keeping me on my toes—quite literally.
And then this month is full of holidays, birthdays, and much-needed family days at the beach or springs. Because, well, I have a real life. And a family I enjoy spending time with (although the kiddo starts middle school in August, so I don’t how how much longer he’ll tolerate spending time with me).
I know...yadda, yadda, yadda… Time to get over the lame excuses and park my butt in the chair. I must focus like a yoga guru. Or Yoda.
Time to allow myself to write a shitty first draft. No more going back over and over the same chapter because it’s just not right. Save the edits for later. Get the story down.
Time to follow the words of Nora Roberts, who just may know what the hell she’s talking about:
Here we go, campers…now I wonder if I can count this as 455 words towards today’s goal?
I’m sorry, I’m late, for a very important book date! ::drum roll please:: I’d like to introduce you to Patti Callahan Henry’s latest release THE IDEA OF LOVE.
The Bo
“As we like to say in the south, ‘Don’t let the truth get in the way of a good story.’”
Blake is a Nicholas Sparks-esque screenwriter lacking inspiration in the wake of his divorce. He’s desperately in search of a love story beautiful enough to translate into big screen success. Disguising himself as a travel writer, he treks down the east coast to sleepy southern Watersend in search of a love story he can borrow. When he speaks with the young and beautiful Ella Flynn, he’s convinced he has his screenplay: Ella’s beloved husband died in a tragic sailing accident while trying save her life. It’s the perfect love story for his audiences…and it’s also a lie.
Reeling from the shock of her very much alive husband’s affair, Ella is lost. When she speaks to Blake and dismisses him as a stranger she’ll never see again, she creates the life she wants and paints herself as a successful wedding dress designer recovering from her saintly husband’s sacrificial death.
In Ella, Blake finds the perfect love story, full of longing and sacrifice. It’s the stuff of epic films. In Blake, Ella finds possibility. It’s an opportunity to live out a fantasy – the life she wishes she had because hers is too painful. And more real. Besides, what’s a little white lie between strangers? But one lie leads to another, and soon Blake and Ella find themselves caught in a web of deceit. As they try to untangle their lies and reclaim their own lives, they feel something stronger is keeping them together. And so they wonder: can two people come together for all the wrong reasons and still make it right?
Read an excerpt of here.
The Author:
Patti Callahan Henry is a New York Times bestselling storyteller of eleven books, including The Stories We Tell, Between the Tides, and Driftwood Summer. Patti lives in Mountain Brook, Alabama with her husband and three children, where she is crafting her next story.
Follow Patti on social media— and be part of the
virtual celebration of THE IDEA OF LOVE:
Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Goodreads | Pinterest
The Good Stuff:
This is a short, sweet summer read that’s perfect to toss in your beach bag for a relaxing day of escapism. I read the whole book in a single afternoon while lazing on a pool float. Since both characters are lying to each other and themselves, it took a few pages to get to discover the “real” characters and bond with them, but don’t worry, you will. And Mimi, Ella’s neighbor, will leave you wishing you had a wise, old, ex-bookselling, poundcake-pushing neighbor yourself.
If you live in the southeast, check out Patti’s book tour dates here. If I wasn’t so busy at the library, I’d drive over to the coast for one of her Florida dates this week. Having met her before, I’ll tell you she’s an absolute delight, and if you live by one of the bookstores hosting her tour, don’t miss her! (Plus who doesn’t love a freshly signed book?)
The Details:
The Idea of Love
by Patti Callahan Henry
St. Martin’s Press
Hardcover / 256 pages
Pub date: June 23, 2015
Librarians love to talk about books. LOVE. You’d think we do that all day long, but for some of us, chatting with patrons about books is a rare and cherished perk of the job.
So what happens when you ask an active Facebook group of librarians about the books that have changed their lives?
You get answers. A mind-blowing amount of suggestions, both fiction and nonfiction.
Some of these profound books I’ve read, others are on my never ending TBR list, and at least a dozen I’ve never even heard of and I must discover.
This list’s utter lack of organization is made up for by its richness and diversity. Sorry kids, but I didn’t have time to catalog by Dewey today. This compilation was copied/pasted straight from Facebook, so please forgive duplicates.
The results (in no particular order):
Night by Elie Weisel
The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston
Bury My Heart at Wounded Kneeby Dee Brown
The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis
The Stand by Stephen King
Tam Lin by Pamela Dean
The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism by Naoki Higashida
The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
Grace in the Wilderness by Aranka Siegel
Winnie the Pooh, The stories of Beatrix Potter, Saint Maybe, Jacob Have I Loved, Beloved, No God But God, A Fine Balance, Wuthering Heights, Zealot, The Art of Loving, Reading Lolita in Tehran
Leaves of Grass be Walt Whitman
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Nausea by Sartre
The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoyevsky,
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
The Dark Is Rising
Just Above My Head
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
Wind in the Door by Madeline L’Engle
Les Miserables (Victor Hugo), Julian (Gore Vidal) The Truth About Stories (Thomas King), Archive Fever (Jacques Derrida)
Time Enough For Love by Heinlein
Jenny and the Jaws of Life by Jincy Willet
The Likeness by Tana French
Waiting by Ha Jin
The Dance of the Dissident Daughter by Sue Monk Kidd
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
Little, Big by John Crowley
Sandman by Neil Gaiman
The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
Dandelion Wine and Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
From the Teeth of Angels and A Child Across the Sky by Jonathan Carroll
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
The poetry of Pablo Neruda
the entire Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb
Why Women Want by Caroline Knapp. Also Art and Fear by David Bayles, Bodies Out of Bounds: Fatness and Transgression by Jana Evans Braziel, and The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori
Also Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The short stories of Jonathan Carroll
Black Boy, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
The Immigrant Series by Howard Fast, Love Story by Erich Segal, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep by Joyce Dunbar
Catcher in the Rye
Dandelion Wine & Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury
Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
Cloud Atlas
The Teacher Who Couldn’t Read
A Field of Buttercups by Joseph Hyams
Little Women
Blue Highways by William Least Heat Moon
Travels with Charley by John Steinbeck
Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath
Stone Fox
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock
The Ethics of Ambiguity by Simone de Beauvoir
Ahab’s Wife by Sena Jeter Naslund
The Godfather by Mario Puzo
The Outsider, Albert Camus. Heart of Darkness – Joseph Conrad. And a YA novel about schizophrenia called Meeting Rozzy Halfway, by Caroline Leavitt
Things Fall Apart; Siddhartha; The Stranger; Me Talk Pretty One Day
The Horsemasters by Don Stanford
Anthem by Ayn Rand
The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoyevsky)
The Diversity of Life (E. O. Wilson)
Bastard Out of Carolina
1984 and Brave New World
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
The Sneetches. The Witch of Blackbird Pond. The Outsiders. The Stand. The Handmaid’s Tale. Letters of a Woman Homesteader. A People’s History of the United States. A Tree Grows In Brooklyn
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E Butler
Beyond God the Father: Toward a Philosophy of Women’s Liberation by Mary Daly
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell
The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
The Same Kind of Different as Me
The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry
Positive by Paige Rawls
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
The Front Runner
The Color Purple
The Other Man Was Me
Diving Into the Wreck
Persepolis
Maus
Summer Sisters by Judy Blume
World Enough and Time: on Creativity and Slowing Down by Christian McEwan
Peace is every step, Sherlock Holmes, Istanbul and Snow by Orhan Pamuk
Animal Farm, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451
You Can Save the Animals” by Ingrid Newkirk
Cat’s Eye by Margret Atwood, Eva Luna by Isabell Allende, everything by Tom Robbins, Bruce Chatwin and Terry Pratchett
Gifted Hands
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Last Exit to Brooklyn
The Orphan Master’s Son
Naked In The Promised Land by Lillian Faderman
Assata by Assata Shakur
The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
The Bridges of Madison County
The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
As a Man Thinketh. The Book of Mormon. Seven habits of highly effective people. Outliers. Bridge to Terrabithia.
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow
The Name of the Wind
House of Leaves
Follow My Leader by James Garfield
Man’s Search For Meaning–Victor Frankl
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Velveteen Rabbit
David Copperfield, the Book of Mormon, and The Book Thief.
God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut
Infinite Jest
The Wealthy Barber
The Incredible Journey of Edward Tulane
Biography of a face by Lucy Grealy
Killer Angels by Michael Shaara
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson
Looking for Alaska- John Green
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Rapture Practice by Aaron Hartzler; Faitheist : How an Atheist Found Common Ground with the Religious, by Chris Stedman; Biological Exuberance by Bruce Bagemihl; The Birthday of the World and other stories by Ursula K. Le Guin; The Brothers Lionheart and Ronia the Robbersdaughter – both by Astrid Lindgren
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
One by Richard Bach
People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Roots
Wonder
Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky
e.e. cummings and David Levithan’s The Lover’s Dictionary.
Toni Morrison, yes to A Handmaid’s Tale, Adrienne Rich, Alice Munro…
Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Thank you, ALA Think Tank members, for your amazing suggestions!
Readers: what books changed your view of the world?
LEGO Fans and Mincrafters unite! Rejoice! Get ready to craft and create.
It’s here. LEGO meets Minecraft in a Sandbox create-you-own-world video game.
Introducing LEGO WORLDS, a limitless collection of procedurally generated worlds made entirely of LEGO Bricks, where players build one-of-a-kind environments and create their own unique experience.
It’s REAL. If this rolled out on April 1st instead of June 1st, I’d think this was a bloody brilliant April Fool’s Day gimmick. Yesterday, LEGO and Warner Brothers launched the beta version of WORLDS (called the STEAM Early Access experience) for PC download. Currently priced at $14.99, it’s competitively set against the $26 Minecraft download. But will it have as much to offer young worldbuilders?
LEGO® Worlds embodies physical LEGO brick-building on a digital platform and lets players build and create unique environments one brick at a time. Entire worlds and creations are brought to life with characters and creatures that interact with each other as well as the player in unexpected ways.
Developed by TT Games, LEGO Worlds allows players to use LEGO building sets digitally so they can build and create wherever their skills and imagination roam. The current format is single player only (so no friends can join in to help you create your masterpiece yet), but mulit-player and sharing features are in the works. Developers promise players can modify terrain quickly and easily, roam in ready-made vehicles (including helicopters and dragons), and explore vast worlds. Oh, and there’s treasure.
“LEGO Worlds embodies the physical, LEGO brick-building fun that consumers have enjoyed for decades, on a digital platform that delivers an entirely new type of experience with the beloved bricks,” said Tom Stone, Managing Director, TT Games. “From the brick-by-brick editor, to discovering an expansive range of items, characters and creatures to populate your worlds – the creative possibilities are endless.”
The idea of product tie-ins does make me a bit nervous—the potential for “to get this special diamond brick sword, enter the product code on your new $69 LEGO set” makes my wallet wince. But might it be a slightly safer environment than Minecraft for young builders? And what will this mean for the current LEGO MINECRAFT building sets?
No matter what, I’m betting it will be a heck of a lot of fun.
Will these price items be phased out?
Audiobooks are my new guilty pleasure. Since you can load them onto your phone, you can have them with you everywhere. They make traffic, housecleaning, and long lines at the grocery store a million times more bearable. And if you discover the right ones, you can challenge your beliefs, eavesdrop on secrets, slip inside another person’s life, and laugh so hard the guy in the car next to you will think you’re having a seizure.
I have little patience for bad narrators, one of the reasons I’m late to the audiobooks game. Seriously, I’ve given up on dozens of novels in less then a minute when the narrators sucked. (Over-enunciation does not make up for a complete lack of inflection.) The best way to avoid this: listen to books narrated by the author!
Total. Game-changer.
And when those authors happen to be brilliant comediennes, writers, and performers, the books will leave you circling your block because you don’t want to get out of the car before the chapter ends.
Here are five of my recent favorites:
How to Be a Woman by Caitlin MoranLife isn’t exactly a stroll down the catwalk for modern women. They are beset by uncertainties and questions: Why are they supposed to get Brazilians? Why do bras hurt? Why the incessant talk about babies? And do men secretly hate them? With rapier wit, Moran slices right to the truth— whether it’s about the workplace, strip clubs, love, fat, abortion, popular entertainment, or parenthood (she has two daughters of her own)—to jump-start a new conversation about feminism.
“Do you have a vagina? And do you want to be in charge of it? If you said ‘yes’ to both, then congratulations! You’re a feminist.”
“When a woman says, ‘I have nothing to wear!’, what she really means is, ‘There’s nothing here for who I’m supposed to be today.”
Caitlin’s crude, crass, and almost ridiculously astute. She’ll have you saying, ‘Yes, oh my God, that’s it, that’s totally it!’ and ‘Holy $#@%, I cannot believe she just said that!’ between snorts of laughter. Her dirt poor hippie upbringing inspired her British TV show Raised by Wolves and although she had a bare minimum formal education, she landed a magazine job at 16 and launched her television career before hitting 18. She’s crawled through the underground music and pub scene, partied with Lady Gaga, and been named one of Brittan’s Most Influential Women by the BBC Women’s Power Hour. Eclectic, no?
With humor, insight, and verve, How To Be a Woman lays bare the reasons why female rights and empowerment are essential issues not only for women today but also for society itself.
(Note: if you shy away from swearing and blunt conversations about your lady bits, this one’s not for you.)
Yes Please by Amy PoehlerThough familiar with Amy Poehler from Saturday Night Live and her hosting events with her BFF Tina Fey, I’m rather embarrassed to admit I’ve never watched Parks and Recreation. After listening to Yes Please, I must watch Parks and Recreation. And I need Amy Poehler to be my new best friend. (The sweet, funny one.)
The audiobook sounds like a dinner party. The guest list is star-studded with vocal appearances from Carol Burnett, Seth Meyers, Michael Schur, Patrick Stewart, Kathleen Turner, and even Amy’s parents—Yes Please is the ultimate audiobook extravaganza.
Also included? A one night only live performance at Poehler’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theater. Hear Amy read a chapter live in front of a young and attractive Los Angeles audience.
While listening to Yes Please, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, and you’ll become convinced that your phone is trying to kill you. Don’t miss this collection of stories, thoughts, ideas, lists, and haikus from the mind of one of our most beloved entertainers. Offering Amy’s thoughts on everything from her “too safe” childhood outside of Boston to her early days in New York City, her ideas about Hollywood and “the biz,” the demon that looks back at all of us in the mirror, and her joy at being told she has a “face for wigs”—Yes Please is chock-full of words, and wisdom, to live by.
Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) by Mindy KalingI’ve never watched The Office either. I’ve heard it’s great. I’ve heard everyone loves Mindy Kaling, and wants her wardrobe. The title grabbed me, as I’ve often pondered this question as I sat at home living my oh-so-fabulously social life of reading books and watching HGTV. This audiobook was cute, and I’d like Mindy to be my little sister—as long as I could keep my own family (though hers does seem quite lovely).
Mindy Kaling has lived many lives: the obedient child of immigrant professionals, a timid chubster afraid of her own bike, a Ben Affleck–impersonating Off-Broadway performer and playwright, and, finally, a comedy writer and actress prone to starting fights with her friends and coworkers with the sentence “Can I just say one last thing about this, and then I swear I’ll shut up about it?”
In Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, Mindy invites readers on a tour of her life and her unscientific observations on romance, friendship, and Hollywood, with several conveniently placed stopping points for you to run errands and make phone calls. Mindy Kaling really is just a Girl Next Door—not so much literally anywhere in the continental United States, but definitely if you live in India or Sri Lanka.
Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s ‘Learned’ by Lena DunhamOnce again, I’ve never watched the controversial and acclaimed HBO show Girls (are you seeing a pattern here yet?). I think I’m too old to slip into the world of single twentysomethings navigating young adulthood in NYC. But I’m not too ancient to appreciate this hilarious, poignant, and extremely frank collection of personal essays by Lena Dunham – one of the bravest writers, producers, and actresses of her generation.
“If I can take what I’ve learned in this life and make one treacherous relationship or degrading job easier for you, perhaps even prevent you from becoming temporarily vegan, then every misstep of mine will have been worthwhile. This book contains stories about wonderful nights with terrible boys and terrible days with wonderful friends, about ambition and the two existential crises I had before the age of twenty. About fashion and its many discontents. About publicly sharing your body, having to prove yourself in a meeting full of fifty-year-old men, and the health fears (tinnitus, lamp dust, infertility) that keep me up at night. I’m already predicting my future shame at thinking I had anything to offer you with this book, but also my future glory in having stopped you from trying an expensive juice cleanse or having the kind of sexual encounter where you keep your sneakers on. No, I am not a sexpert, a psychologist, or a registered dietician. I am not a married mother of three or the owner of a successful hosiery franchise. But I am a girl with a keen interest in self-actualization, sending hopeful dispatches from the front lines of that struggle.”
Bossypants by Tina FeyBefore Liz Lemon, before “Weekend Update,” before “Sarah Palin,” Tina Fey was just a young girl with a dream: a recurring stress dream that she was being chased through a local airport by her middle-school gym teacher. She also had a dream that one day she would be a comedian on TV.
She has seen both these dreams come true.
At last, Tina Fey’s story can be told. From her youthful days as a vicious nerd to her tour of duty on Saturday Night Live; from her passionately halfhearted pursuit of physical beauty to her life as a mother eating things off the floor; from her one-sided college romance to her nearly fatal honeymoon — from the beginning of this paragraph to this final sentence.
Tina Fey reveals all, and proves what we’ve all suspected: you’re no one until someone calls you bossy.
