Banned Books Week #read #readbannedbooks

I don't believe in banning books at all.  You always have the option to NOT read a book, but you don't have the right to keep ME from reading it.  I like this change you can make if you don't like a book.

Themed shelves #HarryPotter #BeautyandtheBeast #StudioGhibli

Am I the only one that does this?

Harry Potter

Beauty & the Beast

Studio Ghibli

It's Banned Book Week! #SimonandSchuster #Read

What's on YOUR bookshelf? #funny #humor #books #lovetoread

My husband happened to glance at one of my bookshelves (yes, I have multiples) and saw this.

Top 10 Books #Facebook #meme #challenge

This actually came across facebook as a challenge from one of my friends.  Because I like to sit and stew on things, I made this a blog post I could edit as I went.  The challenge was to list the top 10 books that you've read that have stayed with you.. So, in no particular order..

1- Gone With the Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
2 - The Hobbit (Tolkien)
3 - Hound of the Baskervilles (Arthur Conan Doyle)
4 - Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
5 - The Harry Potter series
6 - MacBeth (Shakespeare)
7 - Hawkmistress (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
8 - The Witch World series (Andre Norton)
9 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
10 - Grimm's Fairy Tales

Yes, I'm a nerd & a geek combined. I don't plan to challenge anyone else directly, but if you had 1 book that keeps with you, what is it?

Decatur Book Festival #dbf2014 #books @JFrenchAuthor @0jkbarber0

My kids haven't gone with me to the book festival in a couple of years. After last year's haul of books, they decided to tag along with me. There weren't any sessions they (or I) wanted to attend, which made the whole visit much simpler and shorter. Lack of funds didn't hurt either.

At any rate, my son and I both agreed we had to find Jonathan French and get his newest book - The Errantry of Bantam Flyn. We were easily successful on that, and son was happy to have gotten to meet an author he really likes. Directly next to Mr. French was a husband/wife pair, J.K. Barber. They quickly caught my daughter's attention with their run down of the books they'd written. My daughter came away with a 3-in-1 book of their first series (Chronicles of Aronshae). From what we were told, there are only 550 of it printed (no plans to print more) and she got it signed by the authors AND the artist. I think she got an awesome prize there.  The third book is by just the wife.  Hopefully, the kids will put up a review of the books on their site later.

We also hit up a couple of the used book booths. I found 4 books for $10 at one spot, my daughter got 2 at the same location. We also picked up 6 at another stall (3 for $10). Some are for gifts.

After that (and lunch) we'd run out of our pocket money, so we headed home where it was much cooler.  Just in case you're interested, though, my understanding is that Jonathan French will also be at the CONjuration Con in October.

Read Across America

NEA's Read Across America starts today.  For those that don't know me or my family, books are a BIG DEAL.  We read constantly and I encourage my kids as much as I can.  I'm against banning books as well.  At any rate, I was shown this years ago and still love it, so in honor of today I'm sharing again.

#WW Banned Books Week - Freedom to Read Foundation

Banned Books Week - Freedom to Read Foundation

Decatur Book Festival #dbf2013

2013 DBF Signed Books

My kids were supposed to go with me Saturday, but my daughter decided before getting out of bed that she'd pass.  My son decided 10 minutes before leaving that since there was really only one session/pair of authors he wanted to see, that he'd pass.  For some reason, he didn't want to be stuck wandering with me and listening to all of the others I wanted to hear.  Especially since his session was the first one of the day.

At any rate, I heard some authors who are apparently well known, but not to me.  I talked with some authors who are not small but building a base and to one that has a very small base.  All were fascinating.  For sessions, I went to Rick Yancey & D.J. McHale at the teen stage.  I brought back books for my son from this session.  I saw Alex Hughes and Lev & Austin Grossman.  I visited with Johnathan French, Guy Cote, Robert Jay, Georgia Romance Writers (several good ones there), J. K. Barber and more.  I spent an entire day wandering downtown Decatur and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

I also watched the Emory acapella group Ahana sing. I recorded the songs and put them on my YouTube channel.  Just scroll down, they're under both "Music" and "Recent".

READ America

If you haven't guessed by now, I'm against banning books. I grew up reading many of those books that are now banned in our school and local libraries. I loved the opportunity to read something new and then have the opportunity to DISCUSS what it meant with others. It gave me the opportunity to LEARN new ideas and concepts and to DISCOVER that not everyone was going to have my point of view. It allowed me to develop a sense of TOLERANCE for others, but allowed me the OPPORTUNITY to find out why.

Frequently challenged titles for children:
1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
3. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
4. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
5. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
6. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
7. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
8. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
9. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
10. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine

Frequently challenged titles for teens:
1. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
3. Forever, by Judy Blume
4. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
5. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
6. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
7. The Hunger Games (series), by Suzanne Collins
8. Crank, by Ellen Hopkins
9. Twilight (series), by Stephenie Meyer
10. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie

You can check out a break down of challenged books here: http://www.ala.org/advocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged

Banned Book Week - Whoopi Goldberg

WORD Wednesday - Banned Book Week

Banned Book Week (Continued)

This is a video about banned books made last year by Thomas University.

PSA: Banned Book Week

Catcher in the Rye . . . Harry Potter . . . Captain Underpants . . .
Every year, there are hundreds of attempts to remove books from schools and libraries. Celebrate YOUR freedom to read and right to choose your book during Banned Books Week, September 30 to October 6. For more information, visit http://www.ala.org/bbooks.

Books to read

my read shelf:

Winston Churchill by John Perry

I received this book from Book Sneeze to review. So here's my review:

Perry's book on Winston Churchill was an excellent resource for a start in learning about the man behind the image. It takes a no-holds barred look as it gives insight into his life provided by Churchill himself through his letters and writings. It also depicts the man as others saw him, through his actions and statements by others. The book starts with his birth and family, it includes the influences on his life as he grew to be the man most people knew, until the end of his life. It does not exclude his religious education or influences and in fact explores it as Churchill did himself. In the end, we discover a lot of what made him who he was and are left with the appetite to find out more.

Decatur Book Festival

I ended up going all by myself, which was probably a good thing. The boys hung out around the house goofing off. I, on the other hand, cruised the exhibitors and found books for the kids for $.50, including a graphic Star Wars novel. I listened to Kate DiCamillo read part of her new book and picked up 3 of her books (2 Mercy Watson & Tales of Desperaux) autographed.

I visited Stephanie Bond and got two of her Body Movers (5&6) books signed.

Then I went and listened to Jon Scieszca (very funny man, my son likes his Time Warp Trio books) and had two of his books signed.

I was out there for probably 4 hours and thoroughly enjoyed myself. Maybe next year one of my son's most favorite authors (Tony Abbott) will be there, or even one of his buddy's favorite authors (Geronimo Stilton). My daughter loves the Kate DiCamillo (Mercy Watson) books, so maybe she'll be back. Of course, to truly help my son out, we'll likely have to hit Dragon Con to meet someone like Timothy Zahn.

The Summoning

The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I loved this book. Chloe Saunders is an average teen, attending an Art high school. Her father is away more often than not, her aunt is her only relative around. When puberty strikes, her powers become fully active. Only to her, they aren't powers, they're nightmares. She's sent to a home for troubled teens to get medical attention and discovers that there's more than can be seen. She meets Derek, Simon, Liz, Tori, and Rae. Then her life takes an even stranger twist and her aunt turns out to be some one she didn't expect.

A really great read, it kept me engrossed the entire time. I look forward to seeing what happens to Chloe and her friends.

View all my reviews.

My library book list

Just because I've been busy, I thought I'd share the book list that I currently have checked out. All of them have been read and I'm headed back to the library today to get some new stuff.. what'll I get? I'll find out when I get there..

Call of the wolf /by Krinard, Susan
Holidays are hell / by Sands, Lynsay
In deep voodoo / by Bond, Stephanie
A lick of frost / by Hamilton, Laurell K.
Once bitten, twice shy #01 /by Rardin, Jennifer
Ravens of Avalon / by Paxson, Diana L.
Reserved for the cat / by Lackey, Mercedes

Book Swaps

I love book swaps! It's a great way for me to get new books without buying them (well, except for the postage of sending mine to the next person). It's also a good way to get me to read things I wouldn't necessarily read. I'm in a sort of blind book swap right now. One person coordinated it by getting our lists of books available, then having us provide her with what we wanted from the master list. She then mixed it up and matched. We don't know necessarily what we're getting other than it's from the list we sent her. :0 So far I've gotten Lisa Jackson's Final Scream and Rosemary Rogers' All I Desire. Woo Hoo!