rantings & ramblings
Last week I promised you a video for Banned Books Week.
Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve finished them!
Yes, them – as in plural. Well, not really plural. I filmed a much longer segment and then edited it down to qualify for the ALA’s Banned Book Week Virtual Read-Out playlist on YouTube. Seriously, you should check these other videos out; some of them are quite good.
Here are mine:
The turning pages of the calendar indicates Fall is in the air and Oktober just days away.
And so, the turning Wheel of Time has brought ’round not one but two events:
That’s right: Teaser Tuesday and Banned Books Week!
Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*
*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.
I put quite a dent in my TBR, enough that I’m actually 2 books ahead of schedule. I wonder how long that will last?
Anyhow, with this being Banned Books Week and with this year’s focus on YA Literature, I searched through my summer stack of acquisitions and found The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison. Coincidentally – or not – The Bluest Eye is also on the list of Most Challenged Books of 2014 – remember, 2015 isn’t yet over.
The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 86:
The cat will always know he is first in her
affections. Even after she bears a child.
The Man Who Touched His Own Heart: True Tales of Science, Surgery, and Mystery earned only two stars. Read my review here.
My library actually ordered a new book! Kunal Nayyar’s Yes, My Accent Is Real: And Some Other Things I Haven’t Told You is a fun evening read. I read it mainly because I like the character Nayyar plays on TVs The Big Bang Theory (he plays Raj) and didn’t know much about the actor. 4 stars for sheer fun.
I won an advance copy of Doodlers Anonymous Epic Coloring Book: An Extraordinary Mashup of Doodles and Drawings Begging to be Filled in with Color. It’s a great adult coloring book; I’d highly recommend it when available at your local shop. One major caveat: the publishers have crammed twice the usual number of pictures in the book by printing images on both sides of the page. This may be a turn off for some colorists. 4 stars.
Continuing my streak, I gave Dr. Mütter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine three stars for failing to live up to the promises found in the title. Read my full review here.
Who knows what next week will bring??
What have you been reading?
Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?
Drop a note in the prompt box!
Don’t forget to follow me on:
Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.
Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?
Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.
This week book lovers across the United States observe Banned Books Week. In case you haven’t been able to tell, I strongly support the freedom of speech [and, by extension, the press]. Yes, I have strong opinions, but as one of Voltaire’s biographers summarized his philosophy:
I may not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.
It seems as if intolerance has grown the last several years, with people of every political, social, and cultural stripe seeking to silence those politics, values, and practices differ from their own. And while I believe in moral absolutes, I also know no belief is worth defending which seeks to silence its critics. Healthy, honest, and open debate is a sign of thriving civilization.
I could give examples, but they’re all to clear. No one side or party or people is blameless.
I just wish people could realize that disagreement is neither hate, nor intolerance, nor bigotry, nor ignorance. Society has placed acceptance on a pedestal and adopted the mantra of “Agree of Perish”.
Ignore society.
Speak Out
Be Heard
You Are Entitled To Your Opinion
What annoys you?
Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?
Drop a note in the prompt box!
Don’t forget to follow me on:
Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.
Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?
Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.
I painted this Banned Books Week coaster two years ago.
WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and
WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one’s interest examined or scrutinized by others; and
WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and
WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label “controversial” views, to distribute lists of “objectionable” books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and
WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and
WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and
WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and
WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and
WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and
WHEREAS, the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and
WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one’s opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, that I celebrate the American Library Association’s Banned Books Week, 27 September – 3 October 2015, and be it further
RESOLVED, that I encourage all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further
RESOLVED, that I encourage free people to read freely, now and forever.
Adopted by Me this 27th Day of September, 2015
Like being stuck behind a log truck when I’m already late for an appointment, I find myself continually one book behind on my Goodreads challenge.
Be that as it may, the Wheel of Time has turned in its course to
Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*
*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.
As you might have guessed, I’m still reading Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City by Paul Strathern.
So, what can I look forward to once this particular drama plays out?
I’ve taken a different tack and veered into the realm of medicine with The Man Who Touched His Own Heart by Rob Dunn.
The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 15:
The surgical team wanted the hundreds of thousands
of blue daughters and sons to live. But a dog heart
is not a human heart, and so the truth was that the
team had no real idea whether their new procedure
would work.
I really need to get a handle on finishing what I’ve started.
What have you been reading?
Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?
Drop a note in the prompt box!
Don’t forget to follow me on:
Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.
Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?
Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.
I am still one book behind on my Goodreads’ challenge, but I’m making progress. I vowed to finish both Chaucer’s Tale and Rubicon by today; that did not happen. However, at least I’m not spiraling out of control.
Like students returning from a field trip, the Wheel of Time has returned to
Just in case you don’t know, Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! All you have to do is grab the book you’re currently reading, open to a random page and share a few sentences from that page. But make sure you don’t share any spoilers!*
*I wish I could take credit for this introduction, but I shamelessly stole it from Heather over at bitsnbooks. To help me make amends, you should go check out her blog.
Along with Rubicon by Tom Holland, I’m reading Death in Florence: The Medici, Savonarola, and the Battle for the Soul of a Renaissance City by Paul Strathern.
The Truly Random Number Generator sends us to page 15:
This last was a mission of the utmost importance,
for Lorenzo was expected to persuade Pope Paul II
to grant to the Medici bank the monopoly on
operating and distribution rights for the highly
lucrative Tolfa alum mines owned by the papacy.
At the time alum was the mineral salt used to fix
dyes on cloth, making it an essential ingredient in
the thriving textile industries of Florence and
Venice, as well as those in the Low Countries and
England.
I gave Chaucer’s Tale: 1386 and the Road to Canterbury by Paul Strohm 4 stars. It was good, but not great. The first half offered a decent look at Chaucer’s London, but not Chaucer himself.
What have you been reading?
Have a suggestion for a poem, photograph, or future post?
Drop a note in the prompt box!
Don’t forget to follow me on:
Facebook – where I share news stories, articles from other blogs, and various and sundry miscellany that happens to catch my eye. It’s stuff you won’t see here! Well, mostly.
Instagram – where I show you my Life in Motion and share quotes and such. The widget only shows my last three photographs – don’t you want to see them all?
Twitter – where you can see my thoughts in 140 characters or less. Also, funny retweets.
Running In My Head 