Tomorrow kicks off the official start of Banned Books Week. If you have been following my blog, you have probably gotten the impression this is something I am passionate about. The impression is right. Censorship is NO GOOD. It angers me every time I hear of a person, or a group of people, demanding a book be taken off the shelves. It is not for any person to decide what is good and right for any other person to read. Many book banners proclaim they are only protecting the children. Well, that’s great. Protect YOUR children. As for me, I will decide what is proper for mine. Books are beautiful things, and we all have the right to enjoy them.
In honor of banned books week, this week I am reading some books that are frequently challenged/banned.
Of Mice and Men is an old friend of mine. I have read it countless times in the past. I love getting lost in the pages of a Steinbeck.
I have been pretty indifferent about the His Dark Materials trilogy. I have heard good things about it; I have heard bad things about it. I probably would not have bought it, since there are so many other books I am so excited about. I can’t imagine buying ones I am not excited about. A box set of the trilogy was sent to me at work (as a promotions for The Golden Compass, the movie). Banned Books Week gives me the motivation to pull these babies out and give them a shot! Also, at YA lit chat on Twitter last night, people RAVED about them, so I am a little more excited now.
Don’t worry, don’t worry. I have not forgotten about our daily linkage. Banned Books Week is just a more important topic, so it goes front and center!
In one of the funniest blog posts I have read in a while, Jim C. Hines writes about Slush Reading, Seuss Style.
Awesome ninja agent Nathan Bransford wonders if the e-book piracy issue will work itself out. It seems scammers are scamming the pirates. Pirates are catching deadly viruses and may soon be a dying breed.
The good people over at Write To Done have a great post up about why you should stop waiting for inspiration and just get writing already. I love the thoughts they share and completely agree with them. Writers write. Sitting around waiting for inspiration to strike is not writing.
In a (unintentionally) related post, Kathryn Magendie explains that you are not a writer unless…you write. Having all the great ideas in the world does not make one a writer. Writing makes one a writer.
Writers write.
