this little life of mine

In honour of Banned Books Week, here's a list of thirteen books I've read over my lifetime which have, at some point, been challenged or banned from classrooms and/or school libraries:

1.  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
2.  Animal Farm by George Orwell
3.  1984 by George Orwell
4.  Black Beauty by Anna Sewell
5.  Lord of the Flies by William Golding
6.  Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
7.  Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
8.  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
9.  The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
10.  Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
11.  Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
12.  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
13.  Speakby Laurie Halse Anderson

Lists of Frequently Challenged Books can be found here. Check it out! You may be surprised by some of the books on those lists - I know I was!

To remind you of the way this works, here’s how to play:

First — post your list of New Years’ Resolutions in a post at your blog (or in the comments here, if you don’t have a blog).

Second — every week, on Wednesday, write a new post about how you’re doing with each of your goals … you’ll have to list them, again, each week, as people won’t remember what you’re working towards, otherwise. Be brief in your updates, as there may be several blogs to visit! ((come give a quick update here at Should Be Reading, if you don’t have a blog)).

Third — after you’ve written your update, come back to Should Be Reading, and share your link so that we –the other New Beginnings participants– can stop by your blog and encourage you!

Important! … It would be absolutely great if you could visit at least ONE other participant’s blog  on Wednesdays and leave a comment on their post to share some encouragement for their efforts! Show your support! That’s what this event is all about — standing by each other to finally reach our goals!

NOTE:It's the middle of the year already and I was inspired by a recent post from our New Beginnings hostess MizB to reevaluate my 2010 goals/resolutions. So, I've made a newish list. It's slightly less complicated and will hopefully be easier for me to follow.

1. Health and Fitness
o   Get down to size 14. I stepped on the scale for the first time since June and discovered I've lost an additional 7 pounds! I'm still at size 16, but I have to wear a belt with most of the pants!
o   Try three new recipes per month (one of which will be vegetarian). I used the crock pot twice this weekend to cook Jamacian Jerk salmon (as suggested by Make it Fast, Cook it Slow by Stephanie O'dea) and Chicken Parmesean from the Eating for Life book by Bill Phillips. Both dinners came out deliciously and I didn't have to heat up an already hot house by using the oven!

o   Hit the gym four days per week. I made it to the gym for all my appointments last week and plan to this week as well.

2. Writing (removed the poetry section since I probably won't be writing any poetry at all this year, and I'd rather not stress out over it)
o   Write 1st draft of a novel. I got a lot of inspiration during last weekend's Central Coast Writer's Conference, but I'm still having trouble finding time to write.  
o   Write a(nother) complete novel during NaNoWriMo. Begins November 1st and continues through November 30th. 

3. Photography
o   Take more artistic photos. I got a few pretty good shots last weekend at the Conference and a few shots of the fog-covered boats in Morro Bay. 
o   Spend more time composing photos rather than just “point and shoot”. Nothing new here. I just haven't been inspired lately.
o   Go "old school": take some pictures using film with manual 35mm camera. Not done recently.
 
4. Homefront
o   Organize stuff. My stuff is pretty well organized right now, but who knows how long that will last.  
o   Reduce clutter. I put more stuff for sale on eBay today - relisted some things and added several pair of jeans in sizes 16 and 18.   

5. Fun Stuff
o   Go to the beach. Mom and I have made it to the beach TWICE this month! Once on our vacation to Pismo Beach and then last weekend we stayed at the Inn at Morro Bay in Morro Bay while I was attending the Writer's Conference.  
o   Get new ink. Probably not going to happen this year.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This Tuesday, in honor of Banned Books Week, I'm reading two books that have been banned and/or challenged: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.

First, my teaser from page 231 To Kill a Mockingbird:

"Gentlemen," he was saying, "I shall be brief, but I would like to use my remaining time with you to remind you that this case is not a difficult one, it requires no minute sifting of complicated facts, but it does require you to be sure beyond all reasonable doubt as to the guilt of the defendant. To begin with, this case should never have come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white."

And second, my teaser from page 45-46 of Speak:

NIGHTMARE

I see IT in the hallway. IT goes to Merryweather. IT is walking with Aubrey Cheerleader. IT is my nightmare and I can't wake up. IT sees me. IT smiles and winks. Good thing my lips are stitched together or I'd throw up.

 

 

... I picked up two books to read next week: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (which I'm sure I've read before, but would like to read again, plus Kathleen Duey said it had one of the best middle-grade-aged main character voices, and I'm interested in that) and Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, a heavily challenged book that everyone is in quite a tizzy about currently. Since I've never read Speak, I'm curious as to what all the fuss is about.

You can read more about Banned Books Week here, and check out a list of the Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books in 2009. Then go pick out a banned or challenged book (or two or three!) and celebrate your freedom to read whatever you like! Thank you, First Amendment!!

A mooncake presented in celebration of Autumn.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. Open to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

The linens were stained with an ugly, deep red. No. Not red. Red-brown. The blood had dried.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

1. Grab your current read

2. 0pen to a random page

3. Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

4. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

5. Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

This week I'm reading Redwall by Brian Jacques. I don't know why I've never read this book before - it's really good! Very charming and sometimes I forget the characters are actually animals!

Cluny lashed out with his long tail, sending the Vole family flat upon the floor. Mr. Abram Vole struggled to shield his wife and son with his body as the tail flailed out a second time.