Monthly Archives: September 2009

Ten Banned Books: Cursing, Sex, and Religion

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part‑Time Indian by Sherman Alexie Why? Masturbation 2. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Why? Homosexuality, Drug use, and Sex 3.Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen Why? Sex and Cursing 4. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett Why? Rape and Sex 5. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini Why? Rape and Cursing 6. The Golden [...]
Posted in Book Lists, Reading Reflections | Tagged | 8 Comments

Fracturing and Doubling in Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger is about twins, Julia and Valentina, who inherit a flat from their mother’s twin, Elspeth.  In London, the twenty-year-old twins are living alone for the first time.  They discover interesting friends of Elspeth’s. Elspeth’s lover Robert lives in the flat below them and the upstairs neighbor, Martin, who suffers [...]
Posted in Book Reviews, Drama, Fantasy | Tagged , , , | 6 Comments

My Failed Attempt to Get a 3 Year Old’s Opinion on Books

My trips to the library are usually to acquire new books for my three year old daughter, Magpie. Since the books are usually for her, I thought I would ask her opinion on the latest books from the library. Below is our discussion. Advance warning, some of this commentary will make absolutely no sense. Proceed [...]
Posted in Blog Days, Book Reviews, Children, Library Loot | Tagged , | 7 Comments

Hope and the Sad Book

Booking Through Thursday Challenge for September 24, 2009: What’s the saddest book you’ve read recently? Right now, I’m in the middle of reading to The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine which I have a feeling is going to be completely heart-wrenching at the end. The Blue Notebook is about a little girl, Batuk, who is sold [...]
Posted in Blog Days, Booking Through Thursday | Tagged , , | 11 Comments

The Fine Art of Daydreaming While Reading

On Midmorning with Kerri Miller, the recent topic of conversation was “How our Fast Culture Hurts Reading.” The guests, David Ulin and John Freeman, talk about how the instant gratification of  the World Wide Web has hurt people ability to concentrate and really dissect reading like we did before the internet was widely available. I [...]
Posted in Reading Reflections | Tagged , , | 6 Comments