Happy Banned Books Week!

"Any book worth banning is a book worth reading" -Isaac Asimov

It's that time of year again, folks, Banned Book Week, and it might be one of my favorite weeks of the year. Especially since every year I discover new books that were added to the list, and they always seem to surprise me.

So, what exactly is Banned Books Week?
I'm so glad you asked. Banned Books Week is when we get to celebrate literature and our freedom to read what we want. All across America, hundreds of books are censored or banned from libraries and schools because they're deemed offensive and every year, more and more books are being challenged. According to the official Banned Books Week website, in 2011, there were more than 326 books removed from public libraries. That's a bit ridiculous. Why would you stop people from reading? How can a country that prides itself on the First Amendment, try to take away a branch of freedom of speech? So here's what we do about it: we raise awareness that this is happening in our country, we attend events that promote literature, and most importantly, we continue to read. And we will read what we want. We have to thank our librarians and our teachers and all the people who encourage us to read and refuse to let censorship in books happen. But mostly, we never stop reading.

So, why do libraries/schools ban certain books?
Because some of these books have elements that they don't approve of- that might "corrupt the youth and give them ideas". But isn't that the point of reading, giving ideas to future generations? Books are banned for many different reasons: homosexuality, explicit language, religious content, moral issues. Personally, though, I think that just by living and being an active member of society, children are going to see these "issues" so why hide them? Books are creative outlets and forms of expression that shouldn't be banned because you think children can't handle them. That's not the decision for schools and libraries to make, that kind of stuff is up to parents. I don't care if Johnny's parents don't let him read To Kill a Mockingbird, but don't you dare take it out of my library!

So, what are some examples of books that have been challenged/censored?
-The Catcher in the Rye- J.D. Salinger- "blasphemous, foul, negative, undermines morality"
-The Scarlet Letter- Nathaniel Hawthorne- "pornographic and obscene" (sorry, but did we read the same book here?)
-To Kill a Mockingbird- Harper Lee- "promotes white supremacy" (somebody obviously missed the point)
-Where the Wild Things Are- Maurice Sendak- "dark and disturbing nature"

Here are some most recently challenged books:
-13 Reasons Why- Jay Asher- "Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group"
-The Kite Runner- Khaled Hosseini- "homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint"
-Looking for Alaska- John Green- "offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group"
-The Hunger Games- Suzanne Collins- "anti-family, anti-ethnic, insensitivity"

This year, my campus did some cool stuff to promote Banned Books Week! For example, our Professional Writing Student Association had a book drive this week (in honor of BBW) to collect books for victims of the Moore tornado that happened this past May. There was another group from the campus library passing out cool merch (buttons, book marks, flyers) and they had an entire table set up with examples of some books that have been banned. But, my favorite part about that set up were the volunteers who were reading excepts of banned books (shout out to the girl reading TKAM in a Southern accent) to people who were walking down the oval.

Yay merch!

Anyway, Banned Books Week is a big deal. A really big deal. Censorship isn't cool, especially in books. We shouldn't let people dictate what we read, it's a part of our First Amendment rights. Now go read some banned books and continue the conversation. Go educate yourself more on the subject, and see what your community has done to promote the cause. Also, this is a pretty cool post I saw on tumblr that had some really awesome articles on censorship and whatnot.

Here's what I'm reading for next week:
United We Spy, by Ally Carter- The final Gallagher Girls book (SPOILERS if you haven't read the first five)(synopsis from Amazon)

Cammie Morgan has lost her father and her memory, but in the heart-pounding conclusion to the best-selling Gallagher Girls series, she finds her greatest mission yet. Cammie and her friends finally know why the terrorist organization called the Circle of Cavan has been hunting her. Now the spy girls and Zach must track down the Circle's elite members to stop them before they implement a master plan that will change Cammie—and her country—forever. Get ready for the Gallagher Girls' most astounding adventure yet as Ally Carter's New York Times best-selling series comes to breathtaking conclusion that will have readers racing to the last page.

-Annie

P.S. Only one week left of my tumblr giveaway so make sure to check that out!
Also, I'm now on Goodreads so be my friend!

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

I'm fangirling for Fangirl and I'm not even sorry about it!. Cath just speaks my language, she speaks the language of my people. She uses the words that people who aren't in fandoms don't understand, but that's okay because this is a book for people who live that kind of life. This book encompasses the fangirl lifestyle and it makes me all warm and happy inside.

Okay, so here's the crazy long list of what I liked. It's quirky and fun and I relate to it on an emotional level. Like, I had serious flashbacks to my freshman year of college. I could scarily relate to Cath and how she wasn't one for frat parties and would rather sit in her dorm on a Friday night and read/write fanfiction. Been there, done that. Though, I did eventually make great friends and made it out of the dorms alive (seriously, what is with dorm life?). This book was also giving me flashbacks to the time when I wrote an entire Harry Potter AU where they were princesses, but let's not talk about that because I was only twelve so it doesn't really count anyway.And speaking of Harry Potter, this came at a perfect time considering the latest J.K. Rowling movie news, especially since Cath herself is obsessed with Simon Snow (basically, it's her universe's Harry Potter). The comparison to HP was perfect, and I think one of the reasons this book is becoming popular is because so many people can relate to that love. There's that saying that goes something along the lines of "we're all in the Harry Potter fandom. It's where we all got our start". That's what makes this book so successful.

I also loved the characters and I truly believe that the world needs more people like Levi in it. He's just so darn happy, it's contagious! I could go on and on about Cath and her Emergency Kanye Parties (something I plan to implement as soon as the next bad day hits), and I think she has something that every reader can relate to. She's passionate about fanfiction, and seeing that passion is really really cool. I also would like to thank her for my new pep talk that I'll be giving myself when I go out on weekends ("I'm the Cool One. Somebody give me some tequila because I'll totally drink it. And there's no way you're going to find me later having a panic attack in your parents' bathroom. Who wants to French-kiss?"). Another thing that I liked and I thought was very important was the point that Rainbow Rowell made about fanfiction. Fanfiction isn't something that everyone gets, and yeah, there are some people out there who would consider it plagiarizing (though, personally, I like to use the term borrowing characters/situation). But it's a way of life for a lot of people in the internet community and it doesn't get the respect it deserves. These people are artists, they are writers, just as much as any other person who creates any kind of art. They spend their time plotting and getting those chapters just right and I want to give them a shout-out because they deserve it for all their hard work!

As much as I loved this book, there were a couple things I wasn't too in love with. The family drama with Cath and Wren's father was a bit too dramatic for my taste. Yeah, I get it was a big deal, but it took away from the other fluff stuff that I was obsessed with. But I'm being really picky with that. I also didn't like how determined Cath was to not finish her writing project for class. Her teacher was giving her a second chance and she was just blowing it off like it was nothing. It's totally not nothing! When a professor thinks you show potential and wants to help you out, you don't ignore it. This is the real world, and that's how life goes. It seemed unrealistic that she would completely give up her class/a passing grade just because she wanted to write Simon Snow fanfics. I'd love to write fanfic as much as the next person, but I wouldn't risk my education for it. I don't know, maybe that's just my personal opinion. Lastly, I wanted to address a couple criticisms that I heard about the book and what I thought about said criticisms. Two issues: the book was superficial and Cath is too manic pixie dream girl. I disagree with both. Sure, some parts might have been a bit too one-dimensional, but they were so small, it didn't matter to me. Like I said, if you're really into fandoms and that life, you'll be happy with how it's portrayed (basically, it doesn't make us seem like complete losers. A lot of the characters think it's really cool that Cath writes fanfiction and are interested). Also, the manic pixie dream girl is a thing that bothers me a lot. It seems to be the title people give any character that is quirky or different and for some reason, people are making that a bad thing. I think there's a time and place to call a character that, but you can't just call every character a MPDG because then it loses meaning and gets plain annoying.

Anyway, I could talk about this book for days, and I probably will to all my friends until they slap me and I finally stop. It's a cool book and it's different from a lot of New Adult/Young Adult books, character-wise and I appreciate it immensely. If you read Fangirl and want to get into a discussion about it, there's an entire book club on Tumblr dedicated to it. Search the tags for "reblogbookclub" and join the conversation! Here's some more info on that: http://paidcontent.org/2013/09/13/tumblr-launches-the-reblog-book-club-first-title-rainbow-rowells-fangirl/. Now, if you don't mind me, I'm going to go curl up with some tea and read some of my favorite fics!

-Annie

p.s. My YA Book Giveaway is still going on on Tumblr! http://books-anovelidea.tumblr.com/post/60123835304/book-giveaway. You have until the end of this month to enter! Good luck! :)

Why I love antique shops

I think I'm one of the only people I know (personally) who can go to a music festival and come home with books. And that's just what I did this weekend.

Backstory: This last weekend I got to go to the Gentlemen of the Road stopover in Guthrie, Oklahoma. For those of you who aren't familiar with the event, it's a music festival put on by Mumford and Sons in a couple towns that are on their way to the other locations on their tour. The one I attended was in Guthrie, a super cute old-Western town full of antique shops and a lot of that great Oklahoma culture (Did you know it was Oklahoma's first capital? You do now!).

(look how adorable!)

So anyway, the concert was absolutely fantastic (basically a religious experience- every band was outstanding), but that's not the point of this post. The point of this post is that antique shops are the best places to get some really cool books! During my spare time on this trip, I perused the bookshelves in the local shops, hoping to find something really special. Specifically, I was looking for some original Honey Bunch books. Growing up, I loved those books. My grammy and  mom would read those books to my sister and me all the time, so those are really important childhood memories for me. Unfortunately, they didn't have any Honey Bunch, but I did find something just as cool!

(I love old books!)

Okay, besides the Honey Bunch books, I was also unhealthily obsessed with all things Nancy Drew. Like, I even wrote Nancy Drew fanfiction before I knew what fanfiction was. So imagine my surprise when I found a 1930s copy of The Mystery at Lilac Inn in freaking Guthrie, Oklahoma! I had to buy it! So I did. The pages are yellow and soft from years of use, and it smells deliciously like old book (which might be my favorite smell idk). Even the typing is beautiful, I'm still in book heaven looking at it now. But, my favorite thing about buying old books, this one included, is that there's usually some kind of writing in the front cover. Why don't people inscribe books anymore? I think we should bring that back. 

(writting reads: Belongs to Laurie from Mom)

The other gem that I stumbled upon was an original copy of Heidi that belonged to a girl who lived a couple hours from my hometown. Once I saw that, I was absolutely hooked. The front cover is painted with little houses and horses, but the paint has dulled over time. And, inside the book, there's a beautiful illustration in vivid color by Maud and Miska Petersham! I'm obsessed! 

(EEEEE!)

So there's that. I'm going to start stalking all my local antique shops now in hopes of finding more of these wonderful books, and I suggest you do the same. You never know what you're going to find. Maybe you'll find some Honey Bunch books (and if you do, I definitely want the name and location of the shop. I'm thinking it'd be a great gift for my grammy!). I didn't just buy the books, I got my dad some jarred jalapenos (because I'm an awesome daughter like that) and some merch (because duh), but these were my favorite purchases all weekend. I think I can safely say, this was a very successful weekend! :)

Now, here's what I'm going to be reading for next week's review. Make sure to check back for that!

Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell (which I think we can all relate to) (synopsis from Amazon)

In Rainbow Rowell's Fangirl, Cath is a Simon Snow fan. Okay, the whole world is a Simon Snow fan, but for Cath, being a fan is her life—and she’s really good at it. She and her twin sister, Wren, ensconced themselves in the Simon Snow series when they were just kids; it’s what got them through their mother leaving.

Reading. Rereading. Hanging out in Simon Snow forums, writing Simon Snow fan fiction, dressing up like the characters for every movie premiere.

Cath’s sister has mostly grown away from fandom, but Cath can’t let go. She doesn’t want to.
Now that they’re going to college, Wren has told Cath she doesn’t want to be roommates. Cath is on her own, completely outside of her comfort zone. She’s got a surly roommate with a charming, always-around boyfriend, a fiction-writing professor who thinks fan fiction is the end of the civilized world, a handsome classmate who only wants to talk about words . . . And she can’t stop worrying about her dad, who’s loving and fragile and has never really been alone.

For Cath, the question is: Can she do this? Can she make it without Wren holding her hand? Is she ready to start living her own life? And does she even want to move on if it means leaving Simon Snow behind?

-Annie

P.S. My YA book giveaway is still going on on Tumblr (http://books-anovelidea.tumblr.com/) until the end of this month! Yay, free books! So make sure to follow for that!

Neptune's Tears, by Susan Waggoner

I'm disappointed, dear readers. I really had high hopes for this one, considering it was a sci-fi romance and involved aliens and empaths and whatnot, but my hopes were not fulfilled. There was a lot of potential, after all, it takes place on earth 100 years in the future. This would be the opportunity to let your imagination run wild, but it never really gets to that point.

Here's what I liked: I love the idea of empaths. Basically, in Waggoner's world, an empath is a person who works in the hospitals and feeds people different memories/emotions/scenarios in order to help the healing process. That's so freaking cool! Empaths have strong minds and read people's emotions, and I really wonder why this isn't a character type we see more in YA fiction. Ergo, that's a good base for a strong character (though that's not exactly what happened). I also really liked the idea of an alien invasion that wasn't destructive. The aliens (might I add that our love interest in an alien, because he so totally is), come to earth to learn about our cultures, literature, and art forms and I really appreciate seeing peaceful aliens for a change. Lastly, there were two scenes that really stood out for me. The first was a scene where our leading couple goes to the theater and sees a play that's done without gravity, then they get to partake in the anti-gravity fun. I really liked that scene because it was the biggest futuristic scene in the book; it's exactly what I expected from a futuristic story. The other scene was when Zee (our protagonist) was helping an Olympic swimmer give birth. The reason I loved this scene so much was because it really showed what Zee was capable of doing as an empath and the way she had control over her abilities.

And here's what I didn't like: The story itself was very over dramatic and maybe that's because it was so focused on the love story, that the rest of it didn't even matter. Now, I'm all about a good love story, but I couldn't get into this one. It seemed very shallow to me. I felt like there wasn't even development between the couple. It was simply: girl meets boy, they fall in love immediately (and really, they don't really even know each other), girl loses boy, drama ensues (lots and lots of useless drama), then boy makes a confession at the very end that caused me to laugh and not in a good way... There was a lot of other stuff going on in the story, and I really wish those other conflicts and events were the focus. There are anarchist attacks going on, I'd like to hear about that instead of a middle school feeling love story! It really seemed like it was going to take an exciting turn about 75% into the book, but that ended up being pushed aside for the romance aspect. Ugh. Sorry, I feel like I'm on a rant, but I promise I'll stop after this next point. In any writing class you'll ever take, your professor will say the words "show, don't tell". These are important words! I don't want to hear a summary about an important conversation, I want to see the characters getting mad, having emotions, and all that jazz. There was A LOT of summary and maybe that was the reason I didn't like this book. Rant over.

So those are my thoughts. All I wanted was a cool sci-fi book with romantic undertones and now I'm sad. Yes, there's a sequel in the future, but its very unlikely that I'll pick it up. Now, you guys might have a completely different opinion than I do, and that's totally okay. I'm never going to tell you guys not to read a book. But if you do read it, I'd love to hear what you think!

Sorry this post got a little rant-y, it happens. But, on the happier side, I'm doing a giveaway on Tumblr for my followers so make sure to check it out (http://books-anovelidea.tumblr.com/)! Until next week!

-Annie