I just read a book that made me laugh. That made me cry. That made me email fellow readers and tell them that I was glad I got a copy of the book before someone inevitably slaps a big ole medal on the cover. And I have full confidence in saying this, despite its January [...]
Archive for the ‘Thinking out Loud’ Category
Clothing Choices
Posted in Publishing, Thinking out Loud, Writing on January 17, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Cast that Book Game!
Posted in Thinking out Loud on October 6, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I do not have a real post. With whispers of who’s directing and who may like what part, it’s become the next water cooler talk now that the book’s out and read. Since many fans are already doing this, I thought I’d cast my ballot. And dream movie. And not just based on who’s hot [...]
BBW: The Huh? Edition
Posted in Thinking out Loud on October 2, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Here are some books challenged for head-scratching reasons: Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich. For one person’s belief it contained “economic fallacies” and socialism. We are in the worst economy since the Great Depression. Every news cycle there’s a story about people not getting by financially. High school economics [...]
BBW: The Surprise Banned Book
Posted in Thinking out Loud on September 30, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Anita Silvey likes to give the same presentation for her book Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Children’s Book. She asks the audience to submit the title of what book they’ve learned the most from. I usually say Madeline. Other times, it’s The Giver. Like Jonas, I learned the importance of love, [...]
BBW: Book Facing a New Challenge, Part 2
Posted in Thinking out Loud on September 30, 2010 | 2 Comments »
Full disclosure: Jo Knowles was my writing instructor at Simmons College’s MFA program in Fall 2007. Lessons from a Dead Girl by Jo Knowles is featured on ALA’s Challenged or Banned List for 2009-2010. It’s wonderful that Jo’s poignant novel about overcoming peer sexual abuse is finally getting country-wide exposure, but depressing that it had [...]
BBW: New Books Facing Challenges, Part 1
Posted in Thinking out Loud on September 28, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Last week, the book blogosphere was in a tizzy over a Missouri editorialist’s condemnation of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson due to two rape scenes. We all know (1) rape does not equal pornography. Pornography is sexual in nature; rape is a violent crime. And (2) the second scene was not a rape. It was [...]
Banned Book Week: List Maker?
Posted in Thinking out Loud on September 27, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Happy Banned Book Week! Are you reading something challenged? So often, books that are challenged are done so because the content is challenging. Something about the plot, the characters, or the diction challenges someone’s notions. That person then decides that such a book should not be made accessible to any child/teen reader. What often gets [...]
Word Jumble
Posted in Thinking out Loud, Writing on August 25, 2010 | 3 Comments »
I have much to say but feel nothing will come out today save for an incoherent mess. I was up until 1:30 a.m. reading the hotly anticipated Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, you see. (Not a) Spoiler Alert - How do you all feel about spoilers? What level of spoilery? Do you just want to refrain [...]
Mean What You Say, Say What You Mean
Posted in Thinking out Loud on August 17, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Waiting for Godot and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead are two brilliant explorations on communication. But should our own real-life interpersonal realtions involve such dramedy? A dear friend passed on this story of a woman who thought she was being clear when ordering at Starbucks: http://www.npr.org/blogs/waitwait/2010/08/16/129234614/showdown-at-starbucks?ft=1&f=112176971 Below is the link to the journalistic piece (in [...]
Sins of the Author
Posted in Thinking out Loud on July 10, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
Lately, the child-lit digest is a twitter over author K.P. Bath’s arrest and guilty plea for possession of child pornography. Here’s a link to the Google News page so you can read and synthesize different journalists’ takes. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&tbs=nws:1,sbd:1&q=kp+bath+author&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai= The central question for authors, readers, and industry professionals is at what point should an author’s personal [...]
