Quotations on Censorship

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(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Censorship is to art as lynching is to justice.”

                                                                   Henry Louis Gates Jr.

 

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(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Don’t join the book burners. Don’t think you’re going to conceal faults by concealing evidence that they ever existed. Don’t be afraid to go in your library and read every book…”
Dwight D. Eisenhower

 

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(https://en.wikipedia.org)

“Having the freedom to read and the freedom to choose is one of the best gifts my parents ever gave me.”

                                                                    Judy Blume

Challenging and Banning Literary Classics

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This post is an excellent presentation of literary books that have been banned.

Special Collections@Virginia Tech

This week is Banned Book Week (September 26-October 1, 2016), a week in which many libraries, teachers, readers, and their many allies celebrate the freedom to read and the many books which have historically (and still) face challenges and bans by a variety of people, organizations, or even whole countries. The ALA Banned Book website explains that “[a] challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials, based upon the objections of a person or group. A banning is the removal of those materials.”

Taking a tour through our British and American literature books, we’ve put together a slide show of 10 banned classics you’ll find on our shelves, along with an explanation of what has made each of them the topic of so much controversy and attention. Some books were banned or challenged in a specific place, during a specific time, and/or for a specific reason. Dates in the gallery indicate the…

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National Coffee Day!

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National Coffee Day!

Now this is my idea of an important day!

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(https://pixabay.com)

I love a day dedicated to the making, preparing, and drinking of coffee, without which I would probably not function!

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(https://pixabay.com)

On this day I must mention my favorite coffee shop, which if you ever are in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, you should visit: Taylor Roasted Coffeehouse in Northampton, PA. The owners are wonderful, the atmosphere is friendly, welcoming, and artistic, and the coffee is the best I have ever had.  And I have had MUCH coffee in my life!

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https://www.facebook.com/Taylor-Roasted-CoffeeHouse-64754590029/

Happy drinking of coffee!

Where Have I Been?

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Welcome back to a fellow blogger and writer!

mythoughtsonwritingandreading

I know I haven’t updated this blog in months and there are no good reasons, excuses, whatever you want to call them for it (although when your site doesn’t want to publish anything that’s not really something you can help)! So here’s a brief glimpse into my life as of late-

I’m not in college right now due to financial problems and though I’m working my butt off to get it all resolved, it’s not going as planned. I have to do it all on my own, I can’t ask anyone for help, and the college I attend doesn’t seem to understand that this is ALL ON ME…. So I’m unsure if or when I’ll be able to go back to school, which is really disheartening because I am so close to my degree and I miss going to classes. I really, really miss it, and not knowing if I…

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My Kickstarter Update

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My Kickstarter campaign to raise initial publishing and promotional funds for my horror novel Maledicus: Investigative Paranormal Society Book I is moving along well. I have raised $815 so far out of a goal of $1000.  Please consider helping with the final push. I have 20 days left in the campaign. Thank you!

Celebrate Banned Books Week

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This post is a compelling article about banned books. Please read this and support the efforts of librarians to keep reading uncensored and open to all.

literacious

Diversity-banner-FB-851x315-v1.pngStop by your local library or independent book store and celebrate Banned Books Week by picking up a book that has been banned.  Not sure what’s been banned recently?  Check out the most challenged books in 2015 from the Banned Books Week website:

  1. Looking for Alaska, by John Green
    Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, and unsuited for age group.
  2. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James
    Reasons: Sexually explicit, unsuited to age group, and other (“poorly written,” “concerns that a group of teenagers will want to try it”).
  3. I Am Jazz, by Jessica Herthel and Jazz Jennings
    Reasons: Inaccurate, homosexuality, sex education, religious viewpoint, and unsuited for age group.
  4. Beyond Magenta: Transgender Teens Speak Out, by Susan Kuklin
    Reasons: Anti-family, offensive language, homosexuality, sex education, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint, unsuited for age group, and other (“wants to remove from collection to ward off complaints”).
  5. The Curious Incident of…

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Banned Books Week – September 25 – October 1st

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This is an excellent post about banned books with a
fascinating question.

Turning the Pages

bbw16-bubble-2If you could go back in time, which book would you give your younger self?

Banned Books Week brings together the entire book community—libraries, booksellers, publishers, journalists, teachers, and readers of all types —in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.  First observed in 1982, Banned Books Week reminds Americans not to take the freedom to read for granted.

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