Banned Books Week

I can't have a blog about books and writing without mentioning Banned Books Week.

The week is September 25 to October 2. It is a week to support the people behind banned books, educate people about the current censorship, and join together to make a statement.

I will admit that I did not know about it until today, but now that I know I will do what I can to spread the word.

A few things I've learned in the past couple of hours. Books are being challenged and banned, today! Schools and public libraries are taking books off the shelves, refusing to let the general public, and students, read them.

I'm sure you heard of the commonly banned books of the past, "The Catcher in the Rye", "Animal Farm", "1984". A number of Classic books have been banned throughout the years. There's a list here, with 46 of the top 100 books being banned/challenged at some point in time.

*Top 100 books based on Radcliffe Publishing Course Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century.

Click here for the list

You might be surprised by some of the challenges/bans on authors you know and love:

• Judy Blume ("Blubber", "Forever", "Deenie", "Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret" and "Tiger Eyes")
• Roald Dahl ("The Witches", "James and the Giant Peach")
• Margaret Atwood ("The Handmaid's Tale")
• S.E. Hinton ("The Outsiders", "That was Then, This is Now")
• Paul Zindel ("The Pigman")
• Louis Sachar ("The Boy Who Lost His Face")
• J.K. Rowling ("Harry Potter" - Series)
• Stephen King ("Cujo", "Carrie", "The Dead Zone", "Christine")
• Ken Follett ("Pillers of the Earth")
• Lois Lowry ("The Giver")
• Katherine Paterson ("Bridge To Terabithia")
• Caroline B. Cooney ("The Face on the Milk Carton")
• Ray Bradbury ("Fahrenheit 451") *rather ironic*
• John Grisham ("A Time to Kill")
• Alice Sebold ("The Lovely Bones")
• Garth Nix ("Shade's Children")
• John Gardner ("Grendel")

This is in no way a complete list, and I am not trying to place additional importance on these authors or books. I selected the authors and books I recognized, and felt would be widely recognized by others. They were selected from two lists, the top 100 banned/challenged books of 1990-1999 and 2000-2009. You can look at the full lists here:

1990-1999 and 2000-2009

One last thing I would like to share, is a map of the USA, marking each area that has made a significant challenge/ban on a book. I found it shocking, such a large part of the country involved in censorship. Take a look for yourself: http://bannedbooksweek.org/Mapofbookcensorship.html

Now that my rant is over, I'll let you know what you can do about it. There are three pages you can visit for information:

1. Banned Books Week homepage
2. American Library Association (The place where challenges/bans are filed)
3. The Banned Books Week Facebook page

What can you do about it? Read a banned book, spread the word. If you work with books, devote the week to banned books. Write some letters, and visit websites that belong to groups trying to ban books. The Banned Books Week homepage has some great suggestions, and a lot of other resources, and links.

In the end, it is up to you. I can not put it into words any better than the logo for Banned Books Week, which says "Think for Yourself and Let Others Do the Same"

What I'm working on

To make a long story short, I haven't written anything substantial for awhile. I do have a lot of ideas, for short stories, and some more details to add to my novel.

Without giving away too much, some of those ideas are:

• Fantasy: What will you give up for money and power? Your life? That's a common question. What about your sanity? Your mind? What use is money if you go over the edge and become forced to live the rest of your life paralyzed, alone, or crazy...
• Sci-Fi: Robots, Artificial intelligence, and the death of humanity. Can a robot cross the final barrier between machine and intelligent life?
• Fantasy: Dreams. They must have a meaning, hidden somewhere. What is the invisible bond between twins? Is there something causing nightmares, and how can it be found, or stopped?
• Sci-Fi: Time travel. (Yes, I know time travel has been done before). If you travel in time, how does that affect other dimensions, other realities? What do you do if something goes wrong?
• Suspense/Horror: A killer, an assassin, a thief. What makes this one different? He doesn't aim for houses, he stalks the condos and apartment buildings. Would you close your windows at night if you lived on the 18th floor? You should!!

A few other random things I might work on, eventually: Something based on "Serial Experiments Lain", where the lines between the internet and reality become blurry. (Side note:Can a God exist without faith, or followers?). "The Books of Blood", by Clive Barker, if I tried to build up a collection of horror stories... Yet another idea based on hunting or freeing ghosts,(NO! Nothing like "Ghost Whisperer") more like the manga series "Mail" by Housui Yamazaki.

What do you think? Do any of these ideas jump out at you? Do they sound like stories you have to read, or do they sound too common to bother with? Let me know. (I probably won't change my mind, but I can admit I'm wrong, and I'm willing to work on an idea until it's perfect)

An obvious final note. Although I kept these idea vague, they are still mine, and I would prefer it if you didn't use them without my permission.

That's it for today! I'm not sure what my next post will be about, so make sure you come back to find out!

The Coldfire Trilogy

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I'm currently reading a series of books, "The Coldfire Trilogy", by C. S. Friedman. I also forgot about another book I had read, "Be Mine Forever", which is part of a vampire series by Rosemary Laurey. If you're into vampire books, it might be worth a look, but otherwise it's not very noteworthy.

Getting back to the "Coldfire Trilogy", these books deserve a detailed review, and they have provided a lot of personal inspiration in different areas.

The books are Fantasy, and the use of magic is very well defined. Rather than magic coming from a personal 'Mana pool', the source of power is a part of the planet itself. Different areas, and events can increase, and decrease the ease of "spells", or "workings", as they are referred to in the books. The source of power is called "Fae", and it flows like water throughout the land.

Most of my writing is Fantasy based, and these books have given me a lot of inspiration, and have made me think about the way magic is used. I would never 'mimic' the nature of magic found in her books, but many of the books I read take the source of power for granted.

I also enjoy the fact that her books tend to be 'darker' than other books in the same genre. The lines between "Good and Evil" come in an assortment of grays, starting with a prophet who defined religion only to be cast out of it, labelled as "Evil". One of the main characters, a priest, has to continually evaluate his beliefs. The old standby is present, "What is justified, when it comes to the greater good". I find the varied use of religion in the books to be well executed, and it's part of what makes the story stand apart from the crowd.

If you're interested in finding out more about the author, and the books, take a look at her site: http://www.csfriedman.com/

I have also read "Feast of Souls", the first book in her "Magister Trilogy", and was quite impressed with that book as well. Too bad she hasn't finished that series yet.

You can also find "The Coldfire Trilogy" on Amazon. The books are 1. "Black Sun Rising", 2. "True Night Falls", and 3. "Crown of Shadows"

C. S. Friedman book list

And that's it for today. If you haven't read the books yet, give them a try. Libraries are great resources, and if you really like the series, I'm sure you will want to add it to your collection.

In my next post, I'll give a brief overview of what I'm working on, what I've recently finished, and some of the 18 other ideas flying around my head, begging to be released into the world.

Reading lately

Yes, it's been awhile. Once again I have taken a break from posting on my blog. I don't have a personal response to my last post, but I hope that didn't discourage you from trying it yourself.

I've been doing more reading than anything else lately. Sadly, that includes updating my blog. On the positive side, I've got a lot of new ideas that I can work on now.

I don't want to do a full review on all the books I've gone through. To be honest, many of them aren't outstanding, or noteworthy. They just happened to be the first unread book I saw on my bookshelf. I did enjoy them all, for different reasons, and I'll let you know what they were, and leave it up to you to decide if you want to give any of them a try.

(I'll give you some Amazon links to the books, and yes, I do get money if you make a purchase)

First, I finally finished re-reading the Sherlock Holmes collection. I always enjoy the stories, and although it got a bit tedious after awhile, I prefer reading them all at once. The stories are classics, and they are available as public domain, if you don't mind reading them as an ebook, or on your computer. A good place for free PD classics is Project Gutenberg. If you prefer the actual book, there's quite the collection of them on Amazon, such as these hardcover copies by Barnes and Nobles: Vol. 1, and Vol. 2.

Next I wanted a light, easy read and decided to turn to an author I had not read yet. Joy Fielding. They are closer to romance than mystery or suspense. I read 3 of her books, "See Jane Run", "The Deep End", and "Don't Cry Now". I wasn't overly impressed with them, but they filled my need for a "Nice light snack". They did give me some insight into writing thoughts, and emotions. They were a refreshing change of pace after the work of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Joy Fielding has quite a few books published, if you're interested in trying them out, I would suggest a visit to the library before you commit yourself to purchasing any. If you do decide to pick a few up for yourself, you can take a look here: Joy Fielding on Amazon

The next book on my shelf was even further from solid mystery/suspense, and closer to a romantic book with a plot. It was "Night Whispers" by Judith McNaught. Another 3 hour read, and it didn't leave any lasting impression.

After 2 days of easy reading, I decided to re-read some of my favorite Fantasy books, "The Coldfire Trilogy", by C. S. Friedman. More information about those books next time.

And that's it for today. I might not have been as helpful, or interesting as usual today. I'm trying to get into a comfortable grove with the blog, so please bear with me, and let me know what you think. Do you want real book reviews, examples of my writing, random tips?