We have some interesting book news today, first up is:
“October is National Reading Group Month”
www.hometownlife.com: You might think that reading has to be a solitary activity. Do you ever finish a fantastic book, though, and wish you could discuss it with someone, but no one you know has read the same book? If you like talking about characters, plot twists, literary themes, etc., maybe a book club is what you are looking for.
October is National Reading Group Month and you can find out more about reading groups by visiting the Web site at www.nationalreadinggroupmonth.org.
At the Westland Public Library we have two different adult book groups you can join: The Adult Book Club and the Science Fiction Fantasy Book Club. The Adult Book Club reads a mixture of literary and popular titles. Examples of recent titles read include “The Monsters of Templeton” by Lauren Groff, “My Life as a Fake” by Peter Carey, “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier” by Ishmael Beah and “The Blind Assassin” by Margaret Atwood. The Adult Book Club will be meeting again at 7 p.m. Oct. 21 to discuss “The Double Bind” by Christopher Bohjalian.
More here
This is a good idea, we readers always want to share our point of views ;D What do you think of this library new activities? And don’t forget that OBS has book clubs too!
Second on our list is:
“October 12 marks the 30th anniversary of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”
www.fantasybookreview.co.uk: As October 12 2009 marks the day that the most remarkeable book ever to come out of the great publishing corporations of Ursa Minor was made available to humanity – The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – we thought we would run a feature on this truly magnificent series.
All five books have been reissued with a new cover look and, thanks to the kind people at Pan, we have all five books to read.
In the lead up to the anniversary and the publication of And Another Thing… the sixth book in the trilogy by Eoin Colfer, we will be featuring the forewords of five famous Hitchhiker’s fans: Russell T Davies, Terry Jones, Simon Brett, Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs.
“Between the ages of five and eighteen, I must have sat through thousands of school assemblies. I can remember only two. One, in Junior School, when the Deputy Head told us that the PG chimps were paid more than the workers picking the tea leaves (good man!), and two, in the autumn of 1979, when Margaret Iles and Suzanne Couling stood up, in Olchfa Comprehensive School, Swansea, and read out the end of Chapter Eighteen of this very book…
More here
30th anniversary, congratulations! Had you heard before about thid guide, if so what do you think about is?
Now comes the controversy, some thing different that I’m sure you will all have different opinions:
ACLU accuses Stephenville ISD of banning books
www.reporternews.com: Two series of vampire novels were removed from a junior high school library last school year in Stephenville, the only area school district to remove books according to an annual statewide survey of school districts.
The ACLU criticized Stephenville ISD, calling it “the most prolific banner of the year with 11 bans,” though the district did not specify the exact number of books removed, only naming both series in a response to the ACLU survey.
Books in the House of Night series by author P.C. Cast were removed from Henderson Junior High School, as were books in the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which said about 70 percent of all school districts responded to their survey.
More here
Well, I guess this will never stop, no matter what book it is or year we live in. There has been several books banned from schools, but in my opinion the ones in charge of classifying them should have the books separated from the ones minnors can’t read or at least be reasonable. Which are the books that we can read then, If they banned them all?
What do you thing of this matter?
And something in a similar subject:
Banned Books Week celebrates fight for intellectual freedom
www.firstamendmentcenter.org: Librarians, teachers and booksellers across the country will celebrate the right to read during the 28th annual Banned Books Week Sept. 26-30. Each year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores make efforts to educate Americans about the ongoing fight against censorship in schools and libraries nationwide.
The event began after the American Library Association displayed banned books in cages at the 1982 American Booksellers Association trade show, generating great interest among the public and press and prompting ALA to develop a yearly educational event dedicated to combating book censorship.
That same year, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized that students’ First Amendment rights were “directly and sharply implicated” when a book is removed from a school library. In Board of Education, Island Trees Union Free School Dist. v. Pico (1982), the Court decided that “local school boards may not remove books from school library shelves simply because they dislike the ideas contained in those books.”
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That was more refreshing. There are really great books with good themes, and sometimes because things like this we can’t read them. Gives us your opinions on these subjects and join the conversation. We book lovers must stick together!
