Banned Book

I’m back!!

Hello to those of you who stuck around after my near 2 year hiatus and various dips of attendance. The last few years have been tumultuous for so many reasons. I am sure you all have been experiencing some of it in your own way as well! So what have I been up to these last few years?

• I finished my undergraduate degree.
• I started my Masters.
• I finished my Masters.
• I did multiple internships.
• I started a new job.
• I moved!!!

But most importantly, with school done, I have gained a great work/life balance and, being an adult, means I have adult money to spend on whatever I want……BOOKS!

I’m reading a heck of a lot more than I have been for a bit (reading thousands of pages for school kind of kills the joy of reading for fun) and some of the news recently has given me a new push and a revived purpose for this blog.

Book Bans??? Are we living in Fahrenheit 415 or 1984?

I’m sure that you have seen a lot of the news recently about book bans happening in various states around the U.S. which is absolutely mind-boggling! The reasoning for this is to keep the kids safe – they don’t want them to read “sexually explicit material” or be brainwashed to believe various things about history, racism and the way life should be.

Failing to learn from history will doom us to repeat it. And the easiest way to keep people quiet and complacent is to make them not question the current status quo.

How is this done? Remove information.

However, unlike some other countries out there, the U.S. still has a vast internet with access to tons of amazing information and resources. And if I know anything about children and younger people, if you tell them not to look at something, they will.

What Does This Have To Do With MLCWO???

OOOO, baby. I’m gonna tell you. I love stirring the pot, I love making sure truth is stated, I love standing up to people, I love arming people with knowledge! I also happen to be a massive book reader and advocate for reading. You mess with my books – then you mess with me (and the army of book readers out there)! So that is just what I am going to do.

I’m going to inform. While I will of course continue my book reviews of normal books that I want to read, I will also revisit some controversial ones, check out the controversial ones and talk about them. I’ll review them as I used to but will pull out what the issues are, provide sources and information, and give people a rounded understanding of the book. If kids aren’t allowed to read the books, they sure as heck will be able to understand why these books aren’t allowed. Maybe I’ll inspire some to check out the books and want to learn more. Maybe it will get people talking.

Even if one person is inspired, that is better than no one.

I’ll also be discussing and sharing articles regarding this situation and others as they develop to make sure people understand what is happening, why it is happening, what the concerns are, the bigger picture and the way forward.

As a reader I cannot stay quiet. As a reader I cannot let beautiful pieces of literature be removed and destroyed because of “fear”.

I’ll be diving more into this topic in future posts, so never fear. If you’re asking, why should I be worried and what’s the big deal, I’ll get to those questions soon!

If you have a book that you want me to check out, or discuss, send me an email or DM on Insta!