No book for you!

(I don’t know why, but while trying to fall asleep, this post came almost fully-formed into my head.)

 As a reader/ librarian’s daughter/someone who believes in, you know, personal decisions,  I do not look too kindly upon those who would ban books. And, often, the books that come under objection are ones that most of us would see as completely innocuous. I can just imagine (cue dream sequence music):

Innocuous book: “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”

Imaginary book-banner: “Rabbits who can speak?! Clearly they’ve made a deal with the devil!”

 

Innocuous book: “Goodnight, Moon”

Imaginary book-banner: “Saying goodnight to the moon? Obviously a pagan ritual.”

 

Innocuous book: “The Cat in the Hat”

Imaginary book-banner: “Duh. Everyone knows cats are in league with witches.”

 

Looking at some of the books on this list of the 100 Most-Frequently Challenged Books from 1990-2000, though, I’m not sure how far-fetched my jokey scenarios are. I’ve read many of these books (my beloved “A Wrinkle in Time” is included), most of them when I was a child, and at least so far, there have been no ill effects.

 

Feel free (freedom is good!) to share your thoughts/add satirical excoriations of unobjectionable books.

 

 

 

Rhetorical poem

Was it time

That passed me by

Or was it I

That passed it?

Concise book reviews No. 5 and No. 6: “The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” and “Revenge of the Spellmans”

 ”Guernsey,”  written by Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece Annie Barrows, is an epistolary novel (in the form of letters) about Juliet Ashton, a writer, and her communications with the citizens of Guernsey, a island in the English Channel. Though the story takes place just after World War II, the tone is– for the most part– light and pleasant. I felt the ending was a bit abrupt, though.

“Revenge of the Spellmans,” by Lisa Lutz, is the third in a series of humorous mysteries focusing on Isabel Spellman, P.I., and her family. It was an enjoyable read, as all the books have been, but I thought “Curse of the Spellmans,” the second book, was funnier and had a better mystery. 

 

Words and phrases I could live without: the accidentally-all-apparel (and halfway to double digits!) edition

~ Hollister (See my friend Omawarisan’s post. Actually, check out his whole blog. He’s very funny. :))

~ mom jeans

~ put on your big boy/big girl pants

//

Table manners

I am not

Disposable

A paper napkin

To be used

And casually tossed aside

I am smart

And funny and kind

I am cloth

 

 

 

 

 

3-2-1 contact

If for some reason you would like to e-mail me, you may do so at leastlikelytoblog at hotmail dot com. (And remember, no spam en francais!)

In which I am bossy for a good cause

(I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but I have been extra-special procrastinatory lately (though, as you can see, I did find time to invent a new word :p).)

WordPress has partnered with a company called SocialVibe, through which sponsors donate to various charities. (Click here for complete details.) Now, what am I asking you to do? Just glance over to the sidebar, on the left-hand side of the page, and scroll all the way down, until you see a large rectangular box marked ‘SocialVibe.’ Click on the ‘help now’ button, and, just by clicking, money will be donated to the Whaleman Foundation, which helps whales and dolphins. Thank you!

Turn-back-the-clock Thursday

A few weeks ago, as I do occasionally, I was looking through a school memory book. It’s full of tests, report cards, drawings, and other assorted things (among them, a literal LOL-inducing letter to then-President Reagan), including a few poems, and since it’s been so poetry-centric around here lately (ahem, when I’ve posted), I thought it would be cute (and hopefully not self-indulgent) to post one of my ‘early works.’ It’s from June 2, 1988; I was just about to turn 8 1/2:

Wendy

Funny, creative, smart

Writing, drawing, walking

Shy