Thursday Thirteen – Banned Books Edition

In my opinion, banning books is one of the most destructive things a society can do. Banning books closes down the intellectual and artistic freedom of a society, leading to slow, inevitable death.

It’s Banned Books Week, and I encourage you to go out and buy a banned book. In an effort to convince you to do so, here are 13 books I love which have been banned or challenged at one time or another in the US.

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. This is such a great book, with such intense world building. The ideas of this book have stuck with me for years. No, I will not conform!

2.  In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak. Yes, Maurice Sendak. It’s a really cute story. My Munchkin loves it. There’s a naked kid in the book. The horror.

3. Lady Chatterly’s Lover by DH Lawrence. Um. Do I have to explain this one?

4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Possibly my favorite book on the planet. I love Atticus, the unshakable core of right in him. And Boo Radley. And Scout. And….

5. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. The movie by no means did this book justice.

6. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. I know! Ban Dr. Seuss? Are you serious? This story is definitely about responsibility for one’s actions, so by all means, let’s ban it! Not.

7. And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. Gay penguins! Or, rather, it turns out, at least one of the penguins seems to be bi. The story is really beautiful. I bought it two years ago during Banned Book week and fell in love with the story.

8. Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Banned because of Viola dressing as a boy. Sadly, I am not kidding.

9. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Okay, I may be one of the few people who actually enjoys Hemingway, but I do. This one, particularly I enjoy because of the staccato and terse way he conveys the starkness of war. It’s really, IMHO, the best use of Hemingway’s style.

10. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. So far as I know, this one wasn’t banned, but it’s going here. Why?  It was BURNED outside a church in New Mexico in 2001 because it was deemed “Satanic.” WTF?

11. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Again, I know, no one else loves this book. I enjoy the subtle sensuality of the prose, the sly way Fitzgerald slides little sensory details in.

12. Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume. I think everything Judy Blume has ever written has been challenged. This one is a particular favorite because it really captures the fear and anticipation of a girl on the edge of adolescence. Truthfully, Judy Blume’s books are, in general, a painfully accurate view into the process of growing up. Blubber, Deenie, Are You There God?, Tiger Eyes. It’s like a horribly realistic progression.

13. The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling. Yeah, yeah. I enjoyed this series immensely, and it just makes me roll my eyes that people challenge it.

Bonus: Earth’s Children Series by Jean M. Auel. Dense, amazing books. The research this woman did for these books leaves me in awe.

What about you? what banned books have you read lately?

Oh, hey…Tuesday

And I’m (you guessed it) blogging at Tales from the Crit. Last week I publically listed some things I want to accomplish by the end of the year. This week I’m blogging (briefly) about how I intend to accomplish them. I might write more about that subject as I refine it.

But before you clicky-click away to visit TftC, stop by the serial aisle (…sorry, my sense of humor is very bad Tuesdays) for Elise’s latest contribution to GMS: Mercy. It’s a Xu scene. And it’s not really work safe but it is yummy.

The Next Best Thing, part I (explicit)

Relief, at least some measure of it, eased the invisible tension from Xu’s shoulders. He’d updated the Captain and gotten her agreement not to interfere prematurely in the situation with Enchev. The Captain, however, had cut Neve’s window in half by putting the ship on stasis alert.

Still, Neve had six hours, which was plenty of time. It was also enough time for Xu to bleed off some of the sexual frustration Neve induced. He had a few hours before the Pleasure Lounge and other recreation areas began powering down, and he intended to use them.

He spread his arms along the back of the low couch and surveyed the lounge. Along the interior walls were privacy booths. The area along the hull wall was dotted with small tables and conversational groupings of furniture, constituting what Xu thought of as the spectator gallery. The middle of the large room, where he now reclined, was sunken below the level of the floor and boasted a variety of couches, chairs, benches and low tables. This was center stage.

Though he often preferred privacy, the throbbing in his veins demanded quick satisfaction. The need to control his partner and demonstrate that control to others beat at him.

Fortunately, he’d played this game often enough that nearly everyone on board knew the rules.

He allowed a small smile for the tiny blonde kneeling before him. He’d partnered with her before and her sense of adventure and sure self-understanding worked well with Xu’s more dominant style. “What are my rules, Valerie?”

He posed the question more for the benefit of the young man kneeling beside her than for Valerie herself. Xu hadn’t partnered with Kevin before, and Valerie’s answer would help Kevin understand the dynamic.

“To respect my own limits, to speak up if I am uncomfortable, to do as you ask, and to please you.”

“Very good, Valerie. What are your limits today?”

Continue reading The Next Best Thing, part I (explicit)…

Thirteen Things that Made Me Smile This Week

I’ve had a rough week. I’m sick. DH is sick. I have a dissertation deadline looming and had issues getting my models to converge (believe me when I tell you that you really don’t want to know). I had to recode a variable from a static average to a logged moving average. ew. Just a rough week. So, I thought I’d take this Thursday Thirteen to just…have a little smile break. It’s a disparate list, but hey, I’m an eclectic kinda person. Also, it’s in no particular order. (All the links are work safe)

1. The Google books settlement got a big kick in the butt this week when the Department of Justice filed objections to the settlement characterizing it as potentially monopolizing. At the very least, the settlement is being delayed and modified. Hooray!

2. Tom DeLay on Dancing With the Stars was pretty funny, and not a horrible dancer. Brilliant one liners included (when coached to go left by his dance partner): “Going left for me is absolutely outrageous.” *snort*

3. I saw this commercial.

4. My Munchkin was watching Mythbusters with us and said “They are the experts of dangerous.” Oh, the beauty of that line. It still makes me smile.

5. Seeing President Obama on David Letterman. You can see the whole thing here.

6. My DH hooked me up with this link. The Little House on the Prairie ones are fantastic.

7. Chipmunks. The chipmunks in my backyard have been in rare form. Running around, tackling each other. It’s great fun to watch.

8.  I got models to converge using the new data. I realize no one else cares, but it made me smile.

9. I got a lovely ego boost from Emily (yes, the lovely Emily Ryan-Davis). She’s harassing me to finish the next serial installment, but since her impatience is rooted in the character I’ve created, it’s a nice stroke to the ego. And that makes me smile.

10. DH made homemade cinnamon raisin bread. I cannot tell you how fantastic the house smelled. Just thinking about it makes me smile again.

11. Kelly Osbourne on Dancing With the Stars looked GORGEOUS. She looked great, she danced beautifully, she really impressed the heck out of me.

12. My BFF sent me a present. In fact, she sent my Christmas present. In September. How did she know I needed it this week? See? Now you’re smiling at how awesome my BFF is, aren’t you?

13. DH sent me this link, too. And if this doesn’t make you smile, well, you’re in worse shape than I am.

What made you smile this week?

Tuesday Again

Which means Tales from the Crit – and a bonus blog this week at TRS Blue.

At TftC, I’ve set two goals for the remainder of 2009. Do you have any loose ends you’re looking to tie up this fall?

Three Things that Make Me Happy

Look at this cover. Look. At. It. And tell me you don’t want to own this edition. This edition? Just earned a place on my Christmas wish list.

Yes, I am a clothes whore. It’s OK to call me one. I’m even a CHEAP clothes whore. But I have a sweater dress and I’m going to wear it. While toting around the above edition of WUTHERING HEIGHTS.

And Victoria Dahl’s contemporaries. (Yes, I know together they make 4 things. ShutupIdon’tcare.)

What three things are making you happy right now?

The Divine Feminine at Midnight Moon Cafe

I’m blogging at Midnight Moon Cafe today and talking about my introduction to the divine feminine, as well as the presence of the feminine-power theme in my paranormal stories. A free download might be up for grabs.

Review-O-Rama: Outcast

This is the second review I’m doing for the blog. This one is Outcast by Joan Johnston.  I should mention up front that Ms. Johnston’s books are hit or miss for me, so if you are a die hard Johnston fan, we’re coming from different places.

Ben Benedict has issues. He’s an agent for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Homeland Security, but before that he was in the Army and his time in service has left him with PTSD [note: Ms. Johnston does a really good job of conveying the reality of PTSD, rather than the pretty version fiction usually gives us. Hooray Ms. Johnston!]. After an episode in which he fires his weapon, his commanding officer assigns him to a therapist – Dr. Anna Schuster.

Ben, in rather typical alpha-male style, wants nothing to do with therapy and does what he can to throw up road blocks. Anna, though, isn’t giving up.

To complicate matters, Ben is on the trail of an alleged Al Qaeda operative bent on a massive terrorist attack. As Ben pursues his quarry, he and Anna find themselves in a deepening relationship that puts Anna in a precarious professional position.

So, that’s pretty much the plot overview. Let me start this review by saying that I had some serious willing-suspension-of-disbelief issues with this story. I had to get past these to get into the story at all, and some of my problems kept cropping up. One of the big issues I had was getting past Anna’s decision to keep treating him after they begin a personal relationship.  I just squicked at the violation of professional ethics.

There were parts of the story that felt, well, gratuitous and unnecessary, there more for shock value than for any real value to the story. I don’t want to be too spoiler-y, so I’m going to be a little cagey about this. The shooting that results in his being referred to Anna involves a more personal angle than is necessary. It serves, really, only to increase the angst and to give you a visceral shock.  I can’t figure out how to non-spoilerize the second one, so suffice it to say that the second episode looks a lot like the first, unnecessary and there only to yank your heart strings. And then there’s the third one. Yes, the third one.

The series of rather melodramatic and overwrought episodes aside, the basic plot is interesting and moves along well. The characters, especially the secondary characters that make up Ben’s family (he is one of 14 kids in a mixed family, including half- and step-sipblings).  The race to find the Al Qaeda operative before the attack is accomplished has a strong tension and works well as a thriller. There were a few reality tweaks for me, but probably nothing the average reader will notice.

The end, though. The end annoyed me. Again, I don’t want to do spoilers, but the end felt like a cop-out to me. It was a bit too deus-ex-machina for my preferences.

That said, my overall impression is mediocre. The general plotting and characterization were strong: it is a well written book. But this is tempered by a series of apparently unnecessary events put in to yank at the reader’s emotional chain. The romance, while seeming to flow naturally out of the story, hit a few sour notes with me that I had trouble getting past.

It isn’t my favorite Johnston. And I doubt I’ll have any desire to reread it. But, if you have a strong affinity for chick-flicks mixed with Die Hard, this may be a great book for you.

Another Tuesday at Tales from the Crit

Wherein I reflect upon my inability to write in just one sub-genre and its correlation to my shopping problem habit. Hope you stop by!

Excerpt Monday (September)

Once a month, a bunch of authors get together and post excerpts from published books, contracted work or works in progress, and link to each other. You don’t have to be published to participate–just an writer with an excerpt you’d like to share. For more info on how to participate, head over to the Excerpt Monday site! or click on the banner above.

From ALL THE WOMEN IN PEARL, available now at Ellora’s Cave

John began to turn away. Unwilling to face his back again, she hurried to say, “I need to thank you.”

He paused then stretched his long legs and crossed them at the ankle. His forearm rested along the length of the windowsill. He angled his head and looked at her, his eyes glittering in the dark. “So thank me.”

Challenge. She wrung her hands. “I’m unsure how.”

“They’re only two words, C.C.”

“They are, aren’t they?” She untwisted her fingers, smoothed her skirt, and spoke to his knees. “Thank you, John.”

“For what?”

“For…” Buying me. No. He hadn’t done that. It was a terrible insult to permit herself the thought that he had. “Taking me home.”

She glanced at the door, out the window, and added, “But I can’t accept it. I’m going to ask Lewis to return what you paid. I shouldn’t have allowed matters to proceed so far. They weren’t holding me prisoner. I was free to leave when I chose. I planned to leave in the morning, to wire Ethan and ask that he see me from Pueblo to Pearl.”

“A man doesn’t surrender land once it’s in his hands,” John said flatly. “You won’t speak with them again.”

“Land?” She covered her mouth, understanding.

His attention returned to the window. Collette cursed herself, her unfortunate silence and her ill-timed tongue. She rounded the bed and touched his shoulder, unsure why she did it but knowing she needed contact. Maybe he did too.

The muscle beneath her hand bunched. He tucked his chin closer to his chest. “Go to sleep. We’re leaving at sunup.”

“To go back to Pearl. But that’s not where you were going, is it?”

“That’s over. Now I’m going back to Pearl.”

She sank to her knees beside him, her skirt nudging his legs. If he wouldn’t look up, she would go down.

John did turn his gaze upon her when she touched his thigh. The quickening breeze pulled at her hair. He reached for the flyaway strands and wrapped them around his fist, studying her from beneath heavy lashes.

“What are you about, girl?” He returned her hair to her shoulder, smoothing the strands with a slow caress over the curve of her breast. Collette stopped breathing. The heel of his palm centered on her pebbling nipple, resting there. “This isn’t innocent. It’s a paying pose.”

“Links to other Excerpt Monday writers
Note: I have not personally screened these excerpts. Please heed the ratings and be aware that the links may contain material that is not typical of my site.