Intermission

Did I forget to mention last week that the blog was going to be on vacation this week? Of course I did. Sorry! However, just because I am out doesn’t mean things stop happening so here’s a brief list of what’s going on book-wise this week:

• This weekend our good friends at the APL Friends Foundation will be hosting the annual Austin Teen Book Festival to be held on Saturday October 1 at the Palmer Events Center. According to their website: “The Festival, which expects well over 2,000 attendees this year, will feature thirty of the most popular and critically acclaimed young adult fiction authors in the country, including Texas born and raised author Scott Westerfeld as the keynote speaker. Westerfeld is the author of five science fiction novels for adults and three series of novels for young adults. He is most notably known for his books Peeps and So Yesterday, which were both named Best Books for Young Adults by the American Library Association, as well as his Leviathan and Uglies series.”

 

• In case you missed it, on Thursday September 22 the Austin City Council was given a presentation of the new Central Library schematic design by staff and architectural consultants. Thanks to the City of Austin Channel 6 and the miracle of digital streaming video, you can watch their presentation in it’s entirety here (click on the City Council tab and fast-forward to segment number 55). You can also witness the presentation to the Austin Library Commission in person this coming Monday September 26 at 7:00pm in the Austin History Center.

 



• This week is a special one for anyone who has ever been concerned about preserving their freedom to read. National Banned Books Week, which runs from September 24 through October 1, serves as a reminder to readers across the country that the freedoms we so often take for granted can easily be taken away in the name of what some call “decency”. This year the top 10 books challenged by legislatures, school districts and parents were:
  • And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson. Reasons: homosexuality, religious viewpoint, unsuited to age group
  • The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. Reasons: offensive language, racism, religious viewpoint, sex education, sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
  • Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Reasons: insensitivity, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
  • Crank by Ellen Hopkins. Reasons: drugs, offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
  • The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins. Reasons: sexually explicit, violence, unsuited to age group
  • Lush by Natasha Friend. Reasons: drugs, sexually explicit, offensive language, unsuited to age group
  • What My Mother Doesn’t Know by Sonya Sones. Reasons: sexism, sexually explicit, unsuited to age group
  • Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By In America by Barbara Ehrenreich. Reasons: drugs, inaccurate, offensive language, political viewpoint, religious viewpoint
  • Revolutionary Voices edited by Amy Sonnie. Reasons: homosexuality, sexually explicit
  • Twilight (series) by Stephenie Meyer. Reasons: sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence, unsuited to age group

  If you want to show your support of these and other “dangerous” books, stop by the store or the Austin Public Library and pick up a copy of your very own. Power to the people!

Be sure to tune in next week, same time and same URL, for the continuing adventures of Recycled Reads and our exciting Collectibles Cabinets. Until then… happy reading!