Write with TLC

Banning books has always seemed beyond ridiculous to me. What is the point? Ending knowledge? Ending points of view? What if the book you love is the one on the banning block? Does that change things? T he idea behind book bans is to silence those with messages someone doesn't like. I have often wondered what would happen if someone turned the tables on them.  I recently saw that someone decided to challenge the book bans in their state by using the criteria in them to request the Bible be banned from a library. The official who wrote the book banning bill whined that wasn't what he intended, but let's be  clear the criteria fit. I guess that answers the question. And, this wasn't the first time the Bible has been caught up in these kinds of bans... Just  Google it .  The thing is, and this is what they count on, liberal and progressive folks tend to want people to have access to a multitude of books and generally don't try to ban books because we value knowledge an...

I recently read A Collection of Poems by Robert Frost . It's a beautiful book and one I'd been salivating over for a while, ever since I saw it in Costco several months ago. It is filled with poems that speak to my heart, my imagination, my core. I was thumbing through one day while reading - yeah, I was looking ahead - and came across Nothing Gold Can Stay , and the first thought that popped in my head was "Stay gold, Ponyboy." I stopped in my tracks as a shiver went up my spine and a smile slid across my face. I remembered in that moment the first time I read The Outsiders   by S. E. Hinton . The first time I read Nothing Gold Can Stay in the book, The Outsiders , the first time I heard the poem aloud in the movie , the first time I read the letter at the end of the book, the first time I heard the letter at the end of the movie... Robert Frost and The Outsiders are forever linked in my memory because of this poem. S. E. Hinton used Nothing Gold Can Stay to...

Sometimes it's good to take a break, even from the things we love. I've always loved to read. Books have always felt like friends to me. They took me places I never imagined possible while at the same time teaching me how to live life differently. I wanted to share the wonder I found reading books with others, so I started reviewing books. Initially I loved writing reviews. I got excited about reviewing books written by authors I loved and one's I met through myriad author events. At first I wrote reviews when I finished a book and didn't worry about keeping a schedule. It worked okay but wasn't a good way to keep viewers. So I started reading multiple books at a time, so I could have a weekly regular post. At first this was exhilarating. Reading with the purpose to review books made reading feel more purposeful. Then something happened. Somewhere along the way writing reviews started to feel like more like a chore than a pleasure. The feeling crept up on ...

This excerpt from the poem,  Dreams , by Langston Hughes hangs on my office wall. Poets play with perception when they write poetry making reading poetry another play in perception. When we read poetry we bring our own life experiences into play affecting our perception of the world around us. Poetry can shine a light on the world we inhabit in language that is sometimes more palatable than either fiction or nonfiction. Poetry can tease our hearts and minds with possible meanings and interpretations. Poetry can use imagery and emotion to effectively push readers to think about life from a different perspective. Many people have told me they don't read poetry because they don't understand poetry. I struggled to understand this until I started reading some of the "classic" poetry I'd avoided since college. Then I remembered how I used to think poetry was something I couldn't understand, and I got it. It changed the way I engaged with people who don...

I'm always incredulous when someone tells me they don't read books. I don't understand how one exists in the world without reading books - nonfiction, fiction, poetry, etc. - but particularly nonfiction. Nonfiction gives us glimpses into history. It explains scientific research. It helps us better understand medical research. Nonfiction shows us the stories of the people who have changed the world. Nonfiction provides the knowledge to solve problems and navigate the world in which we all live. Nonfiction provokes thought while reminding us there are human beings attached to the events happening in the world currently as well as historical events.  Nonfiction can teach cooking, sewing, crocheting, golfing, programming, marketing, trading, and myriad other things. Nonfiction explores all aspects of life and provides readers with a way to expand their knowledge base. People might think they never read nonfiction, but we all do in one way or another. Any time we try to ...

Let me tell you a story... Let me paint you a whole new world to immerse yourself in for just a little while. A world where justice prevails and conflict is resolved. A world where people live happily ever after. We know these stories aren't real, but they allow us to immerse ourselves in dreams of the world we wish we lived in. They also allow us to experience things we will never experience in real life. I discovered the power of fiction as a child, and fell in love with the stories that changed my life. Fiction gave me the opportunity to envision a future beyond the farm where I grew up. Fiction showed me a world beyond the small farming community where I never quite felt like I fit in. Fiction even gave me my first glimpse into cultures and people across time and space. I devoured the stories I read. Looking back I realize I was searching for my place in the world. I was searching for a place where I would fit in because I never felt like I really fit in anywhere. I s...

Last week I wrote about supporting authors without buying their books, so this week I want to talk about a few benefits of buying books. To be honest, there's this little voice in my head going "People need reasons to buy books... They're books. That's reason enough." Of course that's the writer and reader in me. The minimalist and anti-consumerist in me totally gets why many people don't want to buy books. Buying books is a commitment. It's adding another "thing" to your shelves, your home, your life. Let me be clear. I understand that people work hard for their money, and buying a book can feel like a luxury. I totally get it. I've been there. The rent, the mortgage, fuel, food should all be higher priorities than buying books. I remember days when I saved change for a month to buy a book. I'm not, in any way, proposing that people sacrifice necessities to buy books. There are advantages to buying a book. You own the book. ...