HARRY POTTER {BOOKS 1 -5}.

 Having read the Harry Potter books by JK Rowling when they were first released {or, near enough anyway, the first time I read them was when Mr T bought me a box set of the first four books after which I always pre-ordered them} I decided to make my way through the series some sixteen years after the release of the last book*, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in 2007. Here are my collective thoughts on the first five books in the series which include ...

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (1997)

2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (1998)

3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (1999)

4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2000)

5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2003)

6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2005)

7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007)

It was whilst on placement in a Catholic primary school as part of my Teaching Assistant training that I first came across Harry Potter as almost without exception all of the Stage 3 children aged 7 -8 were reading/had read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, book one in a series that, good or bad, the literary world seemed to be talking about.

Banned in several US states, though I wasn't aware of any outright bans here in the UK I can remember there being talk in the staff room about the suitability of the children reading a book that featured 'witchcraft'. Thankfully the outcome of these conversations being that, the first book in a long while to have captured the imagination of a classroom of 32 pupils, anything that got the children so excited about reading should surely be encouraged.

Having last read the book sixteen years ago {the first four books some twenty three plus years ago}, I did enjoy re-reading them {some more than others} but, looking back at my hand written journal, it doesn't seem to be with quite the same excitement as it was all those years ago ... though of course there wasn't all the hype that there was then and there certainly weren't all of the films all of which I've seen countless times now.

Of the five book re-read, whilst, still admiring the first {Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone} as something different from anything I had ever read before; as something that had the power to get children talking so animatedly, I did enjoy re-reading the books {some more than others} but, looking back at my hand written journal, it doesn't seem to be with quite the same excitement as it was all those years ago ... though of course there wasn't all the hype that there was then and there certainly weren't all of the films all of which I've seen countless times now.

Of the five book re-read, whilst by no means the strongest book in the series, a great introduction to Harry Potter and Hogworts, I did enjoy the first book, the next two books not quite so much. It was however books four and, in particular, five that proved to be my favourites as we get to see many of the characters, not least of which is Neville Longbottom, in a new and exciting light. 

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THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER.

THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER by MARK TWAIN.

Few books have taken so deep and enduring a hold on the American imagination as The Adventures Of Tom Sawyer. Younger readers delight in the sheer pleasure of following the rollicking, mischievous adventures of Tom, a consummate prankster with a quick wit. Yet older readers recognize the somber undercurrents lurking dangerously beneath the secure and wondrous world of boyhood. Through the novel's nostalgic portraits of life on the Mississippi River and humorous escapades - from the famous episode of the whitewashed fence and the ordeal in the caves to the trial of Injun Joe - Mark Twain explores the deeper, darker themes of the adult world Tom is one day destined to join. 

-Back Cover Blurb

"Tom!"
- First Sentence

- Memorable Moment; 
Please see My Thoughts below

Source ... A present from Mr T.

READ FOR A READING CHALLENGE? ... No. Read for discussion at the Arkansas Book Club of which I am an honorary member. Please be sure to check out Kelly's take on this book which will be posted on her blog, Kelly's Thoughts & Ramblings, tomorrow.

MY THOUGHTS ... Who'd have thought it, a classic that I actually rather enjoyed.

A book I didn't read in its entirety until I was in my ... 30's? And what I now believe was probably an abridged copy perhaps published to appeal more to 'modern sensibilities' as, reading this 2014 edition (with an introduction & notes by R. Kent Rasmusen) I certainly don't remember some of the, shall we say, darker aspects. 

A 'typical lad'; constantly in search of new adventures; of new tricks to play; of new ways to break the rules, all without getting into trouble.

A true prankster; a bit of a rogue; manipulative but lovable with it, his honesty and ultimate sense of fair play making him a truly well rounded character ... it could be argued that Tom epitomises boyhood in a book that celebrates childhood.

A timelessly humorous, exciting, scary read; Tom a character I'm sure many children will relate to (if nothing else how many have wet the soap pretending they've washed OR 'pulled a sickie' in the hope of getting out of going to school?) and yet (not that I'm against children reading it; far from it) arguably a book about children written for adults; despite the fact its largely considered a book for children, I'm not altogether convinced it is.

Based on the authors childhood experiences growing up in Missouri, full of the 'universal truths' about friendship (many of which resonate to this day). Some of the language (notably the use of the word nigger), bigotry and casual sexism ...

"Becky's lips trembled and the tears came to her eyes; she hid these signs with a forced gayety and went on chattering, but the life had gone out of the picnic, now, and out of everything else; she got away as soon as she could and hid herself and had what her sex call "a good cry"

- pg 123

... may however cause offence but personally, thankful that this particular edition is the version as written by the author, I'd urge we remember that this was part of the language/thinking at this time.

THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE.

THE STORY OF DOCTOR DOLITTLE by HUGH LOFTING.

John Dolittle is a highly respected doctor in the village of Puddleby-on-the-Marsh, yet he loves animals so much that his house is soon full of them. With all his patients scared away, and the expense of feeding his menagerie mounting, a friend suggests that the Doctor become an animal doctor instead.

With the help of Polynesia the parrot, Doctor Dolittle swiftly learns the language of the animals so that he can talk to all of his new patients. However, when a message comes from Africa, telling of a terrible sickness among the monkeys there, the Doctor and his animal friends depart on a thrilling and dangerous adventure that they are never likely to forget.

- Back Cover Blurb

Once upon a time, many years ago - when our grandfathers were little children - there was a doctor, and his name was Dolittle - John Dolittle, MD.

- First Sentence, Chapter One; Puddlby

"Do you dare to ask me, sir?" he said, glaring at the Doctor. "Do you dare to ask me - ME, the King of Beasts - to wait on a lot of dirty monkeys? Why, I wouldn't even eat them between meals!"

Although the lion looked very terrible, the doctor tried hard not to seem afraid of him.  

"I didn't ask you to eat them," he said quietly. "And besides, they're not dirty. They've all had a bath this morning. ....."

- Memorable Moment, Page 41

SOURCE ... Kindly received from Alma Books.

READ FOR A REVIEW? ... No.

MY THOUGHTS ... To those who haven't read the book ... 

Read it, it really is one of the classics.

To those who haven't read the book but have seen the film(s), either the original version with Rex Harrison and/or the terrible remake with Eddie Murphy ...

Read the book, its so, so much better than either of the films.

One of my all time favourites since I was knee high to a grasshopper as my nana would say. I've always loved The Story Of Doctor Dolittle mainly because the animals are rather refreshingly animals as opposed to  the almost 'too human' animals so popular in other books of this type and yet, at the same time, we are privy to their thoughts and conversations and  it is more often than not them and their quick thinking that get the esteemed DR out of trouble.

Published countless times over the years, what of this edition from the Alma Books' Children's Classics collection?  

With its original illustrations and 'extras' for young readers which includes, amongst other things, information about the characters and a quiz, I thought it a great addition to any library whether it be that of the younger reader new to the adventures of the Doctor capable of talking to the animals or, indeed, those who, mmm, a little older want to share the book with the child/children in their life or merely recapture the magic of their own childhood by re-reading it.

First published in the nineteen twenties, what is actually the first book in a fairly long series, Dr Dolittle is a story loved by generations. 

Yes, certain passages are now considered racist and, yes, the book was banned in certain schools in the US. In light of this, as a publisher, Alma Books, rightfully or wrongfully, saw fit to exercise editorial discretion and amend/remove what today may be deemed controversial/offensive content so perhaps not an edition for those looking for an unabridged edition but otherwise ... go ahead, enjoy what is still a delightfully charming story.

I LEAP OVER THE WALL.

I LEAP OVER THE WALL by MONICA BALDWIN.

Bewilderment - shock - exhilaration

These were Monica Baldwin's reactions to life in 1941 after twenty-eight years in a strictly enclosed convent.

Overwhelmed by the pace ofwartime London, embarrassed by her ignorance of everyday customs, excited by her first discovery of the cinema - radio - cocktails - silk lingerie, her new life seemed half nightmare, half luxurious adventure. Why did she renounce her vows? In this fascinating record the ex-nun reveals with candour the stresses of life in an enclosed community and her own inward struggle to conform to the Rule. 
- Back Cover Blurb

I am not the first member of my family to leap over a wall.
- First Sentence, Introduction 

The crescendo of shocks which awaited me began abruptly with my first introduction to up-to-date underwear. Frankly, I was appalled.

The garments to which I was accustomed had been contrived by thorough-going ascetics in the fourteenth century, who considered that a nice, thick, long-sleeved 'shift' of rough, scratchy serge was the right thing to wear next to your skin. My shifts, when new, had reached almost to my ankles. However, hard washing and much indiscriminate patching soon stiffened and shrank them until they all but stood up by themselves.
 - Memorable Moment,  Page 8

SOURCE ... Borrowed from a friend, thanks Sally.

READ FOR A CHALLENGE? ... No.

MY THOUGHTS ... Have you ever wondered what changes you'd encounter if ever you were to, lets say, fall asleep for ten .. for twenty .. for almost thirty years?

You have?

Thank goodness I'm not the only one!

Well, not that she fell asleep but ...

From a world of physical hardships; with no getting away from what sounds like some pretty challenging characters to a world of war and thus very different 'hardships', from an orderly life to a very hectic one, life certainly had changed ... and how ... in the twenty-eight years the author, a niece of British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, spent as a nun in a enclosed order.

Told with an exquisitely British sense of humour. Chronicling life both pre and post entrance into the convent, I thought I Leap Over The Wall a truly fascinating read (that it was banned in Ireland for many years no surprise). The fact that we never got to know exactly why she chose this life in the first place; why she she stuck it out for quite so long (though I think we'll probably all have our own thoughts on this, many of them I'm sure, pretty accurate) when it became clear early on that she had no vocation for this life, my only small gripes and alas something we will never know for sadly she took her own life in 1975 after writing two other books; 'The Called and the Chosen' and 'Goose In The Jungle (the former a novel, the latter, a second autobiography). 

CHILDREN'S BOOKS: FULL OF FILTHY SUBLIMINAL IMAGES. REALLY?

Not so much subliminal as, err, unfortunate 

but I digress ....

Dogging and side-boobs – are children’s books really bulging with filth?

With a headline that read like this how could Mr T resist sending me a link to this article by Stephanie Merrit?

... Note the group of men seemingly gathering in the bushes

... Now note the elderly lady elderly apparently startled by what she sees in the bushes

An article that came about when someone came across the above illustrations in a book that forms part of the highly popular Biff, Chip and Kipper series as created by educational experts BUT all is not as it as first seems for as the Open University Press reassures parents here the original tweet fails to show that there are in fact pages in between the two that are featured. 

Hmm! Is it that I'm totally unobservant or just too grown up? 

As a girl I loved the Folks Of The Faraway Tree books by Enid Blyton and not once can I remember my (or anyone else I knew come to that) sniggering about the name Fanny (which for my US friends is slang for a woman's genitals here in the UK) which later got changed to Frannie.

As always your thoughts are welcome.

FAHRENHEIT 451.

FAHRENHEIT 451 by RAY BRADBURY.

BACK COVER BLURB: Guy Montag is a fireman. His job is to burn books, which are forbidden, being the source of all discord and unhappiness. Even so, Montag is unhappy; there is discord in his marriage. Are books hidden in his house? The Mechanical Hound of the Fire Department, armed with a lethal hypodermic, escorted by helicopters, is ready to track down those dissidents who defy society to preserve and read books. 

Ray Bradbury's powerful and poetic prose combines with uncanny insight into the potential of technology to create a prophetic account of Western civilization's enslavement by the media, drugs and conformity that stands alongside Orwell's 1984 and Huxley's Brave New World.

FIRST SENTENCE {Part One: The Hearth and the Salamander}: It was a pleasure to burn.

MEMORABLE MOMENT {Page 58}: 'You weren't there, you didn't see,' he said. 'There must be something in books, things we can't imagine, to make a woman stay in a burning house; there must be something there. You don't stay for nothing.'

SOURCE:  A special edition that celebrates fifty years since its first publication, this is one of Mr T's books off our shelves.

MY THOUGHTS: A book perhaps made notorious (and arguably the reason for its huge popularity) by it being included on the list of books to have been banned at one point or another. 

A 'science fiction'/'dystopian' novel, all about censorship and what it is to control/be controlled and, if I'm not very much mistaken, the 'dumbing down of society'.

Not what I considered a particularly well penned read. Not wishing to insult any school boys, but alas I found the writing, well, school boyish in its execution. The Mechanical Hound from whose snout there projects a lethal syringe unimaginative and, quite frankly, I felt laughable.

With neither a plot nor characters (probably the most important aspect of a story as far as I'm concerned) that I could immerse myself in, let alone believe in, I'm afraid I struggled. 

Then there was the whole futuristic aspect. OK, so there are those that see the author as quite the visionary and, yes, it could be said that with the increase in 'reality tv' (the opium of the masses?) he was right and I suppose in this respect the book is marginally interesting but not nearly so interesting as to grip my interest let alone hold my attention.

Whilst I shouldn't really compare the two, give me George Orwell any time.

Fahrenheit 451 was read for the 2016 Reading Challenge: 'A book that was banned at some point' category.

BANNED BOOK WEEK: LABELLING BOOKS - THE SLIPPERY SLOPE TO BANNING THEM?

I hold my hands up, I'm a bit of a prude when it comes to books that are overly sexually explicit AND I abhor too much swearing/crude language, even more so when its sexual, BUT that of course doesn't mean that I'd see any book banned ... not now, not ever, not for any reason. 

Just like my thoughts on TV programmes which, broadly speaking, is ' if you don't like it/find it offensive, switch it over/off', likewise if a book is proving too racy, is full of language/violence you find inappropriate, you always have the option to not read it. 

What then of the labelling of books?

The slippery slope towards banning OR just a way of notifying readers of what they can expect?

Hmm, not something I'd ever thought about if I'm being honest. That is until I won a copy of The Seed Collectors (if you haven't already done so you can read my review here) by Scarlett Thomas on GoodReads.

Not a lot to help me clarify my thoughts on the internet. An initial search led me to this 2009 article which told of parents campaigning to have a library label books that they deemed necessary of labelling.

Alas not particularly helpful as (1) the article dealt with the labelling of books aimed at a teen market (arguably a whole other matter) and (2) Though I could be mistaken in this I came away with the distinct feeling that far from being satisfied with the labelling of these books this group (Citizens Against Pornography) would cheerfully see the books in question banned altogether.

'Relentless crude sexual language', the fact the 'without exception the male characters are all extremely aggressive in their sexuality', the '(to me) odd sexual fetishes - Ah, a case in point, TO ME they were odd, that's not to say the next reader wouldn't find them perfectly 'normal' - but most of all the women seemingly 'obsessed by their 'rape fantasies.''

Do I think this book or indeed any with similar content should be labelled? Do you know my first thoughts were yes, after all forewarned is forearmed, right? But on thinking about it  ... 

Who decides what constitutes crude sexual language, what is offensive and what isn't? And at what point is the line drawn when something is deemed so offensive that a cautionary label is deemed necessary? Is it your average reader (if there is such a thing) or is it the individual determined to be offended at the merest hint of physical contact between consenting adults in a loving relationship?

Soooo, back to my original question .... labelling books - the slippery slope to banning them?

I'm beginning to think that it could well be. What thinks you?

NEVER SAY NEVER BUT THERE ARE SOME BOOKS I CAN'T IMAGINE MYSELF READING

Having come across this post on Musing Of A Bookish Kitty's blog I couldn't help but think on the books I'll probably never read. 

War And Peace. Whilst not against mammoth reads per se I'm almost scared by the thought of this one thousand plus page 1869 tome by Leo Tolstoy which, I'm led to believe, contains large sections which are more philosophical discussion than actual narrative.

The Land Of Painted Caves. A one-time fan of the author's Earth's Children series I'm afraid these novels by Jean Auel became so formulaic that I lost interest well before book five so this, the sixth, holds no appeal what so ever even if it is the last ever book in the series.

Watership Down. Never a fan of animal stories to begin with, I remember how my ten year old self felt her heart breaking listening to the 1978 song so I'm afraid Richard Adams' novel, along with other animal stories, is a no-go area as far as I'm concerned. 

A Big Nowhere/LA Confidential/White Jazz. Books two to four in a series that began with The Black Dahlia, a novel by crime writer James Elroy that to quote my review I thought 'one of the most vile books I have ever had the misfortune to read, 'badly written and full of colloquiums I didn't understand'. 

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess. Not a big fan of overly violent books, I'm totally put off by this book which, set in a near future English society, portrays a subculture of extreme youth violence.

E.L. James' Fifty Shades Of Grey/Fifty Shades Darker/Fifty Shades Freed. A prude (there I've said it) when it comes to explicit sex scenes, but even more off-putting for me is the books reputation as a badly written piece of literature.

The first book I can personally remember people calling to be banned. A huge Elvis fan as a girl I can remember the controversy surrounding the publication of Albert Goldman's Elvis and vowing that whilst people were indeed entitled to read what they wished I for one wouldn't be reading this.

What about you, what books, if any, can't you see yourself reading?

A MEDIA MONDAY/BANNED BOOK WEEK SPECIAL:'THAT BOOK' BY HILARY MANTEL.

Well, well, well! Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill.


Call me cynical but given that they say there's no such thing as bad publicity (and after all with this comment she has been here before so to speak) I can't imagine award winning author Hilary Mantel is shedding any tears over the ho-ha caused by of her short story, The Assassination Of Margaret Thatcher: August 6th 1983, an extract of which was printed here in The Guardian on September 19th.

Perhaps best known for her historical fiction, the author's latest work, inspired by the day in 1983 when she spotted an unguarded Margaret Thatcher (described by Mantel as anti-feminist, a 'psychological transvestite') from the window of her Windsor flat and fantasised about killing her, has already proved controversial with one of the major English newspapers already having pulled out of a deal to be the first to publish the story and yet another calling for her to be investigated by the police.

'Sick and deranged', 'full of bile and hate', 'in need of a therapist'? Not knowing Hilary Mantel I couldn't possibly comment BUT as for her being 'somebody who admits they wanted to assassinate somebody' and therefore in need of investigation by the police? Surely not? 

Given that it came just days before Banned Book Week (September 21st - 27th) what strikes me most is that despite rumours that a certain British newspaper paid tens of thousands of pounds (something it vehemently denies) for the extract only to renegade on the deal amidst fears it would anger its readers, that there have been calls for the book to be banned.

What do you think? Should we worry about all authors with thoughts of assassination or just those with thoughts of assassinating an actual person (albeit if that individual is already dead)? And should any such books be banned?

For myself, to quote Salman Rushdie .....

'It is very, very easy not to be offended by a book. You just have to shut it'.

BANNED BOOK WEEK 2013: MORE SEX SCENES IN BOOKS FOR TEENAGERS?

Welcome to this my second contribution to Banned Book Week 2013. For those of you who may have missed it HERE is my first post, Banned Book Week 2013: Then and Now. My thanks once again to Sheila at BOOK JOURNEY for hosting and all those bloggers who contributed.





More sex scenes in books for teenagers? You can just hear the outraged outcry of those who wish to ban books.

Malorie Blackman, author of, amongst other books, The Noughts and Crosses series and CHILDREN'S LAUREATE, the eighth person and first black woman to hold the post since it was created in 1999, has not only come forward to say that .....

 (she) hopes technology can help get young people to engage with books  MORE

but, perhaps more controversially, that ......

Books for teenagers should contain realistic sex scenes to prevent young people learning everything from on-line pornography, (that) youngsters ought to read about sex within the safe confines of a book rather than through innuendo and porn. MORE

Ooh! Where to begin with this one?

Off the top of my head I'd have to say that books have to be better than on-line pornography. Then again, thinking of some of the explicit literature available, do they? 

Part of me thinks that if done properly (and lets face it we could argue till the cows came home as to just what 'done properly' means) than perhaps Malorie Blackman has a point BUT (and it's a very big but) just who exactly decides what is and isn't responsibly written literature?

I mean when you think about it how many of us spent our formative years reading books like DH Lawrence's Lady Chatterly's Lover or, as was the case with my age group, Shirley Conran's Lace? Hardly realistic and arguably not responsibly written, they were however what we thought a mind of sexual information.

Hmm, interesting to think that today's generation have the likes of Melvin Burgess who, also quoted in the article, wrote Doing It, 'a compelling sex story for teenage boys' in which according to Amazon.Co.UK ......

Dino really fancies fit, sexy Jackie, but she just won't give him what he wants … Jonathan likes Deborah, but she's a bit fat – what will his mates say? Ben's been secretly shagging his teacher for ages. He used to love it, but what if he wants to stop? Three lads discovering sex for the first time. But do any of them really know what they're doing?

A more realistic way, a safer 'context' in which to tackle the subject of relationships and your 'first time'? Any better or worse than the infamous 'goldfish' moment in Lace?

That's debatable but Doing It is pretty 'grubby' stuff according to Children's Laureate (2001 to 2003) Anne Fine who wrote THIS REVIEW OR the American Junior High Schools who have challenged it as being too sexually explicit and promoting homosexuality. 

Please note All original content on http://pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk/ is created by the website owner, including but not limited to text, design, code, images, photographs and videos are considered to be the Intellectual Property of the website owner, whether copyrighted or not, and are protected by DMCA Protection Services using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Title 17 Chapter 512 (c)(3). Reproduction or re-publication of this content is prohibited without permission.
In addition I would also urge that if you are reading this on any other page you contact the original blog owner/reviewer.

BANNED BOOK WEEK 2013: THEN AND NOW.

Hard to believe its that time of year again, hard to believe that Banned Book Week 2013 is almost upon us once again. My thanks to our gracious host, Sheila @ BOOK JOURNEY, who because of prior commitment is holding her Banned Book events a week earlier than the actual start of Banned Book Week.

First up on Pen and Paper we have the links to some posts and articles on banned books ....

• Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint. Banned in Australia (and I believe America) in 1969 due to the 'lurid sexual detail' and 'crude language'.The ban was lifted in 1971. See Michelle @ VintageCobweb's review HERE and Brian at Babbling Books HERE

• Anne Frank: A Diary Of A Young Girl and Judy Bloom's Tiger Eyes. See Melissa @ Books and Things thoughts HERE.

• Considered 'too shocking' and rejected as 'a pile of iniquity' after 45 years The Art Of Joy by Goliarda Sapienza is finally to be published in Britain. Full story HERE

• Banned in certain parts of Australia, Tampa by Alissa Nutting. A debut novel about a female teacher who grooms her 14 year old pupil, it has been described as 'disgusting' and 'sickening'. See article by Guardian reporter Emine Saner HERE

Interesting that whilst researching Anne Frank I discovered THIS 2013 ARTICLE which tells of a Michigan school committee who had rejected a mother's pleas to remove the book on account of it's  "pornographic" anatomical descriptions. Way to go that committee and well done the National Coalition Against Censorship who had the following to say .....

"Frank's honest writings about her body and the changes she was undergoing during her two-year period of hiding from the Nazis in Amsterdam can serve as an excellent resource for students themselves undergoing these changes."

As for Tiger Eyes. Though voluntarily censored by the author herself (in the original draft main character, Davey, masturbates whilst thinking of another boy) the book, with its themes of sexuality and puberty, is still on the American Library Association's list of 100 Most Frequently Challenged books.

Next up ..... 

• With thanks to Kelly for the links to these two videos ....

Hmm, violence, racism, promotion of drugs, advocates homosexuality, BUT a sexualised spider, a racist grasshopper, talking, pro-Nazi animals.

Knowing that a book was banned because of its 'negative' themes or because the author had the same last name as a Marxist theorist was surreal enough but to ban the dictionary?????

Yes, both the Merriam-Webster and the American Heritage Dictionaries have been banned in various schools in the US as being age inappropriate. The former being banned in California in January 2010 after a single parent complained about it containing a definition for oral sex. The latter banned in Anchorage, Alaska, in 1976 because it included obscenities. One of the main causes for complaint being, would you believe it, the word 'bed' which was rightly defined as having several definitions including "a place for love making", "a marital relationship with it's rights and intimacies".

But that was then, how about now?

Well, to bring you 'bang' up to date (Whoops! Am I allowed to say 'bang'  given that as well as the obvious meaning it also has another quite different meaning here in the north east of England?) ........

The books to be CHALLENGED so far this year, challenged according to the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom meaning .....

 A "formal, written complaint filed with a library or school requesting that a book or other material be restricted or removed because of its content or appropriateness." 

include, in no particular order .....

• For its offensive language and graphic sexual content, EL James's Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy
• Jay Asher's Thirteen Reasons Why: drugs, alcohol, smoking, sexually explicit, suicide
• Dav Pikey's Captain Underpants books: offensive language, unsuitable for  age group
• The popular The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie: offensive language, racism, sexually explicit
• Toni Morrison's Beloved - sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence.

The first of two planned post, for my second contribution, Banned Book Week: More sex scenes in books for teenagers? please join me on Thursday the 19th of September.

Please note: All original content on http://pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk/ is created by the website owner, including but not limited to text, design, code, images, photographs and videos are considered to be the Intellectual Property of the website owner, whether copyrighted or not, and are protected by DMCA Protection Services using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Title 17 Chapter 512 (c)(3). Reproduction or re-publication of this content is prohibited without permission.
In addition I would also urge that if you are reading this on any other page you contact the original blog owner/reviewer.

THE BLACK DAHLIA - WHAT OTHERS THOUGHT.

Having had so many of you leave comments and contact me with regard to what my Readers Group thought of our March read, The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy (see my review HERE), I thought I'd report back.

Only actually read in full by 3 of us, the rest of the group gave up at various different points in the story, I think it safe to say that this was, if nothing else, the most talked about book we've ever read.

Given a score of 0 out of 5 by yours truly, one of the other women gave it a very generous (and to me, puzzling) 3 on the grounds that though she agreed with all I had to say she felt the author deserving of this score because, and I quote, 'he had written it', whilst the third to have read it gave it a massive rating of 5 stars saying it was one of the best book she had ever read.

Hmm, just goes to show it takes all kinds of readers.

However, it wasn't my Readers Group that threw up the most interesting discussion.

Stopped and asked about the book by an acquaintance, I admit I was taken aback when they asked about books that had been banned and whether I thought this should have been.

Explaining that whilst I wouldn't be at all surprised if someone somewhere had had The black Dahlia banned I personally didn't believe in the banning of any book, that no matter how vile, how odious, I thought a novel, it was up to the individual reader to decide for themselves what they did and didn't read.

Which brings me on to YOUR homework.

Though still searching I've been unable as yet to find The Black Dahlia listed on any of the sites dedicated to banned books and was wondering if you knew of any countries/states/organisations that had banned it.

Disclaimer: Removal of any part of this post without my express consent is considered copyright infringement. This post was created by and for Petty Witter @ Pen and Paper. If you are reading this post on any other site please contact the original blog owner/reviewer.