Site Additions

There are many new site additions to this blog. I hope everyone will VOTE in the new poll, and come back to vote in the polls to come. There is now a chat box, where readers can get on and discuss their views of books. Any suggestions for a book to read would be greatly appreciated, but I have a list I go by. Enjoy the additions!!

Banned Books Week

This week, as the last week of September always is, is Banned Books Week. I was apalled to see some of the books on the list, including The Invisible Man, Harry Potter, and one book recently made into a motion picture, How to Eat Fried Worms. James and the Giant Peach is one of the banned books too. Coming in at number 56, its reason for being banned -- James goes against the will of his guardians (officially, the listed reason is 'anti-family').

This list contains 100 books, many of which I have read, and that should never have been banned. Go to the American Library Association's site for more, or here for the list of the top 100 books banned between 1990 and 2000. The list is repopulated every 10 years, but as for the moment (there is a top 10 list done every year), the Harry Potter Series has taken the lead. I am sure the next time the list is made, our friend Dan Brown will also be included.

Innocent Man Cover

This is the cover I found to John Grisham's upcoming book. {See Previous Post} This photo was on Amazon, and they are taking preorders now. More as I know it.

New Grisham Book

The Innocent Man, scheduled to be released on October 10, is going to be Grisham's first nonfiction piece. It is going to be about small town justice that went terribly wrong. You can read a synopsis on Grisham's official site here. More to come as I find out.

Lies My Teacher Told Me -- James Loewen

OK -- Hold on, this one is strange.... I really enjoyed this book. It is about some of the things that American History textbooks get wrong, and there was a lot of material with which James Loewen could work. Loewen surveyed 12 leading American History textbooks and pointed out several of their glaring misconceptions. The 1st chapter, Handicapped by History, discusses the missing information about Helen Keller, and others who were (and are) associated with great reforms, and social revolutions, but who also did some very radical things that might cast a different light upon them if they were well known. Loewen goes on to cover Columbus, all the way up to the Vietnam War. I would recommend this book to any history lover, or even the casual historian who wants to gain a deeper understanding of what -- and who -- formed the nation in which we are living....

UPDATE: Loewen has published a new book since this one called Lies Across America: What America's Historic Sites Got Wrong. I think it looks pretty good, but I haven't read it. You can read about it here.