Dora Reads is the book blog of a Bookish Rebel, supporting the Diversity Movement, bringing you Queer views and mental health advocacy, slipping in a lot of non-bookish content, and spreading reading to the goddamn world! :)
It's that time again dearest nerdlets! September is rapidly skimming out of view, and I have more micropoetry to share with you. Sorry if several of these are kind of a downer - I learnt that someone I knew in school had died and... yeah. I kind of worked through some stuff (the poems for 13th Sep will show you that,) so feel free to skip anything that's bringing you down!
9th September
Nothing deserves pity
More than those
who fear love & compassion
& turn instead to hate
Poor lost soul,
Find your way home soon
13th September (I) How am I supposed to feel?
They say you died;
A casual friend;
I hadn't heard your name in years.
How am I supposed to feel?
Tell me.
13th September (II) Do I have a right to grieve?
5 years or more -
Must have been
Never close, even then
Just two birds of the same flock
One bird now dead
13th September (III) A background fixture,
Left behind when I left the room.
Weren't you younger than me?
Or was it a few days older?
Young & pretty & dead
17th September
No matter
How dark
It may be
There is light
There is good
You are loved
23rd September
2016
The year of mean.
Have my tears,
But cariad, I'm gonna sing Over the heads of abject liars -
Reaching ears that may hear me
2016
As part of Banned Books Week 2016, I figured I'd look at some quotes from books that are often challenged.
So, are words really that dangerous?
I thought that I'd throw together just a few quotes from some of the books featured on the 'most challenged' list of 2015. See what you think ;)
All quotes are from the Goodreads page for that title.
"I am going to take this bucket of water and pour it on the flames of hell, and then I am going to use this torch to burn down the gates of paradise so that people will not love God for want of heaven or fear of hell, but because He is God." - Looking For Alaska by John Green
"The Sufi saint Rabi'a Al-Adawiyya was seen carrying a firebrand and a jug of water - the firebrand to burn Paradise, the jug of water to drown Hell...
So that both veils disappear, and God's followers worship, not out of hope for reward, nor fear of punishment, but out of love." - Habibi by Craig Thompson
(Yes I chose this one because the similarity to the Looking For Alaska quote struck me!) Amazon links: UK - US
"I think prime numbers are like life. They are very logical but you could never work out the rules, even if you spent all your time thinking about them." - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon Amazon links: UK - US
Given that diverse books make up a relatively small amount of the total books available (in English, at least,) it should be eye-opening that the most challenged and banned books are those which allow diverse voices a platform.
Except for The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, each of these books either has an author from a diverse community, and/or has diverse characters.
(Even Looking For Alaska, I'm told (by Wikipedia,) has a PoC character.)
This year's Banned Books Week from the American Library Association (yes, I know I'm not American - but dudes, when America sneezes, the world catches a cold,) is focussed on celebrating diversity.
This week, dearest nerdlets, I'm going to get all multimedia on your butts in an attempt to explain why your voice - and everyone else's too - is important right now. (OK, so I ramble and get off-track a bit in this post, but hopefully there's a point in here... somewhere.)
It's inevitable that you're aware of the general feeling in the world.
The Trump threat, Brexit, and the rise of the far right here there and everywhere, means that never has it been more important for you to raise your voice for this world.
The legacy of this generation can not be the rise of intolerance and bigotry. We have to work to make this world a better place.
One MCR song comes to mind. 'Sing' is about refusing to give up and just let sh** happen to the world.
It's a song that my fellow Killjoys, MCRmy, and members of the Black Parade will know well. But to those who might not, this song is a battle cry for speaking out. It says that you have to keep trying - no matter the odds.
Please, if you get the chance, listen to it; and pay attention to the lyrics. There's a lot of truth in there.
It's more than a little concerning just how relevant both the album Danger Days, and the Green Day album 21st Century Breakdown, are, given that they're both dystopian-set.
Then there's using your voice as a well-known figure to try and do some good.
(Like the Save the World campaign did this week. Please, Americans - let the world see Mark Ruffalo naked!)
That first spoken-word poem thing is about being sexually fluid.
Nerdlets, do you know what it feels like to hear the things that you haven't been able to put into words? Do you know what it's like to know that there are people out there - albeit a continent away - who feel like you do?
So yeah, I teared-up.
I also tweeted about it - cos dudes, I'm aware that most people don't understand sexual fluidity; and this meant a lot to me.
Then, something awesome happened:
So yes, that felt... completely amazing! XD
Cee, you seem to have got off track.
This may very well be true dearest nerdlets - but I had a point! (Somewhere... at some point...)
My point, (I think,) was that we can all change the world - we can all have an impact (even if it's only on a 20-something book-nerd in her front room in South Wales.)
We can all mean something.
Yes, we can all change the world. But you have to raise your voice.
'...You've got to make a choice If the music drowns you out And raise your voice Every single time they try and shut your mouth...'
I love the way fanfiction can take an 'incidental' character, and run with it.
True, this is seen most extensively in the Harry Potter fandom - but other fandoms get in on the act too.
This week, my dearest nerdlets, I've picked a fic from the X-men fandom.
Now, X-men - over all media - has a giganormous (yes, it's totally a word dammit!) cast of characters, and yes, this series, more than many others, gives the supporting characters a chance to go 'hey look at me!'
But the movies have struggled, on and off, with the multi-narrative that decades of X-men comics have still only scratched the surface of.
Cee, this is soundin' kinda deep for Fics Fix!
Ah, yes, my nerdlets - but it's part of the wonderful paradox that is life, that the things that seem superficial are the things with the deepest of hidden depths! (Sorry, I'll try to sound less like a lecture from here-on out.)
Anyhow - let me explain a little more about this week's fic:
This week's fic, my dearest nerdlets, is about Pyro.
Who's Pyro? Well, he was actually in X2 and 3 (no, really.) He's the fire dude. Don't remember him? Still? Trust me, he's the fire dude.
And what I actually totally, completely, loved was the way the fic author here has taken the character... and added something so completely unexpected, but so insightful, and so perfect that it's hard not to be impressed.
Marvel's Agents of Shield will be back soon! ...With Ghost Rider.
Yeah... I'm hoping this will work but... yeah... it's an interesting choice.
-0-
Also in the category of 'oh God, please don't have taken this a series too far' is the up-coming series of Arrow.
I love Arrow. Like, really love it - but we've already come to several natural endings to this series. So please forgive me for being a little wary of this latest continuation.
Single Issues
This week I wrote a mini-review of The Sun Dragon's Song #1 by Joyce Chng and Kim Miranda (UK - US.)
It's a beautiful book, and a great start to the series. The artwork is truly incredible.
A casual friend;
