Warning: In the spirit of anti-censorship, I'm going to swear like a sailor with no symbols to protect your innocent eyes.
This week is Banned Books Week 2015, and while it's largely an American thing, the rest of the world are often more than happy to jump on the proverbial fucking band wagon and celebrate books which have been banned and challenged. Intellectual freedom is a founding stone of any society that's worth its shit.
Book banning is something which still happens alarmingly regularly - and we need to be more aware of it. Unlike in the US, where the ALA attempts to keep record of fucking challenges and book-banning, there are very few such records kept in the rest of the world. I have no idea when, or if, book banning happens in the UK, having to rely instead on bloody anecdotal evidence.
I know, for example, that at my old school (I'm in my 20s, and finished school in circa 2013... or was it 2011? It might've been 2011. Maybe. Time's never been my strong suit,) every Dan Brown book was marked as 'Sixth Form Only.' Presumably because they didn't want parents coming back at them about the religious/controversial aspects. 'Naughty,' books with sex etc were often confined to these shelves. And sometimes books would have one copy on these shelves, and one on the shelves of the main library (e.g. The Book Thief.) I have no bloody idea why the fuck this was, and neither did the librarian.
So, why ban books? I have no fucking idea. But the reasons given are often about religion, violence, sex, nudity, and swearing. Basically, fucking reasons. Except that kids do not live in a shitting bubble - they know that the world is a complex and shitty place in which people fuck with everything - themselves, each other, and people's minds.
If you want your kids to be good people, they've got to come to that decision by themselves, not because you've prevented them from accessing other opinions. And sometimes, it's just fucking ridiculous. You don't like gay penguins? Fine, go be fucking bigoted on your own time. Just don't stop your kids from realising there's a world out there. And don't even get me started on the religious narrow-mindedness. You can believe what you want, but please allow others to make up their own minds. And don't ban vampire books just because they scare you.
Wednesday 30 September 2015
Monday 28 September 2015
Reviewing the Evidence Time Again, My Friends - The Telling Error by Sophie Hannah
Title: The Telling Error (US Link)
Author: Sophie Hannah
Genre: Crime
Series: Spilling CID/Culver Valley (#9)
A few starting notes:
I've read another of Sophie Hannah's Spilling/Culver Valley books - Kind of Cruel - which was equally absorbing, so knew what to expect in terms of style/genre. As far as I'm concerned, these books can be taken as stand-alone, although there is continuity through the members of the Spilling police department. I find it's not that difficult to keep track of the personal stuff because the main focus is the case featured in the book. Some people would understandably want to read the books in the right order - because some people are less governed by 'ooh shiny! Must read!' principles than I am.
Premise:
Damon Blundy is dead. The list of suspects is huge. The circumstances are weird. DC Simon Waterhouse is working the case, and he doesn't like not knowing.
Nicki Clements is a housewife, two kids, husband, nice house. So, why did she pass Damon Blundy's house so many times that day? What's her connection to all of this?
Best bits:
Sophie Hannah knows how to write. Her characters are absorbing and intriguing, and are painted with the deft touches of someone who knows them inside and out. They are the normal-looking people, the people the neighbours would say, "Did you hear about so-and-so? Well, you'd never have thought!" They also all hide an edge of the sinister, the broken, the secret.
It's the secrets that wind themselves into everyday that govern the plot of this novel. And it's plotted very well. You can tell that Hannah has it all worked out from the start, and that she is just as interested as we are in the psychology, the motives, that lead to events. Layer by layer, Hannah peels away the secrets and lies - and everyone's got some here - to reveal just enough of the juicy stuff to keep you reading. Is it all relevant? No. But then, since when does any police investigation only find relevant evidence along the way?
Not so great bits:
There're things in this book that will upset some people - adultery, lies, secrets, emotional abuse, murder (obviously,) online trolls, suicide and some sexual activity with dubious consent. There's probably some more stuff too, so, basically, be aware that there's psychological trauma and sinister goings-on hiding in these pages - much like in Sophie Hannah's idyllic Culver Valley.
This is a personal preference - but I feel like we didn't get enough of the details of Nicki's childhood and teenage years, particularly since we get so much gravitas placed on it as explanation for Nicki's current behaviour. I would've liked more of an idea of the characters of her brother and parents, just to make it feel rounder. But, like I said, that's a matter of taste - it's just that, to me, the omission of this makes the book feel a little lopsided. I'm sure there are lots of people who would disagree.
Verdict:
This is clever, vivid, and absorbing. If crime and/or psychological motives are your thing, then I recommend you give this a try. I'll certainly be giving more of Sophie Hannah's books a whirl in future.
Author: Sophie Hannah
Genre: Crime
Series: Spilling CID/Culver Valley (#9)
A few starting notes:
I've read another of Sophie Hannah's Spilling/Culver Valley books - Kind of Cruel - which was equally absorbing, so knew what to expect in terms of style/genre. As far as I'm concerned, these books can be taken as stand-alone, although there is continuity through the members of the Spilling police department. I find it's not that difficult to keep track of the personal stuff because the main focus is the case featured in the book. Some people would understandably want to read the books in the right order - because some people are less governed by 'ooh shiny! Must read!' principles than I am.Premise:
Damon Blundy is dead. The list of suspects is huge. The circumstances are weird. DC Simon Waterhouse is working the case, and he doesn't like not knowing.
Nicki Clements is a housewife, two kids, husband, nice house. So, why did she pass Damon Blundy's house so many times that day? What's her connection to all of this?
Best bits:
Sophie Hannah knows how to write. Her characters are absorbing and intriguing, and are painted with the deft touches of someone who knows them inside and out. They are the normal-looking people, the people the neighbours would say, "Did you hear about so-and-so? Well, you'd never have thought!" They also all hide an edge of the sinister, the broken, the secret.
It's the secrets that wind themselves into everyday that govern the plot of this novel. And it's plotted very well. You can tell that Hannah has it all worked out from the start, and that she is just as interested as we are in the psychology, the motives, that lead to events. Layer by layer, Hannah peels away the secrets and lies - and everyone's got some here - to reveal just enough of the juicy stuff to keep you reading. Is it all relevant? No. But then, since when does any police investigation only find relevant evidence along the way?
Not so great bits:
There're things in this book that will upset some people - adultery, lies, secrets, emotional abuse, murder (obviously,) online trolls, suicide and some sexual activity with dubious consent. There's probably some more stuff too, so, basically, be aware that there's psychological trauma and sinister goings-on hiding in these pages - much like in Sophie Hannah's idyllic Culver Valley.
This is a personal preference - but I feel like we didn't get enough of the details of Nicki's childhood and teenage years, particularly since we get so much gravitas placed on it as explanation for Nicki's current behaviour. I would've liked more of an idea of the characters of her brother and parents, just to make it feel rounder. But, like I said, that's a matter of taste - it's just that, to me, the omission of this makes the book feel a little lopsided. I'm sure there are lots of people who would disagree.
Verdict:
This is clever, vivid, and absorbing. If crime and/or psychological motives are your thing, then I recommend you give this a try. I'll certainly be giving more of Sophie Hannah's books a whirl in future.
Sunday 27 September 2015
Nerd Church - Dude, Siblings Are a Pain
Siblings, can't live with 'em, can't live witho- ...actually, no, sometimes it'd be easier to live without 'em. Not to say we don't love 'em - we. love. them. But they do tend to complicate things - just ask Katniss Everdeen, Thor and Loki, the Weasleys (ahem, Percy,) and the Pevensies (Chronicles of Narnia.)
Let's face it, it's not a new theme to literature - King Lear has the warring sisters, Pride and Prejudice is made infinitely moreboring complicated by the ins-and-outs of the Bennett sisters (I'm not an Austen fan unless there's zombies or ninjas - sorry,) and myths/religious stories from Cain and Abel to Horus and Set are constantly describing the warring of brothers and the duality of man (etc. etc.)
Being a little sister myself, I often wonder about the only-children of literature. Sure, Harry Potter has Dudley - but he's a cousin, and not a very nice one; if he'd had a sibling, would his life pre-Hogwarts have sucked quite so badly? And does anyone else find it odd that Hermione and Draco also have no siblings? You don't find all that many only-child families. To have three such important characters with no siblings, while Ron has siblings falling from the ever-loving rafters, is quite interesting... can you imagine Draco with a brother, or Hermione with a sister? And of course, there's Lily and Petunia - without whom Harry would never have been sent to the Dursley family in the first place. We're given very little glimpse into the Evans sister's lives pre-Harry, but that familial link is still important, isn't it?
I might come back to this topic and try to straighten out my thoughts a bit more, but I hope that's given you something to moral/thematic/phisololphical (philosophical) to chew over this week in Nerd Church (cue cheesy grin and sweeping thumbs up motion.)
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| church image courtesy of debspoons/FreeDigitalPhotos.net |
Let's face it, it's not a new theme to literature - King Lear has the warring sisters, Pride and Prejudice is made infinitely more
Being a little sister myself, I often wonder about the only-children of literature. Sure, Harry Potter has Dudley - but he's a cousin, and not a very nice one; if he'd had a sibling, would his life pre-Hogwarts have sucked quite so badly? And does anyone else find it odd that Hermione and Draco also have no siblings? You don't find all that many only-child families. To have three such important characters with no siblings, while Ron has siblings falling from the ever-loving rafters, is quite interesting... can you imagine Draco with a brother, or Hermione with a sister? And of course, there's Lily and Petunia - without whom Harry would never have been sent to the Dursley family in the first place. We're given very little glimpse into the Evans sister's lives pre-Harry, but that familial link is still important, isn't it?
I might come back to this topic and try to straighten out my thoughts a bit more, but I hope that's given you something to moral/thematic/phisololphical (philosophical) to chew over this week in Nerd Church (cue cheesy grin and sweeping thumbs up motion.)
Friday 25 September 2015
Friday Fics Fix! (In Which Tony and Loki Have a Little Something)
This week's Fics Fix rec is a 17-chapter Frostiron fic (Frostiron is where Tony Stark and Loki are in some sort of relationship):
Bedroom Hymns by Midnight_Ophelia
This is a Loki-is-a-prostitute fic (of which there are more than you'd imagine, but perhaps less than you'd want/fear.) So, Loki is human, and Tony, not realising he's a gentleman of the night, ends up taking him in (for many reasons, of which his hotness is most definitely one.)
This involves sex so nobody under 18 - you hear me? M audience only. It gets more than a little steamy (blushes.)
There are the usual spelling and grammar errors - but c'est la vie folks, this is fanfiction. The emotional heart is there. And it managed to keep me coming back for more, so there must be something to it - it's actually quite enjoyable.
So, that's it for this week's Fics Fix, because even though I only highlighted one fic, it has seventeen chapters (so don't be greedy.)
If anyone has any recs, or wants to attempt to drag me from my current Frostiron reading spree, just leave a link in the comments (please, not too disturbing, and no real people - characters only.)
Bedroom Hymns by Midnight_Ophelia
This is a Loki-is-a-prostitute fic (of which there are more than you'd imagine, but perhaps less than you'd want/fear.) So, Loki is human, and Tony, not realising he's a gentleman of the night, ends up taking him in (for many reasons, of which his hotness is most definitely one.)
This involves sex so nobody under 18 - you hear me? M audience only. It gets more than a little steamy (blushes.)
There are the usual spelling and grammar errors - but c'est la vie folks, this is fanfiction. The emotional heart is there. And it managed to keep me coming back for more, so there must be something to it - it's actually quite enjoyable.
So, that's it for this week's Fics Fix, because even though I only highlighted one fic, it has seventeen chapters (so don't be greedy.)
If anyone has any recs, or wants to attempt to drag me from my current Frostiron reading spree, just leave a link in the comments (please, not too disturbing, and no real people - characters only.)
Monday 21 September 2015
The Writer Diaries (or Heaven Knows I'm Busy Now)
Busy? Me? Pshaw! Ha, I just wrote the word pshaw (ok, so I may've just finished a cup of coffee...)
Anyway, it's not like I'm busy...I just have a blog to keep up, two beautiful kitties who want to play, a little thing called a job to do (alright, I'm self-employed, but that just means I have to make myself do everything for my business - there is no delegating here folks,) and numerous pieces of writing that I want to fit in, as well as reading to do (because that's obviously a necessity.) If I miss anything out, it'll be the reading and the writing - which I don't want to do. Because even though I need cash in my pocket and am a one-woman self-employed business-machine (who is terminally skint,) you gotta have time for your other passions too (don't get me wrong, my business is one of passions - I just am not willing to give up on something that is a fundamental part of me (i.e. reading, writing,) on behalf of limited financial gain. To paraphrase an admirable pirate, it's a good thing I'm crazy, because otherwise this'd never work.)
So, I have a cunning plan Mr B (ok, too much vintage comedy for me,) - I'm going to squish and squash the writing and reading into the secret moments. There will be audiobooks while I work. There will be writing exercises where I use a prompt for ten minutes with little to no plan for what to do with the sh** on the page when I've finished. There will be determination! And if I fall, I'm not going to look at the negatives, I'm going to focus on the positives - because what I've achieved is amazing! (Positive... yeh... let's see how long this lasts folks... still, you've gotta hit the depression with a hammer somehow...)
Anyway, it's not like I'm busy...I just have a blog to keep up, two beautiful kitties who want to play, a little thing called a job to do (alright, I'm self-employed, but that just means I have to make myself do everything for my business - there is no delegating here folks,) and numerous pieces of writing that I want to fit in, as well as reading to do (because that's obviously a necessity.) If I miss anything out, it'll be the reading and the writing - which I don't want to do. Because even though I need cash in my pocket and am a one-woman self-employed business-machine (who is terminally skint,) you gotta have time for your other passions too (don't get me wrong, my business is one of passions - I just am not willing to give up on something that is a fundamental part of me (i.e. reading, writing,) on behalf of limited financial gain. To paraphrase an admirable pirate, it's a good thing I'm crazy, because otherwise this'd never work.)
So, I have a cunning plan Mr B (ok, too much vintage comedy for me,) - I'm going to squish and squash the writing and reading into the secret moments. There will be audiobooks while I work. There will be writing exercises where I use a prompt for ten minutes with little to no plan for what to do with the sh** on the page when I've finished. There will be determination! And if I fall, I'm not going to look at the negatives, I'm going to focus on the positives - because what I've achieved is amazing! (Positive... yeh... let's see how long this lasts folks... still, you've gotta hit the depression with a hammer somehow...)
Sunday 20 September 2015
Nerd Church - Closed for Whovian Holiday
Hey my nerds. I've decided to take a Nerd Church break this week as I try to figure out whether the first episode of the new Doctor Who series was excellent or rubbish. I know that many of you will be doing the same. At the moment, I think I liked it - but I may be in the minority here. And there were some things which, as a pretty-much life-long Whovian (albeit only semi-practising as opposed to devout,) worry me about the future of the series. You can understand that I need some time to process, and also to wonder why the hell UNIT would care what Clara thought about anything, because she isn't the brightest penny in the jar (sorry, I know a lot of people like her.)
I'll see you for Nerd Church next week - although, this post seems to have got much longer than I intended, so I suppose you could argue this was Nerd Church... I don't know, the amount of rugby on the TV in my house right now has melted my brain. I'm Welsh, and I don't care about rugby; just like I'm British and I don't drink tea. I'm lucky to be alive to be honest.
I'll see you for Nerd Church next week - although, this post seems to have got much longer than I intended, so I suppose you could argue this was Nerd Church... I don't know, the amount of rugby on the TV in my house right now has melted my brain. I'm Welsh, and I don't care about rugby; just like I'm British and I don't drink tea. I'm lucky to be alive to be honest.
Friday 18 September 2015
Friday Fics Fix! - Diving into Johnlock
John Finds the Johnlock Fanfics by Watermelonsmellinfellon.
This is a tad naughty - so no-one under 18! I mean it! I'm wise to you! This is a bit fic-ception-y: where the fics within the fic start affecting the fic. Don't know what I mean? To be honest, neither do I. Just read it if you like slightly awkward romantic moments between John Watson and Sherlock Holmes from BBC's Sherlock.
Johnlock One-Shot by Everything_Fangirl
This is also a bit naughty - but less so, so its OK for about age 14+. This is a typical Johnlock fic folks - both want each other, neither knows how to declare their love. The difference here is that it's actually well-written. I know, I nearly fell off the chair! It's sweet and considered and actually quite good. Either the apocalypse is coming or I've finally reached the point of no-return when it comes to reading fanfiction, and need to be carted off for my own safety.
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