Banned Books Week

I’ve always thought that banning books is silly. Especially when there was an uproar over banning Harry Potter in some places. IT’S A BOOK. A work of FICTION. Are you insecure about your beliefs that you think your child reading a book about pretend ideas is going to harm them for life??? In fact I think it’s important to embrace and learn more about those issues that you DISAGREE WITH and do not approve. That way you can always know WHY you think a certain way and perhaps attempt to learn more about why THOSE WIERDOS think the way they do. :P

So, in honor of banned book weeks here is a list the ALA has complied of the 100 most challenged books from 1990-1999. Bolded are the one’s I’ve read and Italic’s are the ones I have on my TBR list.

Scary Stories (Series), by Alvin Schwartz
Daddy’s Roommate, by Michael Willhoite
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
Forever, by Judy Blume
Bridge to Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
Heather Has Two Mommies, by Leslea Newman
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
The Giver, by Lois Lowry
My Brother Sam is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
Alice (Series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Goosebumps (Series), by R.L. Stine
A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
Sex, by Madonna
Earth’s Children (Series), by Jean M. Auel
The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
The Witches, by Roald Dahl
A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
The New Joy of Gay Sex, by Charles Silverstein
Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
The Goats, by Brock Cole
The Stupids (Series), by Harry Allard
Anastasia Krupnik (Series), by Lois Lowry
Final Exit, by Derek Humphry
Blubber, by Judy Blume
Halloween ABC, by Eve Merriam
Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters, by Lynda Madaras
Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
Deenie, by Judy Blume
Flowers for Algernon, by Daniel Keyes
Annie on my Mind, by Nancy Garden
Beloved, by Toni Morrison
The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat, by Alvin Schwartz
Harry Potter (Series), by J.K. Rowling
Cujo, by Stephen King
James and the Giant Peach, by Roald Dahl
A Light in the Attic, by Shel Silverstein
Ordinary People, by Judith Guest
American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
Sleeping Beauty Trilogy, by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
Asking About Sex and Growing Up, by Joanna Cole
What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons, by Lynda Madaras
The Anarchist Cookbook, by William Powell
Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
Boys and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
Crazy Lady, by Jane Conly
Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
Killing Mr. Griffin, by Lois Duncan
Fade, by Robert Cormier
Guess What?, by Mem Fox
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
Lord of the Flies, by William Golding
Native Son by Richard Wright
Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies, by Nancy Friday
Curses, Hexes and Spells, by Daniel Cohen
On My Honor, by Marion Dane Bauer
The House of Spirits, by Isabel Allende
Jack, by A.M. Homes
Arizona Kid, by Ron Koertge
Family Secrets, by Norma Klein
Mommy Laid An Egg, by Babette Cole
Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo A. Anaya
Where Did I Come From?, by Peter Mayle
The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline Cooney
Carrie, by Stephen King
The Dead Zone, by Stephen King
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
Private Parts, by Howard Stern
Where’s Waldo?, by Martin Hanford
Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Greene
Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
Little Black Sambo, by Helen Bannerman
Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett
Running Loose, by Chris Crutcher
Sex Education, by Jenny Davis
Jumper, by Steven Gould
Christine, by Stephen King
The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
That Was Then, This is Now, by S.E. Hinton
Girls and Sex, by Wardell Pomeroy
The Wish Giver, by Bill Brittain
Jump Ship to Freedom, by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier

When you were growing up did your parents pick out what you read? Did they ban certain books from you? My parents never EVER censored my reading. My tv watching, yes. Reading? Never.

Book Club...

Thinking it over and reading responses. I am thinking we should just read one book a month for now and perhaps in the summer months (it seems most of us have more free time then) maybe add a second book? If that is fine with everyone, I suggest we start taking suggestions for October!

Suggest one or more in the comments and if possibly leave a link to a review so others can read about it. Then Thursday I will post a poll and Saturday/Sunday announce the book of the month. Next month I will have us pick one BEFORE the month starts but since we are just starting, it will give us a few days to nominate books and vote.

Then hopefully I will be able to start reading whatever book we choose right away and start making posts for discussion!! (And feel free to do so on your blogs too!!)

Happy Reading!!

100 giveaway winner!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all your entries and for reading my blog!

And the winner of At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks is Kelly from She Wears a Red Sox Cap!!

Congratulations and send me your email and I will get a hold of you to send you the book!!

Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole

I made this in August and I am JUST uploading my pictures because I do not do that all too often. :) What can I say, I need a new camera and when I get one, I will be better.

Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole....
1 cup uncooked brown rice
I cup water 6 chicken breast tenders (very skinny mejier brand)
1 cup shredded colby jack cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 can (10.75 ounces) cream of chicken soup
½ of a medium size onion
1 ½ cup medium salsa
Sprinkle of paprika
Dab of hot sauce
Sprinkle of red pepper flakes
some evoo

Adapted from this http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Salsa-Chicken-Rice-Casserole/Detail.aspx


First, I coated the bottom of the pan with some EVOO and got it nice and hot. Then I had the onion and sprinkled some paprika and red pepper flakes in with it. Let it cook while I started the brown rice and cut up the chicken into pieces. Then I added the chicken to the onions and added more paprika, more red pepper flakes and a dab of hot sauce. I should also mention I had marinated the chicken in a dry rub that my hub has made that has paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, a little garlic powder, some salt, chilli powder, and chipotle seasoning in it.

I let that cook for awhile until the chicken was cooked through and then I added the salsa and the can of cream of chicken soup. Let that cook for awhile and let the flavor set in.

Then I greased up the pan and got it ready. I put a layer of rice down and a layer of the chicken mixture. Then I put a cup of the cheese on top. Another layer of rice, chicken mixture and the other cup of cheese on top. Then I put it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes. Before it went in the oven...

After it came out.. yumm....

Served with salsa and sour cream on top and chips on the side.

And the hot and sweaty chef.. :)

It was very good and spicy and we will make it again!!

Blogger Book Club

I was thinking tonight how there are so many books out there that I would love to read, but at the same time only really want to read them if I had people to talk them over. I was thinking there is a small enough group that reads here that we could do a monthly book club. We could pick 1 to 3 books that we all could read or if we chose we could read whatever one out of the selections that we wanted or had time too.

While reading we could post blogs on our own sites about certain passages, questions we were having or reactions. After we finished reading it we could post our reviews on our own blogs and during the last week of that month I would post different discussion question on my blog that everyone could respond too. Or others could do this as well.

I would also post a blog towards the end of each month where everyone could leave their suggestion for the next month’s read and leave the suggesting open for a few days and then I would post a poll on my site and everyone could vote for however many books we decided upon and the book(s) with the most votes would be our group reads of the month.

What do you think? Who would join this book club?

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 = way better than the first. Bridgette finds out she has a grandma who wants to be a part of her life. She begins her summer on an archeological dig and realizes that the past does need to be explored and heads off to Alabama to learn more of her grandma and mother. Lena finds out some interesting info on Kostas (who is HOT!!) And she also has an interesting relationship with the model for her figure drawing class who is almost smoking. Lucky girl. Tibby has a scare and learns something about relationships. And has a rockin’ job and rockin’ hair. Carmen gets to star in a play and gets a love interest who speaks Shakespeare to her.

The big drama happens when the pants go missing and the girls have to travel to Greece to find them and help Lena with her Kostas drama.

Now I know I read the first two books for sure and I think I own the third book as well, but I don’t know if I read it or not. But I definitely liked this movie better than the first movie. I may need to around to reading all the books again or something. Yay for lazy Sunday’s and chick movies.

My School's A Zoo!

The day after the field trip to the zoo, some monkey business is going on at school! It starts with his parents acting funny, his bus driver is a gorilla and is his substitute teacher a BEAR?? Not feeling well? WATCH OUT the fangs on the nurse may make you feel worse!! Imagination has gone wild in this awesomely illustrated story about a school that is filled with pythons, tigers, bears, bats and bookworms to name a few.

It has lots of rhymes and the kids find it hysterical. We talked about our favorite parts, our favorite animals and what we thought might happen next. I have read this book to many different groups of kindergarteners, preschoolers and DK'ers and all of them like it in all different types of schools. Must have for a substitute who doesn't know where they are going to be that day! I'd definitely recommend it for ages 4-8! Written by Stu Smith and illustrated by David Catrow!

The Recess Queen

Mean Jean was the Recess Queen. Nobody swung until Mean Jean swung. Nobody kicked until Mean Jean kicked. So starts off the funny story of a playground bully who has her ways changed when the new girl Katie Sue comes to school. This book is full of great rhymes, made up words and lots of room for questions about how we should play nicely with others, take turns and keep our hands and feet to ourselves.
Can get kids involved with repeated lines and they will think they are reading too. The illustrations are excellent and it's a real quick read if you need something to entertain when you have a few extra minutes. Best for ages 4-8. Written by Alexis O'Neill

P.S.. I love you, the movie

I FINALLY watched P.S. I love you yesterday. I have a headache and lost my voice completely so I figured it was a perfect day to watch movies ‘on demand.’ I read P.S. I love you in February I believe and REALLY REALLY liked the book. As in I laughed out loud and bawled throughout the entire book. My husband was like what the heck is in that book, it was that ridiculous. Okay, so it is established that I LOVED THE BOOK. So what about the movie?

I was disappointed. Shocked? No. I honestly can say that the only movie of a book that I really really enjoyed was The Notebook. The glaring differences made me hate the movie. I mean it was good, but I did NOT laugh once. Come on, this book made me laugh so hard I cried. I hated Harry Connick Jr. as Daniel. He RUINED Daniel’s character to me. I hated the way they changed Holly’s parents/sibling background. I hated how her 30th birthday party was NOT the way it was described in the book. I hated how she lived in New York and only visited Ireland. I hate how she didn’t work where she ended up working in the book and you missed out her supportive boss. I hated how they handled the way she got her letters. Basically, if I had not read the book I might have turned off the movie before it was over. Or maybe I would have liked it, but I didn’t and that was sad. But I was not surprised.

Seriously though, read the book. It was awesome.

100th post and giveaway!

I have hit the way too hyped 100th blog post. It’s almost a certain bust because this is where I talk about how awesome it is to blog, how many wonderful blogs I’ve found and how I’ve grown as a writer and yada, yada, just get to where you are giving something away is what most people will be thinking about this point. So as to not disappoint and to not say anything ridiculous and pointless I am giving a book away.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be, since I started this blog as a place to write my book reviews and has hosted other random thoughts that invade my ever busy mind.

So what book have I picked? Well, as my first (hopefully more to come) giveaway, I am giving away a slightly used copy of At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks. I read this last summer and I bawled. But I don’t know of a Sparks novel, where I have not bawled like a little baby by the end.

At First Sight is about Jeremy Marsh who is very certain he will not do specific things in life and then proceeds to do all of them. (My kind of guy!) He somehow ends up in small town North Carolina engaged to the love of his life. Of course they have some issues, normal drama occurs and most stressful, they are expecting a baby. One of those things he swore he’d never do. Throughout the novel, Jeremy grows up, realizes what’s most important and as with any other Sparks novel, experiences extreme heartbreak, yet somehow comes out stronger than before. It’s definitely a couple Kleenex read. J

So how can you win this lovely book? Here is how…
1.) Leave a comment!
2.) Become a follower
3. Blog about the giveaway and link to my post..

So you can pretty much enter 3 times, and if you’ve noticed like nobody reads my blog, so odds are you have a chance to win!! And if you are one of the many people who come and read and never comment, here is your shot to come out of the woodwork because I do see where you are coming from and when you stop by, so you might as well leave a comment!! ;)

So enter away and hopefully I will have more giveaways with the next 100 posts… Oh and maybe I will figure out how to make my pictures upload how I want.. :P

Contest is open until September 28th at 7:00 p.m. eastern standard time.