bluebyrd-bookreviews

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

alright, I’m annoyed with the class that I’m taking. it’s about writing novels, and I thought it would have cool stuff about balancing your narrative and developing themes etc, but instead she spent the first class talking about how every book fits into the Hero’s Journey (the monomyth template). and I was somewhat of a contrarian, and said “can you give us examples of books that don’t fit into this template?” and she said “no. because all books fit.”

but I dunno man, I just finished reading this Korean book where the plot is just the character having a string of hookups and reflecting on them without changing in any way. I don’t know if it’s possible to contort that into the Hero’s Journey.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

saw this thread and really loved it but what i liked most is that it taught this kid that if a book isn’t for you, even if you really want to like it, it’s okay to stop reading it and come back to it another time when you are ready. there were so many books i slogged through as a kid because i felt like i had to prove that i could read them since i *loved* reading so i simply had to finish this book or i didn’t actually love to read. silly, really. the more kids who don’t ascribe to that thinking the better. really great of both the dad and the librarian for allowing the kid access to the stephen king book and allowing him make the decision on whether or not it was for him by himself.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

To everyone in red states where book bans are likely to take place soon, here’s some lists for you <3

As a history student going into library science, people way under hype how crazy book banning is

Multiple lists of books already banned in schools/libraries or ones that likely will be:

Banned Books Week 2024: 100 of the Most Challenged Books

Banned Books: Top 100

Banned Book List

Colorado Banned Book List

The Complete List of Banned & Challenged Books by State

Banned Books from the University of Pennsylvia Online Books Page

Top 10 Most Challenged Books in 2023

PEN America Index Of School Book Bans – 2023-2024

Challenged and Banned Books

Places to order books other than Amazon:

Internet Archive (free)

Libby (free with library card)

Thrift Books

Book Outlet

BookBub

Abe Books

Half Price Books

Barnes & Noble

Better World Books

PangoBooks

Book Finder

Goodwillbooks

Alibris

Places to support that fight against book banning:

American Library Association

Unite Against Banned Books

National Coalition Against Censorship

PEN America

There’s a reason politicians fight so hard to limit knowledge and it should scare you.

Some recs below based on reviews I’ve seen

I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing by Maya Angelou

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

This Book is Gay by Juno Dawson

Melissa by Alex Gino

Looking for Alaska by John Green

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini

All Boys Aren't Blue by George Matthew Johnson

Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe

All American Boys by Jason Reynolds

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Flamer by Mike Curato

Let's Talk About It: The Teen's Guide to Sex, Relationships, and Being a Human by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

This Day in June by Gayle E. Pitman

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds

Sex is a Funny Word by Cory Silverberg

Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Drama by Raina Telgemeier

This One Summer by Mariko Tamaki

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika L. Sanchez

Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Beloved by Toni Morrison

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

I know I’ve spoken about it before but I think I have a form of face blindness that makes it impossible to tell apart conventionally “attractive” white men beyween the ages of 25 and 45 and it makes it really difficult to watch movies sometimes.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

i just think it's important to understand that love is not the antithesis of horror in fact it's often the catalyst

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

Love to write a book with an aroace protagonist and get reviews complaining that it didn't have a love interest :| 99.9%* of YA books have a romance plotline, can we not have 0.1% focused on other kinds of relationship?

Not every book is for everyone, sure, if you're looking for romantic YA then mine isn't for you. But there's a difference between "this book wasn't for me because I prefer romance" and "this book was flawed because it didn't contain romance" and boy, the latter hurts when your life doesn't either.

*Statistics absolutely pulled out of my arse here.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

When you like horror and thriller type films, you end up watching some that are based on real stories which makes reviewing them such an interesting time

Like, when a movie is an adaption of a book, I honestly tend to ignore that and just go based on the narrative structure of the film itself because a movie can be a horrible adaptation but an amazing film and vice versa

But when it comes to stories based on real life, especially true crime where real harm was done to real people, my script flips and while I still judge the movie on the narrative and film structures, the accuracy becomes a whole lot more important and then I start to try to internally balance how much do I care about accuracy vs the merits of the film presented to me and i feel like I never have the right answer

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

In light of recent events, here are some mantras I think everyone should keep close to their chests.

1) Horrible people are capable of making amazing art.

Morality has no marker on experience and skill level. Only what they produce can, in theory, reveal their inner beliefs.

2) Do not put famous people or anyone on a pedestal.

You can be inspired and touched by what they create. There's no need to raise them to a hero or god like status in your mind. They will be awkward, annoying, and so very human it may lead you to disappointment and sadness when they don't meet the image you made of them in your head.

3) "Separate the art from the artist" rhetoric only works if the artist is dead or can no longer profit from the IP.

Every dollar you give to a franchise with a living bigoted artist is supporting their life style. They still receive that money even if you don't vocally support their beliefs. Please remain aware of where you put your wallet since financial support is still support. Pirate if you're desperate, but do not pretend buying merchandise directly from the store is harmless.

4) Respecting victims should be your priority.

You were not the ones hurt the most by events which occured. Conversation around this topic needs to be tagged appropriately and spoken of with sympathy.

As many people want to claim "they knew there was something fishy about X", it's not about lounging in your self perceived righteousness for not being into the thing. You are neither unique nor special for not getting into a media where the creator was revealed to be harmful. You were just as ignorant as the rest of us, and your bad feeling being validated is about as significant as claiming to sense ghosts in a house full of black mold.

In addition to this, fans of the media should not be taking this time to victimize themselves. Learning information like this so suddenly means we are aware you didn't know. There will not be your imaginary mob coming into your inbox to send you death threats or dox you for having made fan content. Stop acting like self flagellation or taking up arms is the next logical step to defend your interest.

5) You are allowed to be angry and hurt.

It's easy for me to say don't make people your heroes, but I know this isn't a mindset many people adhere too. Especially not people who are looking for footholds to build their skills and find inspiration and connection in the art someone of their similar passion creates. You can sit in your frustration and despair for a little while. Give yourself time to fully process what has occured, and then choose your next course of action. The internet has taught many people to react immediately to everything, but this is not nor has ever been required of you.

✌🏾

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

There is genuinely no such thing as an inappropriate book for a child.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

My dear friends: When a librarian or teacher says "Audiobooks count as reading", we do not literally mean that audiobooks are the same as decoding visual meaning via symbols representing sounds. We mean, among other things:

Audiobooks can expose listeners to new vocabulary and forms of syntax.

Audiobooks can present listeners with long-form fictional narratives with engaging characters, interesting literary devices, and poetic turns of phrase.

Audiobooks can teach listeners new information in a long-form manner that goes into depth or wide breadth on a particular subject or subjects.

Audiobooks can help listeners' verbal comprehension skills.

Audiobooks can do all these things without presenting the same difficulties to blind, low vision, partially sighted, visually impaired, or dyslexic listeners; listeners with ADHD; listeners who experience physical difficulty with holding a book or e-reader; or listeners who are disabled in a host of other ways that a physical book or e-reader might present.

The written word is not specially imbued with magical noble worth above the spoken word, and if you think it is, you may have some ableism and/or racism to deconstruct.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

one of my worst writing sins is abusing my power to create compound words. i cannot write the sentence "The sun shone as bright as honey that afternoon." no. that's boring. "The sun was honey-bright that afternoon" however? yes. that sentence is dope as fuck. i do not care if "honey-bright" is a word in the english dictionary. i do not care if the sentence is grammatically correct. i will not change. i will not correct my erred ways. the laws of the english language are mine.

[bluebyrd-bookreviews]

Going on vacation and I'm too far into my current book to take it with me :(