These themes will vary! It could be based off of some book mail I just received, pop culture, something personal to me, a headline from the news, a trend I noticed when I was buying books for my library system, etc. I hope you stick around to see all the themes and book recs I come up with!
Today’s Theme: I’m With the Banned (Authors)!
This week is Banned Books Week and if you didn’t know, libraries, book stores, and publishing companies have been dealing with historic numbers in people trying to censor books or library services. I recently found out that between January 2024 and August 2024, there were already 1,128 unique titles that have been targeted to be banned. I also recently (like within the past year) found out that in some cases there is ONE person going around and targeting books in different places to make it seem like there is this huge outcry for “public safety” (yes I actually saw this somewhere) when in reality, they just want to make it seem like there is. SO with all that being said, this week I wanted to use two authors who have been previously banned that have new books coming out soon. Make sure to support these and run the sales up before the bigots target them too!
So in this first one, Twenty-Four Seconds From Now is a coming of age novel from a male’s POV that focuses on the love story of him and his girlfriend. They’re getting ready to do something that’s just for them… Or at least they might if he can turn off his thoughts and stop thinking about everything everyone else has said. This novel takes a look at the male POV and the way people “prepared” him for the big event. From the birds and the bees talk to him being scolded about using a bra over breakfast. Not only was this informative (because seriously no one talks about the male POV) but it was also hilarious. I didn’t expect to laugh as hard as I did because of the subject matter, but this had me holding my laughter in so I didn’t wake everyone up. Yo, I do NOT miss those embarrassing teen days. One of Jason Reynolds’ previously banned titles is the amazing, All American Boys that was co-authored with Brendan Kiely. Twenty Four Seconds From Now… is out 10/8/2024!
Flamboyants: The Queer Harlem Renaissance I Wish I’d Known is actually a non-fiction book that is so beautiful! Not only is it about queer people that a lot of people may not have known were Queer, but it also has some stunning artwork. I listened to the audio, but I also read it with my eyes in tandem to look at the art. And let me tell you, it’s stunning. There were so many things I learned about the people in this book. And the thing about this that I loved the most was the fact that even though some of these people were some of my favorites, there were still things I learned. I thought I knew all of these things about my favorite people, but nope. This book was very cool. This author’s previously banned book is actually one of the Top 10 Most Banned last year (and I think the year before that), All Boys Aren’t Blue. (Which is bananas because that is their autobiography???? You’re trying to ban their life??? That happened to them in this age group???) Anyways, Flamboyants is out TODAY!!!!
And here’s the Top 10 Banned Books for 2023!
Can you guess the titles of all of them? Click the image to see if you’re right!
Here’s Some Books About Book Banning in General
These are all ages!
Well, there you go! Here I’m just going to talk about why I grouped these two books together. I hope you enjoyed a look at this small part of the books. For a full synopsis of the book or to add it to your TBR, click the picture and it will take you to their Storygraph. The link on the caption will take you to it’s Goodreads.
What about you? Do you support the Banned? Have you read either of these authors? WIll you try either of these books? What’s your favorite Banned Book? Let me know in the comments!