tagging some friends because this is such a fun new challenge! 💗 if you see this, consider yourself tagged too! 💕
Louise Reads | myhoneyreads | sanjariti reads | paperbacktomes | Tessa Talks Books | Elaine Howlin | Spines in a Line | The Classics Club | Books With Michelle | BOOKSWITHNATASA
Five books that define your reading taste?
This was so much harder than I thought it would be! I went back and forth, but finally I pulled these together—I think they represent my favorite genres pretty well. I enjoy mythology, witchy fantasy, magical realism, nature poetry and classics. And of course my ultimate favorite is Jane.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
It’s no secret that this is my favorite book. Anyone who knows me knows of my obsession with all things Jane Austen. (I wont go into it here because this is a post for the 5, but if you want to read more about how I fell in love with Jane read my blog post here!)
Emily Dickinson’s Gardening Life
I love books about nature, because I want to gain a better understanding of our amazing home and how it works. We are all connected and I want to understand that relationship, and sustain it when I can. It is important as a human being to know about the world you live in. I believe it is our duty to protect the environment and hopefully make the world a better place, if possible. We affect nature, we are nature. Dickinson’s musings on nature give us all a great reason to remember and reestablish that relationship with Mother Earth, and I love coming back to the lines in this book when I need to realign myself with nature.
The Greek Myths by Robert Graves
I have loved Greek Mythology since I was a teen. I first read this book, along with Edith Hamilton’s Mythology, and they sparked a huge love of myths that I never could shake! I was lucky enough to be offered classes in both high school and college that taught me so much more about the myths, but I will never be done learning about them. C. S. Lewis’ Til We Have Faces was the first ‘myth retold’ that I ever picked up, but not the last.
Flower Fables by Louisa May Alcott
I love this book. So so much! It is a lovely little collection of shorts, telling of all the good deeds done by the fairies of the flowers. Elves and Spirits, Kings and Queens, Roses and Clovers, Birds and Butterflies — nature spirits dwell all around us. “Few are the mortals to whom we give this lovely gift;” But, if you can learn to look and listen, you will find them, in the sweet melody of songbirds and the sweet scent of the flowers. This is essential cannon if you love fae folk!
The House of The Spirits by Isabel Allende
Isabel Allende is another one of my all-time favorite authors. I love her books and will seriously read anything she writes. I just love the way she weaves together history and whimsy and romance!
Tʜᴇ 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑅𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 𝐴𝑚 𝐼 Cʜᴀʟʟᴇɴɢᴇ
ᴍᴏʀɴɪɴɢ ᴏʀ ᴇᴠᴇɴɪɴɢ ʀᴇᴀᴅɪɴɢ: mornings are for reading books, evenings are for listening to audiobooks
ᴀᴜᴅɪᴏ ᴏʀ ᴇ-ʙᴏᴏᴋs: my eyes aren’t as good as they once were (and I’ve needed glasses since I was 12) so honestly e-books aren’t easy for me to read. That’s why I love audiobooks so much, they are so much easier on my eyes
ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɴᴏɴ-ꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ: I try to read at least one non-fiction a month, fiction is my fav
ᴜɴʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ ᴏʀ ʙʀᴏᴋᴇɴ sᴘɪɴᴇ: I try so hard not to break the spines, but it is inevitable for me! I’ll get halfway through, and then a action scene will make me nervous and I start bending the book and playing with page corners unconsciously
ᴘᴀᴘᴇʀʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴏʀ ʜᴀʀᴅʙᴀᴄᴋ: both are beautiful
ɴᴇᴡ ᴏʀ ᴏʟᴅ ʀᴇʟᴇᴀsᴇs: I like older ones—whenever I read a new releases there is no one to discuss it with!
ᴇᴍᴏᴛɪᴏɴᴀʟ ᴏʀ ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ: I love happy endings
ᴄʟᴀssɪᴄ ʟᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴏʀ ʜᴀᴛᴇʀ: I love classics! I think they can spark really important conversations
sɪʟᴇɴᴄᴇ ᴏʀ sᴏᴜɴᴅ: I prefer to read without distractions
ʙᴏᴏᴋᴍᴀʀᴋs ᴏʀ ᴅᴏɢᴇᴀʀ: bookmarks!! shoutout to anyone who remembers when I was making and selling them on etsy
ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ʀᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ ᴏʀ TBR: I am a huge mood reader, and I am so crazy I coordinate my monthly TBR with seasonal themes!
ᴏɴᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴀᴛ ᴀ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ᴏʀ ᴍᴜʟᴛɪᴘʟᴇ: I’m always reading multiple books at once. Yes sometimes I confuse storylines. No it doesn’t bother me!
I’ve tagged some friends whose answers I’d love to see, but if you see this consider yourself tagged too!
Louise Reads | myhoneyreads | sanjariti reads | paperbacktomes | Tessa Talks Books | Elaine Howlin | Spines in a Line | The Classics Club | Books With Michelle | BOOKSWITHNATASA
#bookchallenge #bookstagramchallenge #whatreaderamichallenge #bookchallenge
#meetthebookstagrammer #bookstagrammer
I have been following the Book Ban Battlegrounds covered by The American Library Association and the things I am seeing every week are SHOCKING.
Book challenges and book bans are increasing in libraries and schools all across the country. A majority of the books that have been targeted nationwide focus on sexual orientation, gender identity, race, and racicism–which are exactly the books that we need to be reading.
In a time of intense political polarization, library staff in every state are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books. ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom tracked 729 challenges to library, school and university materials and services in 2021, resulting in more than 1,597 individual book challenges or removals. Most targeted books were by or about Black or LGBTQIA+ persons.
“This is a dangerous time for readers and the public servants who provide access to reading materials. Readers, particularly students, are losing access to critical information, and librarians and teachers are under attack for doing their jobs.”
– Deborah Caldwell-Stone, director of the ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom
Book bans harm communities. Students cannot access critical information to help them understand themselves and the world around them. Parents lose the opportunity to engage in teachable moments with their kids. And communities lose the opportunity to learn and build mutual understanding.
Take a stand. Read banned books. Talk about banned books.
Here are five steps you can take now to protect the freedom to read.
1. Follow news and social media in your community and state to keep apprised of organizations working to censor library or school materials.
2. Show up for library workers at school or library board meetings and speak as a library advocate and community stakeholder who supports a parent’s right to restrict reading materials for their own child but not for all
3. Help provide a safety net for library professionals as they defend intellectual freedom in their communities by giving to the LeRoy C. Merritt Humanitarian Fund.
4. Educate friends, neighbors, and family members about censorship and how it harms communities. Share information from Banned Books Week 2021.
5. Join the Unite Against Book Bans movement to learn what you can do to defend the freedom to read in your community.
MANDY'S READING LIST 