Tag: Books

Are You A Bookworm?

It is another Sunday and I want to give my readers something to think about…..this Sunday it is books.

My daughter has always said that I was a bookworm basically because I have over 500 books and none of them fiction.

I bring this up because you may have a book that could be worth a bunch of cash….

A room without books is like a body without a soul,” Cicero once said, though he might not have known that those books could one day be worth serious cash.

If you look around your house, whether you keep your books on shelves, in stacks or stowed away in the basement, you may find a robust section of literature. A collection compiled over the years or from used bookstores can surprise you with what it’s worth. If a book sounds like a classic and has words such as “first edition” printed inside, you could be holding a small treasure trove in your hands.

The Dairy of Anne Frank

Saila Marcos, a content marketer at Biblio — the largest independent book marketplace for used, rare and out-of-print books — notes that this book can reach prices in the several-thousand-dollar range with certain criteria attached. It must be the Dutch forest edition of Anne Frank’s diary; and it must be the original title: “The Annex: Diary Notes 14 June 1942 – 1 August 1944.”

Buyers will know it when they see it because this book includes “illustrations of the place where Anne’s family was hiding during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and examples of the handwriting of the author,” according to Marcos.

Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone

“The first edition of ‘Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone’ typically commands a sale price of up to $20,000, and in some cases, even more, contingent upon the copy’s uniqueness,” Marcos said. With each passing sequel that was published — followed by a franchise of major motion pictures, stage plays and theme parks — the original novel only shot up in value.

“This phenomenon elevates the work to the most expensive in the entire series and positions it as one of the costliest books available on the market,” Marcos added.

There is so much more….check them out….

https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/wealth/check-your-bookshelves-for-these-old-books-they-could-be-worth-thousands/

Most of them are fiction so that pretty much leaves me out of a fabulous payday….but maybe you have something….check out your books you could be sitting on a fat check.

Have a great Sunday and as always….Be well and be safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Win For Anti-Banning

There is been a spat of states that are leading the movement to ban certain books that they say are offensive….is anyone fighting back, well besides us bloggers that rant constantly about the moronic idea of banning or burning of books?

Illinois lawmakers greenlighted a bill Wednesday that says libraries in the state must adopt an anti-book banning policy to receive state funding, in a vote that fissured along party lines. The measure, spearheaded by Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, represents a counter-movement to growing efforts to restrict books on topics such as race, gender, and sexuality in schools and libraries across the US. The legislation has passed both chambers and now heads to the desk of Gov. JB Pritzker, who said he looks forward to signing it, the AP reports. “This landmark legislation is a triumph for our democracy, a win for First Amendment rights, and most importantly, a great victory for future generations to come,” said Giannoulias in a news conference Wednesday.

The bill requires libraries, to be eligible for state funding, to adopt the American Library Association’s Library Bill of Rights, which holds that “materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation,” and “should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.” Libraries may also develop an alternative policy prohibiting the practice of banning to receive the funds. The measure cleared the Senate on a party-line vote, per the AP. Democratic Sen. Laura Murphy, one of the bill’s sponsors, celebrated its passage.

“Librarians are trained professionals, and we need to trust that they will stock our libraries with appropriate materials—they were hired for their expertise, and they deserve our respect,” Murphy said in a statement. All 19 Senate Republicans voted against the measure, including Sen. Jason Plummer, who called it an effort by Democrats “to force their extreme ideology on communities across this state” and would wrest control from local libraries. Attempted book bans and restrictions at school and public libraries hit a record high in 2022, according to a March report from the American Library Association.

Good for them!

Somebody needs to do something to counter the morons that are afraid of books and any ideas they may present.

If you celebrate the Cinco de Mayo then drink carefully and Be Well….Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

15,000 And Counting

That is the total amount of books that have been pulled from the shelves of libraries in the first part of 2023.

GOP led states is rushing to ban books and limit the excess to us mere peons.

New laws imposed by right-wing state legislatures have been a driving force behind a rise in book bans since the beginning of the 2022-23 school year, a national free expression group reported Thursday.

PEN America’s new report, Banned in the USA: State Laws Supercharge Book Suppression in Schools, reveals that 874 unique titles were pulled from public school library shelves from July-December 2022, the result of 1,477 individual book bans.

That represents a 28% rise from the first half of 2022, and the group said the escalation is largely due to state-level “stringent policies that schools must abide by when reviewing existing library collections.”

The states that have banned the most books include Texas and Florida—where Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has pushed legislation to restrict teachers from discussing LGBTQ+ issues in classrooms and where some schools were directed to empty or cover bookshelves in order to comply with the new laws.

Just seven districts in Texas were behind 438 individual book bans and 13 school districts in Florida were responsible for 357 bans.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/gop-book-bans-schools

I find this intolerable….I mean my mother never told me what I could read so why should the Nanny State GOP governments?

I mean she found my Playboy when I was 14 or 15….after looking through the pages she had one question….are those tits fir real?  Tossed the Playboy onto my bed and nothing more was ever said.

I had a very cool mother.

How far will these demented toads go?

I really do not want to find out…..do you?

All this makes me think of a term from the not so distant past….Nanny State (warning:  post will be forthcoming)

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–07Sep22

One of the dumbest ideas that comes from the mental midgets on the Right….the banning of books…..and it is reported that it has hit an all-time high…..

As kids, teachers and librarians head back to school this fall, bookshelves around the country are a bit emptier than usual.

According to data collected by PEN America, 1,145 books have been banned by school districts across the United States between July 1, 2021, and March 31, 2022.

These numbers are at a historic high, said Deborah Caldwell-Stone, who has tracked and analyzed book bans across the country during her more than two decades with the American Library Association (ALA).

Caldwell-Stone, currently the director of the Office for Intellectual Freedom at the ALA, said in the past, the norm was for one or two titles to be challenged per year in schools. Today, it’s common for four to six unique books to be challenged each day, she said.

The uptick is part of a culture war taking center stage in political races, on social media and at school board meetings — between those who believe that parents should have a greater say in school curricula; those who think that certain histories and narratives should not be taught in classrooms; and others who resist censorship of any form, encouraging all titles onto shelves.

Caught in the middle of the debate are questions along legal, geographic and economic lines — mainly, how book bans really relate to the First Amendment, their impact in the internet age (more significant than you would guess) and consequences of bans — both intended and unintended.

https://www.grid.news/story/politics/2022/08/27/book-banning-in-us-schools-has-reached-an-all-time-high-what-this-means-and-how-we-got-here/

I do not see where banning books does anything to move a society forward….

Does the banning of books really protect anyone?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Banning Books

It seems when some sanctimonious religious d/bag gets on his /her high horse they want to ban this book or that….books like “To Kill A Mockingbird”, “Lolita”, “Tropic of Cancer”, and many more ….even beloved Dr. Seuss is not immune.

As a history nerd I got to thinking of what was the first book banned here in the America of old?

I have the answer I was searching for…..

There’s no more potent evidence of the power of the written word than the fact people have historically looked to ban them. Not even Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) has been exempt: “The Lorax” (1971) was ostracized as political commentary. Most recently, author Brad Meltzer expressed disappointment that his 2014 children’s book “I Am Rosa Parks” — a primer on the civil rights advocate — had been prohibited in the Central York School District in York, Pennsylvania, along with other purportedly racially-conscious material. (The district has cited “parental concerns” as the reason for the ban but quickly walked it back after protests.)

Cultural norms, politics, personal beliefs, school policy, and other factors can all conspire to deem a book too incendiary to circulate in America. But just how far back does this policy of thinly-veiled thought control go?

As is often the case when you look back into history, there’s more than one possible answer. But one of the leading contenders has a fairly predictable culprit: the Puritans.

In 1637, a man named Thomas Morton published a book titled “New English Canaan.” It was a searing indictment of conservative Puritan life, which Morton had brushed up against after moving to Massachusetts in 1624. Compared to the entrenched and reserved culture of the area, Morton was a hedonist who liked to party. (As much as one could party in 1624, anyway. Dancing around a pole for May Day was considered risqué.) He also was friendly to Native Americans, which Puritans strongly disagreed with. He was eventually ostracized from the area and later sued over the forced relocation.

https://www.salon.com/2021/11/20/what-was-the-first-banned-book-in-history_partner/

Personally I think the whole banning books things is just as asinine as stupidity of the anti-vax movement….no one should be able to tell a person what they can read…for any reason.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–17Nov21

We all have made a trip to the library….and I have so many books of my own that I have an entire library at my finger tips….but sadly libraries are not as popular as they once were thanx to the dullness of the internet and social media…..

Denmark has a novel (no pun intended) idea…..check out  person….

The saying goes: You should never judge a book by its cover. Well now, an innovative library in Denmark has taken the metaphor into its own hands and revolutionised the reading experience through dialogue. Instead of borrowing traditional books, volunteers at The Human Library lend 30 minutes of their time in a bid for readers to unjudge a person.

The first-of-its-kind learning platform aims to tackle challenging topics, embrace diversity and to create more inclusive and cohesive communities across cultural, religious, social and ethnic differences.

With help from his brother and colleagues, Ronni Abergel, 48, came up with the compelling concept in February 2000. A few months later, they kickstarted their mission at a local music festival in June.

“Over four days, 50 different topics were published to readers and thousands took advantage. This convinced me that this library had an important role to play in communities all around the world,” he explained. “It showed me that it was a library for the whole world to benefit from.”

Twenty-one years on, and The Human Library has become a global phenomenon, expanding to over 80 countries worldwide. They have since acquired partnerships with some of the UK’s biggest brands such as Tesco, Heineken, Travis Perkins and UNILEVER – which is how they fund their community work.

https://www.indy100.com/viral/library-borrow-a-person-book-b1943790

Us old farts have a wealth of knowledge that should be shared….this is a helluva idea and if it were in my locale I would volunteer without a thought.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–02Nov21

Since 1980 there has been a rash of book banning by idiots in local government….and now Texas has pushed that lunacy to the limit……

On October 25, 2021, Texas State Rep. Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth) sent a letter to school districts across the state, asking them to review a 16-page list of books that may contain some “objectionable content.” “Pursuant to Government Code Section 301.020(a)(4),” he wrote, “the Texas House Committee on General Investigating may initiate inquiries concerning any ‘matter the committee considers necessary for the information of the legislature or for the welfare and protection of state citizens.'”

In addition to his compiled list, Rep. Krause alsoasks the districts to identity any other books or content that may “address or contain” certain topics including:

human sexuality, sexually transmitted diseases, or human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), sexually explicit images, graphic presentations of sexual behavior that is in violation of the law, or contain material that might make students feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of their race or sex or convey that a student, by virtue of their race or sex, is inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or unconsciously.

In other words, government authorities are coming after books with positive portrayals of racial, sexual, and gender diversity and/or disability. Same as it ever was. In this case, the attack is being framed with the vocabulary of the “anti-CRT” hysteria, feigning concern about students feeling “guilty” about the fact that other people throughout history may have unfairly suffered because of their race, gender, or ability.

here’s the full list.

Texas lawmakers considering a ban on 850 books. Here’s the full list.

This is a worthless endeavor.

Idiots on the Right just keeps finding ways to out stupid each other…..and Krause is doing his best to keep up.

My thought is…my mother never told me what I could read or not….som the government can kiss my ass….I will read what I damn well like.

Any thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Ban The Books!

Closing Thought–24Jan20

First I wish my mother a Happy Birthday…she would have been 99 today….I miss you Mom!

I was never told what I could read by my parents so I have a real problem with the government in any shade that wants to do what my parents never did.

I bring this up because of some ruling in Missouri…..

The bill was introduced earlier this month by Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker (R), who has argued that the measure is meant to protect children when they visit their public libraries.

“The main thing is I want to be able to take my kids to a library and make sure they’re in a safe environment, and that they’re not gonna be exposed to something that is objectionable material,” Baker told local news station KOAM. “Unfortunately, there are some libraries in the state of Missouri that have done this. And that’s a problem.”

The bill would ban libraries that receive state funding from allowing minors access to “age-inappropriate sexual material.” To identify what that content is, the bill would include the creation of “parental library review boards” made up of five locally elected community members. The boards would then review what content it considers appropriate.

https://thehill.com/homenews/news/478518-missouri-bill-proposes-parental-library-review-boards-that-could-land

Seriously?

Keep this stuff out of the hands of children?

Has this yahoo ever heard of social media?

This is just ignorance in government.

Read it again……

Under the Parental Oversight of Public Libraries Act (H.B. 2044), locally elected “parental library review boards” would be permitted to unilaterally remove books they decide are sexually explicit or otherwise inappropriate for young readers from library shelves. 

Libraries that allow children to borrow books that have been banned or whose access has been restricted would risk losing state funding, and librarians could be ordered to pay fines of up to $500 or sentenced to jail time for up to a year. 

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/01/16/right-wing-review-boards-missouri-would-pave-way-arresting-librarians-over-books

I just find this amazing……this from a party that hates the “Nanny State” and yet wants to be the same beast it rails against.

Hypocrites each and every one.

Ignorance in government should be a crime!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

It Is Destroying All Our Books

The weekend and I get to wax poetic…or intellectual….or comedic…..or…well you get the idea….

I have written before just how important books are to me and that I have at least a 1000 books in my library and not one is a book of fiction.

My love of books came from my childhood…..I was brought in a home with a absent father and a mother that had to work to make ends meet….so I was given toys but mostly books that expanded my mind….this lead me to question so much…..and in later life thank my Mom for her insistence that I read and ask questions……

I read something that distressed me….that my books may be suffering from what is know as the literary “slow fire”……

Sometimes you need to be brutal, eschewing sentimentality as you cut off a spine or replace a book’s old, water-stained cover. At other times, gentle, delicate—especially with the books from Special Collections, those unique, fragile (and expensive) texts. And sometimes you find books with yellowed, stiff pages. The old dog-eared folds break off in triangles, flutter to the floor. These books can’t be helped by simple repairs—they’re acidified, dying, and the opposite of unique. In fact, they’re examples of a large-scale catastrophe that’s been quietly building in libraries for decades.

It’s called a “slow fire,” this continuous acidification and subsequent embrittlement of paper that was created with the seeds of its own ruin in its very fibers. In a 1987 documentary on the subject, the deputy Librarian of Congress William Welsh takes an embrittled, acid-burned book and begins tearing pages out by the handful, crumbling them into shards with an ease reminiscent of stepping on a dried-up insect carcass.

The Little-Known ‘Slow Fire’ That’s Destroying All Our Books

I believe the slogan…”Reading Is Essential”……

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

BOOKS!

Before I begin….did I mention that I hate squirrels?

Most of my regulars know that I have a huge library of books on international relations, Politics and History….I just cannot stop buying books….the feel, the smell and the look of a book is everything.

This Saturday I thought I would post a bit on books and a bit of history as well…..

I am not a fan of fiction I prefer real life and real situations….but a couple of first about novels of the past……

So you think 50 Shades was racy?

Researchers have discovered a long-lost version of a medieval romance “novel” containing a sex scene too steamy for even modern publishers. 

The French poem, “Le Roman de la Rose” (The Romance of the Rose), tells the story of a courtier wooing a woman — the poems titular “rose.” It was the “Twilight” of its day, a crowd-pleasing romance that was reproduced again and again. 

“‘Le Roman de la Rose’ really was the blockbuster of its day,” Marianne Ailes, a medievalist at the University of Bristol in the U.K. who identified the new fragments of the manuscript, said in a statement. “We know how popular it was from the number of surviving manuscripts and fragments, a picture our fragment adds to, and from the number of allusions to the text in other medieval writings.”

https://www.livescience.com/lost-medieval-romance-manuscript-discovered.html

Then the discovery of what some say is the very first novel…..

The chest was opened. And suddenly, a chapter has been added to the oldest known version of what’s considered to be the world’s first novel. The original manuscript of the Tale of Genji—telling of the political and romantic life of Genji, the son of an ancient Japanese emperor—was completed around 1010 by a woman named by scholars as Murasaki Shikibu, but subsequently lost to history. Indeed, the oldest written copy known to researchers, transcribed by the poet Teika before his death in 1241, includes just four chapters of the 54-chapter story. Well, now five chapters, counting the 800-year-old pages just discovered in a house in Tokyo, per the Guardian. It seems ancestors of the home owner, descended from a feudal lord, had been quietly keeping Teika’s transcription of the fifth chapter of the Japanese epic since 1743.

In April, 72-year-old Motofuyu Okochi of the Mikawa-Yoshida feudal domain opened the chest used to store the chapter, allowing officials at cultural heritage foundation Reizeike Shiguretei Bunko to have a peek. They say it’s an authentic manuscript, roughly 5.5 inches wide by 8.5 inches long, with handwriting and a blue cover that perfectly matches Teika’s other chapters, which are registered as “national important cultural properties,” per Asahi Shimbun. Kyoto University professor Junko Yamamoto tells the outlet it’s a “very significant” find since research on the fifth chapter, which depicts Genji meeting his future wife, has been based on manuscripts completed 250 years after Teika’s version.

I have about 1500 books in my library….most of them I had to replace after Katrina for many got ruined with water damage……but I read about a new way to protect your books….

“For him that stealeth, or borroweth and returneth not, this book from its owner, let it change into a serpent in his hand & rend him. Let him be struck with palsy & all his members blasted. Let him languish in pain crying aloud for mercy, & let there be no surcease to his agony till he sing in dissolution. Let bookworms gnaw his entrails in token of the Worm that dieth not, & when at last he goeth to his final punishment, let the flames of Hell consume him for ever.”

What can I say after the destruction of Katrina I will try anything to protect my books…..

Have a great Saturday and enjoy family….be well be safe

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“Lego Ergo Scribo”