Here's a thought that keeps me up at night and trust me, it takes a lot to keep a book devourer like me from her beloved reading time. Somewhere out there, a group of people decided that you shouldn't be allowed to read certain books. That someone, somewhere, sat down and said: "No. That story is too dangerous. That idea is too powerful. That truth is too uncomfortable." And honestly? That's exactly why you need to read them. Banned books aren't banned because they're bad. They're banned because they're brilliant. They ask hard questions. They hold up mirrors we'd rather not look into. They give voices to people who have been told, repeatedly, to stay quiet. And the moment someone tries to take a book off a shelf, it becomes the most important book in the room. The American Library Association reported that in 2025 alone, over 5,600 books were banned from libraries across the United States,  the highest number ever recorded since tracking be...

Review: The Banned Books Club - Brenda Novak - September 2024 I am in two minds about this book as I come to write the book review the first thing I want to address is the title can be a bit misleading. Yes, there were talks and a session of The Banned Books Club where they read Stephen King's Cujo and it talked a little about how the group came to be formed. That was it - I assumed with the title that it would be a book about books and book club, maybe each chapter talking about a banned book but nope, this book was more of a family going through a hard time and coming together in the face of tragic circumstances and getting the courage to stand up and be the person that they had read in books that were banned. The type of person who in the face of injustice gets knocked down but gets back up again. We have our two main sisters Gia and Margot. Gia left the town when she was young and never returned as she was caught up in a #MeToo case He Said/ She Said case with her English teach...

Review: Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books - Kirsten Miller - June 2024 As a former librarian and a voracious reader, I have always found the notion of "banned books" ridiculous as we should not be censoring what people read. People should have the free will to choose what to read or not to read. In the last few years, the notion of banning books has been running riot, especially in the USA, and every day when I read the number of books being banned or parents/organizations - I am thankful that despite being in such a small country, that we have the freedom to read whatever the hell we want too. This book caught my attention with the Little Library and the Banned Books. In this small town of Troy, Lula Dean is on a mission to ban books she thinks are inappropriate, and standing against her in this fight is Beverley Underwood - these two have been at each other's throats since their college days.  Lindsay Underwood is a lesbian and is not against sharing the bo...

As a book blogger and literature enthusiast, I am vehemently against the banning of books. It is a dangerous practice that undermines our fundamental right to freedom of expression and deprives us of the opportunity to explore diverse perspectives and ideas. Living in New Zealand, I am grateful that the banning of books is not a rampant issue, as it is in many other countries. However, this is not to say that we should become complacent or turn a blind eye to the dangers of censorship. We must remain vigilant and stand up against any attempts to restrict access to information and literature. For me, reading has always been a form of escape and a source of knowledge. Growing up in a Christian household, certain topics were considered taboo and were not discussed openly. It was through books and authors like Melody Carlson and Ellen Hopkins that I was able to find answers to some of the more challenging questions that I had about life and the world around me. Their books, such as Findin...

  Review: Impulse - Book #1 Impulse Series - Ellen Hopkins - January 2007 If there is one author that every teenager has to read, it is Ellen Hopkins. As someone who grew up in a sheltered family, reading was my eye-opener to the world and during my teen years I had a knack for loving the edgier topics and Ellen Hopkins was the go-to author. Looking at Goodreads, funny enough I read this book 9 years ago - give or take a few days. Back before I had been dedicated to writing reviews on what I read. So here, is a review I should have written 9 years ago but I have to admit reading this book now - I am a different person than I was 9 years ago. 9 years ago, I worked in the library and a job I loved, I was getting ready to go to America for the first time, I was single and my Mum was still alive. I was also 26 years old. Now 9 years later - I am no longer at the library, I have been to America twice, My Mum has passed away, I am in a committed relationship and have brought a house wi...