books

books

Join the Banned!

Join the Banned!

In 2022, a historic number of book challenges were made across the country, targeting school, community and university libraries.  In Florida alone, where over 500 books have been banned or challenged since 2021, authors ranging from inaugural poet Amanda Gorman to contemporary novelist Kurt Vonnegut have been the subject of targeted removal from classrooms and libraries.  Yet according to the Washington Post, most book challenges are made by only a handful of individuals, often bonding together via social media.  That means a very small number of people have attempted to create an outsized impact on the reading material allowed to a significant portion of the country.  Libraries maintain collections for the benefit of heir communities, and communities are comprised of … Continued
Censoring Books

Censoring Books

Libraries advocate for the freedom to access and read any book a reader might want. To bring attention to the insidious problem of censorship and encroachment on the First Amendment, libraries all over the country celebrate Banned Books Week.  Launched by the American Library Association in 1982, the ALA tabulates reports of challenges to books held in library collections, as well as any times those challenges resulted in restricting access to a book or even, in some cases, of completely withdrawing it from a collection.  The resulting list of the top ten most-challenged books is updated and publicized every year. Challenges against books typically occur in school or public libraries, and often target children’s books.  Common titles that have suffered … Continued
Black Contemporary Science Fiction

Black Contemporary Science Fiction

In the wake of Octavia Butler’s groundbreaking work in the 1970s, including the Patternfinder series and Kindred, Black science fiction has taken on social justice, culture and history to create one of the freshest and most exciting art forms in contemporary literature.  In this blog, we’ll explore some of the biggest names in the field, covering everything from magical realism to postapocalyptic fiction. Nnedi Okorafor Dr. Okorafor was born in Cincinnati to parents of Nigerian descent,and grew up in Illinois.  Her writing career began with tragedy when an operation for scoliosis left her paralyzed from the waist down.  While recovering, a friend loaned her a copy of the Isaac Asimov classic I, Robot, which Okorafor marked up with notations in … Continued
A sneak peek at the Mary Fell collection

A sneak peek at the Mary Fell collection

IU East was lucky enough to enjoy the teaching expertise of award winning poet Mary Fell for over 30 years.  Earlier this year, she donated a number of books, documents and ephemera to the IU East Campus Archives.  And today, we’ll take a brief look at some of the treasures we’ve seen so far.  Let’s go! Class planning materials A working writer relies on a number of tools to complete their work.  Whether it’s the perfectly balanced pen, the elegantly laid cream wove paper or the delicious cup of coffee in the best coffee mug, each writer assembles their tools to begin the day’s task of crafting words.  Mary consulted a number of books related to poetry in order to … Continued
A list of lists!

A list of lists!

As 2020 comes to an end, “Best of …” lists are popular, so we wanted to feature a variety of reading options. Did any of your favorite books from 2020 make the lists? A selection of the 10 Best Literary Adaptations of the Year highlights this year’s new literary adaptations. The most popular and purchased books by Amazon customers in 2020 shares what customers were reading this year. With over 2,000 suggestions, NPR’s Book Concierge provides recommendations of “top books” for the years 2013-2020. What are other writers reading? The Guardian’s best books picked by guest authors provides insight into what authors like to read when they are not working on their next work. Why stop at Top 10? Here … Continued