Weekly Roundup #9
Banned books, new books, tracking books and more!
This is basically me right now:
I'm back at work after a long Christmas break. I spent the holidays with my family, and we all got sick and shared our germs with one another. The family who sniffles together stays together, as they say. Though I’m thankful for the time off, being sick during a break doesn't really feel like a break, hence the falling-over-like-a-tired-baby thing.
But despite my emotional, physical, and spiritual fatigue, I rallied to bring you a few of my favorite links. The first one is depressing, but I promise they get better after that. Start with the banned books and end with a fantastic book-tracking spreadsheet.
More than 1,600 books banned in Escambia County, Florida - PEN America
It has come to this: Escambia County, Florida, schools have banned the dictionary.
Five dictionaries are on the district’s list of more than 1,600 books banned pending investigation in December 2023, along with eight different encyclopedias, The Guinness Book of World Records, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not – all due to fears they violate the state’s new laws banning materials with “sexual conduct” from schools.
This is absurd. I looked through the list provided in this link and couldn’t believe some of the books that have been deemed inappropriate. It’s vital to stay aware of the ongoing attacks on intellectual freedom.
Most Anticipated: The Great Winter 2024 Preview - The Millions
I look forward to this book list each year because I always find must-read titles. I made a section in my reading journal to track upcoming releases, and I find many of those books listed here. This list covers January - March. There’s a ton of stuff releasing in March.
Lit Hub’s Most Anticipated Books of 2024 - Lit Hub
Another list of upcoming books is this one from Lit Hub, which previews 230 titles. Yes, please.
The L.A. Public Library is getting into book publishing. Why it makes total sense - Los Angeles Times
Although Szabo has plenty of ideas for how to bring both press and library together on new initiatives, such as releasing material for children and producing digital content in other languages, he’s happy right now to share the good news and focus on making the transition a smooth one.
“We’re always thinking,” he says, “of creative ways that we can tell stories and share them with others.”
This is such an incredible story about a library system continuing to innovate and evolve. I told you things got less depressing!
Introducing the 2024 Reading Log - Book Riot
It’s the most wonderful time of year — ’tis the season to prepare a new reading log for a new year of reading! Tracking my reading truly brings me great joy, and I love taking the time to view my end-of-year reading stats and glean insights about a year in reading, set new goals, and review favorite reads of the year. Tracking my reading in a Sheets-based system makes all of this so easy, and I’m excited to share the 2024 reading log with you all!
Book Riot shares this spreadsheet each year, and I’ve used it for the past several. I love its specificity and that it can be customized. Also, there are charts! I track my reading in several different formats, but I love the details this spreadsheet provides.
That’s it for this week. I’d love to know what links you’ve been loving lately.
I feel like that baby on the couch too, and I wasn't sick over break. Waking up at 6 and leaving the house at 7 is just hard. That banned book list is totally insane. What on earth? I'm keeping track of my titles in my bullet journal this year, but I'll just keep track of title and author and maybe a star system or notes on what I liked.
Looking at your links made me realize Cheryl Strayed had a new memoir, so that is really good news. Thanks for all this!
I have learned some terrible things from the dictionary…geez!!
What’s next? Cookbooks?
Thanks for the lists Andrea.😊