Banned Books Week

Earlier today, I read an insightful post written by a colleague from the field of gifted education, Stephanie. In honor of Banned Books Week, she wrote about the power of books, bibliotherapy, and shared interesting links. 

Check out her post here:
 http://squarepegsroundhole.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/beware-of-the-book/

Later in the day, thinking about the power of books, I was reminded of this quote by Anne Lamott, one of my favorite writers on writing...

 “For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you. Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.” 

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life

My current bedside books

Today I am grateful for the amazing libraries I have access to today, and the libraries where I grew up. I read many books that were banned in some places, and I will never be the same for these books, whether it was The Giver or The Bell Jar or The Catcher in the Rye or some other book that continues to inspire me, as a writer, as a reader, as a person.