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thebanishedreader · 2 months

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A small village in Wales I visited recently ~<3

#nighttime aesthetic #countryside #cottagecore #wales #welsh culture #village #villagecore #farmland #small village #vacation #holiday #uk #united kingdom #welsh village #mountains #mountainside #overcast #blue #blue aesthetic

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thebanishedreader · 3 months

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The 18th century Gothic Revival Church of St Mary and St Finnan overlooking Loch Shiel, Glenfinnan, Scotland.

#architecture #design #awesome #books #literature #bookblr #reading #libraries #studycore #banned books

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thebanishedreader · 4 months

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Study hard, for the well is deep, and our brains are shallow.

#study #studying #student #student life #studyblr #studyspo #dark aesthetic #study aesthetic #light academia #study space #bujo spread #bujoinspo #bujo #bujoblr #bujo aesthetic #bullet journal

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thebanishedreader · 4 months

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bury me six feet in snow

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thebanishedreader · 4 months

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#dark academia #darkacademia #light academia #moodboard #light acadamia aesthetic #light academia moodboard #romantic academia #art academia #soft academia #academia moodboard #academia aesthetic #chaotic academia #chaotic academia aesthetic

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thebanishedreader · 4 months

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"He says nothing; all that lies behind him; he is entirely alone now with his little life of nineteen years, and cries because it leaves him."

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (1929)

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thebanishedreader · 4 months

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"I stand there and wonder whether, when I am twenty, I shall have experienced the bewildering emotions of love."

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque (1929)

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thebanishedreader · 4 months

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this quote from ovid’s telling of orpheus turning back to look at eurydice makes me crumble

#studyblr #studyspo #academia #aesthetic #dark academia quotes #grief quotes #death quotes #love quotes #orpheus #eurydice #orpheus and eurydice #greek mythology

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thebanishedreader · 5 months

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Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read the book.

— John Green, via luciferifilia.

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thebanishedreader · 5 months

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On the Burning...

"Alexandria is... a cautionary tale of the danger of creeping decline, through the underfunding, low prioritization and general disregard for the institutions that preserve and share knowledge: libraries and archives. Today, we must remember that war is not the only way an Alexandria can be destroyed. The long history of attacks on knowledge includes not just deliberate violence - during the Holocaust or China's Cultural revolution, for example - but also the willful deprioritization of support for these institutions, which we are witnessing in Western societies today. The impact that these various acts of destruction of libraries and archives has had on communities and society as a whole is profound."

- Richard Ovenden, The Story of the Library of Alexandria is Mostly a Legend, But the Lesson of its Burning is Still Crucial Today

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thebanishedreader · 5 months

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Book Bans in Indiana

As of June 2023

Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor

Brief Summary: The first novel of a fantasy epic following young art student Karou as she journeys to discover her identity, even if it means joining an otherworldly conflict.

Banned from libraries as of November 2022, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Brief Summary: The riveting sequel to Daughter of Smoke and Bone follows Karou through embracing her newfound heritage and balancing the challenges and heartache of what that means.

Banned from libraries as of November 2022, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Brief Summary: Concluding the Daughter of Smoke & Bone trilogy, Karou and Akiva must join forces to determine the future of the worlds that collided once the celestial war is over.

Banned from libraries as of November 2022, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Statistics Source: PEN America

Support the American Library Association!!

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thebanishedreader · 6 months

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Pet-Related Ask Game for Book Blogs

Dog: Do you have pets? And if you do, are they ever in your pictures? If not, would you get a pet if you could?

Cat: What animal book did you grow up with and still impacts you?

Hamster: How often do you read nonfiction books?

Rabbit: If you got a bookish tattoo referencing a childhood book, what would you get?

Guinea Pig: Do you consider yourself a fast reader?

Bird: Are you in any book clubs?

Fish: What does your TBR look like right now? Is it spread out? Do you keep it in a stack?

Frog: Have you tried pressing flowers into your books?

Lizard: What is your most REread book?

Snake: Do you keep all your books after you’re done reading them?

Gerbil: What was your reading goal this year? Are you close to meeting it?

Tortoise/Turtle: If you could give a copy of your favorite book to someone on this site, what book and who would you give it to?

Insect: How many books would you need to have to consider your collection a “library”?

Spider: What nonfiction book has impacted you the most?

Chinchilla: What fiction book has impacted you the most?

Rat: Who are your Top Five favorite authors?

Mice: If you could invite three authors (dead or alive) to a meal, who would you invite and what would you cook/prepare?

Ferret: What do you normally use to mark your page in a book?

Farm Animal: Give us a quote from a book you read recently.

Plant (for those who struggle with animals): How many books do you think you have? If you’re really not sure, give a ballpark answer.

#let’s gooooo #ask away!!#thebanishedreader #ask game #booklr #book blog #book tumblr #send asks #bookblr #books #books and bookstores #books and libraries #library aesthetic #goodreads #reading #reading aesthetic #bookworm #book blog ask game

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thebanishedreader · 6 months

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Friday Favorites: All Quiet on the Western Front

Today's highlight for @thebanishedreader's Friday Favorite is Erich Maria Remarque's All Quiet on the Western Front.

Published in 1928, All Quiet on the Western Front is a novel that draws heavily from the experiences of its author in World War One. A German war veteran, Remarque projects his horrific memories of the war onto protagonist Paul Bäumer, a 17-year-old infantryman who, motivated by nationalism and naiveté, enlists into the German army with his schoolmates.

Paul is battle-worn and disillusioned from the moment readers meet him, but his trauma ebbs and flows, is emphasized and overshadowed, and carries on as a common thread throughout the novel with each new tragedy. Though young and harrowed, Paul's wisdom by experience haunts his narration, illustrating the horrors of war in a way no prior novel had ever captured; not all horror is found to be graphic, though, as the rotting ache of hope robbed from a young man culminates in this gut-wrenching masterwork.

My Goodreads Review:

"One of my favorite books of all time. I fear if I start writing this review in further depth, I will never stop. A horror story, a haunting tale. A poetic display of love, loss, and the meaning of life. An understanding of the despicable nature of war in a way I have never experienced in another novel since. I return to this book time and time again."

"It is very queer that the unhappiness of the world is so often brought on by small men."

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

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thebanishedreader · 6 months

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Trust in Trans Becomings

This post is written by Vasudha (they/them), a Brackenridge Fellow in the David C. Frederick Honors College and a fourth year undergraduate student majoring in Natural Sciences and Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies.

My time with the transgender underground press in the Hillman Archives & Special Collections lead me to think about how trans pasts and trans presents are intertwined, especially with trans people being heavily scrutinized in our current political climate. Bans against gender-inclusive books, drag shows (1), and gender affirming healthcare (2) are being proposed and even passed at state-wide levels in an attempt to eradicate “gender ideology”, at the cost of the trans community’s safety and well-being. In looking through issues of TV-TS Tapestry, which was later renamed Transgender Tapestry, I found one trans political narrative from the past that is still present today, although in different language.

Detransitioning stories have been used often as conservative talking points for why gender affirming care should be limited, framing it as causing irrevocable harm to those who supposedly hopped on the “trans train” without a second thought, and ultimately regretted their decision (3). In a 1988 issue of Tapestry, the term “pseudo-transsexual” was used to describe people who were convinced they were trans, but were instead “very confused” and “emotionally disabled”, in the words of Sister Mary Elizabeth.

(Above) Excerpt from "Sy Rogers and the 700 Club: A Response" by Sr. Mary Elizabeth, n/SSE, The TV-TS Tapestry, Issue 52, pg 46-47, 1988. University of Pittsburgh Library System, Archives & Special Collections.

As a devout Christian nun, the words of Sister Mary may seem like they come from a place of compassion and concern, seeing as she places blame on the religious community for condemning gender-diverse people, turning them away from God (see third paragraph of the above excerpt). But as a White trans woman, Sister Mary’s words only serve to cast doubt on the self-knowledge of trans people of color and other marginalized trans people, whose trans identity is more likely to be written off as false or self-convinced (4). This doubt quickly becomes reason to turn them away from receiving care, giving providers the power to choose who is “really” trans, and who isn’t.

(Above) Image of Sr. Mary Elizabeth with Christine Jorgensen at the International Foundation for Gender Education 'Coming Together' Convention in 1988 from "Sy Rogers and the 700 Club: A Response" by Sr. Mary Elizabeth, n/SSE, The TV-TS Tapestry, Issue 52, pg 46-47, 1988. University of Pittsburgh Library System, Archives & Special Collections.

Today, narratives of detransitioning are covertly doing the same by feigning concern for those who were supposedly coerced into receiving gender affirming care by the “transgender ideology” spread by trans people and enabled by medical caregivers. Politicized detransitioning organizations encourage those who detransition to sue their physicians, effectively scaring well-meaning providers off from treating patients who they deem “emotionally unfit” to transition, and pushing medical practitioners to question the self-knowledge of their patients.

In addition, restricting doubt from trans experiences has related implications. In Transgender Tapestry’s Summer 2005 “Ask Ari” column, a trans woman admits to feeling doubtful about medically transitioning. Ari responds to reassure her that although medical professionals make it difficult to voice these feelings, it is completely normal for trans people to have fears surrounding the process of transitioning.

(Above) "Ask Ari" Column from Transgender Tapestry, Issue 108, pages 18-19, Summer 2005, University of Pittsburgh Library System, Archives & Special Collections.

I resonated with this column as someone who has felt illegitimate for experiencing trans doubt myself, and I realized that we’ve been conditioned to feel that way through medical practices. Throughout the history of trans medical care, diagnostic criteria have included experiencing mental distress in the form of gender dysphoria (formerly known as gender identity disorder) to be eligible for care. Until last year, the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) required a psychologist recommendation and diagnosis for patients to be able to receive care. Although this has been removed from their standards of care, a majority of clinics still use this criteria, which in many cases doesn’t allow for trans doubt to be explored without disqualifying patients from care.

Many trans people do have doubts and fears about medically transitioning, and it’s important that these feelings can be spoken about freely so that patients can be honest about their trans experiences and trust providers with their care. If a patient is forced to exaggerate their need for care in order to be trusted and qualified to receive it, there is no space for real conversations about a patient’s needs and what they hope to achieve through gender affirming care, which is what may lead to experiences of detransitioning (in the way that conservatives view it) in the first place.

Looking into snippets of trans history provided me with a better sense of trans experiences in today’s world, by being able to see similarities at the core of trans issues throughout time. Trans archival materials serve an important purpose of reminding us that trans people have always been here, and have been fighting the same anti-trans sentiments for centuries, although they may seem different today. They give us the strength to keep fighting.

Footnotes & Works Cited

Garnand, Ileana. "How drag bans fit into larger attacks on transgender rights." The Center for Public Integrity, April 14, 2023.

HRC Foundation. "Map: Attacks on Gender Affirming Care by State." Human Rights Coalition, Accessed August 8, 2023.

For a better understanding of more common reasons for detransitioning, see this NIH article: Turban, Jack L., et. al., "Factors Leading to "Detransition" Among Transgender and Gender Diverse People in the United States: A Mixed-Methods Analysis." LGBT Health, May/June 2023; 8(4): 273-280. DOI: 10.1089/lgbt.2020.0437. Accessed August 8, 2023.

For a detailed archive-based history on racialized medical gatekeeping of gender affirming care, read Chapter 5 of Jules Gill-Peterson’s Histories of the Transgender Child, titled “Transgendered Boyhood, Race, and Puberty in the 1970s”.

#trans history #special collections #archives #lgbtqia #trans healthcare #books #literature #booklr #lgbtq literature #bookblr #reading #book blog #rare books #trans rights #banned books

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thebanishedreader · 6 months

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end of fall <3 ~ 🍁🍂📙🕯️🧣

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thebanishedreader · 6 months

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Book Bans in Wisconsin (Pt. 1)

As of June 2023

Queer Ducks (and Other Animals): the Natural World of Animal Sexuality by Eliot Schrefer, illustrated by Jules Zuckerberg

Brief Summary: A witty and fast-paced nonfiction book illustrating scientific findings on same-sex mating and anthropological significance in various species of the animal kingdom.

Banned pending investigation as of June 2023.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Deserted Prisons by Joyce Markovics

Brief Summary: A 24-page nonfiction book that covers the stories of four deserted prisons in easy vocabulary great for engaging young readers.

Banned from libraries as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Blackwell's (UK)

Horror in Maryland by Rachel Rose

Brief Summary: Four spooky, nonfiction stories about the state of Maryland in easy vocabulary great for engaging young readers.

Banned from libraries as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Blackwell's (UK)

The Haters by Jesse Andrews

Brief Summary: Wes, Corey, and Ash - three young musicians bored of Jazz Camp - decide to hit the road and begin The Haters Summer of Hate Tour, the band tour no one asked for, for a band no one has heard about; their goal? To play as many shows as they can before they are stopped.

Banned pending investigation as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

Brief Summary: Ama is rescued from a dragon by the handsome Prince Emory, whose father has recently passed. Rescuing a damsel in distress and slaying the beast who captured her is part of the Prince's rite before he may ascend the throne, and Ama - unaware of all of this before the Prince tells her - is enamored. Only when she is brought back to the kingdom does she begin to doubt his story.

Banned pending investigation as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Brief Summary: Adolescent "wallflower" Charlie, who prefers to be silent and watch his peers rather than participate in the social whims of high school, navigates the transition from adolescence to adulthood and battles the choice between taking control of his own life or forever standing on the sidelines.

Banned pending investigation as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

The Handmaid's Tale: The Graphic Novel by Margaret Atwood, illustrated by Renee Nault

Brief Summary: A visual retelling of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel, Renee Nault's illustrations follow Offred, a woman forced into subservience by soldiers in a world where resources are scarce and birthrates are dangerously low.

Banned pending investigation as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

The Carnival at Bray by Jessie Ann Foley

Brief Summary: 1993, grunge teen Maggie Lynch is uprooted from the United States and moves to a small coastal town in Ireland. With her only connection to her old life letters from her grunge-rock uncle, Maggie must find her place in this new place, and find herself along the way.

Banned pending investigation as of February 2023, based on a formal challenge.

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Blackwell's (UK)

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thebanishedreader · 6 months

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love how conservatives will get angry at people talking about Banned Books because "the books aren't completely inaccessible" which makes them "not completely banned", and that calling them banned is inflammatory and predisposes people to be hostile by using extreme rhetoric, and then call people who run banned book blogs pedophiles

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