Banned Book Resources and Swag

~ Sarah Joyce ~ Leave a comment

It is Thursday! We’re in the home stretch. There is only so much one person can say about Banned Book Week, right?

Well yea, actually, there is. So today I wanted to share with you some of my go to resources for all things http://www.ala.org/advocacy/bbooksBanned Books Week, as well as some fun places to buy (banned) book swag. I am not affiliated with any of the storefronts I link to. All endorsements are my own. 

First I would like to point you to the site the American Library Association runs in support of Banned Book Week. It is robust, comprehensive, and by far my favorite resource. You can find a list of the most challenged books every year as well as a running list of all time challenged books broken down into different categories. It is really useful for understand why certain items were considered controversial, as well as noticing general trends. 


For social media I find the #bannedbooksweek, #Ireadbannedbooks, and #bannedbooks tag provide really interesting content. I love seeing what other grammers, twitter users, and bloggers are discussing in relation to Banned Book Week and it is another great way to see the growth of the movement each year. 


Go to your local library! I guarantee they have at least a small display to honor challenged books this week. They may have programing as well. A few libraries by me are doing readings from their favorite banned books, discussion groups, and generally talking about the library’s place in a world where censorship and rights collide. 

You can also represent you book love all times of the year with items from

Out of Print Clothing – T-shirts, sweatshirts, totes, scarves, mugs, matchbooks 

I legit own about a dozen t shits, maybe 10 sweatshirts, socks, a necklace, a tote bag…everyone knows I’m a librarian and like to be extra cozy so my friends always go here for gifts. I love all of their products. 

They also offer a line of banned book products that are beautiful and powerful. I am a big fan of the socks. 

Litographs – T-Shirts, The softest blankets inthe world, totes, scarves, posters, pillows, etcetera 

My boyfriend bought me The Tempest blanket for Christmas this year. It is super soft and comfortable and big enough for us both to cuddle under while binge watching out latest obsession

Storiarts – gloves, scarves, totes, the works

Storiarts is my new fav. I’m obsessed with their fingerless gloves, since I work in what is essentially an ice box. I am also major hinting that my boyfriend should by me the ee Cummings scarf. I think it is appropriate. 

Etsy is also perfect for finding niche literary things like mugs and necklaces. Some of my favorite sellers have since gone out of business but I do have my eye on this mug for my Christmas list. . 

Modcloth is currently carrying my new favorite dress. It is all books and globes and quills. It totally belongs in a reading room in oxford, or in your local library stacks. It also has pockets. They have been offering a ton of sales lately, so you don’t have to pay this sticker price. 

To All the Banned Books I’ve Loved Before

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 1 Comment

On Monday I talked to you about my (lack of) experience with censorship. Yesterday I shared with you my harebrained ideas for celebrating Banned Books Week without actually reading. Today I am back to talking about books. For real. Between work and my personal love of all things literary Banned Book Week always ends up as the fever pitch week near the end of September where I am screaming about my favorite classics. 

This year I will do that screaming here. It will be dignified screaming. You won’t even be able to tell I’m raising my voice.

One of the things I really do love about Banned Book Week is thinking back on these books, ones that I have loved, and seeing them through new eyes. The things that I found endearing or daring were threatening to others. It makes an interesting thought exercise, and also very happy to not live in Big Brother’s London where these thoughts would surely be banned. 

So here are a few of my favorite books that others find distasteful, vulgar, and dangerous. I am proud to have read them. I consider myself a more informed, thoughtful reader for their inclusion in my reading life. 


Brave New World
One summer in college I decided I was going to rectify a large gap in my dystopian reading and check out BNW and 1984 back to back. I wound up enamoured with Huxley. He described a world that didn’t seem so different from Western culture now. No boredom. No attention spans. Drugs. Emptiness masquerading as happiness. It was such a powerful statement from 80 years prior. 

1984

In a similar vein I was horrified by Orwell’s future. It is terrifying. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Sound like anything you know? I think the most terrifying part for me in both 1984 and Brave New World is there isn’t an escape. Big Brother Wins. Soma still exists. Society doesn’t change. These aren’t the dystopian resistance novels of the 2010’s. Society wins, not the rebels. They’re a cautionary tale, not a promise for a better future. 


Slaughterhouse Five

I am writing this list while playing with my favorite necklace, a cursive “So it goes” charm at its center. Vonnegut can be vulgar. He can be strange. He can be utterly engrossing. I love every moment I spent with Slaughterhouse Five. I love how it made me think about time and existence. I love everything about it. I also everything else I have read by him. Cat’s Cradle has also been challenged multiple times. It is also a book I recommend constantly. 

To Kill a Mockingbird

On Friday I’ll talk more about Harper Lee, but for now let me just say – the stories we read as children hold a special place in our hearts. When those stories are also about children developing their own moral compass in an unfair world, they stick with us even more. 

Harry Potter

Guys, just check out my post about how much I love Harry Potter. It’ll save us both a lot of time. 

The Hunger Games

To this day I don’t know what made me pick up The Hunger Games. Battle Royale style books and movies do not really do it for me. Katniss didn’t move me. Collin’s still managed to make me care about Panam, about Rue, and Peeta. I was rooting for them to live. I was rooting for the resistance the entire series. It was the type of series I needed at the time. 


And here, in no particular order are some other lovely books I absolutely loved that have been challenged:
Looking for Alaska
The Egypt Game
Just One Day
Catch 22
The Outsiders
The Kite Runner
Flowers for Algernon
The Things They Carried
Eleanor & Park
The Catcher in the Rye

What are some of your favorite banned or challenged books? Do you understand the reason they were challenged?

Banned Books on Screen : Adaptions for Busy Readers

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 3 Comments

I’m sure you’re a busy person. I’m a busy person. I don’t know many people that aren’t.  There are too many books to read, meals to cook, dogs to pet and general merriment to be had. Also work. There is always work, and working out, and commuting (why do I spend so much time in my car?!?!)

So this year for Banned Book Week instead of trying to read ALL THE BOOKS EVER I thought maybe I should look into adaptations. I love me some good bookish movies and series and also it is much less hazardous to fall asleep watching something on Netflix then reading a book. 

This may be coming from someone who has recently fallen asleep reading and dropped her Kindle on her head. Maybe.

Both the Kindle and I are fine, by the way. Thanks for asking. 

Anyway here are a few of the Banned Book Week adaptations I am excited to jump into. I hope you all get a chance to watch a few of them too. 

Fahrenheit 451

I love me some Michael B Jordan. I do not love this Bradbury classic. I get how it is important. I understand how it moves people. I just hate Montag. I refuse to do another reread, but will watch the movie.

Catch 22

Major Major Major we have a winner! Okay, I love Catch 22. It was my favorite book for years. Somehow I haven’t gotten around to watching this Hulu series. It is on my watch list, just as the book is a constant on my “reread when the world stops moving so fast” list. Plus I have heard great things about the acting. I just need to convince my boyfriend that this will actually be funny and not just war 100% of the time and maybe I can actually get some quality time with Yosarian and company this week. 

The Great Gatsby

Okay, Gatsby isn’t a long book. Don’t judge me too poorly. I don’t have time this week to get disillusioned and lost in the Jazz age. I do have time for a couple hours staring at Leo DiCaprio pining over a lost love while I pack for vacation, tho. 

To Kill a Mockingbird – Also Read Furious Hours

Disclaimer: I read To Kill a Mockingbird last week so I could do a Food and Fiction Friday post for this week. It still lives up to its hype in every possible way. However, Gregory Peck is perfect. Did you know he was friends with Harper Lee after filming? He is always how I picture Atticus Finch, and if you  haven’t watched his Oscar winning performance yet you should give it a chance. It is old but perfect.

Also, Furious Hours by Casey Cep was one of the best books released this spring, so if you’re looking for something Lee adjacent check it out!

1984

Another oldey, but it is so good. I love everything about 1984 and I love this adaptation. If you haven’t gotten around to reading the book and want to be in the know about Big Brother this is for you!

Gone with the Wind

Frankly, my dears, I do not have the time. I do not. No no no. Margaret Mitchell’s classic is one of 2 books to win a pulitzer prize the year it was also the best selling novel in the US. By every right I should read Gone with the Wind. I went on a HUGE southern fiction kick last year. I just can’t stand reading about the Civil War in fiction. It is too messy. The casualties too great. 

The Hate You Give


This was one of the most challenged books of last year. This is one of the few adaptations on the list that I actually want to go back and read. I think the movie may be too much for me to handle. However the subject is deeply imporant and everything I see makes me think it will be a future classic. 

A Wrinkle In Time

I didn’t read this absolute classic until last year when my absolute FAVS Oprah, Reese, and Mindy were instagraming about the movie. I got super excited. Then I didn’t see it. I did like the book though and have zero time or inclination to read it again. Maybe it is finally time to watch the movie?

Perks of Being a Wallflower

This was one of the books being challenged when I was still in high school. I loved the book growing up. It was one of the few books geared towards young adults that I actually read in high school. (Sidenote: My YA phase started at like 23.) When the movie came out a few years ago I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. I had too many memories of the book and didn’t want them corrupted. Now I think I can finally go back and see Emma Watson and Ezra Miller turning a Charlie’s life upside down.

Do you have a favorite Banned Book that has been adapted for the screen? Let me know what I’m missing in the comments!

Banned Book Week

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 4 Comments

I grew up lucky. While I didn’t come from a family of readers, I also didn’t have parents who believed strongly in censorship. The community I lived in didn’t challenge books. I only knew a few kids who couldn’t read Harry Potter, and my class read Huckleberry Finn without much issue. 

Which is why I am always a little surprised, or perhaps just disappointed every year when ALA issues a list of the most challenged of the past 12 months. I don’t have personal experience with that type of censorship and the reminder that not everyone has had that benefit is always eye opening. 

Over the last few years I am ashamed to say I either haven’t heard of or haven’t read most if not all of them. I don’t have children yet so the children’s books are completely off my radar, but the YA often feel too heavy for me. Even though I am unfamiliar with these titles I still feel sick thinking about the communities trying to prevent their children from reading these stories. They are universally important. They’re the representation that some people crave. They tell stories that make people more compassionate. 

Plus I’m a librarian, and the idea of preventing access to anything is actually just infuriating. A coworker told me about his childhood growing up in rural Illinois and not being able to find Slaughterhouse Five on the shelf at his local library. When he asked for it the librarian just gave him a dirty look. I can’t imagine the type of community that promotes that type of librarianship. I never want to be in a situation where I am withholding books from a patron. 

Instead, I want to be able to cheer on representation literature. I want to promote books that deal with difficult topics. I want to help people find the book they need now, tomorrow, forever. 

Because everyone should get to experience Holden Caulfield and his crusade against phony’s. They should be able to read Atticus’s impassioned defence. 

Orwell and Huxley should be available. They should know the temperature that fire burns. 

Surprising books is suppressing growth and ideas. It is a fear of people thinking for themselves and becoming different. I don’t believe in high minded, heavy handed morals. Morals without compassion are nothing. 

So this week I will share with you a series of posts about my favorite banned or challenged books. I’ll give you lists of adaptations that are worth their salts. I’ll give you a killer end of summer cookie recipe to go along with one of my favorite books, that I was lucky my school didn’t challenge. 

Do you celebrate banned book week? Did you experience censorship? Let me know in the comments!

Neil Gaiman Changes my Life and All I Have For You Is Cozy Pumpkin Banana Bread

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 10 Comments

Growing up I had pretty basic tastes. Nothing too weird. No Sci-Fi. Fantasy was okay if it was Harry Potter. I only wanted stuffy historical fiction, nothing steampunk or fun. Literary fiction was my jam. No weirdness. Nope. Not for me. 

Then in college I expanded my horizons. I was forced to read outside of my comfort zone.

I was also  introduced to Neil Gaiman. First it was just through the Sandman series. At the time I was still very anti-comic but still read the entire first volume. Then I came across The Graveyard Book and fell in love. 

Bod was loveable. His adventures amazing. Jack was just threatening enough. I read the book in a night. I was at the library the next day looking for more Gaiman. 

I found Coraline (which I didn’t love. Don’t @ me.) I found Stardust. I found Neverwhere and American Gods.

American Gods changed the way I viewed my country. It changed the way I thought about books. I found it incredibly powerful. The combination of mythology and the presence of the new Gods was fascinating, innovative. Shadow was a compelling character. The overall story was addiction addicting. The Somewhere in America segments brought balance and history. It was everything I needed. I still think about it regularly. It has a special place in my heart. 

American Gods is usually the first book I gift people. It is one I list as a favorite. It is one I would recommend people read if they want to understand me better.

I also think it is hands down Neil Gaiman’s best work. 

In other grand statements I also like the TV show. Both seasons. Yes even season 2. 

But I digress. 

Neil Gamain was a gateway author for me. I didn’t know fantasy could be so fun, that it could be so relatable. I didn’t know that relevant stories could be told. 

I also didn’t know that seeing an author speak could be so much fun! I have seen Gaiman twice now, and have several signed copies of his books. He is funny and insightful. Watching him is a deeply rewarding experience. He made me love author events. He also prepared me for future long lines at signings.

It’s okay, I can be patient sometimes, maybe. 

I still look back at Gaiman’s words with love and comfort. This year I finally read Neverwhere and Anasi Boys. I wasn’t as starstruck as my first few reading experiences, but I enjoyed what I read. 

It also reminded me of one of my favorite Gaimanisms. Back when I was first falling in love with his work I read somewhere his descriptions of American Gods and Neverwhere as a comparison. As I can’t find it now on the internet (shocking!) I’ll summarize here.

  • In England when you’re looking for something dig down –  you’re looking through the history of societies built upon each other, and that’s where you’ll find things.
  • In American when you’re looking for something drive – go far – you’ll find what you’re looking for in the distance. 

I realized how accurate this statement was. It is also plays into my love of American Gods. America is huge. Sometimes when things seem impossible, or nothing is going right, or you’re just searching for something it is really easy to get in a car, or plane, train or bike and go until you find what you’re looking for. 

And hopefully what you’re looking for today is a very tasty Pumpkin Banana Bread recipe complete with chocolate chips and lots of warm spices. It is soft, tasty, and the exact opposite of wishing a snow storm into existence a la Shadow Moon.

Ingredients

4 large eggs

1/3 c unsalted butter softened

1/3 c canola oil

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 1/3 c sugar

3 1/2 c flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

3 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup pumpkin puree*

2 to 3 medium bananas, mashed. 

2 c mini chocolate chips

Steps

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and spray 2 bread pans with nonstick spray.

In a large bowl, add the eggs, butter, oil, sugar and vanilla, mix until smooth. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and pumpkin pie spice. Combine and mix. 

Add in the pureed pumpkin and mashed bananas and mix. 

Stir in chocolate chips. 

Divide batter between the 2 greased loaf pans. Cover with foil. Bake for 1 hour covered and an additional 10 to 15 minutes uncovered.

Loaf is done when a toothpick can be inserted into center and removed clean.

Thoughts On Book Clubs

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 12 Comments

I grew up a solo reader. 

Don’t get me wrong. I would shove my favorite novels in friends faces like it was nobody’s business. I have forced classics such as The Night Circus, The Library at Mount Char, and The Raven Cycle on countless friends by being relentlessly annoying. 

I even had a friend that would “read” books with me. Sort of. She didn’t always finish. It kind of defeats the point of having a book buddy when you can’t spoil the book they were supposed to read because maybe someday they will actually finish Anna Karenina. Maybe.

Also, it isn’t a spoiler after 100 years. Blarg. 

Anyway, my point is, up until this year I didn’t understand the point of a book club. I didn’t have many reader friends, or so I thought. I was always brimming with recommendations and book talk, but didn’t have an outlet. 

Then in January a friend messaged me asking me to join her book club. It was already pretty established, over a year old, and regularly had good attendance. I had told my boyfriend countless times that I wanted to try making new friends, especially outside of our little group and that I didn’t always feel like I could express my love of reading to the fullest with our current small community of lovable dorks.

I went in not knowing what to expect. I read the book, Educated by  Tara Westover, and was immediately sold. I loved the book. I must love the girls that picked it, right? 

I totally do. I adore meeting once a month to talk about books. Our meetings aren’t the cliche “bring a book you were supposed to read, talk about the back cover description and then drink wine and gossip.” We have substantial conversations about our books, and other books, and bookish things. We also talk about life, but it is clear that people are there for the social aspect of reading, of sharing thoughts on a story. I’m in love with it. My boyfriend is thrilled I have a small community of readers now.

What’s more is that being in a book club has given me confidence. A few months ago when my work wanted to start an employee book club and I was nominated to run the experience I was no longer afraid of my bookish thoughts, or how unpopular my favorite reads may be, but excited to share this experience with people who supposedly also love reading and wanted to get together. So far my work book club has met 4 times, our attendance is growing, and I feel closer to my coworkers than ever. 

As a former solo reader I cannot recommend book clubs enough. I am finding I love having my opinion challenged. Talking with people who  mostly just read for fun gives a whole new perspective to books. There isn’t always a hard analysis. Sometimes a book I loved is completely torn apart by a fellow book clubber, and it takes a minute for us to realize that neither of us are wrong, and that this type of disagreement is what makes literature so powerful. 

I can’t believe I shunned book clubs for so long. I pride myself on reading outside my comfort zone, so it should have come as a natural progression to discuss these readings outside my comfort zone. I also understand why it took me years to get to a place where I can accept book clubs into my life.

In my early 20’s I was busy. My friends were busy. My work life was completely different. I didn’t have access to the right community. I couldn’t even create one myself. I briefly tried. While online book clubs work for some, they didn’t for me, and the appeal of being around people outside of my core group wasn’t very strong. 

This is all to say that while I am now in a place where Book Clubs are an important part of my social life, they wouldn’t always fit. Like everything in life, things come in seasons. I’m happy that as I get older, I learn to love things, like reading, in a new way. 

Are you in any book clubs? Do you like talking about books with others? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 1 Comment

I read To Kill a Mockingbird when I was 14. It was the first classic I loved. 

So of course in 2015 I was both a little shocked and very weary of Go Set a Watchman. It seemed to be published against Lee’s wishes. I couldn’t tell if it was actually a new story. I heart awful things about All Time Literary Great Atticus Finch. I opted to ignore Watchmen’s existence and I was happy. 

This year for Banned Book Week I reread Mockingbird. I had forgotten how intricate and great it truly was. I would muse more but I promise more Mockingbird Love for you later this week.  Anyway, when I finished Mockingbird I got back to thinking about Watchman. After reading Furious Hours this year I felt I knew a bit more about the circumstances of it’s original creation. I felt more knowledgeable about Harper Lee. I felt like I could actually read it. 

A few things before I get to the actual review. Go Set a Watchman was at first billed as a sequel to the beloved To Kill a Mockingbird. It is now widely accepted that this is not the case. Instead, Watchmen is the first draft of Mockingbird. There are full segments that appear in both works. Scout flashes back to memories of her childhood that we live fully in Mockingbird. Mostly, it is obvious to see ho Lee’s editor saw promise in those flashbacks, and asked for another draft of Watchment from that point of view. 

In Go Set a Watchman Jean Louise (Scout, who is rarely called Scout)  is heading home for her yearly two weeks in Macomb, Alabama. On this trip she discovers that while she has always been different from her southern neighbors, she never realized how different her views were in the Jim Crow South. Over her vacation she spends time with her childhood sweetheart, her old housekeeper, her aunt, uncle, and of course Mr. Atticus Finch. 

Watchmen has it’s redeeming qualities. Jean Louise feels exactly like Scout having grown up. Her unease and struggle at understanding the home she loved and willingly returned to plays as real. She has always been a headstrong character. She doesn’t compromise. She yearns to understand. Only now she is an adult, and Brown V Board is law, and Macomb is a little more racist than she remembers. 

Overall I have mixed feelings. If this were published in Mockingbird’s place we would not nationally know Harper Lee. Watchmen would  have read as much more controversial. I am most impressed with Lee’s reflection on sensitive racial topics in her beloved Alabama in 1957. While this does a bit to diminish Mockingbird’s legacy, I think there is some real wisdom to be gained, and a few really powerful nuggets still relevant today. 

The general message behind Watchmen seems not to be Surprised! Atticus Finch is a racist asshole! It is that looking at motivation and reason are important when reading into someone’s beliefs. Now a quick disclaimer, since this is an entire book about the Jim Crow south looking into those motivations is sketchy. They are all racially tinged. It reads as true for it’s time but not as a get out of jail free card in 2019. 

However, we live in an America currently deeply divided by politics. My family doesn’t agree on much anymore. A lot of Jean Louise’s conversations with her uncle about perspective and motive made me think of conversations with my own family recently, not about race, but about our president. Somehow Watchmen started to feel contemporary. The United States still refuses to deal with it’s dark racial legacy and bigotry runs rampant in our economy and government. What’s so different from 1957?

I will say that all of the complaints I heard about Watchmen hold true. It feels like a draft. The writing isn’t as crisp as it eventually appears in Mockingbird. Without the childhood perspective and innocence the subject  matter feels heavy. Atticus is not the white knight we grew up loving. He was not Gregory Peck in a courtroom, about to win an Oscar. He is old and frail. Jean Louise/Scout sees him through adult eyes. He isn’t the hero we deserve anymore. 

And truly that is the biggest loss. 

Really, Go Set a Watchmen isn’t bad. It is easy to see why Lee held this work close to her chest for almost her entire life. She was a perfectionist and this novel isn’t perfect. It has enjoyable moments and cloying moments. The flashback to the Finch children’s childhood sing, just like all of Mockingbird. However, Macomb in the 1950’s isn’t a fun place to be, and the residence want you to know you aren’t welcome. 

Growing up at Hogwarts with Butterbeer Cookies

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 6 Comments

September means a lot of things. It is caramel apples and apple pie. It is new boots and scarves over cardigans, but not heavy coats. It is the start of leaves changing, cooler days, longing to be on a campus with crisp air and lots of books.

It is the month the Hogwarts term starts. 

For me, September is Harry Potter.

I grew up in a very specific era. I was 11 the first time I picked up Sorcerer’s Stone. I devoured it, Chamber of Secrets, and Prisoner of Azkaban over a holiday break. I read with a flashlight in bed, up way past my bedtime. I read in a frenzied way I wasn’t aware was possible until Rowling introduced me to a wizard my age who had adventures, made friends, and went to school in a magic castle. 

I continued to grow. I moved from middle school to high school and I found my first real friends. We talked about Harry Potter. We talked about Harry Potter a lot. I’m not sure Potterheads were a thing yet, but we were experiencing our first taste of fandom. We theorized about how the series would end, about what would happen in Order of the Phoenix, about everything. We wrote fan fiction. We read fan fiction. Harry Potter was our go to topic of conversation.

My summers were punctuated by rereading every book in the series. At least the ones that had already been released.  I went off the grid every time a new book came out. My parents had to drive me to Barnes and Noble and I would begin reading on the ride back. I was not to be interrupted. My whole life I have loved spoilers. Surprises aren’t my thing. I still never wanted someone to spoil Harry’s life story for me. 

The year I graduated high school Deathly Hallows came out. It was also the week before my 18th birthday. I went to a midnight release. I went home and started reading. I didn’t sleep. By the next afternoon I was finished, and cried so much that mascara from the night before had stung my eyes. I called all my friends and left messages. I was the first to finish and for a breif minute I felt both empty and very alone. 

I left for college still thinking about Harry, about Hogwarts. I moved to another state where I knew no one. The first friends I made there also loved Harry, Ron, and Hermione. We watched the movies while doing homework. We took classes on Rowling’s novels. I took a book binding course and made a Monsters book. These friends were a lesson in what it means to make my own community. We weren’t copies of each other, with the same interests and life experiences. We had enough differences to make discussions interesting. They remain some of my favorite people, and the ones I trust the most.  

The year we graduated was the year Deathly Hallows Pt 2 came out. Harry’s story had officially ended. He grew up with me. I was now an adult with a shiny new degree and I had read and seen Harry fight evil and live. 

I still measured new friends by their love of Hogwarts. I still read the series every summer. I was adrift in life but Harry was a constant. I went back to school and the year I finished my Master’s Fantastic Beast showed up in theaters. 

For me, it feels like Harry’s magical universe has bookended every important chapter of my life. 

Now I don’t condone all of the new content Rowling has created. I had my stint reading Pottermore but have since ignored it’s existence. I read Cursed Child and didn’t hate it as much as some, but also didn’t rush to London or New York to see a production. I left Crimes of Grindelwald half an hour into the movie with a blinding migraine and never bothered to finish the movie once it was out on DVD.

But I still love Harry. September 1st I still think about all of the good things Hogwarts was able to give me. All of the lessons I learned, all of the friends I made. In a world where Harry Potter sometimes now feels like a dirty word I still feel nothing but affection for The Boy Who Lived. It started my love of magical realms. It started a love of fantasy. I created in me a deep desire to drink butterbeer. 

Unfortunately I do not live by Hogsmead of Orlando so I had to settle for the next best thing. Luckily these cookies are everything you could imagine Butterbeer to be in a soft, gooey treat. They are sweet without being saccharine. The butterscotch and white chocolate chips give a satisfying crunk. The flaky sea salt and decorative sugar take everything to the next level. Your friends will love you for these cookies. They’ll even forget they never got a Hogwarts letter. Almost. 

Ingredients:

1 c margarine (or butter, but I feel like margarine makes better cookies)

1 c white sugar

1 c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 5.1 oz package of butterscotch pudding. (This is the slightly larger size. The typical pudding packets come in slightly larger than 3 oz boxes. You can always buy 2 and weigh out the correct amount.)

2 ¾ c flour

1 c butterscotch chips

1 c white chocolate chips

Decorative sugars in gold or clear and flaky sea salt for topping 

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375. Cover several baking sheets with parchment paper.

Cream butter and sugars with a hand mixer. Add eggs and vanilla and ensure everything is fully mixed. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Whisk together. Slowly add to wet mixture, scraping the edges of the bowl to ensure no dry bits are left.

Add in both cups of chips and combine with a sturdy spoon. 

Drop dough by rounded tablespoon on baking sheets. Top each with a sprinkle of decorative sugar and a pinch of flaky sea salt. Bake for 7 to 8 minutes. Let cool and enjoy while warm.

Cookbook Love and Reading Goals

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 8 Comments

I didn’t grow up in a family of readers. We didn’t have a lot of bookshelves. Most of the books in my house were mine. Which meant from an early age there was no one there to shape my tastes, to monitor my reading habits or insist on something more age appropriate. 

The one exception to my very un-bookish house was my mom’s cookbook collection. Her one bookshelf (built lovingly by my father) lived in her bedroom and groaned under the weight of cookbook after cookbook. 

For as long as I can remember I have given my mom cookbooks as gifts for every holiday. She reads them like I read, well, everything. She remembers where recipes came from. She uses them. They are loved.

She passed her love of cookbooks down to me. Now I have my own small collection. I devour many a year. I dogear the pages to keep track of recipes I would like to try. Some are covered in sauce, in flour, in some indistinguishable food. 

It’s okay though…The only other people I let look at them are family. They understand. I have a tiny kitchen and a love of cooking. Trying new recipes is too fun, too essential to my personal happiness to be slowed by a little mess. 

For me, food has always equaled love. 

So I come to an impasse every year. I love cookbooks. From my earliest days they have been a part of my life. I want to devour them almost as much as I want to devour the actual recipes inside. They bring a spice to my life that doesn’t just come in other types of books. But they don’t feel like real books to me. Not like ones I count for my yearly book goal. Not like the books I rate and review on goodreads. 

While I read all personal anecdotes, instructions, and introductions counting them toward my yearly TBR goal seems wrong. I don’t want to rate them until I’ve cooked from them. Isn’t that the point of a cookbook? That I can recreate the content inside and have it come out warm and mouthwatering? That my kitchen smells like freshly baked bread or sauteed garlic? I just can’t determine these things from a picture! 

So i choose not to count them. I still buy a handful of cookbooks a year. I spend hours pouring over them, becoming mental friends with the author and planning out meals for date night or a dinner party. I tell my soon to be sister-in-law and my mom about them. I have a small community to share my love. 

So cookbooks will remain mine. Not goodreads, not this blogs, not my librarian friends. 

Do you have a cookbook obsession or another type of book you don’t always count toward your reading goals? Let me know in the comments!

Review: Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors by Sonali Dev

~ Sarah Joyce ~ 3 Comments

If you’ve been around for a minute you’ll already know I am a sucker for both Jane Austen and Adaptation/Retellings. Cue all of the excitement when my library hold for Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors arrived. 

Sonali Dev Did. Not. Disappoint. 

In PP&OF we find our Darcy character in surgeon Trisha Raje. Her Indian-American family is essentially royalty. Her brother is running to be the Governor in California. Her father is descended from a long line of Indian Majhrasha, and her mother is an ex-Bollywood star. Her sister is also married to a judge. Everyone is doing their best life. I promise. 

Trisha has a patient that can really put her on the map. She’s developed some innovative technology to remove what should a terminal tumor. Only her patient isn’t as willing to be cut open as Trisha is to do the cutting. Add in a very attractive brother (who is essentially Elizabeth Bennett), an ex friend who almost brought down the whole Raje’s family, and all of the food references in the world and you’ve got the gist. 

Pride, Prejudice and Other Flavors is a solid adaptation without being a direct retelling. I really enjoyed the genderswap of the Darcy/Lizzie characters. It was refreshing to see the “prejudice” side of the story from a completely different angle.There is also enough new content to leave room for some guessing, storywise. This makes it extra satisfying when you have a “confession of feelings” moment, or campaign fundraisers that essentially act as all of the balls in Austen’s novel. 

As I don’t give stars, I would just end with I highly recommend this book. If you love the Austen original you’ll find all of the moments you love with enough modern twists to feel fresh. If you haven’t read Pride & Prejudice before; A. What are you waiting for? B. You’ll still really enjoy this Dev novel. The references are not heavy handed. The characters are well developed and fun. Seriously, everyone should just give this gem a try.