sonia_reppe's reviews
1293 reviews

Intellectual freedom is this idea that everyone has the right to believe what they want, and to have access to other people's ideas and knowledge and the ability to share information.

James LaRue has been a library director in Colorado for many years and his book is about the intellectual freedom challenges that face librarians. The first chapter is all about the history of the 1st amendment. As a grad student, I guess it's good for me to know this history but the chapter was a little boring. The 2nd chapter, though, was really interesting. LaRue details his experience with people/groups who object to (challenge) a book or DVD at his library. These challenges mostly have to do with religion or sex.

What I learned is that libraries have a responsibility to keep a wide range of knowledge and information accessible to everyone, to "publicly present the intellectual resourcesof our culture;" not to take sides but equally represent everyone. To the Mormons who challenged a bigoted anti-Mormon DVD, LaRue suggested they present some titles of pro-Mormon DVDs and literature that the library could buy. They did so and the library purchased these.

In the next chapters LaRue gives guidelines for how librarians should respond to challenges and also suggestions for how they can be more involved with their community. He urges librarians to be informed about as much they can, especially on organizations that are challenging the library. That's why he went to fundamentalist meetings. He also made a point to introduce himself to school administrators, politicians and the like.

LaRue's tone is respectful and level-headed. He is easy to understand and seems passionate about his work. His advice for how to run a successful library seems sound, with his refrain always "intellectual freedom for all".

(I give this an extra star for the full page color photos: Slash is a sexy, sexy man). What's behind the untamed hair and top hat? We’ve all wondered. The erratic curls part just enough to reveal sexy full lips. Is he purposely teasing us? Is he hiding something? Slash (lead guitarist of Velvet Revolver and the former Guns n Roses) is one of the most enigmatic musicians of our time, and if you've ever been enthralled by the opening notes of Sweet Child O' Mine or wanted to know more about the creator of the classic guitar solos from legendary albums Appetite for Destruction and Lose your Illusion I and II, you will enjoy this new memoir by Slash (with Anthony Bozza, Rolling Stones magazine writer).
In a laid-back, conversational style, Slash recounts his fascinating life from his L.A. childhood (he used to shoplift snakes) to the present, including a lot about Guns N’ Roses in their formative years—like at one point he and Axl lived in a storage unit (which was their rehearsal space) with one hibachi grill that they never cooked on. (Izzy and Stephen did). It was interesting to learn about the geneses of some of their songs and the behind-the-scenes situations, and Slash’s perspective on the band’s demise. Various girlfriends are mentioned briefly, without much detail, until he talks about his wife. We see the way his lifestyle overshadows his relationships and just how driven and obsessive Slash is about playing rock n’ roll. There is a generous amount of glamorous photos; the book is worth buying even if just for the pictures of Slash shirtless, in a guitarist’s sexy back-lean stance, playing on his instrument.
But this book is as much an addiction memoir as it is a rock-n’-roll memoir. He takes us through the darkest times of his love affair with heroin, and Vodka; and although a good chunk of the book seems disappointingly vague because he was too wasted to remember much detail, (“My memory of the events is hazy…”) there is one crazy hallucination story that just tops it all. It’s astounding how much abuse his body took. But that aside, his integrity as a musician comes through on every page. Even if he had an appetite for destruction (he tells of purposely destroying hotel rooms, apartments and rental vans) he was creating, at the same time, what would become classic rock/metal music. So destructive in one setting, yet so creative in another. That’s just one of the things to think about after you read this book
Wild, irresponsible, dangerous—that is Slash, and yet on the first page he gives a disclaimer of sorts when he reveals that he has a pacemaker in his heart, due to years of abusing his body. In other words, emulate at your own risk.

Howard Reich grew up thinking that everyone's mother sat up all night at the kitchen table sipping coffee, because that's what his did. The severe effects of her post-traumatic stress didn't show up until her old age, prompting him to find out about her past as a holocaust survivor. Warning: there are some very disturbing things in the second half of this book, as he uncovers some holocaust history of his family members.

A sweet summer fling book. You can feel the sun and the summer breeze and the warm ground under your bare feet. One of my favorites.

This is a good road-trip book about three teenage boys in England going on a mission to Scotland. It's told from the 1st person view of one of the boys. I liked his voice; the book made me laugh. The plot was focused and the pacing was excellent. Even though there are some English terms, it was still understandable. I enjoyed the entire trip.

I think some girl readers will like the three distinct voices of the three characters, of whom the point of view is shared (actually, two of the voices are distinct, one is just bland). I liked the voices of the Indian princess and the bad girl, but unfortunately, that was the only thing I liked about this book. The plot was so unfocused and all over the place, and unbelievable. It takes place over three summers, and by the third summer, two of the three friends already have successful careers as a chef and a photographer. (As high schoolers. After working just a year on their craft). I wonder at the choice of scenes left out. In order to condense the book, we're just told about a lot, in emails and in conversation. I would have liked to see Shirin's meeting with her boyfriend while in Switzerland, for instance. What knocked this down from two stars to one was the stupid ending. The book got steadily worse from beginning to end.