Last week was Banned Books Week and a good time to reflect on how the tiniest of offended sensibilities turn people into moralistic monsters that believe they are saving humanity by plucking The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the shelf. All sorts of nonsense happens when people get in it in their heads that they are doing something “for the children.” Last week we got to revolt against the high-minded book-banning enemy, fly our freak flags, and advocate for the younger versions of our weird little selves. Let kids read what they want, we rallied!
Why did the Riverside Unified School District ban The Fault in Our Stars? They claimed it was because they didn’t want “kids dealing with their own mortality” but we all know it was about the sex. Everything is always about sex. And in this case it’s pretty ridiculous, considering that the sex in the book is just a do-you-want-to-yes-okay-now-fade-into-black-next-chapter-it’s-morning-and-look-at-the-beautiful-sun-do-I-look-different?
However.
It came to me today that there actually are some books that might not be super cool for highly impressionable 10 year-olds. There might be some things that are better left for an older, wiser reader who has already, let’s say, figured out that her math teacher was a pervert when he reached out and caressed her bare leg as she stood next to his desk collecting her homework assignment. We can’t stop children from being introduced to the evils of the world, but some things can maybe just be introduced a bit later. There are at least five things I think we probably shouldn’t let 10 year-olds read:
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10 Quotes From Robert Kirkman and The Walking Dead
/0 Comments/in Quotes /by Kerry GarvinRobert Kirkman loves zombies and swearing. Here at The Bushwick Book Club Seattle, we also love zombies and swearing. (Hey kids, don’t swear in front of your moms. Moms hate swearing!)
Check out our very carefully curated collection of Robert Kirkman quotes below. Many include either zombies, or swearing, or both!
Then, come to our show on October 30th at the Fremont Abbey featuring original music inspired by Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead.
*designs by Travis Young
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Bookshelf Report: B Is For Bayonet and Bibliophile
/4 Comments/in Bookshelf Report /by Mike VotavaThe Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where a Bushwick reader invites us into their home and shares a little bit about the books that occupy their shelves.
Dan Johnston is a long time Bushwick fan. And now here he is on the Bookshelf Report to share with you his incredible book collection — fulfilling his life long dream of being interviewed by the Bushwick Book Club Seattle (no joke, Dan actually said this. (UPDATE: Dan did not actually say this. What he said was that his lifelong dream was to be interviewed by the BBC. Whoops! My bad) ).
F1 – mostly fiction
How do you organize your books?
I have a shelf of To-Read-Next, and a shelf of All-Time-Favorites. Other than that, they’re loosely corralled into fiction and non-fiction, and graphic novels are pretty much separate, but there’s so much overflow that all sections are usually pretty intermingled. I like how they organically mix themselves up over time, so I prefer not to organize them much beyond that, except to put books by the same author together.
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Poster Inspired by The Walking Dead
/1 Comment/in Posters /by Mike VotavaBushwick’s next big event is fast approaching. On Thursday October 30th at the Fremont Abbey we will be presenting original music inspired by Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead. I assure you it will be amazingly fun night — I’m giving you the Mike Votava guarantee!
You can get tickets to the event here!
To help spread the word, Travis Young put together this incredible The Walking Dead event poster. A small amount of FREE prints of this design will be available at the show for you to take home. And yes, that zombie is wearing a PBR hat.
Bookshelf Report: Crates and More Crates of Books
/3 Comments/in Bookshelf Report /by Mike VotavaThe Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where a Bushwick reader invites us into their home and shares a little bit about the books that occupy their shelves.
Today’s bookshelf belongs to Bushwick volunteer extraordinaire Hollie Young. If you have ever been to a Bushwick event there is no doubt that you have seen her there rocking out. Also, you may remember that Hollie’s book collection has been featured on the Bookshelf Report before, but since she actually HAS a bookshelf now, I thought it would be nice to feature it again.
How do you organize your books?
First thing first… our lovely collections of books are conveniently stored in wine crates flipped on their sides. We have a rather long wall in our living room we have stacked the crates against. Funny thing, our books are respectively divided by “his” and “hers” (my husband’s and mine.) From there, my books are separated into different categories and genres. For instance, I have a section for old text books (which are not accessed all that often so they are on the bottom of the shelving unit), a section for children’s books, a section for horror mystery and the macabre, a few sections of “good reads” (which include several Bushwick books!), and a couple sections featuring authors I love.
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5 Books 10 Year-Olds Probably Shouldn’t Read
/4 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Cassie CrossLast week was Banned Books Week and a good time to reflect on how the tiniest of offended sensibilities turn people into moralistic monsters that believe they are saving humanity by plucking The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the shelf. All sorts of nonsense happens when people get in it in their heads that they are doing something “for the children.” Last week we got to revolt against the high-minded book-banning enemy, fly our freak flags, and advocate for the younger versions of our weird little selves. Let kids read what they want, we rallied!
Why did the Riverside Unified School District ban The Fault in Our Stars? They claimed it was because they didn’t want “kids dealing with their own mortality” but we all know it was about the sex. Everything is always about sex. And in this case it’s pretty ridiculous, considering that the sex in the book is just a do-you-want-to-yes-okay-now-fade-into-black-next-chapter-it’s-morning-and-look-at-the-beautiful-sun-do-I-look-different?
However.
It came to me today that there actually are some books that might not be super cool for highly impressionable 10 year-olds. There might be some things that are better left for an older, wiser reader who has already, let’s say, figured out that her math teacher was a pervert when he reached out and caressed her bare leg as she stood next to his desk collecting her homework assignment. We can’t stop children from being introduced to the evils of the world, but some things can maybe just be introduced a bit later. There are at least five things I think we probably shouldn’t let 10 year-olds read:
Read more
Song of The Week: The Need To Believe by Joy Mills | inspired by the poetry of Gabriela Denise Frank
/0 Comments/in Song of the Week /by Mike VotavaIn November of 2012 Bushwick teamed up with Jack Straw Productions to create original music inspired by the Jack Straw Writers Anthology 2012. For this event, each Bushwick artist was paired with one of the writers from the Anthology. And it was the poetry of Gabriela Denise Frank that inspired Joy Mills to write this song.
Download the Bushwick Song of The Week
“The Need to Believe” by Joy Mills | inspired by the poetry of Gabriela Denise Frank
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Bookshelf Report: A Tidy Collection of Books
/0 Comments/in Bookshelf Report /by Mike VotavaThe Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where a Bushwick reader invites us into their home and shares a little bit about the books that occupy their shelves.
Today’s bookshelf lives inside the home of Chuck McKeever. I first met Chuck a few months ago at A Literary Mixer which is a local book club meeting here in Seattle scientifically designed for fun people. Chuck is a full time staff member at Literacy Source, a Seattle based non-profit organization that has been providing adult literacy services since 1986.
How do you organize your books?
You’ve caught me just after moving, so my books are looking tidy for the first time in ages. There’s generally a pile of books on my immediate “to-read” list stacked apart from the others, and at times I’ve kept another pile going of books that for whatever reason I never finished and intend to pick back up again. Right now, they’re organized by… whichever ones fit best into my cramped little shelves.
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10 Great Tattoos Inspired By Books
/0 Comments/in Uncategorized /by Josh HammackI love a good tattoo, and I love books. So, I thought, why not combine my two loves and compile a list of my favorite tattoos inspired by books. Here they are (in no particular order).
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Song of the Week: Some People by Alice Howe |Inspired By Jim Bouton’s Ball Four
/0 Comments/in Song of the Week /by Mike VotavaPublished in June of 1970, Jim Bouton’s “tell all behind the scenes style” story about his 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots was pretty controversial for the time. So much so that then Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn issued an official statement declaring that “Ball Four” was “detrimental to baseball.
Bushwick performed original music inspired by Jim Bouton’s Ball Four at Columbia City Theater on October 13th 2014. Alice Howe was one of the many talented artists that night who read the book, wrote a song inspired by it, and played it live for house full of readers.
Her tune is called “Some People” and you can listen to it below (or even download it for FREE!).
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Bookshelf Report: Meet the Newest Member Of The Bushwick Team And Her Books
/1 Comment/in Bookshelf Report /by Mike VotavaThe Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where a Bushwick reader invites us into their home and shares a little bit about the books that occupy their shelves.
Today’s bookshelf comes from the newest member of the Bushwick Staff — producer Christine Hale. Christine brings a ton of experience and expertise in live event production to the Bushwick team and we are absolutley thrilled to be working with her. She also likes books, a lot (obviously).
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