Go read a banned book!

Top challenged books for 2011

ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa
The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins
My Mom’s Having A Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad Butler
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie
Alice (series), by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily Von Ziegesar
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Top 100 Banned/Challenged Books: 2000-2009

1. Harry Potter (series), by J.K. Rowling
2. Alice series, by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
3. The Chocolate War, by Robert Cormier
4. And Tango Makes Three, by Justin Richardson/Peter Parnell
5. Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
6. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, by Maya Angelou
7. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin Schwartz
8. His Dark Materials (series), by Philip Pullman
9. ttyl; ttfn; l8r g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle
10. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky
11. Fallen Angels, by Walter Dean Myers
12. It’s Perfectly Normal, by Robie Harris
13. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey
14. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, by Mark Twain
15. The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison
16. Forever, by Judy Blume
17. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker
18. Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous
19. Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger
20. King and King, by Linda de Haan
21. To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee
22. Gossip Girl (series), by Cecily von Ziegesar
23. The Giver, by Lois Lowry
24. In the Night Kitchen, by Maurice Sendak
25. Killing Mr. Griffen, by Lois Duncan
26. Beloved, by Toni Morrison
27. My Brother Sam Is Dead, by James Lincoln Collier
28. Bridge To Terabithia, by Katherine Paterson
29. The Face on the Milk Carton, by Caroline B. Cooney
30. We All Fall Down, by Robert Cormier
31. What My Mother Doesn’t Know, by Sonya Sones
32. Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya
33. Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson
34. The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, by Carolyn Mackler
35. Angus, Thongs, and Full Frontal Snogging, by Louise Rennison
36. Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley
37. It’s So Amazing, by Robie Harris
38. Arming America, by Michael Bellasiles
39. Kaffir Boy, by Mark Mathabane
40. Life is Funny, by E.R. Frank
41. Whale Talk, by Chris Crutcher
42. The Fighting Ground, by Avi
43. Blubber, by Judy Blume
44. Athletic Shorts, by Chris Crutcher
45. Crazy Lady, by Jane Leslie Conly
46. Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
47. The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby: The First Graphic Novel by George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the creators of Captain Underpants, by Dav Pilkey
48. Rainbow Boys, by Alex Sanchez
49. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey
50. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini
51. Daughters of Eve, by Lois Duncan
52. The Great Gilly Hopkins, by Katherine Paterson
53. You Hear Me?, by Betsy Franco
54. The Facts Speak for Themselves, by Brock Cole
55. Summer of My German Soldier, by Bette Green
56. When Dad Killed Mom, by Julius Lester
57. Blood and Chocolate, by Annette Curtis Klause
58. Fat Kid Rules the World, by K.L. Going
59. Olive’s Ocean, by Kevin Henkes
60. Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
61. Draw Me A Star, by Eric Carle
62. The Stupids (series), by Harry Allard
63. The Terrorist, by Caroline B. Cooney
64. Mick Harte Was Here, by Barbara Park
65. The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
66. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, by Mildred Taylor
67. A Time to Kill, by John Grisham
68. Always Running, by Luis Rodriguez
69. Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
70. Harris and Me, by Gary Paulsen
71. Junie B. Jones (series), by Barbara Park
72. Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison
73. What’s Happening to My Body Book, by Lynda Madaras
74. The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold
75. Anastasia (series), by Lois Lowry
76. A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
77. Crazy: A Novel, by Benjamin Lebert
78. The Joy of Gay Sex, by Dr. Charles Silverstein
79. The Upstairs Room, by Johanna Reiss
80. A Day No Pigs Would Die, by Robert Newton Peck
81. Black Boy, by Richard Wright
82. Deal With It!, by Esther Drill
83. Detour for Emmy, by Marilyn Reynolds
84. So Far From the Bamboo Grove, by Yoko Watkins
85. Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes, by Chris Crutcher
86. Cut, by Patricia McCormick
87. Tiger Eyes, by Judy Blume
88. The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood
89. Friday Night Lights, by H.G. Bissenger
90. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L’Engle
91. Julie of the Wolves, by Jean Craighead George
92. The Boy Who Lost His Face, by Louis Sachar
93. Bumps in the Night, by Harry Allard
94. Goosebumps (series), by R.L. Stine
95. Shade’s Children, by Garth Nix
96. Grendel, by John Gardner
97. The House of the Spirits, by Isabel Allende
98. I Saw Esau, by Iona Opte
99. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume
100. America: A Novel, by E.R. Frank

The way (I presume) a normal human brain works:
“I wish I’d have switched dentists YEARS ago. I can’t believe I let him screw up that many of my fillings!”

The way MY brain works:
“OMG! My bones are dissolving! I must have some rare disease and will be dead within six months!”

Yeah. And this is AFTER taking my anxiety meds.

In case it isn’t obvious, I broke a molar today, this one on the other side of my mouth. This was one of the fillings that first made me think maybe I needed to find a new dentist. But still–rare bone degenerating disease is OBVIOUSLY the more likely cause.

Several times this summer I’ve bought zucchini in hopes of making zucchini bread.

Instead, I made compost.

This time, I actually MADE the zucchini bread, as prodded by Gina.

Recipe is from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything, and I discovered I don’t have any whole wheat flour. (Also I opened my last bag of all-purpose flour, which seems inconceivable.)

Also, I had to double the recipe, since I had two zucchini. One loaf will go in the freezer unless someone is really really nice to me.

Zucchini Bread
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 cup sugar
2 egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 1/4 cups milk, 2% lowfat
1 cup zucchini, shredded
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch clove
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9×5 bread pan.

Whisk together dry ingredients.

Whisk together eggs, milk, and melted butter.

Gently add the liquid to the dry. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the zucchini and walnuts. Pour immediately into bread pans and bake for at least an hour.

My loaf didn’t get as brown as I expected, but then I’m used to pumpkin bread.

Today’s word is for my Monday 7am emergency dentist appointment: ache

(also: ouch!)

I actually yelled and made my aunt turn around the car when I saw this.

Yup, that’s right, I got to see Lily and Baby Jack this weekend.

I also got to see Jack for whom Baby Jack was named.

Why I will never spend money for a cat bed:

My goal for this Wednesday is to have a nice, calm day where I accomplish stuff.

On that note, today’s word is: delusional

Last month I had fresh peaches to use up, and one of the things I made were peach scones. I froze them before baking, so I could bake them when I wanted them. Sunday we baked two.

As usual, I only kinda followed the recipe I had, but I made some major variations here, making a two layer scone with the peaches in the middle.

Peach Scones
3 cups flour, all-purpose
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup buttermilk, dried
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
salt
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk, 2% lowfat
8 tablespoons butter, unsalted
1 large peach, sliced
Sugar
Fresh grated nutmeg
Lemon juice

Slice the peaches. Sprinkle with sugar and fresh nutmeg. Mix in a teaspoon or so of lemon juice.

Whisk together flour, sugar, buttermilk powder, salt, and baking powder. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla, and milk.

Cut the butter into the flour mixture.

Fold in the milk mixture until just combined. Divide the dough in half. On a very well floured surface, press or roll out half the dough into a disk.

Place the peaches on the disk, leaving an edge free.

Press/roll out the other half of the dough into a similar sized disk, and place atop the peaches.

Neaten things up.

Cut into eight scones.

Before baking, preheat the oven to 450 F.

Bake for 7 minutes then turn off the oven without opening the door. Leave in the oven for 8 to 10 min longer.

YUM!

We went to Ohiopyle again, this time with my brother et al.

Brian decided we needed to go bike riding, so we left at 8AM Saturday morning.

It was really lovely, and my legs may one day forgive me.

Since I hadn’t been on a bike in … a really really long time … I didn’t take ay pictures while biking, but did get some pictures walking around town.

These were taken at the end of July, but with everything that happened, I forgot about them.

Please enjoy them now. :)