Litsy

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

pick

A short book in translation about book censorship. It gets a pick from me, but I‘m glad it was short because it‘s all just been a lot lately.

I guess if all I‘m up for is books about cats solving mysteries I shouldn‘t be reading #TOB short list titles 😂

On to George!

squirrelbrain I hope George doesn‘t annoy you too much! 😬 15h

Butterfinger @squirrelbrain I hope she is not married to a George like I am. I wanted to throw my book at his head every time he acted like my husband. I stayed mad while reading that book. 13h

squirrelbrain I hope so too! 😬 @Butterfinger 3h

58 likes3 comments

Bookwormjillk

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

The alternative is resistance, but you‘re too busy reading novels.

46 likes

Pogue

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

The first chapter the first two paragraphs.

TiredLibrarian Relatable 📚📚📚 3d

Librarybelle This book is so good and so eerily real… 3d

MaGoose Yup, I can 100% relate to that. 🤣 2d

31 likes3 comments

ChaoticMissAdventures

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

pick

#ToB25
I really enjoyed this one! A translated work from Kuwait that is for book lovers. A great book for now with the book banning that is happening everyday. I love how Al-Essa weaves classics through the story, and how she shows what books can do for a person.
This was a super quick read that I tackled in 24 hours, highly readable and fun.

sarahbarnes Agreed! Great review. 5d

Butterfinger I just put it on hold. 5d

dabbe 🖤🐾🖤 5d

Hooked_on_books This was my favorite fiction book of 2024. I‘m amazed how she tackled such a heavy, often upsetting topic with such lightness. Wonderful book—I‘m so happy to see people reading it. 5d

45 likes4 stack adds4 comments

Dilara

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

That Tom Gauld cartoon from the Guardian seems relevant to the book I am reading.

Ruthiella It took me a while to get that. 7d

22 likes1 comment

Larkken

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

pick

Wow, this dystopian novel was great! I loved how it plays with how books can take over one's subconscious, giving fiction more agency than is usual in these types of books. Only one quibble with this one, #tob #tob25 : why oh why is it up against James? I have no idea how to even compare them 😂
#weeklyfavorites25 @Read4life

Read4life 💙📚💙 2w

35 likes1 comment

Dilara

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

Here's my Christmas haul! It's a bit late because I took my time cashing in my Christmas gift voucher and the book that was a direct present was mislaid by the post office 🙃
So, I got:
The Book Censor's Library by Bothayna Al-Essa
L'énigme du nom propre (poems) by 15th c. Uzbek author Alisher Navoiy
Jâmi's Mejnun & Layla
Nezâmi's Mejnun & Layla
Palpasa Café (for #Nepal #FoodandLit)
Barzakh by Mauritanian author Moussa Ould Ebnou

Very happy!

Ruthiella Nice haul! 😃 2w

35 likes1 stack add1 comment

sarahbarnes

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

pick

Such a creative approach to writing about a topic that (obviously) terrifies and infuriates me. I went in expecting one kind of story and was very surprised by the twists and turns of this one. A fun read and a light pick for me. #TOB2025

BarbaraBB You‘re doing great with the ToB. Again, I feel the same about the book as you do 3w

sarahbarnes @BarbaraBB there are a handful that I don‘t think I‘m going to read off the shortlist - I just don‘t feel like it. I think Orbital might be the last one I read. 3w

BarbaraBB Me too. I haven‘t read about four of them and don‘t think I will. 3w

39 likes3 comments

rockpools

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

Thank you Helen @squirrelbrain !

Really looking forward to reading this. And I am OBSESSED by the postcard. (Obviously 😁. It‘s fab!) Thank you xx

squirrelbrain You‘re welcome! Looking forward to your thoughts on it. 3w

squirrelbrain Oh, and perfect matching going on there! 3w

48 likes2 stack adds2 comments

squirrelbrain

The Book Censor's Library | Bothayna Al-Essa

pick

I clearly didn‘t love this #ToB book as much as other Littens (looking at you in particular Holly, @Hooked_on_books ). I mean, I loved the writing style and all of the bookish references but I found it really depressing and the Book Censor‘s life was so ultimately futile.

I‘ve been trying to figure out why it felt more so than 1984 and I think the MC was actually likeable and, of course, there‘s the inclusion of his daughter in this one.

Hooked_on_books I wish you had loved it as much as me! I thought it was magical. And, quite frankly, I loved the fact that the attitudes in a Middle Eastern country were echoing those of right wing book banners here, as I know that would rankle the conservatives. Do you have people trying to ban books there that‘s escalating like we do? 4w

squirrelbrain It‘s nothing like as bad here @Hooked_on_books - there have been protests around eg drag Queen storytelling and this article ⬇️ shows that there *are* requests to ban books, but not at the scale in the US. Didn‘t it feel too real / close to the bone for you? 4w

squirrelbrain https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/19/uk-school-librarians-asked... 4w

See All 15 Comments

Hooked_on_books I feel like when things are real they need to be shown in books so that they are validated and also so we can see a more nuanced view. So I think books like this one are vital. I hate to tell you this, but it started here as a protest about drag queen story hour (I think drag queens are awesome, so I really don‘t get the issue) and slid into book banning, so my guess is that‘s where you‘re headed. 4w

Hooked_on_books It looks from the article that the exact same books are being targeted as is happening here; unsurprising as many trying to ban books follow an online playbook. If your library association at the national level is smart, they‘ll get ahead of it by looking at what‘s been effective here in fighting the bans. Based on the article, sounds like that hasn‘t happened yet. 4w

BarbaraBB Great review and discussion. I get why you love it so much @Hooked_on_books and also why you did less Helen. I am with with you that book banning doesn‘t feel like reality here. I get scared by what you say Holly about the way it started in the US. Fortunately I haven‘t seen any protests around storytelling whatsoever where I live. For now the book feel like a modern, Middle Eastern version of

Fahrenheit 451

squirrelbrain Yes @BarbaraBB @Hooked_on_books - I get the feeling that it‘s less of an issue here in the UK - our political parties are less polarised I think. Rachel @rockpools is probably better placed to comment though. 4w

rockpools Interesting discussion Helen and @BarbaraBB and eek @Hooked_on_books - I hope we‘re not going that way! The drag time story hour protests sadly are a thing. To the point that we‘re told not to promote them on socials, because they tend to attract an out-of-area pile-on. The book banning - ugh. So many things. Schools Lib Assocn and CILIP put out a statement last year about bans/censorship: https://tinyurl.com/5m749jf3 4w

rockpools However, as library staffing is deprofessionalised, it‘s going to be much harder for individual librarians to stand up to removal requests, as they won‘t have the clout or the support networks around them. I think active requests for book removal are a lot less organised in the UK atm, which ais helping right now. 4w

rockpools But with drastic funding cuts and everything else, libraries are going to have to work harder to provide a proper diverse range of books. Interesting times, sadly. I might give the book a go at some point though 😔 4w

BarbaraBB @rockpools I hadn‘t thought of the role of librarians in providing a proper collection. Thanks for adding that, it makes a lot of sense. 4w

squirrelbrain Thank you Rachel @rockpools - very insightful. I can send you the book if you like? It‘s very difficult to get hold of here, for some reason. @BarbaraBB sent it to me. 4w

rockpools @squirrelbrain That would be amazing- thank you Helen. 4w

Hooked_on_books @rockpools Sadly it sounds to me that you‘re heading in the same direction as my country (well, parts of it). It seems to be part of the conservative playbook at the moment. The upside for us is that people are aware of it now that there‘s a lot of pushback and it looks like those efforts might start being on the wane, though it‘s a bit early to tell. 4w

squirrelbrain I‘ll send it to you this week sometime @rockpools 4w

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