www.roanoke.com

In a town not too far away, strange things are happening; words are disappearing. Rather, words are being inked out. Someone has taken themselves a bit too seriously and is policing the literary world of Maury County Library. Read the whole story here. 

The gist of it is, someone has defaced 50 - 100 books, using blue ink to mark out certain words. Ironically, most of the books seem to be mystery novels. The unknown editor is being publicly addressed via signs posted in the library that ask patrons to not mark out words they feel are offensive. This story brings to mind a suspicion I have had over my years of visiting public libraries...that certain people remove books that they feel are offensive from the shelves and report them "missing" and "lost." Who do they think they are? It's a scary thought that someone is making my literary decisions for me. Scary like Hitler.

Roanoke City Main Library wants to find the most terrifying, haunting, spine freezing, hair straightening howls of horror ever heard within the city limits. Participants don't have to scream cold though. Some of the most blood curdling classic fiction paragraphs will be read to stimulate and ensure the success of the search. Read your piece in true Vincent Price style then let loose a scream to wake the dead, and un-dead.

There are two “Read, Then Scream” categories: Screams from the throats of humans aged 18 and over, and screams from those under aged 18. Men and women compete together, after all, utter terror sounds the same from a man or a woman’s lungs. Contest winners are the contestants judged by the audience to bring the most terror to the evening. Prizes include movie tickets, pizza and surprises.

Show up for the “Read, Then Scream”contest at Roanoke Main Library, Tuesday, October 27, for a 6:30 p.m. start.

View an example, "Read, Then Scream" at http://vimeo.com/7195509 ... if you dare!

For more information phone 540-853-1057

Andy Horner, author of the graphic novel The Invalid, and the Light Children trilogy discusses the art of writing and collaborating with artist Kyle T. Webster. www.lightchildren.com
When: Oct. 27, 2009 7 to 8 p.m.
Where:  Moneta/Smith Mountain Lake Library, 13641 Moneta Rd, Moneta, VA, 24121
Contact: molibrarian@bplsonline.org (540) 425-7004

WVTF Book Club
Discussing "The Wettest County in the World" by Matt Bondurant.  Newcomers welcome.
When: 7 p.m., Oct. 27
Where: WVTF Broadcast Center, 3520 Kingsbury Circle, Roanoke
Cost: Free
Contact: 989-8900

An evening of creepy, kooky, scary, hairy stories with Joe Tennis, author of “Marble and Other Ghost Tales of Tennessee and Virginia.” Appropriate for 3rd grade and up. Please call to reserve your space now at 342-5770.
When: 6 to 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 24
Where: History Museum of Western Virginia, One Market Square, 3rd Floor Center in the Square, Roanoke
Cost: Members and non-members Age 13 and up - $5.00. Under 13 free
Contact: Kathryn Wallace, 342-5770, info.hswv@cox.net, www.history-museum.org

Looking to jumpstart your holiday shopping or wanting to fill up your bookshelves? There's a book war going on that might help. WalMart, Amazon.com, and Target are grappling for your money. Pre-order select titles on their Websites and save some bucks.

Stephen King's soon-to-be-released "Under the Dome" (Nov. 10) is available for pre-order on Walmart.com for $8.98 (as of Oct. 21, 2009) and they will pick up the shipping. Their top ten best pre-selling books are all under $9. Barbara Kingsolver's "The Lacuna", and Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" are both currently on this list.

"Under the Dome" is also available at Amazon for just a penny more. And, at Target.com for $8.99, with free shipping.

Who gets your book business? When buying books online I typically will start at Amazon. The site is extremely easy to use and negotiate. (That's not to say the others aren't.) At Amazon though I might find a movie I wanted to see on DVD and add that to my shopping cart, or a game for my kids, or a gift for my mom, and it's all done from the comfort of home. I haven't had a bad experience yet, so I feel comfortable shopping there. Will I try the others just because their price is the same? Probably not, but I might be cashing in on the savings that this book war has resulted in.

A press release from www.regal-literary.com let us know that: Martin Clark’s "The Legal Limit" was announced as the winner of the People’s Choice Award for Fiction at The Library of Virginia’s twelfth annual literary awards celebration, held in Richmond on October 17th.  An independent panel of judges selects five finalists for this award, and the winner is then chosen by readers voting in public libraries, bookstores and online.  Past recipients include David Baldacci, Adriana Trigiani and Edward Jones.

In accepting the award, Clark stated that he was grateful to everyone who voted for him and especially grateful to his “friends and neighbors in Patrick County” for their many years of support.  He also indicated that he planned to donate a portion of his $3500.00 cash prize to the Patrick County library.
Reviewers have noted that "The Legal Limit" is “the new standard by which other works of legal fiction should be judged” and “a model of how to write a literary legal thriller.”  The New York Times Book Review called it “a novel of ample graces.”  "The Legal Limit" appeared on the Southern Independent Bookseller’s Alliance (SIBA) best-seller list for five consecutive weeks and spent thirty straight weeks on Amazon’s legal thriller best-seller list, rising as high as number two.  It was named to several “Best of 2008” lists, among them The Washington Post and Bookmarks Magazine.  Rights have been sold to CBS/Paramount for development as a miniseries.

Clark and his wife, Deana, live in Stuart, Virginia, where he has served as a circuit court judge since 1995.

Fiction author Ed Falco will read from his novel, Saint John of the Five Buroughs.
Where: Volume II Bookstore, Blacksburg, VA, 24060
Contact:  (540) 231-9674
When: Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m.

Salem Historical Society presents: Tom Perry will be speaking on J.E.B. Stuart. Thomas D. Perry holds a degree in history from Virginia Tech, where he studied under noted Civil War authority James I. Robertson, Jr. Perry is the author of ten books on J. E. B. Stuart, Patrick and Henry County history and produces DVDs of his talks.
When: 7 to 8:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 19, and Saturday, Oct. 24,  6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Where: Salem Library, 28 E. Main Street, Salem
Cost: Free
Contact: Salem Museum, 389-6760, info@salemmuseum.or

More than a thousand books have been challenged since 1982. There are hundreds of challenges to books in schools and libraries in the United States every year. According to the American Library Association (ALA), there were at least 513 in 2008. But the total is far larger. 70 to 80 percent are never reported. The challenges have occurred in every state and in hundreds of communities. Click here to see a map of book bans and challenges in the US from 2007 to 2009.

Have a problem with book banning? Do something about it! Here's a great site that gives citizens the tools to combat banning: http://www.ncac.org/literature/bookcensorshiptoolkit.cfm

Additional Resources and Links:
The National Coalition Against Censorship, “Book Censorship Toolkit.” Available online: www.ncac.org/literature/bookcensorshiptoolkit.cfm
The National Coalition Against Censorship, “Censorship in Schools: Learning, Speaking, and Thinking Freely: The First Amendment in Schools.”
Available online: www.ncac.org/education/schools/index.cfm
The National Council of Teachers of English, “The Student’s Right to Read.”
Available online: www.ncte.org/positions/statements/righttoreadguideline
The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, “Banned Books Week Handbook.”
Available online: www.abffe.com/banned2007.htm
The American Library Association Office of Intellectual Freedom, Banned Books Week Resources: www.ala.org/bbooks/
PEN American Center, Freedom to Write: www.pen.org/page.php/prmID/172