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One of the More Bizzare Books at My Library

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Life Lessons of a Military Wife (overseas in Europe!): One of the More Bizzare Books at My Library

Life Lessons of a Military Wife (overseas in Europe!)

My goal here is to make your life easier, especially those who are in the unique situation of being a military spouse. Yes...I've been around...but in a good way...and hopefully can share those tips, tricks and shortcuts with you too. I've been on this military bus for over 40 years now. My goals in life are to have a well-run home, few money worries, well adjusted children, money socked away and whatever happiness I can scoop out of life.

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After life as an Army brat, being in the Army myself and marrying a soldier, I can honestly say I have a bucket full of life lessons I can share to help you make your everyday life easier and enlightening. Don't waste your time making unnecessary mistakes and benefit from others who have come before you on your journey through life.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

One of the More Bizzare Books at My Library

Let me first say that I LOVE my local library....I really do! They have such a nice selection of both new and old. Their website allows you to put books, DVDs and other media on hold and you get these nice email notifications when your stuff is ready to be picked up. You can even request things from other branches or inter-library loan, all on-line. Now, there is this one book. I don't even remember where I first heard about it, because I had it on hold and just picked it up yesterday. In fact, it was a bit more saucy and risque to a point of being something I probably wouldn't let little kids leaf through. It's a BIG picture book with photos on every page. Now, I'm not against having nude picture books or tasteful artwork, but this book was a bit different than I thought it was going to be.

Now, I had never heard of the author...in fact, I think she is a photographer, but the gist of the book is celebrity look-alikes in paparazzi-style photos in some enlightening poses and situations that most of the time, happen behind closed doors or we think happens behind closed doors. I must say, I was floored by some of the uncanny resemblances to actual celebrities. Some that I couldn't tell the difference included Ozzy Osbourne, the Queen of England, Princess Diana's boys, Madonna, the singer m&m....I had to smile at the Katie Holmes and Tom Cruise look-alikes. They weren't exactly on target. Some of the more fun photos included:

  • Angelina Jolie and Madonna changing diapers
  • Paris Hilton lying in her bunk while her jail bunkmate took a dump on the open toilet
  • Madonna ironing
  • Nicole Kidman flossing her teeth
  • Prince William with his girlfriend in bed and her writing "King" across his chest in lipstick
  • President Bush and Tony Blair literally horsing around
  • J Lo sitting on the toilet with a pregnancy test strip
  • Tom Cruise standing on a box to be as tall as Katie
  • Michael Douglas vacuuming while Catherine lounged on the couch with a magazine
  • Britney getting liposuction
Okay, so those were some of the light-hearted ones, not too risque...voyeuristic of the reader, but fun. So after turning a few more pages, I was surprised to see some of these renditions, which had me wondering a bit what the guidelines were for books to be available to all ages in a library:

  • Prince William peeing on the side of a wall and you can plainly see him holding his Peter
  • Jack Nicholson cavorting with a dozen topless and nude beauties, in one shot, going down the slide with one, grabbing her crotch
  • Nicole Kidman nude in the shower
  • George Bush and Tony Blair wearing bathrobes and touching each other (this was disturbing in a different kind of way, as well as some of the Michael Jackson and children shots)
  • A crotch and nude shot of Marilyn Monroe
  • Elton John getting his butt waxed (or at least that's what it looked like)
  • Some guy giving Elton John head in a car, while Elton is wearing a fluffy wedding dress
Do libraries have limits on what they can have on their shelves? That also made me wonder about movies. I've seen some VERY risque, mostly foreign movies that weren't rated from my library. Are kids allowed to check those out? What about R-rated movies? Hey, I am not a prude...I'm all for nudity, I grew up in Europe, my kids have seen their share of naked people as well as movies like Private Ryan and Band of Brothers too, so those aren't the issues....I was just wondering. Oh, almost forgot, the name of the book is Alison Jackson Confidential.

What interesting books have you seen and read at your local library? What are your thoughts on what should and should not be available at your local library? Should Rated R material be separate? Are there rules at your library who can check what out? Just wondering...

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5 Comments:

Blogger Rebecca D said...

I'm a school librarian--K thru 5th grade. I've had one or two parents object to their kids checking out certain books--Harry Potter springs to mind. Because of my students' ages, I go by their parents' wishes as much as possible.

At our local public library, (where I've also worked before), the official policy is that anyone with a library card can check out anything in the library. It even spells out that parents, and only parents, can monitor their kids' books. I agree with that, and it's in keeping with the American LIbrary Associations policies. There are R rated videos, and some really racy romance novels available there. In practice though, I've seen the librarians look at a younger child who's checking out something questionable without a parent around and ask them if their parents know they're checking that out. Never seen anyone question a teenager, though.

February 27, 2008 at 2:57 PM  
Blogger Michelle said...

I don't necessarily think the library should keep these materials separate, but I would like them to. Simply being aware is important. Many parents leave their children alone at the library for hours. They should be aware of what is available for their perusal (even if they couldn't check it out).

I recently became quite upset when I discovered Why War Is Never a Good Idea in the children's section at our military base. grrrr.... I'd link to comments at my blog, but my blog is down for the day getting repairs.

That made me irritated enough to do something about it.

February 27, 2008 at 3:48 PM  
Blogger ****Veteran Military Wife at Life Lessons of a Military Wife**** said...

Thanks for your input! I am of course totally against banning any kind of book from the library really...even the ones in poor taste or controversial..and I agree with you that parents should monitor what their kids read! I know I do!

I didn't know about the ALA policies on the subject...good for them for putting it on the parents...too bad we have too many parents that don't care enough to raise their children though...I see it every day at my kids' school.

February 27, 2008 at 6:12 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanks for participating in this week's Carnival of Family Life, hosted at Discussing Autism. The Carnival will be live tomorrow, so stop by and enjoy some of the other many articles contributed this week!

Interesting in hosting? Check out the schedule at Colloquium and let me know which week interests you!

JHS
Colloquium

March 3, 2008 at 3:33 AM  
Blogger K T Cat said...

The book sounds pointlessly gross.

March 5, 2008 at 2:11 PM  

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