Freedom To Read Em

“The Mountain is You” and sometimes the mountain is eight chapters of alphabet soup that you zip through so you can move on to something else that feels more impactful, or at least more entertaining.

To be fair to this book, I was interested in the first chapter or two. The author saying that you may be a control freak if you do not like being the passenger in a car resonated with me as someone that did not let their now husband drive their shitty, yet beloved, Mazda 3 until we had been dating for at least a year. This declaration caught my attention since I had never really thought about why I was so hesitant to hand my car keys over, but my interest died after this realization in chapter one.

This self-help book has been on my TBR list for years; after watching it quickly rise to popularity on social media – specifically #booktok and #bookstagram. I had seen so many positive reviews from people saying that this book helped them get out of their own way, and I love that for them, but if you have done a good bit of introspection or therapy yourself then you likely will not get much out of the book. The book does not seem to hold any life-changing information or advice and seems like it was mostly written for social media. The author seems to repeat the same information over and over again throughout each chapter, throwing in a few different lines every now and then that would work as “insta-therapy” captions. Essentially, this book feels like the type of thing people pull out when they want to claim they’re working on themselves without actually doing any of the work.

Healing isn’t pretty, linear, or the same for every person – the author choosing not to acknowledge how clinically diagnosed depression or anxiety can impact someone and instead implying that “you are the only thing ever in your own way” left a bad taste in my mouth. As someone diagnosed with anxiety, there were plenty of times I tried to tell myself that I was the only thing keeping me from what I really wanted – but this only led to me becoming depressed and shaming myself for not being able to do things that felt like they should have been simple. I was not able to get out of my own way until getting on medication for my anxiety. While it is true that self-sabotage can prevent you from ascending to new heights in life, it is also true that some of us need different gear to climb our mountains. Some of us are capable of running up mountains with nothing but hiking boots and a backpack, while others may need walking sticks to assist them along the way in addition to their boots and bag. There’s nothing wrong with needing a little help along the way to climb your mountains.

The very beginning of the book let me know that the text has been banned in the entire state of Alaska, and is quickly being banned in many other states across the United States. I kept this in the back of my mind while reading through the book. Asked myself, would my small southeastern hometown be in an uproar over this when I was in high school? The answer, was yes.

I then asked myself, would I have cared what anyone trying to ban this book thought? The answer, was no. I know the people that would have been in an uproar over this book in my hometown are the same people that told me media was trying to shove gay culture down our throats, despite that fact that we knew no gay people, and would have denied their high school aged children the ability to take a traditional sexual education course in school - believing their children didn’t need to learn about such things, ultimately leading to high teenage pregnancy rates among other issues.

The truth is, this book has some information or details in it that are not suitable for certain young readers. However, as the author points out, the information is no different than what any child taking a sexual education class would be exposed to. The only difference? This is about the LGBTQIA+ community, not straight people.

The number one goal of the book seems to be education, promoting safe sexual practices and an understanding of yourself / your community as a young gay person. It advocates for safe sex, and affirms the idea that being alone is better than being in a bad relationship - something I think everyone should be told at a young age. It also includes information on how to reach out for help should gay youth ever need it.

When first looking into the world of banned books, there were plenty of things that I expected. I expected to see titles like “The Hunger Games,” or “1984,” but I did not expect the vast amount of children’s books included. I had not heard of many of the children’s books on the list, In The Night Kitchen, was no exception.

While visiting the library this past weekend, I happened to see In The Night Kitchen and decided to give it a read. The cover art and illustrations in the book made it clear that this was an older piece of work. I confirmed later that the book was originally published in 1970, perhaps giving light to why the author or illustrator made the choices that they did.

While it’s not the best children’s book I have ever read, there is nothing wrong with it content wise. The overall story consists of a child named Mickey dreaming of a kitchen that operates at night, baking large cakes. The kitchen seems to be out of an ingredient that they need for the cakes, so they decide to use Mickey as the missing ingredient instead. Mickey ends up breaking out of the cake, building a plane out of the dough, then delivering the missing ingredient to the bakers before flying off into the moonlit night.

However, at the very start of the book, Mickey slides out of his clothes while getting out of bed, meaning his private areas are exposed throughout the rest of the book. The book has been challenged for this reason.

Ultimately, I can see how it would make some uncomfortable. It reminds me of the creepy fountains with children and angel motifs. Perhaps the book being published during the 1970s has something to do with the included nudity? There does not seem to be any reason for Mickey to be naked, other than he simply wanted to be.

At the end of the day, if children visit any art museums they will be exposed to the same type of nudity they would be exposed to when reading In The Night Kitchen. Famous art such as “The Birth of Venus” by Botticelli or “David” by Michelangelo, show much more detailed genitalia than the illustration in this book does.

In my opinion, this book likely became more popular after being placed on the banned book list than it would have been if it was just left alone. I think it is up to the parents or legal guardians to decide what content is appropriate for their children, not the government.

The irony of opening a Word document to write down my thoughts on, “The Faggots & Their Friends Between Revolutions”, to be greeted with a welcome message from Microsoft introducing their new Ai program (Copilot) and being asked if I would like it to help me start a draft, has me feeling even more passionate about my first read dedicated to this page than I already was.

I would encourage anyone considering this book to take the leap, but keep an open mind. If you are not a member of the LGBTQIA+ community or simply have not had the chance to hangout with the community, then some of the language or imagery used may seem ‘offensive’ to you. Even though I am a member of the community, I grew up in the rural American south, and can still vividly remember my first time being around the LGBTQIA+ community in college. Going from an environment where oppression is the norm, to an environment where self-expression is the norm, was a culture shock for me. I cannot help but wonder, if I had been given the chance to read books like this one in high school, would I have understood myself better? Could years of soul searching, confusion, and shame have been avoided? Ultimately, there is no point in dwelling on the past because it cannot be changed. Instead, I choose to be present with my friends between revolutions, ensuring our community does not go back into hiding again.