I love books. All books. Even books I don’t like very much (there are a few). Walking into a library or bookstore feels like going home. This is Banned Books Week, in case you hadn’t heard. And of course, as people like to point out, banning a book is among the best ways to get people to read it. We tend to want what we can’t have. Does it work the other way around? If I say, “Let’s have a book-banning party!” will that make people not want to ban books? No? Well, then, nevermind the title of this post . . .
I’m very tempted to buy this bracelet in support of banned books. ALA has other items listed on that page as well. Or maybe “Banned Schmanned” tickles your funny bone?
There have been a lot of words written this week about banned books. It’s making me think just how many of them I haven’t read. Not because I’m offended by their content (I can’t think of any book I’ve read or am familiar with that would really offend me), or because I don’t like the subject matter, but rather because I’ve got toppling piles and drawers full of books waiting to be read. See the photo evidence below if you don’t believe me. I keep telling myself I’ll read some banned books every time Banned Books Week comes around, but I haven’t kept that promise to myself. Soon, really. I suppose that I can console myself with the knowledge that many of the books in those piles would be banned if more people took the time to know about them. I like books with violence, foul language, and explicit sexual content. And magic and witchcraft.
This is my to-be-read pile of library books. And Lila, because apparently she likes to have her picture taken.
This is one of my five “I own these” to-be-read piles. Plus, the top three drawers of that (tall) dresser are full of books. At least those don’t threaten to topple over every time a cat breathes near them.
What banned books do you wish you’d read but haven’t managed to get around to yet? Here are links to several lists of frequently challenged or banned books, taken from the ALA site:
- Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2007
- Most Frequently Challenged Books of the 21st Century
- Top 100 Challenged Books 1990-1999
I’ve read and loved plenty of frequently-challenged books, such as the Harry Potter series and To Kill A Mockingbird. High on my list of banned-books-to-read-soon:
- Catcher in the Rye (nope, never had to read it in high school)
- anything by Maya Angelou
- The Color Purple
- Brave New World
- Captain Underpants - Really curious what the buzz is. And are these even still popular?
- The Anarchist Cookbook - The used book store I volunteer at had a copy waiting to be priced recently
- Slaughterhouse-Five
- Pillars of the Earth
- Jumper (yes, the one the movie was based on)
Banned or not, I have zero interest in Howard Stern’s “Private Parts”.