One of my FAVORITE bookish weeks of the year is Banned Book Week. Not only does it give me an excuse to dig into some excellent books… but it also is good to discuss censorship in our reading. Who has the right to say that a book that is not for one person may not be the book another person absolutely needs to read?
Every year I find people who have not heard of banned books – OR have heard of them but did not think it was any longer ” a thing.” Here is the definition of a banned/challenged book:
A book banning is the removal of those materials that someone protested. Challenges do not simply involve a person expressing a point of view; rather, they are an attempt to remove material from the curriculum or library, or stores,thereby restricting the access of others.
And yes…. it still happens.
You may be surprised by titles that have been banned or challenged…. most of the classics (Huck Finn controversy ring a bell?), Charlotte’s Web, The Lorax (yes… Suess),Hunger Games, Twilight, The Harry Potter series AND the Chronicles of Narnia books…. all things Hobbit… hopefully that is enough to peak your interest.
So….. this will be my 5th year of hosting the Banned Book Week Event. Please consider joining me in spending the week of September 27 – October 3, reading banned/challenged books. You can find an excellent list to choose from here and here. Certainly, there is something for everyone!
Banning books takes away our rights to read the books we wish to read. As a banned book promoter I do not want to read every banned book. For instance, I have no desire to read 50 Shades Of Grey. However, that does not give me the right to say that you can not read it either. See? It is that simple. 🙂
Please Join Me!
As in the past years, I am looking for awesome people like YOU to join me during September 27 – October 3 to either: share a favorite banned book post, read and review a banned book, write a post about why banning is wrong or a personal experience with a banned book in your area, post an interview with an author of a banned book, etc… Sign up below and I will connect with you on the day that you are willing to post. Banned Book Awareness is a great way to explore amazing reads and remind us that we have the freedom to read what we choose.
I will have posts here ever day Banned Book Week talking and reviewing banned books and yes there will be cool giveaways. Grab the meme pic at the top of this post and tell others to come sign up here too! I hope you consider joining in – it’s easy to do and you may just find a new book that you love!
Book Journey 
I am looking forward to it….
I’m glad you’re doing this again this year!!
Hi there! You know, you could even write about GWTW. It shows up on banned lists too. I remember books and movies “banned in Boston” as a young child…and “blue laws” too
HI Andrea – I planned on it 🙂 I think I can have it read by then!
I never thought Hobbit is banned!
Really looking forward to this – so excited to participate this year! I work at the library, and we are really promoting banned books this month. 🙂
I’d be delighted to participate in this years event. Thank you for once again organising such an important event.
Can’t wait for another Banned Books Week! Thanks for putting this together.
I’m looking forward to banned books week too.
I just saw today that a mother in Texas (?) is trying to ban THE IMMORTAL LIFE OF HENRIETTA LACKS from their school because her 15 year old son was reading it and she considers it pornography. This is exactly what angers me. That book is such an important book for women and wasn’t written for a 15 year old boy to read. The mother needs to talk to her son instead of the school. I will definitely be participating in this, just have to look at my schedule before I officially sign up. Thanks for putting this together!
It amazes me when I see great books for children banned such as The Witches, by Roald Dahl and Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret, by Judy Blume. The school my children went to banned both of these and Holes by Louis Sachar. They were banned because a couple of parents objected – not a majority of the nearly 1500 families in the school.
I’d love to participate! Banning is alive and well.
Isn’t it appalling that we have to have weeks like this? Not criticising you for getting engaged – just commenting that if people didnt ban books for the flimsiest of reasons, then we wouldn’t need to campaign for people to read them.
How have I not known about this event? Where the heck have I been? I’m so definitely in. I have a ton of things to say about censorship.
I was looking at the list of challenged books from last year and was surprised to see a couple of Dr. Seuss books. I plan to (re)read them and talk about reading them to my 15 month old grandson.
I’ve signed up and I’m looking forward to participating in this. 🙂