Celebrate Banned Books Week

Libraries and bookstores all across the country will be celebrating Banned Books Week from September 22-28.  The week celebrates our freedom to read what we choose and to challenge ourselves by reading books that past (and current) generations, individuals, organizations, and even countries have either banned or challenged for a variety of reasons.  For more information on Banned Books Week, visit this site.  The American Library Association also has a wonderful page.

I like to pick up at least one banned/challenged title during the week.  This year I chose Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway as my banned title to read.  I may be cheating as I'm currently working my way through all of Woolf's titles, but I like a good two birds with one stone situation.

I also enjoy going through the lists of banned/challenged books and finding those gems I have enjoyed over the years.  Titles like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Beloved, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, The Catcher in the Rye, and Fight Club wind up on every list.  But there are some others that fly under the radar.  One of the first banned books I enjoyed was Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers.  This title, depicting the realities of the Vietnam War, is often assigned in middle and high school literature classes.  I also have fond memories of reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.  The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, the author of Half Broke Horses, is a powerful memoir of growing up with a mother suffering from mental illness and an alcoholic father.  Another commonly banned title is A Clockwork Orange, which was the first title I read when I became aware of Banned Books Week.  Finally, I loved Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, about a young African American woman dealing with racism in 20th century United States.

Remember to exercise your right to read, not only this week, but throughout the year.