So my opening post is a little late, but better late than never! This week (24th September – 1st October 2011) is Banned Books Week. I’m a big believer in the idea that all books should be available to all readers and that books should never be censored or banned. I’ve therefore decided to read ONLY banned books this week, and to get through as many as I can. I started To Kill A Mockingbird yesterday and I’m loving it so far. I can’t believe I waited so long to read it!
If you’ve been living under a rock and have never heard of banned books week before, you can get more information at the American Library Association’s website, here. They also have a great database of banned and challenged books, which you can search for by year, decade, author.
I can’t under
stand why people feel the need to challenge or ban books. I’m kinda of the opinion of if you don’t like it, don’t read it. But I know that this is a massive issue and so we need to raise awareness of it and we need to encourage as many people as possible to read these banned books. Many of the books that are challenged and banned are books that are considered great works of literature and so we have to think about what readers would be missing out on if the people that challenge these works were to be successful. I honestly believe that it’s our responsibility as readers to defy these people and to keep the love for these books alive!!
RANT OVER…. GO READ SOME BANNED BOOKS!!!!!
