@gikkt lol I took this tradition from my mother. But she *did* have one shelf that I was required to review with Mom before I read them.

She'd always read the sketchy or subversive ones first 💪

#ReadBannedBooks

#ReadBannedBooks and schedule your next blood donation! #redcross

My task list is so long I forgot to post about Banned Book Week, which ends tomorrow. Ugh.

But the battle for information does not end tomorrow. Here are some links. Read banned books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_commonly_challenged_books_in_the_United_States

https://pen.org/banned-books-list-2025/

https://www.ala.org/bbooks

https://bookshop.org/lists/banned-and-challenged-books-updated-2025

#BannedBooks #BannedBooksWeek #ReadBannedBooks #Books #Reading #Fascism

"Seattle Public Library's Books Unbanned project ... allows anyone between the ages of 13 and 26 in the US to get access to all the e-books online audio books in SPL's collection – and specifically books banned in various conservative communities."

https://www.spl.org/programs-and-services/teens/books-unbanned

#books #ReadBannedBooks #library #libraries #reading

h/t: https://cascadia-journal.ghost.io/cascadia-today-portland-still-isnt-war-torn-seattle-abandons-program-for-homeless-read-banned-books/

"There was, as with many of those living in the gloaming aesthetic twilight of Romanticism, a tendency to confuse the characters with their creator, a narrator with the author. "

Cool Literary Hub article about Edgar Allan Poe and the Americanism of his work.

Oh, and your reminder that it's still #BannedBooksWeek, so #ReadBannedBooks

https://lithub.com/to-haunt-and-be-haunted-on-the-exhumation-of-edgar-allen-poe

“Our reporting on book bans remains a bellwether of a larger campaign to restrict and control education and public narratives, wreaking havoc on our public schools and democracy”
#Censorship #BannedBooks #BookBans #ReadBannedBooks

https://pen.org/report/the-normalization-of-book-banning/

Banned books: Why you should read these targeted titles now – USA Today

Why you should read these banned books now

USA TODAY Staff, USA TODAY

As journalists, it’s our job to seek out the truth even when it’s uncomfortable. We value diverse perspectives, are open to new ideas and respect intellectual freedom. So it should come as no surprise that the thought of banning a book would get us riled. 

What happens when a book is challenged in school boards and public libraries? Titles can be removed from school curriculums or library shelves. Most public schools and libraries have boards made up of elected officials or members appointed by elected officials. It is by the power of these officials that a book can go from challenged to banned in a school district or public library.

Sure, there is the argument you can just purchase a book if it’s taken off public shelves. But that is true only for those with financial resources. For many, particularly children and young adults, school and public libraries are the only means to access literature.

With that in mind, current and former USA TODAY staff picked a challenged or banned book that was meaningful to them. In the books’ defense, we’ve written why they deserve a place in our schools, libraries and society.

‘Looking for Alaska’ by John Green

Young people don’t typically seek out stories about grief, but I did after being hit with the sour reality that terrible things can happen to those you love and the world just moves on. Clinging to my signed first-edition, which I reread multiple times and used quotes from in my journal, is something of a core memory to my 12-year-old self. This book is challenged for explicit writing, but it offered the “stick-it-to-the-man”ness I needed to defy expectations and endeavor to be better than the generation that came before. Over a decade after my first read, I can still feel the protest that John Green’s words invoked to seek growth and understanding above all. And that grief never leaves you, it only grows with you. – Sam WoodwardCheck out: USA TODAY’s weekly Best-selling Booklist

Junie B. Jones series by Barbara Park

Growing up, Junie B. Jones ​felt more like a spunky pal than a book character. It’s not a moral lesson I remember, but just plain fun. This series has been banned on the basis that Junie is not a good role model. She’s loud and uses words like “dumb” and “stupid.” What are we telling girls if we say the only books they can read have polished, quiet protagonists? What do we stand to lose if we tell girls they can’t be messy? Series author Barbara Park once told USA TODAY a story is valuable even if it “gives the reader nothing more than a smile or two.” I couldn’t agree more. – Clare Mulroy

‘A Court of Thorns and Roses’ by Sarah J. Maas

ACOTAR – as its known by fans – starts when a woman named Feyre is kidnapped and taken to a faerie realm where a blight is plaguing the land. First, she is just figuring out how to survive, but soon she falls in love with Prythian and its subjects. What unfolds is an epic (and spicy) romance, found family, meaty twists and an adventure that brings an immersive world full of magic to life.

Read ACOTAR the first time to enjoy the ride. Read it the second time to pick up on every hint into the greater Maasverse. Read it the third time because you can’t go a year without saying hello to your favorite characters. – Niki Gunter

Editor’s Note: Read the rest of the story, at the below link.

Continue/Read Original Article Here: Banned books: Why you should read these targeted titles now

#2025 #America #BannedBooks #BannedBooksWeek #Books #DonaldTrump #Education #Health #History #Libraries #Library #LibraryOfCongress #Opinion #Politics #ReadBannedBooks #Reading #Resistance #Science #Technology #Trump #TrumpAdministration #UnitedStates #USAToday

Books that make us uncomfortable are so important. Blocking access to other views, experiences, and lives stunts us. People need to experience the world, the good, the bad, and the ugly, no matter how uncomfortable that makes you. It's how we learn, grow, and gain empathy. Banning books just shows your fear and your need for power over others.

#BannedBooksWeek #BannedBooks #ReadBannedBooks #BookRecommendations #BookLightEditorial #BookCommunity

It's Day Two of #BannedBooksWeek.

"And you know where they burn books, people are next."

#ReadBannedBooks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lVxbcgk1mg

It's Banned Books Week from Oct. 5-11! My little free library is ready. #BannedBooks #ReadBannedBooks #Little_Free_Library

Currently reading: To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Although I’ve seen the movie more recently, I haven’t read the book since high school so I am looking forward to revisiting it from a 2025 perspective. #bookstodon #StoryGraph #ToKillAMockingbird #HarperLee #currentlyreading #ReadBannedBooks

The American Library Association's #BannedBooksWeek begins today. #ReadBannedBooks

Sign the national pledge against book bans and add your name to the growing movement for the freedom to read.

https://action.everylibrary.org/bookbanpledge via EveryLibrary

Publishing Professionals Against Book Bans is proud to stand with our esteemed colleagues in the defense of the freedom to read!
#BannedBooksWeek
#ReadBannedBooks

Stephen King is the most banned author of the school year, per PEN America. Let’s tell the censors to stick it. Buy one of his books, and READ it.
#BookBans #StephenKing #ReadBannedBooks

https://stephenking.com/index.html

Censorship is so 1984.

Banned Books Week is Oct. 5-11 this year, culminating in Let Freedom Read Day on Oct. 11.

#BannedBooksWeek #ReadBannedBooks #books

https://bannedbooksweek.org

Currently reading: V For Vendetta by Alan Moore. One of many books I’ve put off reading for a while, and want to read while I still can. #bookstodon #StoryGraph #VforVendetta #AlanMoore #DavidLloyd #currentlyreading #ReadBannedBooks

A propos ***nothing at all***, yesterday I left copies of ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM THE TWENTIETH CENTURY by Timothy Snyder in three of our local Little Free Libraries.

Reminder: "Read the books they're banning. That's where the good stuff is."
--LeVar Burton

#resist
#tyranny
#fascism
#BanTheFascistsNotTheBooks
#ReadBannedBooks
#ReadTheBooksTheyreBanning
#OnTyranny
#TimothySnyder
#LeVarBurton
#LittleFreeLibrary

#RyanWalters (in his latest self-aggrandizing missive to all Oklahoman parents & caregivers for #PublicSchool kids): I'm making sure $3million goes to tutoring programs in Oklahoma! My commitment has never been stronger!

also Ryan: *advocates book bans*

also Ryan: *oversees Oklahoma's drop to last in #education since he became State Superintendent*

Ryan, I know logic isn't in your bag of tricks, but MAKE IT MAKE SENSE.

#Oklahoma
#OSDE
#CryinRyan
#BanTheFascistsNotTheBooks
#ReadBannedBooks

Currently reading: Night by Elie Wiesel. I haven’t read this since middle school, and I feel that it’s about time for a reread. #bookstodon #StoryGraph #Night #ElieWiesel #currentlyreading #ReadBannedBooks