Always strive to learn something useful. --Sophocles

Oh my Effing Gee!

Public libraries have been coming under a ridiculous amount of fire, the worst that I've recently heard is a town DEFUNDING THEIR LIBRARY! I can't imagine a more stupid thing to do!

Well, in this case, a library admin decided to not allow a banned book display! I don't know if they wanted to avoid controversy or what. I'm not sure if this was a city-level decision or within the actual library administration hierarchy. And the Reddit poster did not say which library or where it was.

Still, heck of a thing. The suggestions posted to sidestep it are brilliant! I think my favorite was the Ted Cruz Book Club!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Libraries/comments/wm5goj/weve_been_banned_from_doing_a_banned_books

I always sing "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" when Halloween approaches, and for the last few years I've really began enjoying poking sticks at people who are unjustifiably self-righteous, and Banned Book Week is one of those events that I may start singing this tune to. I especially love it because Alamogordo holds a special place in the pantheon of banned books: in 2002 (before I moved to Cloudcroft) there was a Harry Potter book burning organized by a local preacher. The irony is that later he was seen leaving the movie theater with his two young nieces/nephews/I don't know: the movie they were seeing? Harry Potter.

2012's list of the top ten most challenged books are:

1. Captain Underpants (series), by Dav Pilkey.Reasons: Offensive language, unsuited for age group


2. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie.Reasons: Offensive language, racism, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group


3. Thirteen Reasons Why, by Jay Asher.Reasons: Drugs/alcohol/smoking, sexually explicit, suicide, unsuited for age group


4. Fifty Shades of Grey, by E. L. James.Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit


5. And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson.Reasons: Homosexuality, unsuited for age group


6. The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.Reasons: Homosexuality, offensive language, religious viewpoint, sexually explicit


7. Looking for Alaska, by John Green.Reasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit, unsuited for age group


8. Scary Stories (series), by Alvin SchwartzReasons: Unsuited for age group, violence


9. The Glass Castle, by Jeanette WallsReasons: Offensive language, sexually explicit


10. Beloved, by Toni MorrisonReasons: Sexually explicit, religious viewpoint, violence

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

I should have gotten this out a few days ago, but you know how it goes.

This is a list from the American Library Association showing the books most frequently challenged in the 21st century. For 2010, the most challenged books are: 1) And Tango Makes Three, by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson; 2) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, by Sherman Alexie; 3) Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley; 4) Crank, by Ellen Hopkins; 5) The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins; 6) Lush, by Natasha Friend; 7) What My Mother Doesn't Know, by Sonya Sones; 8) Nickel and Dimed, by Barbara Ehrenreich; 9) Revolutionary Voices, edited by Amy Sonnie; 10) Twilight, by Stephenie Meyer. Tango Makes Three made every year going back to 2006. A challenge is when someone complains and wants a book removed from circulation.

http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/21stcenturychallenged/index.cfm#2010

http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/09/28/0323214/libraries-release-most-censored-books-list

Go out and read something that someone thinks you ought not.

I should go through and see how many I've read. Locally, there's a preacher who railed against Harry Potter and had a bona fide book burning. He was then caught coming out of the movie theater having taken his niece and nephew to see said Harry Potter movie. Gotta love ideological consistency!

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/

This is the list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged books from 1990-2004 as compiled by the American Library Association, more info at http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.htm. Another source for banned books is our friends at Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_books which has reasons why some books were banned. I was quite surprised by the amount of Roald Dahl that has been challenged.

The difference between challenged and banned books is that a challenge is sort of a formal complaint about a book, objecting to it on some basis. Basically it's the complaint preceding the ban.

SO, here's the meme part: bold the books that you've read. I'm making it a personal goal in 2006 to try and read as many of these as I can, though there are many here that I won't bother with just as a matter of personal taste.

1. Scary Stories (Series) by Alvin Schwartz
2. Daddy’s Roommate by Michael Willhoite
3. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
4. The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
5. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
6. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
7. Harry Potter (Series) by J.K. Rowling
8. Forever by Judy Blume
9. Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
10. Alice (Series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
11. Heather Has Two Mommies by Leslea Newman
12. My Brother Sam is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier
13. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
14. The Giver by Lois Lowry
15. It’s Perfectly Normal by Robie Harris
16. Goosebumps (Series) by R.L. Stine
17. A Day No Pigs Would Die by Robert Newton Peck
18. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
19. Sex by Madonna
20. Earth’s Children (Series) by Jean M. Auel
21. The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
22. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
23. Go Ask Alice by Anonymous
24. Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
25. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak
26. The Stupids (Series) by Harry Allard
27. The Witches by Roald Dahl
28. The New Joy of Gay Sex by Charles Silverstein
29. Anastasia Krupnik (Series) by Lois Lowry
30. The Goats by Brock Cole
31. Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane
32. Blubber by Judy Blume
33. Killing Mr. Griffin by Lois Duncan
34. Halloween ABC by Eve Merriam
35. We All Fall Down by Robert Cormier
36. Final Exit by Derek Humphry
37. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
38. Julie of the Wolves by Jean Craighead George
39. The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
40. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Girls: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Daughters by Lynda Madaras
41. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
42. Beloved by Toni Morrison
43. The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton
44. The Pigman by Paul Zindel
45. Bumps in the Night by Harry Allard
46. Deenie by Judy Blume
47. Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
48. Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden
49. The Boy Who Lost His Face by Louis Sachar
50. Cross Your Fingers, Spit in Your Hat by Alvin Schwartz
51. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
52. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
53. Sleeping Beauty Trilogy by A.N. Roquelaure (Anne Rice)
54. Asking About Sex and Growing Up by Joanna Cole
55. Cujo by Stephen King
56. James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
57. The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell
58. Boys and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
59. Ordinary People by Judith Guest
60. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
61. What’s Happening to my Body? Book for Boys: A Growing-Up Guide for Parents & Sons by Lynda Madaras
62. Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
63. Crazy Lady by Jane Conly
64. Athletic Shorts by Chris Crutcher
65. Fade by Robert Cormier
66. Guess What? by Mem Fox
67. The House of Spirits by Isabel Allende
68. The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline Cooney
69. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
70. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
71. Native Son by Richard Wright
72. Women on Top: How Real Life Has Changed Women’s Fantasies by Nancy Friday
73. Curses, Hexes and Spells by Daniel Cohen
74. Jack by A.M. Homes
75. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo A. Anaya
76. Where Did I Come From? by Peter Mayle
77. Carrie by Stephen King
78. Tiger Eyes by Judy Blume
79. On My Honor by Marion Dane Bauer
80. Arizona Kid by Ron Koertge
81. Family Secrets by Norma Klein
82. Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole
83. The Dead Zone by Stephen King
84. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
85. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
86. Always Running by Luis Rodriguez
87. Private Parts by Howard Stern
88. Where’s Waldo? by Martin Hanford
89. Summer of My German Soldier by Bette Greene
90. Little Black Sambo by Helen Bannerman
91. Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
92. Running Loose by Chris Crutcher
93. Sex Education by Jenny Davis
94. The Drowning of Stephen Jones by Bette Greene
95. Girls and Sex by Wardell Pomeroy
96. How to Eat Fried Worms by Thomas Rockwell
97. View from the Cherry Tree by Willo Davis Roberts
98. The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatley Snyder
99. The Terrorist by Caroline Cooney
100. Jump Ship to Freedom by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier


So it looks like I've only read six. I'm definitely going to have to improve on that.