Monday 26 September 2016

Banned Books Week | September 25 - October 1



Yesterday marked the start of Banned Books Week, this year we are celebrating diversity.  In Australia, there aren't too many books that still actually banned or heavily restricted.  The ones that I know off the top of my head are American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis; Final Exit by Derek Humphry; The Peaceful Pill Handbook by Philip Nitschke and Fiona Stewart, (these are available although you have to be over 18 to borrow them).  And as far as I know The Anarchists Cookbook is the only one that is still banned in Australia.

I guess because I work in a public library we don't see books challenged like they would be in schools.  Although we do get complaints about covers occasionally, (last Friday was the first complaint I had received in a long time - a couple of Lawrence Block's 'hard case' books were questioned about content, and not about the covers, which I found interesting.  Before that a kids yoga book was apparently going to be instrumental in the downfall of society.  Personally, I don't get the reasoning behind book censorship, with maybe the exception of The Anarchists Cookbook (the less people who know how to make bombs the better).  For me, if you don't like a book, don't read it, but don't try to stop me from reading it.

This week I want to share some virtual readouts of books via my Booktube channel.  I'm already a little behind as I'm still waiting for books to arrive, but I would like to kick things off with The Color Purple by Alice Walker.  To make it easier to find I plan on having all of my readouts in a separate post and that way you can check out the different books I've chosen to share.

I also plan on listening to Two Boys Kissing by David Levithan - if it arrives in time, if not I will have it for next week instead.  I know that there is a  #bannedbooksathon happening and while I'm not officially participating, I will be checking out the hashtag on Twitter and Instagram.  I also have a couple of graphic novels to read, (volume 5 & 6 of Saga), and some picture books that have been banned or challenged.


What about you?  Let me know how you plan on participating in Banned Books Week?

Until next time, happy reading :)

C.

Tweet This!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...