banned books week 2011 in progress

Happy Banned Books Week, readers!

Authors face many challenges from finding  time to write to getting published. Another issue most authors probably don't expect is being banned. Stores and libraries might ban a book, because they protest the content.  Banned Books Week According to its website:

During the last week of September every year, hundreds of libraries and bookstores around the country draw attention to the problem of censorship by mounting displays of challenged books and hosting a variety of events. The 2011 celebration of Banned Books Week will be held from September 24 through October 1. Banned Books Week is the only national celebration of the freedom to read. It was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in schools, bookstores and libraries. More than 11,000 books have been challenged since 1982.

Read more about the week here.

Take a look at the 10 most challenged book titles in 2010:
•  And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson
•  The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
•  Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
•  Crank by Ellen Hopkins
•  The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
•  Lush by Natasha Friend
•  What My Mother Doesn't Know by Sonya Sones
•  Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich
•  Revolutionary Voices by Amy Sonnie
•  Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer

Books made it on the list because people deemed them unsuitable for the age group, or they protested the use of language, depiction of religion and so on. Take a close look at that list and see how many of those books are highly regarded in the industry and among audiences.
Check out this infographic on the Top 10 banned books from Huffington Post.

When books are banned, though, readers might lose out on the opportunity to read wonderful stories. Or, you might hate them but if the books are banned you don't get to make the choice to purchase or not purchase a book. Where's the fun in that?

My tip for the week, as shared by one of my Tweeps, "Don't judge a book by its review written by someone who never actually read the book."