I have decided to finally flesh out my writing page with more detail. Writing blurbs is the bane of my existence (okay, that is harsh, but I find blurb writing harder than a lot of other writing), so it might take me a while to get things the way I want them. This leaves me with less time to blog. But never fear! Ana & Thea, the wonderful ladies over at The Book Smugglers have done the hard work for me.
Their post on Banned Books Week lists the books that have been banned and challenged in 2008-2009, highlighting the ones they have read. As I read over their post, I was curious to see how many of these books I have read (or have on my to-read list). So, without further ado:
Books banned and challenged in 2008-2009:
*Books I have read
*Books on the to-read list
A
Alexie, Sherman. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part?Time Indian.
Anaya, Rudolfo A. Bless Me, Ultima.
Anonymous. Go Ask Alice.
Avi. The Fighting Ground.
B
Bailey, Jacqui, and Jan McCafferty. Sex, Puberty, and All That Stuff: A Guide to Growing Up.
Barron, T. A. The Great Tree of Avalon: Child of the Dark Prophecy.
Berendt, John. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story.
Bowden, Mark. Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War.
Brannen, Sarah. Uncle Bobby’s Wedding.
C
Chbosky, Stephen. The Perks of Being a Wallflower.
Colfer, Eoin. The Supernaturalist.
Collier, James Lincoln, and Christopher Collier. My Brother Sam Is Dead.
Comfort, Alex. The Joy of Sex.
Cox, Elizabeth. Night Talk.
Crutcher, Chris. Chinese Handcuffs.
D
de Haan, Linda, and Stern Nijland. King & King.
Drill, Esther. Deal With It!: A Whole New Approach to Your Body, Brain, and Life as a gURL.
Dubberley, Emily. Sex for Busy People: The Art of the Quickie for Lovers on the Go.
F
Follett, Ken. Pillars of the Earth.
G
Gardner, John C. Grendel.
Green, John. Looking for Alaska.
Grove, Vicki. The Starplace.
H
Harding, Kat. The Lesbian Kama Sutra.
Harris, Robie H. It’s Perfectly Normal: A Book about Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health. Hartinger, Brent. The Geography Club.
Heinlein, Robert A. The Day After Tomorrow.
Holmes, Melisa, and Trish Hutchison. Hang?ups, Hook?ups, and Holding Out: Stuff You Need to Know about Your Body, Sex, and Dating.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World.
J
Jackson, Jon A. Dead Folks.
Jahn-Clough, Lisa. Me, Penelope.
K
Kaysen, Susanna. Girl, Interrupted.
L
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lockhart, E. The Boy Book: A Study of Habits and Behaviors, Plus Techniques for Taming Them.
M
Maguire, Gregory. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West.
Mason, Bobbie Ann. In Country.
Meyer, Stephenie H. Twilight Series.
Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye.
Myers, Walter Dean. Fallen Angels.
Myers, Walter Dean. Hoops.
Myracle, Lauren. ttfn.
Myracle, Lauren. ttyl.
N
Naylor, Phyllis Reynolds. Alice on Her Way.
Nixon, Joan Lowery. Whispers from the Dead.
O
Oh, Minya. Bling Bling: Hip Hop’s Crown Jewels.
P
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister’s Keeper.
Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes.
Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass.
R
Rennison, Louise. Angus, Thongs and Full?Frontal Snogging: Confessions of Georgia Nicolson.
Richardson, Justin, and Peter Parnell. And Tango Makes Three.
Riley, Andy. The Book of Bunny Suicides: Little Fluffy Rabbits Who Just Don’t Want to Live Anymore.
S
Salinger, J. D. The Catcher in the Rye.
Schreier, Alta. Vamos a Cuba (A Visit to Cuba).
Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones.
Seierstad, Åsne. The Bookseller of Kabul.
Silverstein, Charles, and Felice Picano. The Joy of Gay Sex.
Sittenfeld, Curtis. Prep: A Novel.
Stroud, Jonathan. The Amulet of Samarkand.
Stroud, Jonathan. The Golem’s Eye.
Stroud, Jonathan. Ptolemy’s Gate.
T
Tarbox, Katherine. A Girl’s Life Online.
Taylor, Mildred D. The Land.
Tucker, Todd. Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan.
Twain, Mark [Samuel L. Clemens]. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
W
Walker, Alice. The Color Purple.
Z
Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States.
My list of to-be-read books is much longer than my list of have-read books. This seems to be a trend with me; for every book I read, I think I add three to the to-be-read list.
In other censorship news:
For the third year running, a children’s book about penguins takes the #1 spot on the Top Ten Most Frequently Challenged Books of the Year list.
Wow. Just wow.
