Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Banned Book Week Celebration and Giveaway!

Happy Banned Books Week!
I really love Banned Books Week. It is a way to acknowledge all the wonderful books that people try to ban and it brings to light the dangers of censorship.

When I was looking at all the top banned lists to see which books have been banned and which ones I have read, I realized that the lists were just giving me more books to add to my TBR pile. The fastest way to get me interested in a book is to tell me it's banned. That just makes me want to read it even more . . . probably not the reaction people are going for when they ban books.

Don't you wish there was a banned book section in the library??
I would be all over that!

I have written a couple of posts on this subject:

Some Girls Are Removed From Optional Reading List
Censorship

These are just a few of my favorite banned books.
And it's not one of my favorite of the banned books, but I want to comment on the irony of Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury being banned. Seriously . . . a book about a government banning all books being banned. That's insanity!

Looking at this list of some of my favorites, I can see a pattern. Most of them are specifically geared towards young adults. And even the ones who aren't targeted towards that audience may be required school reading. It seems like adults don't think kids can handle the tough subjects. The more stories I read about parents' trying to get books banned from their kid's schools, the more grateful I am for my own parents. My parents never, ever policed my personal reading choices or my required reading for school. They trusted that reading a book about bullying wouldn't cause me to become a bully and reading a book about drug use wouldn't cause me to turn to drugs. When I was in junior high and high school, I was a fan of romance novels and V.C. Andrews. And if you know anything about V.C. Andrews, you know that all of her books contain a certain amount of incest and alcohol abuse. And yet, I didn't turn into an alcoholic and I didn't try to have sex with a family member.

Now on to the giveaway . . . I am giving away the banned book of your choice! (no, you do NOT have to choose a banned book shown above!)

Any book that has been banned at any time can be chosen. That is a lot of options, right? You can certainly choose from my list of favorites. Or maybe you could choose The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini or Looking for Alaska by John Green or Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher or The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky or Twilight by Stephanie Meyer or The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. You can go here to see the different lists of banned books for more ideas.


The giveaway is international, as long as The Book Depository ships there free of charge (find that out here!) If you prefer, I will send a Kindle edition via Amazon gift. (Please note: You may only chose ONE of these options!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway


The giveaway runs until October 5, 2015. I will randomly choose a winner on October 6, 2015. If I don't hear from a winner within 72 hours, then I will choose another one.

Good luck!!

23 comments :

  1. I still think it is insane that books are banned especially when I look at the lists. Some of them are for suh ridiculous reasons. And I agree with you that not just because I read something will I do the things they object to in a book. So silly. Anyways, I would love to get Some Girls Are. Thanks!

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  2. I haven't read many banned books and I didn't even know The Hunger Games was banned! I'd probably pick Some Girls Are.

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  3. I'd love a copy of Persepolis for my classroom library. (Another ironic ban--her memoirs of growing up under an oppressive regime...) It's hard to pick on favorite, but The Handmaid's Tale is sure up there.

    I'm making a banned books week display at work today--I'll blog a picture of it ASAP!

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  4. Great post & giveaway! The sad thing is there are so many fabulous books that have been banned that it's almost impossible to pick just one... but I suppose I would probably choose ones that I haven't read yet, like Speak or Drama.

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  5. I hate the whole idea of people in control being able to ban books. I see two books in your list above that I loved...The Handmaid's Tale, and, of course, To Kill a Mockingbird.

    Here is MY MUSING MONDAYS POST

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  6. I love the irony of F451 being banned too! It just adds fuel to the fire (haha) that the novel creates and continues the conversation about censorship. I love a lot of banned books, Harry Potter for example, and I recently read and loved Speak; it's such an important book and it was written at a time when not very many YA books were covering those heavy but important topics. I have a lot of respect for that book. Great post and great idea to host a giveaway in celebration!
    Mallory @ The Local Muse

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  7. I just never get why anyone would ever ban books. One it only makes people want to read them more. Two surely it's better to have discussions about issues rather than imposing a blanket ban on subjects.
    I'd love to read Thirteen Reasons Why as I have had my eye on that one for a while.
    Thanks for the giveaway!

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  8. I am blown away by how people could ban a book especially when I have read and enjoyed most of them. I love real issues, they open your eyes to the world.
    Thank you for the great giveaway!

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  9. I am blown away by how people could ban a book especially when I have read and enjoyed most of them. I love real issues, they open your eyes to the world.
    Thank you for the great giveaway!

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  10. Thanks for the giveaway! I would love to receive a copy of Bridge to Terabithia :)

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  11. Didn't realise so many books are banned every year. Read and loved many on that list.

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  12. Haven´t read that many banned books, but would love to read Some Girls Are.

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  13. ugh i read so many of these its so odd now....

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  14. I love To Kill a Mockingbird! And Hunger Games and the Giver! And Shel Silverstein is totally my favourite poet (:
    Thanks for the awesome giveaway!

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  15. I get so SO angry that people ban books. I mean, how stupid is it to think that everyone will act the way a book does if they read it?!? Just ban, um, all the books then??!? Plus how can they ban Terebithia for death and then Narnia is okay? There's plenty of death in the last one. D: BANNING BOOKS IS SO WRONG. But thanks for this epic giveaway. hehe. ;)

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  16. Banned books week is the best! I get so angry when I hear about people banning books, not to be rude, but parents are so stupid. If you teach your kid right a book isn't going to make them a bully, or make them dangerous, or make them have lots of sex, like the mere act of denying them things is what makes them do it! My mom never cared what I read or watched or played. I played Grand Theft Auto (the video game) with my brothers when I was six! I turned out fine! I've read tons of banned books, and I turned out fine! Banning books is so wrong, just like blaming violence on TV and video games, and all these things FRUSTRATE ME SO MUCH.

    Anyway, amazing post, Cynthia and thanks for the giveaway! My favorite banned book is Bridge To Terabithia and I would probably pick...Some Girls Are. =)

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  17. I hear you, book bannning makes me SO MAD. It's like someone has decided that not only am I too stupid to think for myself, but THEY should be the one to think FOR me. Talk about narcissism. You have to have some really hefty superiority complex to think you can tell other people what to read- or worse, other people's kids!

    GAH I could go on all day. I fully support this event! And you KNOW my favorite banned book. Clearly, I'd choose an edition of it ;)
    Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight

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  18. I get so mad at the concept of banning books and some that have made the list baffle me!

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  19. Some of these books are favorites of mine!! Crazy to think about banning them. As far as what book I'd choose, I don't know! I'll have to go find a list of banned books - I'm sure there'd be lots of books I'm surprised about! (In fact, I think I'll go look right now for the heck of it!)

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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  20. My favorite banned book is the diary of a young girl, by Anne Frank.
    I would choose Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher

    Rafflecopter username: Joana Bento

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  21. My favourite banned book is To Kill a mocking bird I would probably pick The perks of a wallflower.

    Megan @ http://readingawaythedays.blogspot.co.uk

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  22. Def I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings! My fav banned books are by far Harry Potter!
    Mary G Loki

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  23. I would pick Hunger Games, and my favorites are Harry Potter

    Betul E.

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