Banned Books Week

Every year I "celebrate" banned books week. It's a wonderful reminder that living in a society that has the freedom to choose what we read is important. It's something we should never take for granted and we should fight to protect it! This year I will be rocking my new Out of Print banned books tote.

This year Banned Books Week is from Sept. 27 - Oct. 3. Grab a book that has been banned or read some more information about current censorship here.

So celebrate your freedom to read this week and check out this list of frequently banned and challenged books to see how many you’ve read.

Past Banned Books Week Posts 
2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011.

Image from here with more great quotes.

Top Ten Books about Friendship

 

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for Ten Books about Friendship.

 

1) Truth and Beauty by Ann Patchett – The well-known author’s nonfiction memoir about her friendship with Lucy Grealy will break your heart.

 

2) The Likeness by Tana French – A trippy look at a strange group of friends, their connection and what they’re willing to do to protect it.

 

3) The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky by – A shy high school freshman finds hope and strength in the unexpected friendships he forms.

 

4) Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry – Two cowboys, Call and Gus, have a formed a friendship that survives decades of working together in the west.

 

5) The Little Prince by Antonie De Saint-Exupery – A children’s tale with an adult message. The Little Prince teaches readers about the value of friendship and how it changes us.

 

6) A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving – Johnny and Owen’s unlikely friendship changes the course of both of their lives forever.

 

7) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck – Migrant workers, George and Lennie, have been traveling together for years. The books’ tragic story asks readers what lengths they would take to protect their best friend.

 

8) Little Women by Louisa May Alcott – It’s the story of four sisters, but it’s also about the touching friendship between Jo and Laurie and the difficult line between romantic love and devotion to your best friend.

 

9) The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares – Four friends face the struggles of first love, grief, parents remarrying, and more in this coming-of-age story. It’s their friendship that holds them together through it all.

 

10) Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy – Through the eyes of Benny we see both the benefits of true friends, like Eve, and the harm of false ones.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
★★★★★

Charlie is an intelligent, sensitive boy who is about to begin his freshman year in high school. His awkward nature makes it difficult for him to make new friends. This coming-of-age novel is written as a series of letters to an unknown recipient.

The first time I read this book I was an 18-year-old college freshman. It was the first book ever recommended to me by a new friend and ten years later she’s still a close friend. I’m not saying it’s because of this book, but it certainly was a good sign of things to come.

Now that I’m older and farther from the innocent days of high school I was nervous that it would lose some of its magic upon rereading. Everything is so intense when you’re young. Each moment can feel like either the best or worst in our short life. Songs have the potential to change you forever and love is a completely new concept. As you get older things often don’t have the same impact as they did when you were young.

I shouldn’t have worried though, the second time around the book was just as powerful as before, but in a different way. It made me nostalgic for those thrilling nights when you would drive around with your friends imaging what the future might hold. It made me feel protective of Charlie and desperate for him to find happiness. Charlie is naïve and innocent, but in the best way possible. As his friendships with the beautiful Sam and kind Patrick blossom, so does his awareness of the world.

The books impact comes from the raw honesty of Chbosky’s writing. He expresses feelings and thoughts that we’ve all had, but he makes them feel brand new. The novel doesn’t shy away from serious issues. It deals with under-aged drinking, drug use, molestation, suicide, sex, depression and abusive relationships. Like I said, it deals with incredibly serious subject matter, but it does so in a delicate way. Nothing is ever done for shock value, it’s all realistic, the way life itself is. You can’t avoid things just because they are difficult to deal with and this book acknowledges that.

Rereading the book was strange in some ways. It took me back to the time when I read it ten years ago. As I near thirty the intensity of daily life is somewhat diminished, but it’s not entirely gone. There are still moments when I discover a new song or book and for a time, I feel infinite.

BOTTOM LINE: Charlie’s journey is an incredible one and it shouldn’t be missed. If you are recommending it to a teen make sure you’re ready to talk about the issues discussed in the book. I don’t know what it would be like to read this book for the first time as an adult, but I think it’s a perfect read for seniors in high school or freshman in college.

“We accept the live we think we deserve.”

“Sometimes, I look at my parents now and wonder what happened to make them the way they are.”

“I was looking at the old photographs, I started thinking that there was a time when these weren’t memories.”

“Try to be a filter, not a sponge.”

Roof Beam Reader has a wonderful review of the books here.

If you haven’t already seen the movie trailer (coming out this fall) check it out here!

Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Books I Want To Reread

I love the question from this week's Top Ten list at The Broke and the Bookish. I think blogging makes me read books differently in some ways. I take note of the things I love about a book in a more concrete way and think critically about what worked and didn't work. There are so many books I read before I started blogging and I'd love to reread them now with that new mindset.

1) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: I loved this whole series the first time I read it, but it's been almost 10 years. I'm curious to see if I'd find it as funny as a reread.


These three are just amazing and I wish I could read them for the first time again. I think I will reread them for years to come.

2) The Thirteenth Tale

3) The History of Love

4) The Shadow of the Wind


5) Gone with the Wind: I loved it when I read it back in 2003. When I started blogging I saw this one every where and people talked about how much they loved it. Then I read this book about the story behind Gone With the Wind and have been dying to read it again ever since.

6) Persuasion: I've read all of Jane Austen's major works and some of her minor works and Persuasion was my favorite. I'd love to reread it and see if I still feel that way.

7) Ender's Game: I adore this book, but after reading it I went on to read all 8 of the sequels and companion books. I want to start from the beginning and read the book that had such a big impact on me the first time around.


8) And Then There Were None: My first and favorite Agatha Christie book. I recommend this one constantly and it's been too long since I've read it myself.

9) The Perks of Being a Wallflower: I was a freshman in college when I read this and I thought it was so beautiful. Now there's a movie coming out and I want to reread it before then.

10) American Gods: My very first Gaiman, read back in 2007. It's not a great place to start with him. Since reading this I've read almost everything else he has written and have grown to love his work and dark sense of humor. Now that I appreciate his style more, I think I would get a lot more out of his masterpiece. Plus the HBO series based on the book is coming out sometime in the next year or two.