It's Monday! What are You Reading? #36 [Banned Book Week]

Share what you (are, have been, are about to, hope to be) reading or reviewing this week. Sign Mr Linky at Book Journey and visit other Monday reading roundups.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.  ~Voltaire

This being Banned Book Week I'm hoping to make the majority of my reading choices from a pool of once banned or challenged books which I currently have in my possession.

You'll notice an abundance of classics in the list.  That is because so many of them are included in the Britannica Great Book set I own and others are in my collection of free online reads or downloads.  I have linked the titles to a good online source where I know of one:


John Milton's Areopagitica is a classic that helped establish a free press both by cogent arguments in its favor but also by being published without permission (license) in defiance of the British laws at the time requiring official state sanction for every publication.
--included in my Britannica Great Books Set.  It is not long and I  would like to read it this week in honor of BBW

Lysistrata - by Aristophanes
A Greek Tragedy written circa 400 BC there was a U.S. import ban until 1930
--included in my Britannica Great Books Set.  I would like to read it in honor of BBW


Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman
--I used to own a copy, a much loved paperback lost in our last move, but now resort to either library copies or online copies like the one the one linked above.  It is one I've long intended to download so I can read when not online.  Maybe I'll make that a task for this week and while I'm at it read a few poems.

Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio
banned for decades in the U.S. under the Comstock
Law of 1873, also known as the Federal Anti-Obscenity Act, which banned the mailing of
“lewd,” “indecent,” “filthy,” or “obscene” materials.
--I had this checked out of the library awhile back and when I had to return it I searched out links for reading online. I might visit it to read another story from it this week. And while I'm at it go ahead and download a copy I can read while off line

Canterbury Tales by Chaucer
frequently banned for objectionable sexual content
--included in my Britannica Great Books set.  I hope to read one tale this week.

The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm,
 1994 - restricted to sixth through eighth graders at Kyrene, Arizona elementary schools for “excessive violence,
negative portrayals of female characters, and anti-semitic references.”
--as part of my current myth/fable obsession I have the Modern Library edition checked out of my public library and have been reading it off and on for several weeks.  I've also linked here to an online version.

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving
2009 - a parent object to language and portrayal of sexuality resulting the removal from the summer reading list for the Pelham, Massachusetts school district.
--I have a copy being held for me at the library which will be picked up on Monday.  I watched the movie, Simon Birch, based on this novel the other night.  I sent for this when Sheila named it as this month's Wordshakers book club selection and would like to begin it soon.


East of Eden by John Steinbeck
--I just recently watched the movie staring James Dean and then sent for the novel via my public library and currently have it at home.  I've been dying to start it but other books have earlier due dates.  Maybe BBW is a good excuse to move it up in line.


Twilight series by Stephenie H. Meyer
2009 banned in Austrailian primary and junior schools for sexual and religious content
--I have had all four volumes on my shelf for nearly a year loaned to me by my niece.  I read the first couple chapters of the first one almost immediately after she handed them over and would have kept going if I hadn't been in the awkward position I'd put myself in to reach the shelf I meant to keep them on.  I went ahead and shelved them so I could shake out a cramp in my foot and there they have sat.  Maybe BBW can be my excuse to shove aside the three dozen library books?  I bet if I pulled the first one out and restarted it while sitting comfortably I find myself on page 100 before I could blink twice.

Three more in my possession but which I confess to doubting I will get to this week.

Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson
--I have a copy thanks to my sister who picked one up at a yard sale for me


A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
frequently banned in schools for objectionable religious content ie references to crystal balls and witches
--I'm in possession of a copy my sister mailed to me several years ago after she had finished reading it to her son. This was one of my favorite novels as a preteen and L'Engle remains one of my favorite authors to this day

Ulysses - James Joyce
--I used to own a physical copy but currently have only an electronic one.

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Here are a few bookish events going on for BBW:

Hosted by Bookjourney

Get on the BANNED WAGON!

Giveaways, a scavenger hunt and links to participating blog's BBW reviews are some of what's happening at Sheila's BookJourney this week.  Along with her own reviews of banned or challenged books and of course her daily Morning Meanerings post.

Banned Books Week Giveaway Hop

Banned Books Week Hop

Giveaways galore and lots of participating blog's to visit and comment on.

Banned Book Week Virtual Read Out

Banned Books Week Virtual Read-Out

The annual BBW readout traditionally conducted in public at bookstores and libraries where individuals read aloud form a banned book has now gone digital. Now you can video record yourself reading a banned book and upload to a YouTube channel