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What's On Your Bookshelf? What Banned Books are Your Favorites?

From the lens Banned Books: Protecting Our Society or Infringing on Freedom of Speech?.

  • melissiaoliver May 1, 2012 @ 10:43 am | delete
    This is a really interesting lens, thank you for sharing! Could you provide some context on some of the banned books? I find it astonishing that Winnie The Pooh and Charlotte's Web made it onto the list once.

    I have read several of the 'banned' books, including Orwell's works, Lolita, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Wind in the Willows - (why oh why was the wind in the willows ever banned?! In what country?).
  • frontlineinfo Mar 25, 2012 @ 7:43 am | delete
    When anything is banned it attracts attention making banning somewhat counter productive.
  • aquarian_insight Mar 18, 2012 @ 6:08 am | delete
    Winnie the Pooh? Seriously? This is a world gone mad. There can be no reason or justification for banning a book. Even if the content is vile or repugnant, this aids our understanding of the world. We must decide for ourselves what we choose to believe.
  • whodiesinthenewharrypotterbook Jan 30, 2012 @ 5:19 am | delete
    When I saw you lens title, I thought about Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler. I do not see it in the list. Is it so banned that it is banned even from the banned books list?
    Just asking...
  • SRitchieable Jan 27, 2012 @ 8:38 pm | delete
    WIND IN THE WILLOWS! I love "Wind in the Willows" (see a short discussion on my lens http://www.squidoo.com/reading-classics-and-enjoying-it) - there is absolutely nothing in there that could (or should) be BANNED. Who decided "Wind in the Willows" should be banned or restricted? Did they ever read "Wind in the Willows"?

    I was absolutely astonished by many of the other books that have been banned (or suggested as bannable) - I've read "Winnie the Pooh" (the original), "Animal Farm," "Fellowship of the Ring (from Lord of the Ring Series), "Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (the original - another childhood favourite), "War of the Worlds," and "Charlotte's Webb" (which I didn't particularly like but that's another story). And I studied "The Great Gatsby" at highschool.

    As to "Great Gatsby", I think some people might have tried to ban it on the basis of 'immorality' but it is not an immoral book. In fact, it is a beautifully (and thoughtfully) written study about actions having consequences. I see the moral as being "Make sure who you love is worth it" - because when he/she isn't worth it, it's the death of you. NOT IMMORAL, but something everyone should understand.
  • CherryTriggerCola Jan 26, 2012 @ 6:47 pm | delete
    Great lens. banned books are usually a look into the side of society that is meant to never be seen or discovered. I feel only books intended to purposely do harm to others or promotes illegal activity is worthy of being banned. Society is full of contradictions because lies breed lies until they start contradicting each other. So keep writing! I think I am inspired to work on another new lens.
  • manlalakbay Jan 25, 2012 @ 10:33 pm | delete
    I wonder why Lord of the Rings is included in banned books... I had a great laugh after seeing that Winnie the Pooh is included as well! :D
  • Don_McCyclist Jan 25, 2012 @ 2:46 am | delete
    I love James Joyce's Ulysses.
  • TheMeadMan Jan 21, 2012 @ 1:04 am | delete
    many of the books listed are on my bookshelves
  • grannysage Jan 20, 2012 @ 4:51 pm | delete
    What I find sad is that many young people today have never heard of those books. Too busy reading Twilight. I can see some I missed, I better catch up before they get banned again. I'm surprised Huckleberry Finn isn't on the list.
  • TheMeadMan Jan 21, 2012 @ 1:03 am | delete
    As much as I dislike Twilight, and all it stands for, at least they ARE reading. Books like Harry Potter and Twilight are making books cool again in one form, let them read Twilight now in hopes that they'll discover real literature down the road.
  • thesuccess Jan 20, 2012 @ 2:57 pm | delete
    I read somewhere that many years ago the preacher's wife or some respectable member of the community would remove biology books from the local library because there references to reproduction.
  • Auntiekatkat Jan 20, 2012 @ 9:30 am | delete
    i have read 84 of them and you can bet your saweet bippy I shall be reading the other 16!
  • alwaysjules Jan 19, 2012 @ 12:36 pm | delete
    Excellent. And timely. All but 7 of these books are on my shelf at home, and only some of them came from my required reading as an English major. I own most of these because I love ideas, and these books are filled with them. Congratulations on LOTD.
  • Auntiekatkat Jan 20, 2012 @ 9:32 am | delete
    Too true, all 84 of them that I have read are fantastic books, when we squash thoughts we squash everything.
  • jimmyworldstar Jan 19, 2012 @ 11:37 am | delete
    I have To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby, it just baffles me to how people would ban those books. What objectionable content is there?
  • collettehrock Jan 19, 2012 @ 8:40 am | delete
    I also have many of those books not because I am a rebel, they were required reading for subjects that I undertook. I hope I did the right thing above as Noddy and Big Ears is a typical example of censors being absolutely nuts
  • Auntiekatkat Jan 20, 2012 @ 9:34 am | delete
    I have to say I disagree with censorship, but as a kid i was bored to death with Noddy and at the age of five I would definately have banned them. Now fortunately there are better books for kids to read. However, one thing about Enid Blyton she was a stickler for puntuation!
  • skiesgreen Jan 19, 2012 @ 4:29 am | delete
    Great lens and congrats on LOTD. *Blessed* and featured on Squidoo LOTD Lenses and also on Blessed by Skiesgreen 2012. Hugs
  • jsr54 Jan 18, 2012 @ 11:47 pm | delete
    Our kids went/go to Catholic schools and at least 20 books on the banned list were required summer reading. I keep all these "classics" on a shelf in the living room as they are timeless.
  • ---Chazz Jan 18, 2012 @ 11:07 pm | delete
    Well done. Congratulations on Lot D. Nice to see such a deserving lens in that spot!
  • scarlettohairy Jan 18, 2012 @ 8:24 pm | delete
    Good information. I say if you don't want to read a certain book, don't read it. Don't stop me from that chance.
  • cffutah Jan 18, 2012 @ 7:56 pm | delete
    enjoyed reading your point of view today, thank you for sharing.
  • fugeecat Jan 18, 2012 @ 7:52 pm | delete
    I can't imagine why anyone would want to ban winnie the pooh. really?
  • lasertek Jan 18, 2012 @ 7:20 pm | delete
    I have read some of the books on your list. Never really knew that these have been challenged or banned.
  • BuddyBink Jan 18, 2012 @ 7:00 pm | delete
    An excellent lens, well deserved 'Lens of the Day'. I see I own and/or have read a large number of the books on your top 100 list.
  • GrammaLinda Jan 18, 2012 @ 6:55 pm | delete
    I was really surprised at the number of banned books I had read.
  • ajgodinho Jan 18, 2012 @ 6:09 pm | delete
    Very interesting topic, Jennifer and well presented. Congrats on LOTD!
  • Frankster Jan 18, 2012 @ 5:53 pm | delete
    Well deserved LOTD. Congrats. On my bookshelf are how to art books, mysteries, self-improvement books, historical fiction, cartoons, and books about animals. I'm an equal opportunity reader. lol Blessed. Bear hugs, Frankster
  • Steve_Kaye Jan 18, 2012 @ 5:27 pm | delete
    Congratulations on creating this lens.
  • MaxReily Jan 18, 2012 @ 4:37 pm | delete
    Oh yes--Congratulations on such a well-deserved LOTD!
  • d-artist Jan 18, 2012 @ 4:37 pm | delete
    Congratulations on a Great LOTD! What is happening in AMERICA??????
  • MaxReily Jan 18, 2012 @ 4:37 pm | delete
    My bookshelf contains many of the books on your list. I'm thankful for the right to read whatever I choose. In our area there are religious zealots who periodically set up protests in front of libraries in my town and neighboring towns. They hold up posterboards with obscenities written in large letters, and if anyone objects, they answer "These words are in the books that this library encourages your child to read!" They also hand out leaflets and write letters to newspapers claiming that librarians "push" pornography on small children at the behest of the ALA, and that they also have an agenda to "turn" our children into homosexuals. Thankfully, no one pays much attention to these crackpots, but they serve as an unpleasant reminder that we're really not free of the mindset that was present at the Salem witch trials.
  • KM9999999 Jan 18, 2012 @ 4:29 pm | delete
    I've read more than 1/2 of these. I really can't see what the objection is to some of them.
  • jenms Jan 18, 2012 @ 3:22 pm | delete
    Congrats on LOTD! I've read a lot of the books on the list. I fully support freedom of speech and detest any type of censorship.
  • PaulOnBooks Jan 18, 2012 @ 3:12 pm | delete
    I loved the idea of banning a kids book on two male penguins raising an adopted egg. Quote from senior school adminstrators: " it is a picture book that focuses on homosexuality" Congratulations to the illustrator then :)

    There's never been a book banned that didn't say more about the person doing the banning than about the book.
  • modz Jan 18, 2012 @ 3:11 pm | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD!
  • IanMayfield Jan 18, 2012 @ 3:09 pm | delete
    Some of the books on the list are pretty surprising. A lot of the time, I suspect, it's because they're not politically correct: Charlotte's Web, for example, has some old Southern attitudes in it. As if E.B. White was going to refrain from putting them in the book because they might offend the sensibilities of generations yet unborn. It's as silly as banning Newton's Principia from a history of science curriculum because it doesn't describe how rockets work.
  • RawBill Jan 18, 2012 @ 3:06 pm | delete
    I have only read Lord Of The Rings from that list but I have seen the film adaptations of many of them. I was surprised to see so many classics on there! Congrats on LOTD. Well done :-)
  • ChrissLJ Jan 18, 2012 @ 3:02 pm | delete
    One of the posters in the No Way Monkey Brain is incorrect on their facts. What ALA keeps track of is the challenged books each year. And yes, many of the books are taken off the shelves in schools. It is not a national banning but a local one. In the schools, the books are not moved to the adult section, they are removed from circulation. In many public libraries they may also be removed from circulation. A few years ago, I challenged myself to read most of the top 100 challenged books for the decade. One was challenged by a religious group because it discussed sex.... in a teen book. It talked about sex in a total of about 4 sentences. A guy wanted to have sex with his girlfriend, but the girl said she was saving herself. He agreed to wait. Not precicely the most amoral book if you ask me.
  • Jewelsofawe Jan 18, 2012 @ 2:59 pm | delete
    Congrats on LOTD!
  • bloomingrose Jan 18, 2012 @ 2:22 pm | delete
    What a perfect time for your lens - since our congress is considering SOPA/PIPA legislation. If you haven't kept up - that legislation would have a chilling effect on Internet freedom similar to book banning. Google "wikipedia page on SOPA" it is the only one up today because they are protesting the law. If you are so inclined to take a stand for liberty - write your Congress person.
  • BunnyFabulous Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:58 pm | delete
    Congrats on LOTD! I knew the controversy about some of these books, but was really surprised to see others on the list. Winnie-the-Pooh and Charlotte's web for example. I've read quite a number of them; some as a middle school/high school/university student and some on my own
  • kathysart Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:26 pm | delete
    A LOT of the so called banned books are on my shelf and more. As an artist I come across this whole issue all the time. NUTS.
  • KathyT Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:40 pm | delete
    Great (and timely!) lens. Congratulations on your LOTD honors! Well done! Some of the books that you listed on that "Top 100" list were pretty surprising to me. Although I haven't read all of them, I've read a number of them, and while I can understand how some of the topics/themes of the books may have "disturbed" some people in their day, it still surprises me that they would be considered "dangerous" (or whatever they were thinking). It is a kind of foreign thought to my own mind that someone would want to stop an entire population from reading something. Very thought provoking. *Blessed*
  • Heather426 Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:30 pm | delete
    Hey, congrats on LOTD! I've read most of the ones on your list, and I turned out ok I think.
  • Janiece Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:16 pm | delete
    I've read quite a number that are on that list. Many of them were read during high school, for English class. Charlotte's Web was banned??? Oh my!
  • TamaraKajari Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:15 pm | delete
    What an excellent debate. Congrats on the well deserved LOTD :)
  • Lemming13 Jan 18, 2012 @ 11:16 am | delete
    I've read 63 of these books and I'm proud of it; to read Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, as an adult, I had to make a special application at my local library and wait a week till the library committee judged me a responsible enough person to see it, and for that I will be eternally ashamed of my home city. Banning a book because you disagree with what it says suggests that you don't believe you can provide a credible counter to its arguments, so you resort to stifling it - if you are confident you are right, debate openly, don't gag your opponent. Blessing this lens.
  • lexxsweet Jan 18, 2012 @ 11:05 am | delete
    I collect all types of books, and ebooks - I just love to read.
  • Mahogany Jan 18, 2012 @ 10:03 am | delete
    I love that you created this thought-provoking lens :)
  • JoshK47 Jan 18, 2012 @ 9:54 am | delete
    There's a wide variety of books on my bookshelf - including To KIll a Mockingbird, one of my absolute favorites. Blessed by a SquidAngel! Congratulations on the LotD!
  • OhMe Jan 18, 2012 @ 9:44 am | delete
    Great Monkey Brain on Banned Books
  • agoofyidea Jan 18, 2012 @ 9:23 am | delete
    Congratulations on LOTD! I would love to write a book that was banned someday. My sales would skyrocket. Great lens.
  • vallain Jan 18, 2012 @ 9:02 am | delete
    As a child, I read all my books and would sneak my parents' books to read as well. Even reading non-age-appropriate literature did not corrupt my mind and I grew up to be a solid citizen and a librarian. I strongly believe and support the freedom to read.
    Thank you for highlighting this topic.
  • sidther Jan 18, 2012 @ 8:26 am | delete
    Many of the books are sitting on the shelf behind me! Congrats on the well deserved LOTD! Keep up the great work!
  • John_Michael Jan 18, 2012 @ 8:06 am | delete
    It was refreshing to see the list...

    I also was glad that my book wasn't on the list...
  • Mamaboo Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:45 am | delete
    I think many of these books I'll be buying or re-buying so my children can have their minds expanded, rather than controlled by the government. Be blessed this day and continue the good, non biased work!
  • reasonablerobinson Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:24 am | delete
    Freedom of speech is priceless and should be defended within a society that has legislation to protect the vulnerable.
  • goldenecho Jan 18, 2012 @ 1:06 am | delete
    While there are things on that list that seems ridiculous to ban from anywhere...a lot of the OTHER books on the ALAs list (including ones you didn't mention from their literature) I understand parents being concerned about. I've read their list of "banned" books in 2012 and didn't find any that were actually, truely, banned. They were taken out of school libraries...but anyone could go buy one at their local bookstore. And most of the challenges and "banned" books they had on that list were books taken out of schools, not public libraries. I disagree with banning books from public libraries...but I have no problem with restricting books in schools if they are not appropriate for that age level (which was what a lot of the challenges listed were about).
  • crystalwriter Jan 18, 2012 @ 2:43 am | delete
    You make really good points here, Golden Echo. I would not agree with banning, simply because I want freedom myself, but freedom comes with responsibility. Making books age appropriate is similar to making movies or other media age appropriate. What's frustrating to me is when I hear people complain about the taking away of free will and then blaming God when He doesn't choose to take free will away from terrorists, child abusers, etc. Freedom of speech/press, as with free will, goes to all, comes with great responsibility, and --unfortunately as with so many other freedoms--will be abused.
  • goldenecho Jan 18, 2012 @ 9:31 am | delete
    OOPS...I meant that I read the banned books in 2011. Sorry. I'm not clairvoyant! ;)
  • Tipi Jan 18, 2012 @ 12:16 am | delete
    Congratulations on receiving LotD honors! I'm still shaking my head about that list. On the positive side, there's no better way to get people to want to read every book on the list when they learn its challenged or banned.
  • katiecolette Jan 18, 2012 @ 9:05 am | delete
    I couldn't agree with you more, Tipi :) Definitely makes me want to read as many books on the list as I can...
  • Lisa-Marie-Mary Sep 13, 2010 @ 12:49 pm | delete
    Wonderful lens on a very important issue! I love the way you are open to hear the other side, even if I'm on YOUR side!
  • Lisa-Marie-Mary Sep 13, 2010 @ 12:49 pm | delete
    Wonderful lens on a very important issue! I love the way you are open to hear the other side, even if I'm on YOUR side!
  • LoKackl Sep 12, 2010 @ 7:49 am | delete
    This is such an important issue and you have done a super job calling attention to the list of banned books. I don't know when this lens was created but it deserves MUCH more attention!! Thumbs up, fave, twitter and Squid Angel Blessed!
  • JenniferAkers Sep 12, 2010 @ 4:46 pm | delete
    Thanks so much for your Angel Blessing!!! I created this lens in February -- and Banned Book Week is this month! Thanks again for all your support!
  • VickiSims Sep 9, 2010 @ 12:17 am | delete
    I've read quite a few of the "banned" books list, but not too many of them on my bookshelft right now - mostly borrowed from the library. Will definitely concentrate on reading some of the ones I haven't read yet.
  • JenniferAkers Sep 12, 2010 @ 4:45 pm | delete
    Since my bookshelves are crammed with all our books, I love visiting the library. I'm enjoying revisiting the list of 'banned books' -- and catching up on ones I hadn't read. Thanks for visiting and commenting. Happy Reading!

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JenniferAkers

This lens was written for a 'lens challenge' on using Squidoo's MonkeyBrain template (my first time using this particular type). I chose something dear... more »

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