Happy Banned Books Week!

For those who don’t know, Banned Books Week is a once-a-year celebration by the American Library Association to fight censorship and raise awareness about book bannings in America. Because books get banned for the dumbest reasons, we need to talk about it.

People who do bad things would prefer we not notice. That’s why the news media is always the first to be attacked when politicians start doing horrible things.

Did you see what happened with the White House Press Corps? How Trump just banned them from the White House? That was scary. I mean, forget Halloween. This presidency is the real American Horror Story.

I swear, this holiday gets less fun every year.

Banning books is insidious. It’s not about protecting children from adult content. It’s about controlling what we think and how we perceive the world. The books most likely to be banned are ones that make, well, a certain kind of person uncomfortable. They’re books about being gay, Black, Jewish, or Native, mostly. And if you don’t believe me, here’s a list of the eleven most banned books in 2025 from the ALA.

Some of my favorite banned books didn’t make the list this year, but they’re always worth a read. To Kill a Mockingbird, The Handmaid’s Tale, All Boys Aren’t Blue, Maus, and I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings. These should be taught in school. Do they handle sensitive topics? Yes, that’s the point. Sometimes we need to be a little uncomfortable. That’s how we learn.

Look, I’m not going to sit here and say that reading Maus was a peaceful or easy experience. But it was profound. I’ll take a profound change in perspective over being comfortable.

Every year, the ALA picks one book for their Right To Read Night event. While I’ve never had the chance to attend one of these events, I do try to read the book every year. This year, the book is Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. It’s a lovely poetry book, and I can’t wait to read it. I highly recommend you give it a try, too.

Finally, let me say with my whole chest, fuck censorship. We need to be fierce defenders of the freedom of expression. We need to be fierce defenders of the freedom of the press. Words have power. Stories have power. That’s why those who would control us want to take them away. Or just convince us never to read them at all. Fuck that.

So what about you? What are you reading for Banned Books Week? Let us know in the comments.