Banned Books Week: Get your Charlotte Mecklenburg public library card today

In honor of Banned Books Week, we would like to encourage you to read them all. (Note: It’s also Library Card Sign-Up Month … *nudge, nudge*)

In case you were wondering which titles are the most controversial, the American Library Association has created a list of frequently challenged books. Check that out here, where you can also learn the whys behind the banning of some of the titles. (Hint: Usually for ridiculous Puritanical reasons.)

You can also tickle your inner Word Nerd by voting for your favorite banned book on DailyLit.com. While there, sign up to read the titles via a daily e-mail excerpt … and most are free!

Here are some of the options in the banned book poll, from Susan Danziger, the founder and CEO of DailyLit:

-Charles Darwin’s <a href="On the Origin of Species (a classic)
-Henry David Thoreau’s On the Duty of Civil Obedience (get inspired)
-Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin (learn first hand why it’s controversial)
-Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (I can’t believe that was banned)
-And then there’s The Bible (need I say more).

On Twitter: Follow and share the week’s events and commentary with the #bannedbookweek hashtag.
On YouTube: Check out videos of people reading from banned books, or create one of your own!

Here’s a virtual read-out of “The Adventures of Captain Underpants.” Enjoy!

This article appears in Sep 27 – Oct 3, 2011.