Support free speech by reading a banned book

This week is Banned Books Week, an annual event organized by the American Library Association to promote free, open access to information while spotlighting the dangers of censorship and drawing attention to book bannings across the country. Every year during Banned Books Week, the ALA features books that have been banned, restricted, or challenged, compiled from newspapers and reports submitted by individuals.

(Incidentally, if you would like to report a book that has been banned, challenged, or restricted, you can use the group's Challenge Reporting Form to do so. Your report could be included in the next list.)

So what's the best way to support intellectual freedom and the goals of Banned Books Week? By reading challenged books, of course! You can find them at your local bookstore or library, but many challenged or banned books are available to read for free from Project Gutenberg, the largest collection of free ebooks on the web. Read them on your computer or download them to most e-readers.

Here are six books that have been banned or challenged through the years that are available from Project Gutenberg.

1. Ulysses by James Joyce
First published in 1922, this classic and lengthy tome was quickly burned by opponents in the United States, England, Ireland, and Canada and banned in England in 1929. It also comes in at #1 on the Modern Library's list of 100 best novels of the 20th century.

2. Call of the Wild by Jack London
London's immensely popular 1903 book about a dog who wrestles with his primordial instincts in the Yukon was banned in Italy and Yugoslavia, and it was burned in Nazi book bonfires in 1933.

3. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Published in 1906, this novel portrays the life of immigrants in the United States and the corruption of the early 20th-century meatpacking industry. It was banned in Yugoslavia, burned in Nazi bonfires, banned in East Germany, and banned in South Korea as recently as 1985.

4. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
A landmark early work of feminist literature, Chopin's The Awakening was published in 1899 and banished for decades thereafter. It has been challenged as recently as 2011 in Oconee County, Ga.

5. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence
Sons and Lovers was published in 1913, and holds the #9 spot on the Modern Library's list of 100 best novels of the 20th century. However, it was deemed objectionable in 1961 by the group Mothers United for Decency.

6. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
Lawrence's 1920 novel was seized by the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice and declared obscene in 1922.

Reading the old-fashioned way
Project Gutenberg only makes available books that are not protected under U.S. copyright laws, which means, for the most part, books over 70 years old. Modern books are also frequently the subject of challenges, though, so no list of banned books would be complete without them. Here are six books that are available from libraries or through booksellers, despite their critics.

1. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
A New York Times bestseller that won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2007, this novel was banned in the Stockton, Mo., school district in 2010.

2. My Mom's Having a Baby by Dori Hillestad Butler
This 2005 book detailing the course of a woman's pregnancy as explained to her daughter has been challenged as inappropriate for children due to its frank discussion of pregnancy.

3. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
The diary of a young Jewish girl during World War II is one of the most heart-wrenching pieces of literature of the 20th century. Nevertheless, it was challenged in 2010 in the Culpepper County, Va., school system, due to "complaints about its sexual content and homosexual themes."

4. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Ranked #5 on the Modern Library's list of 100 best novels of the 20th century, Brave New World was banned in Ireland when it was published in 1932 and has been challenged numerous times since.

5. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Salinger's 1951 novel was the most censored book in high school libraries from 1961 to 1982 and the tenth most challenged book from 1990 to 1999. Reasons cited have included vulgar language, sexual references, blasphemy, undermining of family values and moral codes, Holden's being a poor role model, encouragement of rebellion, and promotion of drinking, smoking, lying, and promiscuity.

6. Pit Bulls and Tenacious Guard Dogs by Carl Semencic
This informational book about the well-known dog breed was a casualty of a decree by the city council in Logan, Australia, that made it illegal to own the dogs. As a result, the Logan city council libraries don't stock the book.

Exercise your freedom
The freedom to express ideas, however unpopular, is one of the foundations of American society. Banned Books Week emphasizes the importance of ensuring that everyone who wishes to read any book they wish is able to do so. In the words of the ALA, its goal is "to draw attention to the danger that exists when restraints are imposed on the availability of information in a free society." This week is a great opportunity to exercise your First Amendment rights by reading a banned or challenged book!

[Image credits: Pedro Ribeiro Simões, Rui Fernandes, Rachael Voorhees, Elvert Barnes]

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