Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Banned Book Week

Celebrate the freedom to read and read a banned book during Banned Book Week September 21-27, 2014. Held annually, Banned Book Week highlights the value of free and open access to information. To learn more, visit www.bannedbooksweek.org and the American Library Association (ALA) Banned Book Week websites.

Wondering what books have been challenged and/or banned? According to ALA, here are a few of the top banned and challenged classics (for a full list of titles click here):

The Lord of the Flies by William Golding

For details about why these books were challenged, click here.

Looking for a banned book to read? Visit our display on the main level of the library to find these and other banned books ready for checkout.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Banned Book Week

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