Let’s Talk Bookish: Banning Books

It’s my last day in the USA! When this goes live I’ll have already been home safe and sound for a week but current me is stressing. I’ve got three flights to make it through in one piece. The likelihood of me sleeping during my travel home is slim so I’m gonna be like a walking zombie by the time I find my brother at the airport.

I’m gonna spend like 5 hours at the airport tomorrow (only time the uni shuttle could take me :l), and then a million hours flying so I’m prepared for how I’m going to pass the time: watching Elf, playing Stardew Valley, and reading Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

On a little side note, I’ve been in the US for like, 4 months now, and the only thing my dad requested I bring back (besides myself) was Twinkies. I’ve had a note taped to my desk saying “TWINKIES FOR DAD” for months now and everyone that comes round to my room is very confused.

As always, I’m using Let’s Talk Bookish to take my mind off things. I literally save writing this blog post until I need a distraction. It’s a good tactic.

Let’s Talk Bookish is a bookish meme that was created by Rukky @ Eternity Books and hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits, where each Friday, bloggers write posts discussing the topic of the week! Since the beginning of April, I’ve been the host of LTB, and I post each month’s topics here on my blog! December Topics

This weeks topics is … Banning Books (Jillian @ Jillian the Bookish Butterfly)

Prompts: Do you think banning books is fair? Should students be allowed to read what they want and be able to get it from their school library? In a more broad sense, how do you feel about books that have been “banned?” Do you think that it’s a crime to ban a book, no matter what it contains, or are there cases where it’s alright?

Do you think banning books is fair?

I’ve taken a YA lit class this semester and the topic of banned books is actually something we’ve discussed a lot, since it’s typically YA that seems to get banned. Every book we’ve read and discussed in class was accompanied with the question of “would this book be banned?”

Personally, I don’t think banning books is fair at all. Banning books seems to very much be a thing going on in the USA, at least that’s what I see most online, and I just think, how can a country that preaches free speach so much, then restric what people read – especiallly for such ridiculous reasons most of the time?

Should students be allowed to read what they want and be able to get it from their school library?

I understand to an extent certain books not being allowed to be part of a school library. Like a book with loads of swearing and other lude behaviour maybe a school can’t be seen promoting to kids. But when it’s books that tackle real life issues that kids are going through and important movements like Black Lives Matter, Me Too, LGBTQ+ rights, surely these are all things we want kids to learn about, so why stop them from reading books that could help and educate them?

When it comes to youth centres, local libraries and bookshops in genreal, I definitely don’t think books should be banned, especially not by the government or local counsel. It should be up to that individual company on what books they provide.

I see sometimes that it’s the parents making an uproar and in that case I say, you can have a say when it comes to what your kids read, but you can’t take a book away from the entire world just because you don’t want you child reading it.

In a more broad sense, how do you feel about books that have been “banned?”

At the very start of the semester my teacher posted a “banned books” list and a lot of them were harmles – they didn’t preach horrible values or even contain a bunch of swearing and lude behaviour. More often than not the books that were banned were books with femenist, bipoc or LGBTQ themes. There also seemed to be some that touched on World War II and the nazi’s and also sexual assault.

Banning books with these topics doesn’t erase them, it just means kids are going to struggle even more without them to learn from and relate to.

Do you think that it’s a crime to ban a book, no matter what it contains, or are there cases where it’s alright?

I think the only books that should be banned are the ones that insite hatred and violence.

Even having this set up as a limit though could be used against other books that don’t fit into this category. The type of people that ban books, are definitely the type of books that would take this and twist it until it fits their agenda. I can literally see how that would be played out and manipulated.

Those are my thoughts on banning books but to sum it up: it infuriates and really frustrates me. That’s just my take though, I’d be super interested in seeing what you have to say on the matter. Let me know in the comments :)) Thanks for reading.