Call Me Mrs. Miracle (by Debbie Macomber)

Debbie Macomber is a favorite writer of many of our readers. Each year she writes a Christmas story. This year's book is Call Me Mrs. Miracle. It is available in our "Lease Book" section. Lesa Holstine has written a wonderful review on her blog.

Banned Book Humor

For today's post, we give you today's Unshelved Comic Strip.

The Bible as a Banned Book

Throughout history, the Bible has been subject to banning and burning. Between 1926 and 1956, the Bible was banned in the Soviet Union. Myanmar (formerly Burma) has banned translation of the Bible into the country's indigenous languages. Distribution of Bibles is banned in Saudi Arabia. Certain translations of the Bible have been banned by various Christian groups throughout the centuries. The Gideons' Bible distribution has been banned by some American school districts. According to one source, it has even been banned in residence halls at the University of Edinburgh because it is discriminatory. (The original article link no longer works.)

Banned Books - Book Burning in Nazi Germany

In 1933, the Nazis burned several books which are considered classics today. These included:

Ernest Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms
Jack London's The Call of the Wild
Upton Sinclair's The Jungle
Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy

Banned Books - Question and Answer of the Day

Question: Which book was burned at the East Saint Louis (Illinois) Public Library and barred from the Buffalo Public Library in 1939 because of the presence of vulgar language? The novel was even banned in Kern County, California which was the setting for the novel that same year. The book has been challenged in school systems such as Kanawha, Iowa; Richford, Vermont; Anniston, Alabama; Carthage, North Carolina; and Greenville, South Carolina over the years for reasons including the language and even the portrayal of a former clergyman who took advantage of a young woman.

Answer: John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath

This is Banned Books Week

Here's an interesting newspaper article on the subject.