In Honor of "Read-In Week"

In honor of Read In Week, I would like to share the reasons I love to read and express gratitude to my parents, teachers, and friends who encouraged a love of reading in me as a child.

Reasons I love to read:

1. Enjoying the quiet time to sit and read a good book - this is the best "me time"
2. Exploring new ideas and different ways of seeing the world, a different culture, or a particular issue without having to leave the comfort of my own.
3. Learning about the world, I read at least 1-3 non-fiction books a year.
4. Researching advice on topics of importance to me to solve problems
5. Informing myself about the world
6. Finding new things to talk about with my friends and family

I mostly read for enjoyment, learning, and entertainment. Yesterday, I was reading a blog post on books that groups and organizations have lobbied for banning certain books from American libraries. I was overwhelmed with anger and sadness at these efforts to ban some of my favorite books, including such works as those like To Kill a Mocking Bird, 1984, Animal Farm, Lord of the Rings, Beloved (and other books by Toni Morrison), and Of Mice and Men (and other books by John Steinbeck), as well as many, many others. Someone in the comments of the blog I read said, "If picking up a book is the worst thing your child does, consider yourself lucky." I agree!

So I quickly googled Banned Books in Canada how this list of books being challenged. Now, don't get me wrong, some materials are not age-appropriate for children, and there are definitely some controversial issues discussed in some of the books by the sound of some of the titles but that isn't a good reason for censorship - especially when books like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are included. Also, considering how awesome some of the challenged books on these lists are, I think I'm going to choose a couple of books from these lists for my own "To Read List" and this I do in honor of Read-In Week.

Are some of your favourite books on these lists? I'd love to hear from you!