Banned Books Week, is the annual celebration of the freedom to read and will be held the week of September 24th in 2017.
Did you know that the following famous books were banned at some point?
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn – Mark Twain, Twain’s book is one of the most-challenged of all time and is frequently challenged even today because of its frequent use of the word “nigger.”
Catch-22 – Joseph Heller – In 1972, a school board in refused to allow the book to be taught in high school English classrooms.
To Kill a Mockingbird – Harper Lee, some have called it a degrading, profane and racist work that “promotes white supremacy.”
There are many others to add to the list, such as Gone With The Wind, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath and more, but continue reading below to pick a new book that has yet to be challenged.
Thrillers
Gabrielle: An Erotic Thriller, by Randy T. Lane
Michael Wesson decides to drop out of college and head to New York to pursue show business. Sure, his parents are a little worried. His sister and best pal think he's making a mistake. Still, Michael is ready to follow his dream of becoming an actor, even if he can barely afford rent and knows nothing about the city, including news of the Silk Stocking Killer. Turns out, Michael arrives in the Big Apple in the midst of the biggest manhunt in thirty years. A psychotic murderer is hunting the rich women of the Upper West Side. The victims are found bound by silk stockings with the name “Gabrielle” written in red across their chests. As the fresh-faced New York newbie struggles to find his way, the media can't get enough of the horrors happening to the rich and beautiful. Why does the Silk Stocking Killer target such high-class women, and who is Gabrielle? Soon, Michael gets sucked into the investigation as he plays the role of his life, trying to stop a vicious psychopath before more women end up dead.
Still, Michael is ready to follow his dream of becoming an actor, even if he can barely afford rent and knows nothing about the city, including news of the Silk Stocking Killer. Turns out, Michael arrives in the Big Apple in the midst of the biggest manhunt in thirty years. A psychotic murderer is hunting the rich women of the Upper West Side. The victims are found bound by silk stockings with the name “Gabrielle” written in red across their chests. As the fresh-faced New York newbie struggles to find his way, the media can't get enough of the horrors happening to the rich and beautiful. Why does the Silk Stocking Killer target such high-class women, and who is Gabrielle? Soon, Michael gets sucked into the investigation as he plays the role of his life, trying to stop a vicious psychopath before more women end up dead.
The victims are found bound by silk stockings with the name “Gabrielle” written in red across their chests. As the fresh-faced New York newbie struggles to find his way, the media can't get enough of the horrors happening to the rich and beautiful. Why does the Silk Stocking Killer target such high-class women, and who is Gabrielle? Soon, Michael gets sucked into the investigation as he plays the role of his life, trying to stop a vicious psychopath before more women end up dead.
Why does the Silk Stocking Killer target such high-class women, and who is Gabrielle? Soon, Michael gets sucked into the investigation as he plays the role of his life, trying to stop a vicious psychopath before more women end up dead.
Dangerous Journeys Vols. 1- 4, by Virginia Winters
Anne McPhail, a doctor and amateur genealogist, arrives in the small Vermont town of Culver's Mills, searching for her roots. What she finds, in Murderous Roots, is a body in the town library. She investigates, using her genealogical knowledge, and helps bring an unlikely killer to justice. Along the way, she makes dear friends and meets Thomas Beauchamp, a man who may become something more than a friend to her.
On her return to Culver's Mills, some months later, she stumbles across the body of a naked man who lies in a ditch behind her B&B. In The Facepainter Murders, her own life is threatened before she and investigator Adam Davidson solve the case and unearth a national treasure. Her relationship with Thomas Beauchamp deepens.
Anne travels to Bermuda to visit her sister in No Motive for Murder, witnesses a murder, and is suspected of the murder by a single-minded investigator. In trying to right an ancient wrong and save herself, she foils a plot that threatens the life of the Secretary of State of the United States, earning her the enmity of Colette, a woman who handles killers for an arms cartel. Her life is saved by a mysterious man. Anne also discovers that her new love, Thomas, is or was a CIA agent.
Shattered by her experiences in Bermuda and upset by Thomas's admission, Anne flees to Spain in The Child on the Terrace, in search of peace and reflection, only to be recruited by the man who saved her life in Bermuda to rescue a kidnapped Israeli child. Thomas flies to her aid when she is again in Colette's crosshairs, with two killers on her trail.
Splintered Lives (The Lives Trilogy Book 3), by Joseph Lewis
It began on the Navajo Indian Reservation when a fourteen-year-old boy, George Tokay, witnessed and reported the murder of a Caucasian boy his own age. Kelliher and his team of FBI agents solved that crime, which led to the freedom of thirty boys who were abducted off safe suburban streets and held in captivity, some for more than two years. The FBI thought the boys were safe and so did their parents. After all, arrest warrants were served and members of the human trafficking ring were arrested. That is, except for three dangerous men with absolutely nothing to lose.
These three men arrange for a handsome reward if fourteen-year-old Brett, one of the boys who had been held captive, is killed. Brett has no idea that he, his younger brother, and his friend, another former captive, are targets. But more than anyone else, these three men vow revenge on George, whom they blame for forcing them to run and go into hiding. What was to be a fun-filled vacation with his newly adopted family, turns into a nightmare and ends where it started, back on the Navajo Indian Reservation high up on a mesa held sacred by George and his grandfather.
Outnumbered and outgunned, George is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice, but can he protect his father and his brothers from these dangerous men before that happens? Can he save them without knowing who these men are or where they might be? Or when they might attack? Can George trust his friends whom he reaches out to for help? Is he prepared for a betrayal that leads to his heartbreak and possible death?
Sci-Fi
Tribe of the Tiger, by Joe Dacy
The streets. The ghetto. The inner city. By whatever name one applies, the urban jungle has its own set of rules, rules that make suburban folk shiver.
But what if – over the course of one long, hot summer – those rules supplanted the laws of society? What if our overburdened legal system finally ground to a halt? What would replace “justice?” Would it be – as in this satirical work of fiction: the tribe of the tiger?
Told in a series of intricately woven vignettes, this dark comedy tracks the days of one summer in a large American city. It tells of the rise of Clarence William Tieg, aka, the Tiger, a street-wise gang leader who acquires power by guile… and by default. Through surreal “philosophy” and biting humor, the story entertains the reader by disturbing one of his deepest fears: the terror of uncertainty, of disorder, of chaos.
Given the choice, the novel asks, would you fall under the power of the Tiger if it meant security, survival?
A debt-ridden city mayor, an aging judge, an embattled police detective, a money-grubbing lawyer, a frightened shopkeeper, a disillusioned suburbanite, even a prehistoric cave-dweller, must all make that crucial decision.
Horror
Presence, by Forrest Harper
Hidden in the dense woods of Wayne County are the remains of a once-booming logging town called Mystic.
A place rife with depression, alcoholism, drug abuse, domestic violence….. And Deputy Vince Russo. A place, where a young man by the name of Micah, has no choice but to reluctantly return to a town he despises.
While an unsuspecting murder rocks the small town and the line between life and death narrows for everyone involved, it leaves Vince, with the help of his trusted ally Zeke, no choice but to persist with his quest to become Wayne County's new Sheriff.
Frankie White doesn't think she could ever be in a situation worse than the one Mystic has to offer. She's wrong.
A stroke of luck sees D.E.A agent Michael Leonhart seemingly stumble upon the solution to a thorn in his side. But will he be able to see it through?
Romance
Love Cuffs, by Ashlynn Chase
At thirty-eight, Faith Daniels is a New Jersey cop with superhuman hearing, a controlling mother, and she’s about to marry any sane woman’s last choice of a groom. Right before she walks down the aisle, she hears distant screams. Figuring someone should be rescued, she bolts from her mother’s vision of a royal wedding. But when she busts down the door of a BDSM club, who’ll wind up in handcuffs?
Right before she walks down the aisle, she hears distant screams.
Figuring someone should be rescued, she bolts from her mother’s vision of a royal wedding. But when she busts down the door of a BDSM club, who’ll wind up in handcuffs?
Dorian Markoff is intent on using a hypnotist to wipe the beautiful cop’s mind of his—and his club’s—existence. But the hypnotist is in Vegas so a mad romp ensues, involving lots of hot vanilla-ish sex that turns his BDSM lifestyle upside down.
Neither guesses what an adventure it will be to find the hypnotist, avoid one unintentionally snubbed Dominatrix, and explain it all to Faith’s mother. All while falling in love.
Sex Happens
Dr. Alexandra Rose has everything a woman could want. She’s the wife of a renowned cardiologist, the mother of three adorable sons, and a successful chiropractor. But on their twentieth anniversary, her husband shocks her with his affair. Her life spins out of control, and she faces the other side of marriage where dreams implode and people are not who they seem.
Alexandra wants custody of her children, but so does her husband, and he’ll stop at nothing. Thrust into a nightmare spawned by chilling deception, a custody battle erupts that’s so poisonous it threatens to become murderous.
In this stay-up-all-night portrait of a contemporary family, Alexandra’s bittersweet journey of love, loss, and sexuality leads her to a miraculous discovery of self and power. Sex Happens explores the very essence of all we value as women—marriage, motherhood, sex—and what we’ll do for each.
Short Stories
Insane-O-Tron, by Nick Alverson
Imagine getting a haircut so good that it comes to life! What if your favorite family drama, turned into a raunchy, R rated comedy? Imagine you're a young earwig, about to spend an awesome summer day at the gutter. What if your daughter was dating a duck? Insane-O-Tron will take you on a wild ride through the absurd and surreal, with six of the craziest short stories you'll ever read.
The title story, Insane-O-Tron, is about two best friends, one a man, the other his haircut, thrown into the middle of a plot to stop humans from ever existing. As they battle a lunatic scientist and his fast-food employees, they attempt to travel back in time seventy-two million years in order to save their future.
In The Family Family the former golden boy of TV comedy, Scott Scotterson, is tasked with reviving a failing TV show, by turning it's family-themed plots, from wholesome and boring, into crude, over-the-top insanity.
Memoirs
Unmitigated Gaul, by Suzanne White
This is Suzanne White’s outrageously funny, delightful, audacious autobiography. This is the first volume of her multi-book, autobiographical series. After university, she escapes from one-horse Buffalo, New York and moves to elegant, sexy Paris.Throughout, Suzanne White treats the reader to tales of her personal childhood sexuality, explores the intricacies of doomed love and skillfully shares the sudden freedoms of 1960s Paris. You will thrill to Suzanne’s wild escapades. She barrels through Ibiza’s hippie era then bounces back to swanky parties on the artsy Left Bank of Paris.
Throughout, Suzanne White treats the reader to tales of her personal childhood sexuality, explores the intricacies of doomed love and skillfully shares the sudden freedoms of 1960s Paris. You will thrill to Suzanne’s wild escapades. She barrels through Ibiza’s hippie era then bounces back to swanky parties on the artsy Left Bank of Paris.
This first volume follows Ms. White from age 4 till 26 through many rambunctious shenanigans, amorous capers, and inevitable disappointments.
It’s simple. Suzanne White’s jaunty new book offers her readers a generous slice of pure joy. Thank goodness volume 2 is coming soon. Pick up this brave book. You won't be able to put it down – a true page-turner!
Spiritual
Common Angels, Little Town: A Front Porch View of Heaven, by Dick Dedrick
Donald Brown Miller has a year to live. At least that's what his guardian angel has told him. He'd like to shrug it off as a strange dream but he can't, it seems much too real.
If he does have a guardian angel, why would she want him to know?
Couldn't she do something about it?
There'll be other angels. Old friends and acquaintances, even complete strangers. All have one thing in mind; they want him to die a happy man. They're here to help.
This won't be easy, he has issues. So do they.
Self Help
Earthgame: Hints for Mastering the Greatest Game in the Universe, by Rochelle Bartholemew
Fellow members of the human race, have you forgotten how incredibly powerful and badass you are? To live IS an awfully big adventure, perhaps the biggest adventure in the entire universe. But this adventure, like all great adventures, is challenging, somewhat painful, and at times terrifying! Instead of running out to meet the challenge, many of us find ourselves stuck in a constant state of low-grade fear and anxiety. Great sages and teachers throughout time have had one message to humanity: “fear not.” You were built for this! Earthgame will show you why there is no need to feel afraid. It will uplift you and inspire you to live your days more carefree, childlike, open, and courageously. We’re going to talk fundamentals, theory, and technique. A straight-up ‘how-to’ section on meditation will get you started if you are a beginner and if you are more experienced, help you go deeper than ever thought possible.
We’re going to talk fundamentals, theory, and technique. A straight-up ‘how-to’ section on meditation will get you started if you are a beginner and if you are more experienced, help you go deeper than ever thought possible.
To everyone in the middle of living a life right now, Earthgame is the mid-game pep talk you may be needing!
Let’s go out there balls swinging, like the warriors we are and let come what may.
…I’ll see you on the field.
The Lazy Girl's Guide to Life: 100+ Ways to Hack Your Look, Love, and Work By Doing (Almost) Nothing!, by Jennifer Byrne
This collection of humorous life hacks features 100 easy, low-commitment solutions to the everyday problems of the twenty-something woman.
Do you have a lot to do but can’t seem to bring yourself to do it? The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Life can teach you how to get things done with as little effort as possible. Learn to simplify your beauty routine, keep up with your friendships, hack the dating game, and get by in the corporate world with these easy, low-commitment suggestions. You’ll find over 100 solutions to your most common problems, including:
-Smoothing out frosting on store-bought cupcakes so they look homemade
-Hiding dirty dishes in a soapy sink before company arrives
-Washing and styling bangs (only) to avoid the limp hair look
-Faking it as a food blogger to snag a dinner reservation
-Reading the plot summary online before a book club meeting
With lazy girl–approved hacks that range from humorous advice to quick fixes, you’ll be able to find a temporary solution to simplify your life in no time!
Political
The Fog of Democracy: anti-war fiction in a post-truth world, by James Porteous
Battle-lines have been drawn.
The war is being fought in the rarified air of The Freedom Bunkers, with its deep-state propaganda, internet memes and endless supply of meals, ready-to-eat.
It is also being waged on the barren fields and plains, hidden from TV cameras, op-ed pages and the bluescreens that sometimes still glow in the dark.
The Fog of Democracy is a heartfelt homage to those struggling to survive this absurd world of internet trolls, fake news and climate breakdown.
The Fog of Democracy is anti-war fiction in a post-truth world.
Read it before it is banned. Or tossed in the bonfire.
Fantasy
There Be Demons, by M.K. Theodoratus
After her father remarries, Britt Kelly’s life becomes a cesspit. She lives in her sister’s two-bedroom tenement apartment with her mother, two brothers, and two young nephews. She starts a new high school where she knows no one. And, even when Britt thinks she’s making friends, the church where she studies in is torn down.
And, even when Britt thinks she’s making friends, the church where she studies in is torn down.
Then, the field commanders of The Demon Wars draft her and her friends to aid the four Gargoyle Guardians who fight the demons invading the city of Trebridge. The fate of the city hangs on Britt’s ability to lead and learn enough self-control to manipulate the natural magic of Grace. Meanwhile, she also needs to decide what to do about Cahal, her chemistry lab partner who is as strong as her and may have interests more than just protecting Trebridge.
“There Be Demons” is a continuation of M. K. Theodoratus’ urban fantasy, “Night for the Gargoyles”. It tells the tale of Gillen and his team of Gargoyle Guardians as they defend Trebridge while teaching Britt and her friends – the untrained “reinforcements. Along the way, Gillen and Britt learn things about each other to make them stronger both together and alone.
American Drama
A Consequence of Greed: 30th Anniversary–5th Edition (E Version), by Jack Eadon
When Marcus Ramsay is promoted to fix an ailing company division, he uncovers the details of a decade-old murder. Driven by the spirit of murdered James Post, he uncovers the plot and identifies the co-conspirators. In particular, the sculptress of James Post's murder, Sheila Hickman, recalls orchestrating the crime in psychedelic dreams induced by shock treatments and drug abuse. She is the greediest of them all!
HEAD TRIP: One case of super twins (The American Drama Series Book 1), by Jack Eadon
When two brothers were conceived a month apart –called Superfetation–then were born as twins eight months later, one of them was a full term baby and one of them was a preemie. That anomaly affected their whole lives as one twin struggled to succeed and the other struggled to keep up. Their journey would turn out to be a real head trip, both literally and figuratively, and challenge them to understand themselves and their “twin.” This is the first book—about ENVY—in Jack Eadon's American Drama Series.
