Nineteen Eighty Four!

If you have yet to read Orwell’s terrifying masterpiece, now’s the perfect time.  Click the cover above to borrow your copy!
Thanks to everyone involved for helping us find “Edinburgh’s very unofficial favourite banned book”!

All week, we have been circulating the entire list of banned books (from this fantastic website) to library staff, and asking them to choose their top 5 books on the list.  From there, this shortlist has been compiled and now we are turning to you to help us decide what Edinburgh’s (very unofficial) favourite banned book is!
View This Poll
Please get involved, share it with friends, and we shall announce the results on Monday!

Every day during Banned Books week we’ve been featuring books which have been censored or banned on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess the identity of our final book from this description:
Of all the books that we’ve featured this week, this is the only one whose controversial nature is acknowledged in the book description on our library catalogue, which states:
Readers of this title are advised that the contents reflect the colonial attitudes prevalent at the time.

Every day during Banned Books week we’re featuring a book that’s been censored somewhere on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess what the book is from our description!
It’s hard to imagine why today’s book would be banned – it’s a children’s classic which has sold over 50 million copies world wide. It’s a story which extols the virtues of kindness and respect. So why was it banned?

Every day during Banned Books week we’re featuring a book that’s been censored somewhere on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess what the book is from our description!
This timeless children’s classic has been banned in many US states for many different reasons. Everything from the supposedly socialist values of its protangonists to its portayal of a ‘good’ witch has given offence at one time or another.
If only these censors had a heart… can you guess what today’s book is?

Every day during Banned Books week we’re featuring a book that’s been censored somewhere on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess what the book is from our description!
Today’s book tops lots of ‘favourite books of all time’ lists but this hasn’t stopped it being condemned as a “filthy, trashy novel”.
It has been charged with containing ’racial slurs’ and its treatment of ’adult themes such as sexual intercourse, rape, and incest’ has also led to censure.

Every day during Banned Books week we’re featuring a book that’s been censored somewhere on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess what the book is from our description!
A satire on the eighties yuppie lifestyle, today’s book was dropped by its original publishers and the New York Times urged people not to buy it because of its extreme violence. In Germany, Australia and New Zealand it was shrink wrapped and sold to over 18′s only.

Every day during Banned Books week we’re featuring a book that’s been censored somewhere on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess what the book is from our description!
Today’s book has become a hit almost everywhere. One place is hasn’t been a hit is Iran, where it is banned.
A coming-of–age story about the author’s childhood and adolescence in Tehran and Vienna, it was adapted into an acclaimed animated film which was nominated for a 2008 Oscar – can you guess what it is?

This week is Banned Books week so over the next few days we’ll be featuring books which have been banned somewhere or other on social, sexual, religious or moral grounds.
See if you can guess the books from our descriptions!
Today’s book was written by the youngest author we’re featuring this week, and was originally published midway through the last century.

“The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world its own shame” – Oscar Wilde.
What gives anyone the right to ban books?  The very notion of banning books equates to the censorship of ideas, and thus thought.