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Yes, the annual banned books list is essentially a list of books favored by the averaged ideology of education majors, librarians, and journalists. There is nev

Yes, the annual banned books list is essentially a list of books favored by the averaged ideology of education majors, librarians, and journalists. There is never anything actually suppressed or controversial on the list. I'm not even arguing that truly censored books do have intrinsic merit, but the banned books list is just a list of books certain people want you to think are edgy and that you should read to advance their ideology. It's marketing. Amazon and other bookstores are actually banning books, often in collaboration with government funded NGOs. 95% of these books are actual trash fires, sure, but those are banned books. On top of that, public libraries are performing slow, partly ideological purges of existing collections - there's probably more books being permanently destroyed/lost today than in the history of mankind.

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kiba 5y ago
These listed books are nonetheless targeted. Yes, they are basically books people want to read, but busybodies complain about these books, not the garbage fire of books that nobody will ever bother reading.
- Amezarak 5y ago
  There are plenty of busybodies running the school libraries ensuring books people would read never get bought and purging collections of books now deemed heretical. There are plenty of busybodies lobbying bookstores to stop selling books. These books don't, or rarely, make banned book lists. It's done quietly out and out of the public view. The books that get shilled as 'banned books' are all largely (not wholly) books agreeable to a particular class of people. For example, a very popular children's author who passed away some time ago is completely banned from my library system for ideological reasons.
  - mcphage 5y ago
    > For example, a very popular children's author who passed away some time ago is completely banned from my library system for ideological reasons. Which author, and which library system?
  - camjohnson26 5y ago
    Yeah seems like this should have made the list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/03/04/dr-seuss-books-sales-spike-after-some-banned-racist-imagery/6917679002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/03/0...

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kiba 5y ago

These listed books are nonetheless targeted. Yes, they are basically books people want to read, but busybodies complain about these books, not the garbage fire of books that nobody will ever bother reading.

Amezarak 5y ago
There are plenty of busybodies running the school libraries ensuring books people would read never get bought and purging collections of books now deemed heretical. There are plenty of busybodies lobbying bookstores to stop selling books. These books don't, or rarely, make banned book lists. It's done quietly out and out of the public view. The books that get shilled as 'banned books' are all largely (not wholly) books agreeable to a particular class of people. For example, a very popular children's author who passed away some time ago is completely banned from my library system for ideological reasons.
- mcphage 5y ago
  > For example, a very popular children's author who passed away some time ago is completely banned from my library system for ideological reasons. Which author, and which library system?
- camjohnson26 5y ago
  Yeah seems like this should have made the list. https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/03/04/dr-seuss-books-sales-spike-after-some-banned-racist-imagery/6917679002/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/books/2021/03/0...