Banned Books Week 2024 began yesterday and runs through next Saturday, September 28. Sadly, the event is all the more important as waves of book bannings continue in many parts of the country. As Banned Books Week notes, attempts to censor books rose 65% in 2023 compared to 2022, reaching the highest level ever tracked by the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom. The Office documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship in 2023, largely due to organized campaigns that targeted multiple titles at a time. Some 47% of those titles represented the voices and experiences of LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC individuals.

In addition, in a preliminary report on the subject released today, PEN America found that more than 10,000 books were banned in public schools during the 2023-2024 school year, nearly triple the previous year. About 8,000 book bans were recorded in Florida and Iowa, largely because of state laws. And newly enacted laws likely will have similar effects in Utah, South Carolina, and Tennessee.

Continuing the trend of targeting books with "diverse perspectives, book bans from the 2023-2024 school year overwhelmingly featured stories with people or characters of color and/or LGBTQ+ people."

The report added: "Coordinated campaigns by a vocal minority of groups and individual actors place undue pressure on school boards and districts, resulting in a chilled atmosphere of overly cautious decision-making regarding the accessibility of books in public school libraries. Attacks on literature in schools persist despite the unpopularity of 'parent's rights' groups and polls that show broad opposition to school book bans."

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Ava DuVernay

The honorary chair of Banned Books Week this year is Ava DuVernay, writer, director, and producer of Selma, 13th, Queen Sugar, and When They See Us. She has also directed two films inspired by frequently banned books: A Wrinkle in Time, based on the book by Madeleine L'Engle, and Origin, about the life of Isabel Wilkerson, author of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

DuVernay said, "I believe that censorship is the enemy of freedom. By banning books, we deny ourselves the opportunity to learn from the past and to envision a braver future. Books have the power to open minds and build bridges. This is why certain forces do not want the masses to engage with books. They fear progress and growth in new, bold directions. For this reason, Banned Books Week is vitally important. It is a celebration of our right to access varied voices and to engage with ideas that challenge and champion us. I am honored to be selected as honorary chair of Banned Book Week for this election year, and I stand with my fellow readers, fellow writers and fellow advocates around the world who refuse to let voices be silenced."

Julia Garnett

Banned Books Week's youth honorary chair this year is Julia Garnett, a student activist who fought book bans in her home state of Tennessee. In her school district, Garnett helped to defend challenged books by speaking out at school board meetings and successfully advocated to participate on her high school's book review committee. She was honored for her advocacy for the freedom to read in 2023 by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden during a ceremony at the White House. Garnett is also a leader in the National Coalition Against Censorship's Student Advocates for Speech program, educating other students about advocacy.

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Banned Books Week culminates on Saturday, September 28, with Let Freedom Read Day, which will focus on voting, from registering to vote and understanding what's on the ballot to making sure communities are informed about their rights. Everyone is encouraged to do at least one thing on September 28 to fight censorship. Suggestions and more information are available online.

Among the many sponsors of Banned Books Week are the ABA's American Booksellers for Free Expression, the American Library Association, Association of University Presses, the Authors Guild, the Children's Book Council, the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, the Freedom to Read Foundation, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and PEN America. The group also receives major support from Penguin Random House. Thanks to all of them for doing this important work!

Bookstores are marking Banned Books Week with displays, lists of banned titles, and in other ways.

Banned books were the focus of a pop-up shop event last Thursday in Nashville, Tenn. Ciona Rouse, owner of Bard's Towne Books & Bourbon, hosted the event at Nashville's Blue Room, affiliated with Third Man Books and Third Man Records.

Some 60 people attended the event, where special guests from the community read excerpts from banned books, including Toni Morrison's Beloved. There was also live music, giveaways, and a selection of banned books for sale.

On Instagram on Friday, Rouse posted: "Last night was SO good for my soul. Good thing we WILL do it again. Watch this space for more from Bard's Towne Books & Bourbon--a poetry-centric bookstore & bourbon-lovin' bar committed to liberation--popping up around Nashville! 💙"

Incidentally, Rouse is one of the participants in the inaugural BincTank mentorship program. This was her first pop-up for the bookseller, and she plans to open a bricks-and-mortar location eventually.

Books Are Magic, Brooklyn, N.Y., is putting on two events related to Banned Books Week. On Thursday at 4 p.m., it's hosting "Banned Books Week: Books Unbanned Storytime," in collaboration with the Carroll Gardens Public Library, and at 6 p.m. on Thursday, it's presenting "Banned Books Week: Fighting Book Bans with Banned Authors!" at the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. The second panel features Maureen Johnson, Frederick T. Joseph, Niña Mata, Eliot Schrefer, and is moderated by Philomena Polefrone, advocacy associate manager at the American Booksellers Association.

Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza in Albany, N.Y., labeled books in plain brown wrappers with "reasons" titles were banned or challenged.

At Gramercy Books, Bexley, Ohio, more than 50 banned titles will be 20% off, in-store and online.

Books Inc., with 11 stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, is highlighting the most banned books of the year, staff favorite banned books, and bargain banned books. It's also urging customers to support its nonprofit Reading Bridge, which works with schools, community groups, and parents to "ensure students across the San Francisco Bay Area can choose from new, diverse, and inclusive books regardless of socio-economic status."

The Bookstore Plus, Lake Placid, N.Y., wrote to customers, in part, "With censorship on the rise, The Bookstore Plus is proud to offer ALL books to our readers. We feel strongly that our customers should be able to decide what they want to read and not let others limit their choices. If we don't have the book you are looking for we are happy to order it. No questions asked and we never share your personal information."

Powell's Books, Portland, Ore., is donating 20% of sales from its banned books list to American Booksellers for Free Expression. The store explained: "To us, the effort to ban a book is a symptom of, among other things, fear--not of the book but of the ideas within it. Yet, each of us generally has the confidence in our own judgment to know that a book filled with ideas we discount or despise will not magically cause us to embrace these ideas and reject our values. The crucial step is to grant that same confidence to everyone in our community--not to assume they will arrive at the same conclusions and keep the same values as you, but that they have the right to reach their own conclusions and keep their own values.

"Are there books that are just 'bad'? Absolutely. Can we all agree on which ones they are? Not so much. And even if universal accord were possible, we maintain that vile things love the dark but die when exposed to the powerful light of your curious, independent mind.

"And, every now and then, you'll read a book that is so well-reasoned and beautifully argued that you find yourself willing--happy even--to change your mind and expand your view. That's beautiful. That's life. Don't ban that. Embrace it."

Amanda Hurley of Tombolo Books, St. Petersburg, Fla., added perspective to the current wave of book bannings, writing in the store's newsletter: "When I first became a bookseller in 2008, we would celebrate Banned Books Week and customers would inevitably exclaim 'banned books?!! Are people actually still banning books?' The past few years, however, no one has asked that question. Rather, the conversation has switched to 'what can we do about all the book banning?'

"Banned Books Week is one week a year that we get to call attention to the injustices and dangers of book banning, and to our freedom to read and share books--and we encourage you to celebrate that this week and every day!"

For this year's Banned Books Week, the American Booksellers Association and its American Booksellers for Free Expression initiative are emphasizing the theme "Liberate Banned Books" and using the hashtag #SetBooksFree. The theme is featured in ABA Banned Books Week kits, which include posters and stickers, caution tape, buttons, and bookmarks; social media and website assets; T-shirts, hoodies, tank tops; and more.

"Resisting book bans is about liberation," the ABA said. "It's about liberation for schools and libraries from the rash of book challenges that has exploded since 2021. It means liberating the more than 4,240 titles that have been challenged since 2021. It entails liberation for literary institutions who carry books that represent marginalized groups, especially books by people of color and LGBTQ+ people that have been disproportionately censored by book bans. And of course, it's about liberation for independent bookstores, who offer their communities access to diverse literature and for that have been targeted in book ban legislation. Literature and liberation are inseparable."

At Cavalier House Books, Denham Springs, La.

Last week, the ABA published The ABA Right to Read Handbook: Fighting Book Bans and Why It Matters, which is designed for book readers, "the potential advocate who may only have a few hours to spare each month. It identifies the causes, actors, motivations, and strategies of groups attempting to ban books across the country. It offers step-by-step guides for voting in a school board election, understanding a school board's policies, contacting elected officials, and more. It features interviews with free expression advocates and state-by-state profiles of local advocacy organizations. Finally, the content is organized into a playbook that will allow concerned readers to begin defending the right to read as soon as book bans arrive in their community."

This year the ABA is again holding a Banned Books Week Display Instagram contest, promoting "attractive and attention-grabbing displays for customers to enjoy." Participants have "a chance to win up to $500 ($100 each for contributing team members and the rest in pizza party money; distributed as $100 gift cards). Runners-up will receive a print copy of The ABA Right to Read Handbook."

Penguin Random House is continuing its efforts to combat book bannings in a variety of ways, including through lawsuits, public campaigns (see story on the Banned Wagon below), and its Intellectual Freedom Taskforce. The Taskforce is expanding its efforts with the appointment of Rosalie (Rosie) Stewart to the newly created position of senior manager, public policy, effective today.

Rosie Stewart

According to Skip Dye, senior v-p, library sales and digital strategy, senior v-p, sales operations, and chair of the Taskforce, Stewart will "focus on broadening our participation in state and federal legislative efforts, building coalitions, and grassroots organizing."

Most recently, Stewart was manager of grassroots communications for the American Library Association's Public Policy and Advocacy Office, managing the OneClickPolitics program and Congressional Fly-In events. Earlier, she spearheaded the inaugural funding cycle of a grant program for Interior Design focused on membership expansion and contract lobbying projects. She also co-founded MOVE Texas (Mobilize, Organize, Vote, Empower), an organization focused on empowering underrepresented youth communities through civic engagement, issue advocacy, and leadership development.

Dye said, "A skilled grassroots organizer with a passion for youth, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and championing the freedom to read, Rosie has extensive experience working at the federal, state, and local levels on issues including appropriations, intellectual freedom, and voting access."

For the second year in a row, the Banned Wagon--powered by Penguin Random House and in partnership with Unite Against Book Bans (UUAB), Little Free Library, and First Book--is visiting bookstores and libraries during Banned Books Week--and beyond--in areas in the South and Midwest where books have been banned and censored. This year the Banned Wagon is visiting new cities and more than doubling the number of stops to nine from four last year. The tour started yesterday and runs until October 15.

During the tour, the Banned Wagon will feature a selection of 20 books that are currently being banned and challenged across the country and will distribute free copies (while supplies last) to event attendees in each city. Attendees will also receive resources from UABB about how to take action to protect the right to read in their communities.

For those not on the tour route, the Banned Wagon is expanding its reach through its Save Our Stories donation initiative. With each scan of the QR code featured on the outside of the wagon and within related materials, a book will be donated to a community in need through a partnership with First Book. Hundreds of bookstores and libraries across the country will also receive Save Our Stories fliers and resources from UABB via Banned Book Action Boxes. In addition, the Banned Wagon has again partnered with Little Free Library to drop banned books at more than 50 Little Free Libraries along the tour route. In these ways, the Banned Wagon will make an estimated 20,000 book donations to communities across the country. 

Alyssa Taylor, director of brand marketing at PRH, said, "We're excited to hit the road again with the Banned Wagon and team up with Unite Against Book Bans, Little Free Library, First Book and our bookstore and library partners to reach some of the communities most impacted by this critical issue and get more books into the hands of readers of all ages. Books help us understand ourselves and the world around us. We all deserve the opportunity to read, think, and learn freely.” 

The Banned Wagon started yesterday at Beaverdale Books in Des Moines, Iowa. Then tomorrow, Tuesday, it stops at the Milwaukee Central Library; moves on to the Woodson Regional branch of the Chicago Public Library on Friday; and to 4 Kids Books & Toys, Zionsville, Ind., on Sunday. Next week, the Banned Wagon visits the Lakewood Public Library in Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday, and Fountain Bookstore, Richmond, Va., on Saturday, October 5. The following weeks, it will visit the Country Bookshop, Southern Pines, N.C., on Tuesday, October 8; the Lynx Books, in Gainesville, Fla., on Friday, October 11; and Black Pearl Books, Austin, Tex., on Tuesday, October 15.

Housing Works Bookstore in New York City hosted the sold-out launch of Oliver Radclyffe’s memoir Frighten the Horses (Roxane Gay Books), with books sold by queer indie pop-up Hive Mind Books. Pictured: (l.-r.) Kate Bornstein, Oliver Radclyffe, Hugh Ryan.  

Corey Mesler

Celebrating Burke's Book Store co-owner and author Corey Mesler's 50th anniversary as a bookseller and writer, the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn., offered a "picture gallery" of Mesler and the bookstore, which will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year.

Mesler's most recent book, The World Is Neither Stacked for You nor Against You: Selected Stories, was published by the University of West Alabama's Livingston Press this summer.

Yesterday's issue of Hut's Place, the weekly newsletter by Hut Landon, bookseller and former executive director of the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (now part of the California Independent Booksellers Alliance), focuses on two "new novels from literary titans" who "examine millennial angst and ocean colonization": Intermezzo by Sally Rooney and Playground by Richard Powers. A third title highlighted is The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave, in which "siblings seek answers about their father's puzzling and suspicious death."

Laura Di Giovine has been promoted to associate director of publicity at Page One Media. She was previously publicity manager.

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Anika Bates has been promoted to senior marketing manager at Berkley.

The Naming Song by Jedediah Berry (Tor Books).

Today:
Good Morning America: Nicholas Sparks, author of Counting Miracles: A Novel (Random House, $30, 9780593449592).

CBS Mornings: Law Roach, author of How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from the World's Only Image Architect (Abrams Image, $28, 9781419768217).

Late Night with Seth Meyers: Leanne Morgan, author of What in the World?!: A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings (Convergent Books, $27, 9780593594391).

Tomorrow:
Good Morning America: Aaron Zebley and Andrew Goldstein, authors of Interference: The Inside Story of Trump, Russia, and the Mueller Investigation (Simon & Schuster, $28.99, 9781668063743).

Also on GMA: Caroline Manzo, author of Food & Other Things I Love: More than 100 Italian American Recipes from My Family to Yours (Chronicle, $29.95, 9781797225258).

Also on GMA: Uzo Aduba, author of The Road Is Good: How a Mother's Strength Became a Daughter's Purpose (Viking, $30, 9780593299128). She will also appear on the View.

Today Show: Ms. Rachel, author of Ms. Rachel and the Special Surprise (Random House Books for Young Readers, $19.99, 9780593811252).

The View: Michael Eric Dyson, author of Represent: The Unfinished Fight for the Vote (Little, Brown, $19.99, 9780759557062).

Sherri Shepherd Show: Eve, author of Who's That Girl?: A Memoir (Hanover Square Press, $29.99, 9781335081155).

Jimmy Kimmel Live: Josh Gad, author of PictureFace Lizzy (Putnam, $19.99, 9780593463123).

Filmax, the Spanish film production company and distributor, has acquired international sales rights to Time of Silence and Destruction, "a bio-doc feature about Luis Martín-Santos who, along with great friend Juan Benet, revolutionized the Spanish novel, as James Joyce and William Faulkner had achieved decades before outside Spain," Variety reported. 

Led by Martín-Santos' daughter Rocío and son Luis, Time of Silence and Destruction "sees them open boxes of Martín-Santos' unpublished papers as they talk to the few surviving friends and colleagues, situating Martín-Santos in his context," Variety added.

Directed by Joan López Lloret (Hermanos Oligor) and produced by Marta Esteban's Imposible Films in co-production with public broadcaster RTVE, the film had its world premier September 21 at the San Sebastián Festival. 

"Time of Silence and Destruction is the story of the great post-war writer, Luis Martín-Santos," Esteban said. "The film aims to expose new generations to his literary work, while offering previously unseen writings to those who thought they already knew him. Martín-Santos is an endless source of ideas which still shake up consciences and provoke with their intelligence today."

Ivan Díaz, Filmax head of international, commented: "It's funny how life turns out sometimes. Martín-Santos just so happens to be a writer I'm very fond of because he wrote a book that my late grandfather used to force me to read.... So I am obviously thrilled to now be selling a documentary about him. As a writer, Martín-Santos has become a legendary figure in the world of Spanish literature and it really is such a shame that we weren't able to enjoy his talent for longer." 

Saltblood by Francesca de Tores has won the 2024 Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, Best Published Novel, sponsored by the Wilbur & Niso Smith Foundation and honoring "the best adventure writing today."

Organizers said Saltblood "charts the life of Mary Read, one of the few recorded female pirates during the 1700s 'Golden Age of Piracy,' fictionalising her story and filling in the many gaps left by minimal historical reports."

Prize founder Niso Smith commented: "De Tores has created a protagonist defiant of convention; a woman who, despite her start in life, transforms and learns to truly know herself. Saltblood is a triumph of imagination--breathtaking and boundless."

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The shortlist has been released for the $5,000 2024 Crook's Corner Book Prize, honoring "the best debut novel set in the American South." The winner will be announced in January. The shortlist:

Banyan Moon by Thao Thai (Mariner Books). Organizers wrote: "Spanning decades and continents, from 1960s Vietnam to the wild swamplands of the Florida coast, Banyan Moon is a stunning and deeply moving story of mothers and daughters, the things we inherit, and the lives we choose to make out of that inheritance."

Coleman Hill by Kim Foote (SJP Lit). "Coleman Hill is the exhilarating story of two American families whose fates become intertwined in the wake of the Great Migration. Braiding fact and fiction, it is a remarkable, character-rich tour de force exploring the ties that bind three generations."

Fireworks Every Night by Beth Raymer (Random House). "This tumultuous coming-of-age novel features an unforgettable protagonist, a character who narrates her life story with dark comedy and compassion for her family, even as they fail her. Those failures are the backbone of this surprisingly poignant story about hard bargains, family loyalties, and the grit of a woman determined to create a better life for herself than the one she was born into."

Megan Tady's breezy, insightful sophomore novel, Bluebird Day, combines the cozy charm of a snowed-in Alpine ski town with the complexities of a fraught mother-daughter relationship.

Retired champion skier Claudine Potts and her daughter, Wylie, haven't spoken much since Wylie declined to follow in her mother's footsteps, abruptly pulling out of competitive skiing to enroll at art school. But when Wylie's partner winds up injured right before the fitness competition they're scheduled to attend in Berlin, Wylie grits her teeth and calls her mom for help. Surprising them both, Claudine agrees to be Wylie's teammate. But for reasons of her own, she insists they stop first in Zermatt, Switzerland. Squeezed into bunk beds in a bare-bones hostel within view of the Matterhorn (a reminder of the life both women have left behind), Claudine and Wylie are forced to face difficult truths about themselves and each other. When an avalanche leaves them stranded for days, they must decide whether to risk life and limb to get to Berlin--or take the much greater emotional risk of mending their relationship.

Tady (Super Bloom) alternates between the Potts women's perspectives, vividly portraying Claudine's glittering career and the relentless coaching she received from her elite skier father. Along with the accolades, Tady shows the costs of Claudine's achievements, including her estrangement from her former best friend and the secrets she's carried for years, like the identity of Wylie's father. Tady also portrays Wylie's drive to please her mother, the relentless anxiety that eventually drove her off the slopes, and her difficulty in directing her own life post-skiing. When Wylie meets Calvin, a charming singer touring Europe with his a cappella group, she wonders what life might look like if it included fun occasionally. While Wylie's love life isn't the focus of the novel, Tady gives her (and readers) a few postcard-worthy scenes: sampling Swiss pastries, ice skating with new friends, and strolling the streets of Zermatt with stars in her eyes. Both women also befriend--or are befriended by--a pair of lesbians: fellow hostel guests who provide a little tough love, sharp insight, and bright pink hair dye when it's needed most.

Though the snow-globe vibes are delightful, Tady's narrative shines in its nuanced portrayal of mother-daughter dynamics. As the snow swirls down in Zermatt, Claudine and Wylie must navigate terrain trickier than any black diamond slope: the tension between deep love and raw ambition, and the treacherous patches of past mistakes. Though the Matterhorn holds no magical solutions, the Potts women may just emerge from this avalanche stronger--and closer--than they were before. --Katie Noah Gibson, blogger at Cakes, Tea and Dreams

Shelf Talker: Megan Tady's breezy, insightful sophomore novel explores the complex relationship of a mother-daughter pair of elite skiers who get snowed into a Swiss alpine town.