11 Books That Were Banned For Ridiculous Reasons
(via Mental Floss) Banning books is a tale as old as time: For example, according to legend, in 213 BCE Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi burned many of the books (and records) in his kingdom so his reign couldn’t be compared with those of the past. More recently, writers like Ovid and Sir Walter Raleigh had to deal with books being banned or burned because they rubbed people the wrong way.
Book banning isn’t a thing of the past, either; in fact, each year the ALA publishes a list of banned and challenged books. And while some may be banned with good intentions—because the books perpetuate stereotypes or sexism, for example—some are challenged or banned for absurd reasons.
