Indefensible, but I scored 19!

"God forbid that any book should be banned. The practice is as indefensible as infanticide." -- Rebecca West (1928)

It's Banned Books Week. Looking at last decade's Top Hundred Challenged Books, I find that my Banned Book Readership Score is a measley 19.

If you're gonna count, be honest. You can't include the ones where you've just seen the movie, or read the reviews. Just the ones you actually read. Which one will you read next? Maybe I'll add some Stephen King to my bedside table... (See? They go after some great stuff!)

Update: Via Sharon Howard I find that I was looking at last decade's list. Last year's Top Ten is here, and I've only read two of them, which is almost exactly the same ratio that I had with the longer list. I suppose I ought to read some Steinbeck, now that I'm old enough to appreciate it (Grapes of Wrath in HS didn't make an impression, and I grew up on Dust Bowl songs)

Update: Apparently, I'm a lightweight. Also, I'm not getting due credit. Kevin Drum (14) doesn't cite a source, but he is known to be a reader of Cliopatria where I am cited as the source of this meme. Orac (19) cites PZ Meyers (47!) and Majikthise (29), but Myers cites Majikthise, and Majikthise cites Drum, who doesn't cite anyone. I find it interesting that all of them use the same "copy the whole list and highlight" method of The Little Professor (31) who got it from Ralph Luker, but she's not cited by anyone. It could be a matter of spontaneous generation -- neither counting up, nor listing are terribly original, I admit -- but I'm suspicious.

Update: Dave (26) points out that the list is more a reflection of educational anxieties than full-bore censorship. I suppose he's right, but not all slippery slopes are fallacious....