October 6th, 2025
As we begin Banned Books Week today – a celebration of our freedom to read whatever we like – my mind keeps going back to one of FDR’s oft quoted phrases:
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”
Right now, our federal government seems to want us to be afraid. Some of our state governments, too.
In the world of books, we have Florida counties removing books from their libraries before there have been any challenges to them from the community. They are simply removing titles out of fear that there will be some legal action from the state’s Attorney General, or their Board of Education. These removals have been swift, and without any kind of review process.
In states like Utah, South Carolina, and Tennessee they are not even challenging books anymore. They are simply banning them by state mandate – in all of their public schools statewide. New legislation enacted last year allows for this.
In Texas, Tennessee, and Florida, book censorship in schools has reached a new apex, now a routine and expected part of school operations.
If you want to read more about book bans, take a look at this report from the PenAmerica Foundation, who spends a lot of time and resources tracking all of this. They also have a list of the most frequently challenged books of 2024, as reported to them.
These processes are all designed to ignite fear in parents, teachers, and school administrators.
So here in Illinois – where our state legislature has banned the banning of books – we need to remain vigilant that the tides of fear don’t sweep in, as they have elsewhere.
Our freedom to read depends on it.
October 5th – 11th
Banned Books Week
Our annual banned books display has been up for about 6 weeks now. If you are interested in why some books have been challenged around the country, please drop by and pay that display a visit.
On it, we keep books that have been challenged. Inside each volume is a bookmark. The bookmark lists where, when, and why it was challenged or banned – or at least one such instance. There are many books that get challenged repeatedly.
In honor of Banned Books Week, we have some promotions and goodies for our customers. Details below.
Banned books week promotions:
Spend $50 or more and get your choice of one of our Banned Books Week pins. Or a copy of the Constitution.*
Spend $75 or more and get your choice of one of our Banned Books Week pins, as well as a copy of the Constitution.*
after-words Banned Books Club Meeting
6:30pm
after-words Event Space
This quarter, we are reading one of my favorite authors, Anais Nin.
Taken from her original, uncensored journals, Henry and June spans a single year in Nin's life. In that year, she discovers love and torment in one insatiable couple. From the latter half of 1931 to the end of 1932, Nin falls in love with Henry Miller's writing and his wife June's striking beauty.
When June leaves Paris for New York, Henry and Anaïs begin a fiery affair that liberates her sexually and morally but also undermines her marriage and eventually leads her to psychoanalysis. As she grapples with her own conscience, a single question dominates her thoughts: What will happen when June returns to Paris?
These challenges sometimes involved legal battles and questions about its distribution and sale.
If you are interested in attending our meeting, there are no rules. You can read some of the book, all the book, or none of the book. No purchase necessary.
Please join us for our discussion.
October 23rd
after-words event space, 6:30pm
Sponsored by the Speculative Literature Foundation
They haven’t confirmed who the readers will be quite yet, but the link above will allow you to visit their website and look for updates. Or find out more about becoming one of their Rapid-Fire readers.
The Speculative Literature Foundation was launched in January 2004 to promote literary quality in speculative fiction. Their mission is to address historical inequities in access to literary opportunities for marginalized writers.
Speculative fiction is an umbrella term for any literature with a speculative or fantastical element, anything that isn’t strictly realist, such as science fiction, fantasy, folklore, fairy tales, ghost stories, and more.
This is a FREE event and open to the public.
after-words event space, 5:00pm
Join us for our 4th annual
International Poetry Event
Presented by the Poetry Global Network
We are excited to announce that this year, our event is kicking off a whole weekend of events dedicated to bringing poetry to Chicagoans!
There will be 7 poets reading live in our Chicago event space.
We will also include 7 poets from across the world. They will be live streaming from India, the Philippines, the UK, Singapore, Malaysia, as well as across the USA.
There might even be a few slots for Open-Mic readers…
