Top 5 Wednesday: Banned Books I've read

In honor of the Banned Books Week (September 27 - October 3, 2015), the topic of today's Top Five is focused on banned books. I have definitely read more than five of those during my lifetime, so narrowing down the list to just five books was pretty hard. I do want to point out that I am not including Harry Potter in this list but I am, however, aware of the fact that The Harry Potter series has been challenged numerous times by various individuals and organizations because of its focus on witchcraft and wizardry.

Top 5 Wednesday was created by GingerReads Lainey and the link to the Goodreads group can be found here.

1. The Holy Bible

This might be the most read book in the world, however, it has also been banned by various governments, regimes and communities. Growing up in the Soviet Union, you could not go to a bookstore and purchase a Bible. Religion of any kind was considered to be "poison for the masses" and the Bible was not read by the population. The Bible is still banned in such countries as North Korea and Saudi Arabia. In many other places it is in very limited circulation and cannot be easily procured or brought into the country. I am yet to read the entire Bible from cover to cover. However, I have read most of it in pieces, and if you are looking for an easy to understand version, I highly recommend J.B. Phillips' The New Testament in Modern English and the New International Version.

2. Animal Farm by George Orwell

Orwell wrote this book during World War II, when criticizing the Soviet Russia (Britain's main ally in the war) was not considered a wise move. He therefore had a lot of trouble getting the book published. He did succeed in publishing it in the West. However, this book would not see the light of day in the Soviet republics for many years. The novel is basically a satire on Stalin's regime. Both Stalin and Trotsky are very recognizable. Orwell's portrayal of the regime is amazingly accurate even though he never actually visited Russia. Animal Farm is still banned in some Muslim countries because of its focus on pigs.

3. "We" by Yevgeniy Zamyatin

I first read this novel in high school, and was completely blown away by it. Written in 1921, it is one of the first books depicting a dystopian society. Zamyatin describes the life in the One State, where everyone lives for the collective good and individual freedom is unheard of. The book warns about the dangers of a totalitarian system and communism. It was banned in the Soviet Union and other countries engaged in "building communism." It is also interesting to note that Orwell (mentioned above) got his inspiration for Animal Farm from Zamyatin's We. I definitely think this book should be read more widely. It is amazing.

4. The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Many of Bulgakov's works were officially banned and unavailable in Stalin's Russia. The author openly criticized the regime and focused on the individual freedom/happiness rather than the collective good. Out of all his works, The Master and Margarita is by far my favorite. It is focused on the eternal questions of good and evil, but also portrays Stalin's Moscow as a surreal place filled with grotesques, vampires, and witches. I am not sure if the book is still banned anywhere but it is a fascinating read.

5. Persepolis by Marjane Satrape

This is a graphic novel depicting life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. I have a full review of this book on by blog here. When I first read it I had no idea it was on the list of banned books. It was definitely considered controversial in the Middle East. However, in 2013-2015,  it was challenged by some schools in the US and even pulled from some classrooms because of graphic violence and language. You can read the full case study on the ban here.

"A Thousand Nights" by E.K. Johnston

I received an advanced reading copy of this title through Netgalley. The book will be released on October 6, 2015. I just recently read The Wrath and the Dawn by Renee Ahdieh, and was really excited to get my hands on another A Thousand and One Nights retelling. Without going into a lengthy comparison of the two, let me just say this: I loved both novels, but they are completely different. In fact. A Thousand Nights is more to my liking. It does not have any of over-used YA tropes and it is not simply a love/adventure story featuring a kickass heroine who saves the world. A Thousand Nights is more of a literary fiction than YA. It will transport you to the pre-Islam Arabia. The way it is focused on women, their place in life and the magic they carry reminded me of The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. At the same time, the book is also reminiscent of Paolo Coelho's writing. Each of his books is not just a story but a parable about a sacred wisdom or mystery of being. A Thousand Nights is otherwordly and mystical; woven equally from beautiful dreams and terrible nightmares. I enjoyed reading it immensely. It is a very different take on the original fairy tale and I highly recommend it. Definitely one of my favorites for the year.

"Armada" by Ernest Cline

Ernest Cline is better known as the author of the bestselling Ready Player One - a novel which combines sci-fi, virtual reality, gaming and a treasure hunt. I have a review of that book on my blog here. Needless to say I loved it and could not say enough good things about it. Armada is Cline's second novel and also features sci-fi gaming. If you like Carl Sagan, classic sci-fi films and aliens, this is a book for you. I would call it a gamer's version of Sagan's Contact, or a cross between The Last Starfighter and Contact. It has all the elements I loved in Cline's first book: endless quips, pop culture references, and fast-paced story telling. I did notice that Armada has not been getting the greatest ratings. But I really enjoyed it, and I hope Cline will write more books.

Top 5 New Releases of This Fall

We are already half way through September, so I thought I would do a post on my top 5 most anticipated releases for this fall. They are listed chronologically by release date.

1. Vengeance Road by Erin Bowman

This book already came out on September 1, 2015. I am really interested in it. Not only does it have a cool cover, but the genre fascinates me. It is supposed to be a YA Western/revenge story. The main protagonist is a strong young female.  I purposely have not looked up a lot of information about the book as I do not want to be spoiled on the plot. However, the entire concept fascinates me and I cannot wait to pick this one up.

2. Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

This is the first book in Bardugo's new series set in the same world as her bestselling Grisha Trilogy. I personally loved the world of Grisha. It is very unique and different from most other high fantasy novels. The world is inspired by Russian/Eastern European culture and has a very interesting magic system. A lot of book reviewers have gotten advanced copies of this book and reviews have been excellent. I do plan on reading it, but will probably hold off until book 2 comes out. I really dislike waiting a year for the next book in a series. Six of Crows is coming out on September 29th.

3. The Sword of Summer (The Gods of Asgard #1) by Rick Riordan

Who writes better middle-grade mythology-based series than Rick Riordan? I don't know of anyone. He certainly did a great job with Percy Jackson and Greek and Roman mythology. Also, who does not like Viking lore and myths? Ever since I first heard about this book almost a year ago, I have been itching to get my hands on it. October 6 is the release date and it cannot get here soon enough.

4. Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith

If you don't know that Robert Galbraith is the pen-name of J.K. Rowling, you've been living under a rock. Also, if you've been reading my blog for a while,  you know that I didn't like Rowling's first non-Harry Potter book Casual Vacancy. I do however enjoy her Cormoran Strike detective stories. They are very well-written, unpredictable and engaging. Cannot wait to read Book 3. It is coming out on October 20th.

5. Winter (Lunar Chronicles #4) by Marissa Meyer

Lunar Chronicles is a sci-fi fairy tale retelling, and is incredibly well-done. I read books 1 and 2 Cinder and Scarlet earlier this year and cannot wait to continue with the series. Winter is the last book in the series and is scheduled for release on November 10th.

"The Invasion of the Tearling" by Erika Johansen

This was probably the most surprising read of the year so far. The Invasion of the Tearling is the second book in a trilogy (or maybe series). The first one was The Queen of the Tearling. It is a fantasy series with a very unique world. The events of the book take place far in the future but the setting is very medieval. The first book did not elaborate much on the history of the Tearling, how it came to be and why the society regressed so much.  This was partially the reason why I was not impressed with the first book and even had doubts about continuing with the series. You can see my lukewarm review of book 1 here.

The second book exceeded all of my expectations and I am now officially a huge fan of the series. Book 2 continues to follow Queen Kelsea as she deals with the Mort invasion of her kingdom and struggles to find a way to keep her people safe. She also starts developing the magic powers we initially got a glimpse of in the first book. She begins having flashbacks to the distant past (which for us is set in the earth's dystopian future). We learn much more about the history of what happened in North America before people fled to the Tearling. I actually found those flashbacks even more interesting than the Tearling's present.

Overall, the story got much more complex in book 2. The world and the characters are much more fleshed out and the history of the world and background of the characters brought much needed depth to the narrative. I also really enjoyed Johansen's writing. It is nuanced without being boring and engaging enough to move the story along at a nice pace. I ranked this installment at 5 out of 5 stars and will definitely be reading book 3.