Top Ten Lists

September 21-27 is Banned Books Week, celebrating the freedom to read whatever you damn well please. Naturally, we at Readers Lane are big fans of things that other people find offensive, so we’ve put together a list of our favorite books that have been challenged in school libraries, classrooms, college classes, and public libraries. (A challenge is defined as “a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed because of content or appropriateness.”) Check the most frequently challenged books of the 21st century to see if your favorite controversial books made the list! Slaughterhouse-Five [...]

Northwest Is Best It’s a little-known fact that mixing rainwater and single-origin fair-trade coffee creates a potent creativity potion. I mean, that must be the reason that the Pacific Northwest is so rich in awesome comics and graphic novels! Here are just a few of my favorites, ranging from personal memoirs to sci-fi to noir thrillers. Stumptown Author: Greg Rucka I loved the first two volumes of crime-noir series Stumptown, penned by Portland-based author Greg Rucka. Dex Parios (short for “Dexedrine,” yikes) is an ace private investigator and the can’t-win-for-losing owner of Stumptown Investigations. Unfortunately, her gambling habit has gotten [...]