The Banned Books Book Club Novels & Stories

She tuned him out completely, eyes fixed on the wall clock, counting down the seconds until she could leave. When he paused for breath, she stood abruptly. The principal blinked, thrown off. “Sit back down, young lady. I’m not finished,” he declared and continued. "As I was saying… you are hereby banned from the library for the remainder of your time at this institution. Permanently. If you must read or need books for your coursework, you will have to rent them privately and use them in your hostel only. No exceptions. Do you understand the severity of this consequence?”

The invitation arrives via email. It's from Lisette. The subject line says: "Book Club - You Should Come." And the message is typical Lisette. Direct. No preamble. Just: "I started a book club. First month we're reading your book. You should come read to us." I call her immediately. "You started a book club and didn't tell me?" I ask. "I'm telling you now. It's six women. We meet once a month. This month we're reading your book because it's important and it's brilliant and I want to talk about it with people who will actually understand why it matters."

I didn’t even like books. Maybe that should’ve been my first clue. But after getting dumped by my ex—over text, mind you—I needed something, anything, to take my mind off it. That’s how I found myself in this dimly lit club, clutching a glossy pamphlet I barely skimmed before showing up. The Book Club: Where Your Desires Come Alive.

They light up. Actually light up. Like humor is bouncing around inside them. “Am I right?” I ask. “Or at least close?” He shakes his head slowly. “Not even remotely.” “Fine,” I say. “Educate me. What’s a book ban?” He sighs dramatically, but his eyes are still sparkling. “It’s when a responsible citizen decides to stop buying books for a while,” he explains, “because their bank account is begging for mercy.” “Oh,” I say slowly, glancing at the stack in his arms.

"Book club." "Where?" "The community center on Maple Street." I groaned. "You've got to be kidding me." "I'm not." "Dean, I'm not interested in sitting around with a bunch of strangers talking about books I haven't read." "Then maybe you should have read them," he countered, still not looking at me. I wanted to reach forward and smack the phone out of his hand. Instead, I just sank lower in my seat and glared at the back of his head.

Rachel asked, seeing how dusty the book was. "I don't," he replied. "And why is that?" She asked. "The books here are powerful, they were some that can drag the life out of you, there are some that can make the reader run mad, there are some that gives the reader a strange feel, there are some that kills the reader after three days of reading, they are some that can possess the minds of the readers," he explained. "Only the heir is allowed to know which book is which and after my father watched his subject run mad and die mysteriously because they disobeyed his order of opening the book rather than just cleaning it, he shut the library and I did the same," he went on.

Bren laughed and cleared a space for Ava to take a seat, “Sometimes it doesn’t feel too far off, but most of these books aren’t for my classes. They’re for you?” “For me?” Ava cast a dubious glance at the pile, “Oh, Bren. That’s sweet of you to think of me, but I just don’t know how much I’ll really get out of…Democracy and the Cartelization of Political Parties.” Bren shot her a look of her own and set that particular book aside, “That one actually is for one of my classes. But never mind that it’s not about the books, it’s about what’s in them.” “What did you find?”

And no knights. I started roaming around. Obviously, the first thing I went to were the shelves that occupied a whole wall. I started reading the titles of the book, and all of it was unrelated to the convent. I pulled one which was entitled The Art of War, there was no X- mark on its cover, and it was not dusty. Is she reading banned books too?

"You stop reading because it feels like work instead of escape." "Exactly," I said, relieved that he got it without me having to explain. "I keep rereading the same pages and realizing I don't remember anything I just read." He smiled. "That's why book club helps. Other people keep you accountable. I’m part of a book club actually that started out in January. It’s just a dozen people, and we read different genres every week. But it’s so nice, and it helps to keep me accountable because without it, I won’t even read anything."

"It would have been a lot better if you had been here. So, we were hoping maybe you could guide us on our next book. You recommend it, then we'll read it." It felt like Ella was doing her best to include me in the group, and I felt grateful for her effort. "Do you have any recommendations?" One of the young wives asked. "Well, I do, actually." I said, my lips stretching into a smile. Having someone to talk to about the books you love is a dream of a reader, and being a part of a book club has always been a dream of mine. I wasn't allowed to join any physical book clubs because my father refused to let me, claiming that it was an unnecessary thing to risk my safety.