On the Books: Kelly Clarkson gives up Jane Austen's ring; Banned Books Week in full swing

Happy Banned Books Week! To celebrate, we’ve got some recommended banned books, a study on book censorship and a list of most frequently challenged books. In other news, what do Jane Austen and Kelly Clarkson have in common? Why is Paula Deen in today’s news roundup? The answers and more headlines below:

To start you off, here are five banned books Forbes says you should read. [Forbes]

None of those are children’s books, so if you want a dose of nostalgia, look no further than the American Library Association’s annual list of the “most frequently challenged” books, which found that Captain Underpants prompted the most complaints in libraries this year. [ALA]

The ALA, which organizes Banned Books Week, also found that book censors target teen fiction, a genre prone to topics about sex, drugs and suicide. [The Guardian]

Moving on to celebrity news, Kelly Clarkson was asked to leave a ring once owned by Jane Austen behind at the author’s museum. The singer had purchased the ring at an auction, but had no problem with the news, saying “The ring is a beautiful national treasure, and I am happy to know that so many Jane Austen fans will get to see it.” Looks like her life won’t suck without it. [The Guardian]

If you thought Paula Deen couldn’t get any more cartoonish, you thought wrong. The celebrity chef’s life story will be adapted into a comic book biography, Female Force: Paula Deen, by Bluewater Productions. [Forbes]

Meanwhile, Scholastic, the world’s largest publisher and distributor of children’s books, announced it will donate 1 million books to Reach Out and Read, a non-profit established for kids in poverty. [LA Times]

Online, the reading-based social network Goodreads is stirring up some controversy after announcing new reviewing guidelines, which will automatically delete reviews that focus on an author’s behavior rather than a book’s content. [GigaOM]

Eleanor Randolph of the New York Times is writing a biography of Michael Bloomberg that will be published by Simon & Schuster. According to the press release, the book will cover Bloomberg’s career as mayor of New York City for the past 12 years and his legacy as “a public figure of national significance.”

Finally, if you have some time to spare, head over to the New York Times for its profile of Elizabeth “Eat, Pray, Love” Gilbert, a fascinating read on the 44-year-old novelist’s career from being “one of the boys” at magazines like GQ to her image now, as an unwitting self-help guru with legions of female fans. [New York Times]