Musing Mondays is a weekly meme that asks you to choose one of the following prompts to answer:

I’m currently reading…
Up next I think I’ll read…
I bought the following book(s) in the past week…
I’m super excited to tell you about (book/author/bookish-news)…
I’m really upset by (book/author/bookish-news)…
I can’t wait to get a copy of…
I wish I could read ___, but…
I blogged about ____ this past week…

Random Question: Do you think books by controversial people should be read or not?

This question came up when I was having a chat with a friend about Hitler’s book. I will preface, though I shouldn’t have to, I in no way agree with Hitler, the man was evil to the core and beyond scary. With that said, I have actually read his book.I don’t tend to broadcast the fact and rarely talk about it because people pass judgement when they hear you have. So do you think books like Mein Kampf or OJ Simpsons I did it should be read? I personally think that yes, we should read them if inclined, not to celebrate them, but to try and find some kind of understanding (although of course there isn’t always going to be that) of what made this person tick. However, there is also a part of me that knows books have power and some who would read these books will use them to justify their own acts so wants to say burn them all. Realistically though any book at all can be turned into something of a rally cry or justification for horrible acts. The Catcher and the Rye anyone? So what do you think?