Time to be daring, folks–we’re smack in the middle of Banned Books Week. Yep, this is the week of the year where you can be seen in public reading the scandalous, the obscene and the politcally incorrect, and be completely justified in doing so.

Ever since 1982 the American Library Association has encouraged local libraries, bookstores and readers to delve into the list of books that, for whatever reason, have been banned in history. Some are outright racist or nasty. Others just offend certain political or social sensibilities–like Tacoma writer Brent Hartinger’s gay teen novel “Geography Club.”

This week, you too can plumb the depths of America’s banned books thanks to King’s Books, who are organizing their usual set of subversive activities. Here’s the low-down:

7 p.m. Sept. 30: Panel discussion on Internet filtering. Precaution or censoring? At King’s Books, 218 St. Helens Avenue.

7 p.m. Oct. 1: Screening of “Kill the Messenger,” documentary on FBI translator Sibel Edmonds who blows the whistle on a colleague and gets gagged for it. Main branch, Tacoma Public Library, 1102 Tacoma Avenue S.

6:30 p.m. Oct. 3: Banned Film Night, featuring “Freaks” and “Fahrenheit 451.” At King’s Books.

11 a.m. Oct.4: Storytime with Banned Books, such as “Little Black Sambo”. At King’s Books.

6:30 p.m. Oct. 9: Intellectual Freedom Panel, with Hartinger and others. At Collins Library, University of Puget Sound, 1500 N. Warner St.

All events are free.

More info? Visit www.kingsbookstore.com/BBW.html