LAKE ELSINORE, CA — According to sources, customers at a local Barnes & Noble became suspicious when it appeared that a display table marked as Banned Books was full of all-time bestsellers.

Witnesses reported that the store's collection of banned books consisted of such classic works as George Orwell's 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and The Catcher in the Rye. But it also featured "lib slop" like Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale and Toni Morrison's Beloved.

"How can these books be banned? There are so many of them, and this one has a popular TV series on Hulu," noted Juliet Leister as she looked through the collection. "They could have at least put If I Ran the Zoo by Dr. Seuss in here, but that might actually be banned."

A customer by the name of Olivia Anderson asked employees about what she at first assumed was an error. "I can buy these books at an airport bookstore. They're not banned," she said. "Where are, uh, you know, the real banned books?"

"You know, the racist stuff? Wink," she asked.

Barnes & Noble employees offered no comment regarding the fact that their banned books were popular bestsellers widely available throughout the United States wherever books are sold.

Customers were reportedly so confounded by the apparent error that they avoided the table altogether to keep from potentially breaking any laws.

At publishing time, Barnes & Noble had announced a promotion offering a free banned book with the purchase of any other banned book.

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