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I wouldn't mind seeing a bit of informational text on books. But I'd hesitate to call it a 'warning' or 'rating'. Both of those have some fairly negative connotations, and have been used as such in this discussion.
There are a number of internet forums that do something more constructive - they 'tag' articles and topics. A tag can be used either to search and find a topic, or to avoid it. It's not a judgement, it's information.
To those that don't want this kind of information - to some degree it's already there. When you see a cover blurb telling you the book in your hands is the latest 'sexy, erotic thriller' from Joe Author, it's either going to make you put the book down because erotic thrillers aren't your thing or it'll make you want to read it. It doesn't seem like an informational tag separate from the marketing speak would detract much from the book. I don't like ISBN bar codes obscuring the cover art, but I've learned that they aren't relevant to me and I can safely ignore them.
As far as censorship and the kids goes - it's a parent's job to censor what a child sees/hears/reads, based on the age/experience/maturity of the child and the values the parent hopes to instill. I don't have the time to read every book that my kids bring home (although I did read the Twilight series when I noticed that my 13 year old daughter was completely enamored with it), but I do take a look at what they bring home from the library. An informational tag would be useful. If a child brought home a book with sexual content, I might even *gasp* read it so I could discuss the content with my child. A book like Forever (a Judy Blume book about teenage sexuality) has it's place and would probably be a great basis for some serious conversation with a teenager.
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