25 Banned Books

 

In honor of Banned Books Week, I've rounded up most of the banned books that occupy space on my bookshelves.  As I was gathering these books, I didn't even realize most of them were banned at one point or another.  I'm a big believer that reading builds empathy so it's sad and scary to think about how many great empathy building books are banned or are challenged.

You may be wondering, like I was, what the difference is between a banned book and a challenged book.  Here's what I've learned:

    Challenged Books:  A challenge is an attempt to remove or restrict materials.

    Banned Books:  A banning is an actual removal of materials.

Books are banned or challenged for all kinds of reasons, including: racial issues, blasphemous dialog, violence, sexuality, encouragement of damaging lifestyles, political bias, witchcraft, religious affiliation, etc.  It sounds like a book can be banned or challenged for any reason under the sun, as long as someone feels passionately about it.  Unfortunately, censorship is a reality; however, despite the bannings and challenges, we are lucky many works have survived throughout the years.

Here are 25 banned books, in no specific order:

1. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
2. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
3. 1984 by George Orwell
4. The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapl
5. Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
6. The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood
7. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
8. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
9. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
10. I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
11. The Hunger Games (series) by Suzanne Collins
12. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
13. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
14. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
15. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
16. The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
17. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
18. Beloved by Toni Morrison
19. Bless Me, Ultima by Rudolfo Anaya
20. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
21. Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
22. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
23. Lord of the Flies by William Golding
24. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
25. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

What is your favorite banned book?  Let me know in the comments.

I think out of the banned books I've listed, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey and The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood are my favorites.  They've always stayed with me over the years. 

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