So I found this topic in the Top 5 Wednesday archives and thought it was really interesting. As I’ve said a few times, we’re in rewind month so Top 5Wednesday’ers can choose old topic to complete.
I thought it was an interesting topic, I didn’t realise so many books I’ve read were actually banned. For that reason, I’m gonna do more than five books since I’ve read more than five, but the top 5 will be my favourites that were banned.
1: Harry Potter (series) by J.K Rowling: Apparently between 2000-2009 this was the most challenged & banned book. Obviously, Harry Potter is my favourite and I love it.
2: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins: This was challenged in 2010 at an American school. This is one of my favourite series, and at the time especially I loved it. I adored the complex exploration of it’s themes and the characters too. I honestly have been CRAVING rereading this lately, since I recently rewatched the movie.
3: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerland: Apparently this book was challenged in 1987 by a Baptist church. The Great Gatsby is one of my favourite classics and one of the few classics I’ve willingly reread. I’ve read it three times, once on my own time, once for school and once after I finished high school. I don’t know why I like this book so much, but I just really enjoy reading it and always get something new out of it each time I do.
4: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: This book has been challenged multiple times, especially in America and as recently as 2016. I read this when it was getting super popular (2013 era?) and it became one of my favourite books at the time. I loved the characters and the story and I felt really attached to the characters. I also thought the movie adaptation was SO good. I’d love to reread this book some time now that I’m older to see what I think.
5: The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood: This is one of the top 100 most challenged books of all time. I read this during highschool (even though it wasn’t required) and I ended up really enjoying it. Ok, confession: I actually like the tv show more than the book. But I’m glad I read this book and a lot of it stayed with me, which doesn’t always happen with classics.
Other banned books I’ve read:
- The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
- Looking for Alaska by John Green
- Paper Towns by John Green
- An Abundance of Katherines by John Green
- I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
- His Dark Materials by Phillip Pullman
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
- Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
- All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
- Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
- The Witches by Roald Dahl
- Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
- Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
- A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Animal Farm by George Orwell
- Snakehead by Anthony Horowitz
- Boy Meets Boy by David Levithan
And that is my whole post for today! There are actually A LOT more banned books than I thought, researching this post was so interesting. What banned books have you folks read? I actually realised so many of these books are on my TBR too thanks to this, so maybe I’ll talk about that another time
until next time!
jamishelves 
All The Brught Places is a banned book? O.O That’s new! And interesting. I read also Terabithia. Plus, I’ve heard that THUG became a banned book too.
Sometimes, this things are funny but the reasons why the novel were banned aren’t such. Usually, the reason is just so much ignorant that I cannot help but stare at it for long long minutes XD
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Yes apparently it was banned in a few schools in 2014! Ohh I totally forgot about THUG, and yes it was banned. I should have put that in my list as I ADORE thug. I’ve seen some people complain for racist content, which I get. Like I was reading one case where a Congolese student had asked for a Belgium book to be banned because it was written during Belgium rule in the Congo and depicted Congolese using really racist stereotypes and depictions. So with things like that I kind of get it. But half these cases were just parents complaining because they didn’t want their kids reading sex stuff, and lots of books by lgbtq+ authors get banned too
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For sure I was not referring to valid reasons such as banning offensive books that only spread discriminations.
I should I’ve been more specific.
In fact, yes. a lot of banned books are usually banned by bigots. This really put me in a bad mood. Not mad, because I’m sure that somehow, if the kids have the possibility and want to read that book, they will find a way to it
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romeo and juliet was banned???? oh my god……….. green’s books???? lmao the world is a wild place 😮
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lmao R&J was banned at a school in my state literally just in the last month bc a parent complained it was too explicit fbdgdhf and handmaids tale was banned too. PEOPLE REALLY NEED TO CHILL U WONT DIE IF U READ THE SEX
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i cannot believe someone banned ROMEO AND JULIET in the twenty fucking first century!!!! oh my gooooooooooooood that’s unreal the Straights r truly our there going god knows what
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HETERO WHITE MUMS HAVE NO CHILL !!
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Oh wow, I didn’t know those books are banned?!!
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I didn’t know for lots of them too! Most of them were banned in schools in America
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Wow, someone REALLY hates John Green. I’m super confused by how many his books are banned. Like…why??
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I’m pretty sure it’s for sexual content for most of them 🙄 it’s weird how murder and violence is okay but SEX?? Can’t have it
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Why in the world would the Diary of Anne Frank be challenged/banned? Unless whoever challenges the book was upset with Anne’s exploration of her sexuality. That would be my only guess as why it would be challenged/banned.
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I think it was to do with the sexuality aspects
that’s so messed up
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Right? There is nothing wrong with that and it’s such a shame that a lot of the prints didn’t include that in there.
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I had no idea so many of these books were banned!
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Me either! Researching for this was so interesting because I honestly thought only classics got banned
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Hihi, same here 😊
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I was just looking these up the other day! It’s frustrating that any books are banned but especially some that are just WHY. Even the Wild Things aren’t safe
https://pen.org/where-the-wild-things-arent-on-the-banning-of-sendak/
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