In honour of Banned Book Week (September 30 – October 6) I’ve compiled this list of banned books that I think you should read. These are books banned for various reasons in various parts of the world. Today I’m fortunate enough to live in a society where I can walk into a bookstore and purchase these books. It’s a privilege many of us take for granted. To celebrate the freedom we have and to stand up to censorship, read one (or all!) of these books. I’ve read each one and I think you should too!
I even compiled them roughly in order of my personal preference which, if you know me or have read my previous book lists, you know is difficult for me.
1.The Bible
2. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
3. One Hundred Years of Solitutde by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
4. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
7. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
8. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
9. 1984 by George Orwell
10. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
11. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
12. Animal Farm by George Orwell
13. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
14. The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank
15. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding
16. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey
17. Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
18. The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
19. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
20. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
21. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh (Read my review here.)
22. Metamorphoses by Franz Kafka
23. The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Freidrich Engels
23. & 24. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain/ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
25. The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
26. Wild Swans by Jung Chang
27. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
28. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
29. Persepolis by Marjan Satrapi
30. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
In case you’re wondering I compiled my list from the following websites.
The American Library Association
The books on my list are simply the ones I’ve personally read. There are lots of other interesting/important books on these lists and one day I hope to read them too.
To read about children’s books that have been banned, check out this post.
Karissa Reads Books 
Nice list. There are a handful on there that I haven’t read, but should definitely get around to picking up.
Oooh, more books to read. You once recommended Slaughterhouse Five to me and it did not disappoint.
Oh, good! I’m glad! That town in Footloose that banned dancing also tried to ban Slaughterhouse Five.