I’ve spent a lot of time reading. Some of the books I’ve come across over the years are books that have generated widespread acclaim in certain parts of the world — and fierce opposition in others. All of the books on this list have something that makes them unique: they were banned, challenged, or censored, yet they endured. Here are 15 banned books I loved reading. Let me know in the comments what you think of the titles I’ve recommended.
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Lolita
The novel provides a disturbing insight into Humbert’s twisted mind, who becomes sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Daze. Upon its release in 1955, Lolita was published by a renowned pornographic press in France, and because of its controversial subject matter, it has been banned as ‘obscene’ in multiple parts of the world — in France, England, Argentina and New Zealand. However, Lolita’s controversial status fueled its success, leading it to the top of best-seller lists across the globe. Some critics condemn it as morally repugnant while others praise its literary merit and psychological depth. Despite — and maybe because of — the controversial subject matter, I find the novel a literary masterpiece.
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The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald
This novel has been banned and challenged for several reasons, including its portrayal of sex, violence, adultery, and profanity. The affair between Daisy and Gatsby, Nick’s sexual language regarding Jordan Baker, a hit-and-run incident, and alcohol consumption are among the key factors behind the book’s banning. Most recently, it was banned in Alaska for its profane and sexual language, and in 1987, it faced criticism at the Baptist College of South Carolina for similar reasons. Despite these challenges, The Great Gatsby has not appeared on the American Library Association’s list of most banned books in the last 20 years.
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Lord of the Flies
by William Golding
Lord of the Flies was banned and challenged in several places, particularly in the United States, due to its unsettling content. In the 1970s and 1980s, the novel faced bans in schools and libraries across states like Indiana, Ohio, and Texas, mainly for its graphic violence, profanity, and dark themes. The story, which depicts a group of boys stranded on an island who descend into savagery, includes disturbing scenes — such as the deaths of two boys and brutal power struggles. These elements, along with its exploration of human nature and the loss of innocence, led some to consider it inappropriate for young readers. The book was also challenged in Canada and the UK, especially in conservative or religious communities. Despite the bans, Lord of the Flies remains a widely studied and influential novel.
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To Kill a Mockingbird
by Harper Lee
Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel has been one of the most frequently challenged books in American schools for decades. It has been removed from reading lists and library shelves for its use of racial slurs, its depiction of rape, and — ironically — for what some critics called anti-white sentiment. Published in 1960, the novel tackles racism and injustice in the American South through the eyes of young Scout Finch and her father, the lawyer Atticus Finch. The book’s moral clarity is precisely what makes it so uncomfortable for those who would rather not confront the past. It remains essential reading.
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1984
by George Orwell
George Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece was banned in the Soviet Union and across communist countries for its devastating critique of totalitarianism — a fact that carries a certain irony, given that the novel is essentially about a government that bans books and rewrites history. In the United States, it was challenged in schools for being “pro-communist” (by those who clearly hadn’t read it) and for explicit content. Published in 1949, 1984 introduced terms like “Big Brother,” “doublethink,” and “Newspeak” into everyday language. It is one of the most politically urgent novels ever written, and it has never stopped being relevant.
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The Catcher in the Rye
by J.D. Salinger
Few novels have been banned as persistently as this one. Since its publication in 1951, The Catcher in the Rye has been removed from school curricula and libraries across the United States for its profanity, sexual references, and what some school boards described as a glorification of rebellion and dishonesty. It was even connected, in the press, to several high-profile crimes — a burden no novel should carry. Yet Holden Caulfield’s raw, alienated voice has resonated with generations of readers who feel out of step with the world around them. That’s precisely what makes it worth reading.
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Brave New World
by Aldous Huxley
Aldous Huxley’s novel was banned in Ireland upon its release in 1932 and has been challenged in schools and libraries across the United States ever since — for its depictions of promiscuity, drug use, and what some parents described as an attack on family values and religion. The irony is that Brave New World is a warning, not an endorsement. It depicts a future society where people are kept compliant through pleasure, consumption, and the suppression of independent thought. Reading it today, it is hard not to feel Huxley was onto something.
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I Am Malala
by Malala Yousafzai
Perhaps no banning on this list is more telling than this one. In 2013, I Am Malala — the memoir of a teenage girl shot by the Taliban for defending girls’ right to an education — was banned in Pakistan by the All Pakistan Private Schools Federation. The reason given: that it promoted Western values and was “blasphemous.” The Taliban attempted to silence Malala with a bullet. Her own government tried to silence her with a ban. Neither worked. The book is a testament to courage, and one of the most important memoirs of the 21st century.
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The Color Purple
by Alice Walker
Alice Walker’s novel won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award in 1983 — and has been banned in schools and libraries across the United States ever since. The challenges cite its explicit depictions of rape, incest, and lesbian relationships, as well as its language. What critics who want it banned often fail to acknowledge is that The Color Purple is about surviving exactly those things. It is a story of resilience, self-discovery, and the bonds between women that endure despite extraordinary violence and oppression. It is not comfortable reading. It is not meant to be.
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Of Mice and Men
by John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck’s novella has appeared on the American Library Association’s most challenged books list decade after decade — making it one of the most consistently banned works in American literature. The objections are familiar: profanity, racial slurs, and its depiction of euthanasia. Published in 1937, the story of George and Lennie — two migrant workers chasing an impossible dream — is one of the most quietly devastating things I have ever read. The ending, in particular, stays with you. It deserves to be read, not shelved.
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The Handmaid’s Tale
by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood’s novel has been banned and challenged in school districts across the United States and Canada for its sexual content, violence, and what some parents described as anti-Christian sentiment. Published in 1985, it imagines a near-future America — renamed Gilead — where women have been stripped of all rights and reduced to reproductive roles. Atwood has said she did not invent a single element: everything in the novel has a historical precedent. That is perhaps the most disturbing thing about it. It does not feel like science fiction. It feels like a warning.
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Hell’s Angels
by Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson’s firsthand account of a year spent riding with the Hell’s Angels motorcycle club has been challenged and restricted in libraries for its graphic depictions of drug use, violence, and sexual assault. Published in 1966, it is one of the founding texts of gonzo journalism — a style in which the reporter becomes part of the story. Thompson embedded himself with the Angels so deeply that the book ends with him being beaten by them. It is raw, dangerous, and completely unlike anything else. Not for the faint-hearted, but absolutely worth reading.
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Lady Chatterley’s Lover
by D.H. Lawrence
Few novels have a legal history as dramatic as this one. First published privately in Italy in 1928, Lady Chatterley’s Lover was banned in both the UK and the United States for decades due to its explicit sexual content and use of profanity. In 1960, Penguin Books was prosecuted under the UK’s Obscene Publications Act for daring to publish it — and won. The trial became a landmark moment for freedom of expression and effectively ended literary censorship in Britain. The novel itself, a love story between an aristocratic woman and her gamekeeper, is tender, sensual, and far more emotionally honest than most books of its era.
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Ulysses
by James Joyce
James Joyce’s monumental novel was serialised in an American literary magazine beginning in 1918, and was declared obscene by a US court in 1921 — leading to an import ban that lasted until 1933. It was also banned in the UK and Ireland. The irony is that Ulysses is now widely regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written. Set over the course of a single day in Dublin, it follows Leopold Bloom through the city with extraordinary linguistic invention. It is not an easy read, but it is a rewarding one — and there is something satisfying about reading a book that governments once tried to keep out of your hands.
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Beloved
by Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison’s Beloved won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988 and is widely credited as a work that contributed to Morrison receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature. It has also been challenged and removed from schools and libraries across the United States for its depictions of violence, infanticide, and sexual abuse. Based on the true story of an enslaved woman named Margaret Garner, the novel is haunting, devastating, and essential. The fact that it makes people uncomfortable is not a reason to ban it — it is the reason to read it.
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Last note
What strikes me most about this list is not how extreme these books are — it is how often they were banned for telling the truth. The truth about race, about power, about desire, about what people do to each other when systems fail them. Every book on this list was suppressed somewhere by someone who found that truth inconvenient. Every one of them survived. That, I think, is worth something.
Most of the books that were banned in the United States or elsewhere in the world, interestingly enough, all had something to do with same-sex, rape, and so forth. Most of the above-featured books were banned in certain places in the world, and it’s interesting how these disturbing books reflect back the times that we are living in. In many ways it shows us what’s considered appropriate or not. Please let me know your thoughts on the most disturbing books off all time in the comment section below. Critical thinking is encouraged. Thanks for reading!
Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section below — I would love to hear which of these you have read, and what you made of them. Critical thinking is always encouraged here.
Thanks for reading! This publication may contain affiliate links, which make my work possible. Please let me know your thoughts on these banned books I’ve featured in the comment section below.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the most banned book of all time?
That depends on how you measure it. In the United States, the American Library Association tracks book challenges and removals every year. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger held the top spot for decades, while more recently, books dealing with LGBTQ+ themes and race — such as Gender Queer by Maia Kobabe and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas — have topped the annual lists. Globally, George Orwell’s 1984 and D.H. Lawrence’s Lady Chatterley’s Lover are among the most famously censored works in history.
Why are books banned?
Books are most commonly banned or challenged for a handful of recurring reasons: sexual content, profanity, violence, racial language, or themes that some communities consider morally or politically objectionable. In schools, the challenge often comes from parents who feel certain content is inappropriate for their children’s age group. In authoritarian countries, the reasons are more straightforward — books are banned because they challenge the government or the dominant ideology. What is striking is how often the books that get banned are the ones that tell uncomfortable truths.
Is banning a book the same as challenging a book?
Not quite. A challenge is a formal request to remove or restrict a book from a library or curriculum — it does not always succeed. A ban means the book has actually been removed or prohibited. Many of the books on this list have been challenged far more often than they have been formally banned. The American Library Association estimates that for every reported challenge, there are many more that go unreported.
Are banned books still available to buy?
In most Western countries, yes. A ban in a school district or a public library does not make a book illegal to own or purchase — it simply removes it from that specific institution. You can find almost every book on this list on Amazon, in bookshops, and on Audible. In countries with stricter censorship laws, some of these books are genuinely difficult or illegal to obtain. I Am Malala, for example, remains banned in Pakistan to this day.
What is Banned Books Week?
Banned Books Week is an annual event held in the last week of September, organised by the American Library Association. It celebrates the freedom to read and draws attention to books that have been challenged or banned across the United States. Libraries, bookshops, and schools participate by displaying banned books, hosting readings, and encouraging people to read a challenged title. It has been running since 1982.
Which banned book should I read first?
That depends on what you are looking for. If you want something emotionally devastating and beautifully written, start with Beloved by Toni Morrison. If you want something politically urgent, pick up 1984 by George Orwell. If you are after a coming-of-age story that still feels raw and honest, The Catcher in the Rye is hard to beat. And if you want to understand why some books make people so uncomfortable that they try to ban them, Lolita will answer that question better than anything else on this list.
