
So many books . . . so little time . . .
I found this list on the ALA website listing classics that have been banned (challenged) in the past. I propose a Challenge to see what you’ve read and what you need to add to your reading list! Going through the list brought back some memories from high school, required reading, college, books I chose on my own (I went to a college that wouldn’t have encouraged reading some, perhaps a number, of these books). I also found that, while I consider myself well-read, I have a lot more now on my list! Check up with me on Goodreads and I’ll check back with you in a month or so to see how you’re doing!
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald | Read in high school or college |
The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger | Read while in college but on my own |
The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck | Read in high school or college |
To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee | Read in high school, on my own |
The Color Purple, by Alice Walker | Saw the movie when it first came out |
Ulysses, by James Joyce | Read in college, for a class |
Beloved, by Toni Morrison | Need to add to reading list! |
The Lord of the Flies, by William Golding | Read in high school |
1984, by George Orwell | Read in high school |
Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov | Will add to list– |
Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck | Read in high school and college |
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller | Not sure if I read this—will add to list |
Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley | Read in high school |
Animal Farm, by George Orwell | Read in high school |
The Sun Also Rises, by Ernest Hemingway | Read in college—or was supposed to . . . . |
As I Lay Dying, by William Faulkner | Read in college |
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway | Read in college |
Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston | Will add to list |
Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison | Add to list |
Song of Solomon, by Toni Morris | Add to list |
Gone with the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell | Never did see the whole movie so, it’s on the list! |
Native Son, by Richard Wright | Add to list |
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, by Ken Kesey | Read in college, saw the movie |
Slaughterhouse-Five, by Kurt Vonnegut | Listened to the audiobook in high school |
For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway | Read in college |
The Call of the Wild, by Jack London | Read while in school but on my own |
Go Tell it on the Mountain, by James Baldwin | Haven’t read! Add to list– |
All the King’s Men, by Robert Penn Warren | Add to list |
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien | Saw the movies, read some of The Hobbit—add to list |
The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair | Read on my own in . . . college? |
Lady Chatterley’s Lover, by D.H. Lawrence | Read on my own in college |
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess | Saw the movie |
The Awakening, by Kate Chopin | Read on my own |
In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote | Read on my own |
The Satanic Verses, by Salman Rushdie | Read on my own |
Sophie’s Choice, by William Styron | Saw the movie |
Sons and Lovers, by D.H. Lawrence | Add to list |
Cat’s Cradle, by Kurt Vonnegut | Add to list |
A Separate Peace, by John Knowles | Read in high school English class |
Naked Lunch, by William S. Burroughs | Haven’t read—add to list |
Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh | I think I was supposed to read it for a college class—add to list |
Women in Love, by D.H. Lawrence | Add to list |
The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer | Add to list |
Tropic of Cancer, by Henry Miller | Add to list |
An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser | Add to list |
Rabbit, Run, by John Updike | Add to list |
Challenge accepted? (cue inspiring music . . .) See you soon!