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1. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
If you've ever read Lolita, you know why it was banned. A story told through the eyes of a man in love with a 12-year-old girl — the plot and the details are enough to make anyone cringe. Despite the high creep factor, the ban on Lolita was lifted in 1965 following heavy debate from Australian literary circles so that they could teach it in class.
While its plot may make your skin crawl, it's near impossible to put down. The author writes so well that you physically can't turn away from the words on the paper.
Buy the paperback edition for $9.99 or the Kindle edition for $12.99 on Amazon Australia.
2. American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis
It might surprise you to know that you still can't buy American Psycho in Australia without some restrictions. You can purchase it — as long as you're older than 18 and you don't mind it coming shrink wrapped. It's sold like that to prevent minors from reading it in store.
But this book is one you should definitely read. You'll find yourself immersed in the disturbing mind of killer and the businessman, Patrick Bateman. It'll only take a couple of pages of reading to understand why the book as the same restrictions of alcohol.
Buy the paperback edition for $15.99 from Amazon Australia
3. Another Country by James Baldwin
When Another Country was banned in Australia in 1963 and people weren't happy about it. The author, James Baldwin, was a renowned American writer and the Australian intellectual response was that banning the book might make the nation look bad internationally.
The banning of the book likely due to the themes it explored, like interracial couples, adultery and bisexual characters, all themes that would raise a few eyebrows in those times.
Buy the paperback edition for $17.55 or the Kindle edition for $14.99 from Amazon Australia.
4. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
The Catcher in the Rye is ridiculously contentious. It went through many classroom bans in the States between 1961–1982 because of its communist overtones, vulgar language, sexual references and the encouragement of drinking and smoking.
But you don't get as famous as The Catcher in the Rye without being a brilliant book. It encapsulates what life is like as a teenager — no matter the time period. It's relatable, engaging and well worth your time to read.
Buy the paperback edition for $14.30 or the Kindle edition for $12.99 on Amazon Australia.
5. Forever Amber by Kathleen Winsor
Forever Amber was literary success despite being banned in some countries. It sold three million copies in 1944 after its publication and was also turned into a movie. However the Australian Literary Board found it a little bit too ~raunchy~ and the book was deemed not literary enough for the parts about sex and impotency to be "artistic". It was banned in 1945.
If you're a lover of historical fiction, this book is definitely for you. It's all about a peasant woman who rises in class to become the king's mistress in 17th century England.
Buy the paperback edition for $26.33 from Amazon Australia.
6. Lady Chatterley's Lover by DH Lawrence
When Lady Chatterly's Lover was first published, it caused a bit of a stir and was later banned because of its ~steamy~ scenes. But now that we have novels like Fifty Shades, this book probably wouldn't cause the same sort of excitement as it did back in its heyday.
It's definitely still worth the read so you can follow along with the salacious storyline of an upper-class lady falling in love with a working-class man...after her husband told her to.
Buy the paperback edition for $5.99 or the Kindle edition for $0.99 from Amazon Australia.
7. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
Brave New World is a controversial read. It's been banned in the States and has made it onto the American Library Association's list of the top 10 challenged books in 2010.
If you're looking to pick up this book, be prepared to read through sex, drugs, racist overtones and an atheist standpoint. And don't say we didn't warn you!
Buy the paperback edition for $12.95 or the Kindle edition for $12.99 from Amazon Australia.
8. Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell
George Orwell has had quite a few books appear on the banned book lists and Nineteen Eighty-Four is no different. Not being one to shy away from the hard topics of life, Orwell created an evergreen world that manages to mirror back aspects of every society. The book was blacklisted in some countries due to its political overtones and the parallels it drew between Stalin and his leadership.
Buy the paperback edition for $10.80 or the Kindle edition for $0.94 from Amazon Australia.
9. Ulysses by James Joyce
Ulysses is a BEAST of a book. It is a hard slog to read, full of long sentences, words you don't understand and double entendres that often go over your head.
But it didn't get banned for being too hard to read. It was thought to be blasphemous and had indecent language. It was banned from 1929–1937 and then again in 1941 after church groups protested against it.
If you're a fan of ancient history I recommend giving Ulysses a crack. It was adapted from Homer's The Odyssey so you'll have a grand time noticing the correlations.
Buy the paperback edition for $12.95 or the Kindle edition for free from Amazon Australia.
10. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
This book is famous for completely incapsulating the reader — no detail goes unnoticed by Flaubert and by the end of it you'll know more about the main character, Emma, than you do about yourself.
It was banned because at the time of publication in 1856, the portrayal of Emma was said to go against public morals, meaning that she had sex outside of her marriage and spent more money than she had. However women who read the book said that Emma was relatable and realistic. My biggest tip in reading Madame Bovary is to keep pushing through the detail — it's all made worthwhile in the end.
Buy the paperback edition for $14.50 or the Kindle edition for free from Amazon Australia.
11. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
"Why is the beloved and imaginative Alice on this list?" You ask. Well, it was banned in China because the animals were giving the same intelligence as the characters in the story and it was censored in other countries because people though it promoted the use of drugs — you might recall a particularly ~wise~ caterpillar who was always smoking on a pipe.
Either way, it's a great story that you should definitely get your hands on!
Buy the paperback edition for $7.95 or the Kindle edition for $0.99 from Amazon Australia.
Oh, and if you're one of those people that prefers to ~listen~ to your books, you can grab them from Audible Australia! Plus the first one's free (and who doesn't love a freebie?).
