Banned Books Week is here! Taking place October 4–10, 2026, this year’s theme is “Let Books Be. Protect the Freedom to Read.” Since 1982, the American Library Association has promoted Banned Books Week to highlight banned and challenged books and support the importance of the freedom to read.
But book banning is nothing new. Reading helps cultivate knowledge, thoughts, and ideas. Those in control often want to suppress these ideals, viewing them as challenges to authority. This includes destroying texts and the authors who created them, such as the Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti, who reportedly ordered 460 Confucian scholars to be buried alive to control the writing of history. In 212 B.C., he burned all the books in his kingdom, retaining only a single copy of each for the Royal Library and those were destroyed before his death. With all previous historical records destroyed, he thought history could be said to begin with him.
Ancient Rome also had its share of bans, including the poet Ovid, who was banished from Rome for writing Ars Amatoria (The Art of Love) in A.D. 8, and in A.D. 35, Roman emperor Caligula opposed the reading of The Odyssey by Homer, written more than 300 years before. He thought the epic poem was dangerous because it expressed Greek ideas of freedom. Little did he know it would survive in such a big way, including becoming a popular twenty-first century movie!
The topic of religion has also been under fire time and time again. The Bible, particularly various translations, is often considered the most restricted book in human history. During the medieval period and the Reformation, various religious authorities and leaders banned vernacular (non-Latin) translations to control religious interpretation. The Bible has also been viewed with suspicion by Islam, banned and restricted by communist regimes and continues to be censored today. Various religious groups have notoriously restricted particular books. Pope Paul IV established the Index Librorum Prohibitorum in 1559 – a list of books that Roman Catholics were prohibited to read for over 400 years, making it essentially one of the most powerful censorship tools in the world.
Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the main reason for banning books was for religious heresy and political dissent, with works such as the satirical novella Candide (1759) by Voltaire scrutinized for its criticism of religion and authority. Uncle Tom’s Cabin (1852) by Harriet Beecher Stowe was banned in parts of the American South because of its anti-slavery message, and The 
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (1884) was banned for race-related language and themes and continues to be one of the most frequently challenged books in U.S. history due to racial language and themes.
In the early 1900s, obscenity and sexual content were the most common reason for book censorship. Ulysses (1922) by James Joyce was banned for obscenity in several countries, Lady Chatterley’s Lover (1928) by D.H. Lawrence was banned for sexual content, and Tropic of Cancer (1934), the autobiographical novel by Henry Miller, best known as “notorious for its candid sexuality,” was banned in the United States when first published (by Obelisk Press in Paris). Its publication in 1961 by Grove Press in the U.S. resulted in a series of obscenity trials.
During the Cold War era, political beliefs were the biggest reason for banning books. These include two works by George Orwell: Animal Farm (1945), censored for political satire of totalitarianism and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)(1949), banned for its anti-authoritarian themes. Ironically, both of these books were (and continue to be) featured on school reading lists. I vividly recall reading Animal Farm in middle school and its famous paradoxical quote has always resonated with me: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Doctor Zhivago (1957) by Boris Pasternak was banned in the Soviet Union for its criticism of the Russian Revolution and subsequent years leading to World War II. Its popularity could not be squelched, however, and the novel was made into a movie in 1965 and was later adapted for television two times.
Between the 1980s and early 2000s, many books were banned for language, violence, and age appropriateness. Beloved (1987) by Toni Morrison, which explores the destructive legacy of slavery in 19th-century America and 
depictions of magic, witchcraft, and “actual curses and spells” has been repeatedly challenged for its depiction of slavery and violence. The God of Small Things (1997) by Arundhati Roy was censored in some regions for political and moral objections. And although adored by children worldwide, the Harry Potter series (1997-2007) by J. K. Rowling tops the list of most challenged books between 2000 and 2009 according to the ALA, often due to references to magic and witchcraft. This did not stop Harry Potter and his story from being made into extremely popular movies, plays, theme park attractions and an upcoming television adaptation.
From the 2010s to the present, race, gender, sexuality, identity, and historical interpretation are the main reasons for banning and challenging books. The Captain Underpants series by 
Dav Pilkey topped challenge lists in the early 2010s because of offensive language and therefore deemed unsuitable for children. Published in 2007, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie was named the top challenged book of the 2010–2019 decade by the ALA, cited for profanity, sexual references, and discussions around poverty and alcoholism. And Gender Queer: A Memoir (2019) by Maia Kobabe has been frequently ranked as the most challenged book nationwide for its LGBTQ+ content and graphic depictions of sexuality.
Ironically, many of these bans (particularly lately), are aimed at younger readers. But as I have written previously, books can be a powerful parenting tool. Each child has a distinctive personality. As a parent, you know what might be upsetting to your own child, or a subject they are just not ready to handle. This is different from banning books altogether. You might put the book aside for a time when it is appropriate for them. When your child does read a book with challenging topics, this is a perfect opportunity to engage them in lively discussion.
This is just a small sampling of a pages-long list that is constantly growing. Books may be on the list one year and off the next, only to later return when again challenged. But the point is: no books should be banned or challenged. Being able to read is a right, and everyone should have the freedom to read what they want. Even cookbooks are not exempt, apparently. Just like banning people for any number of reasons such as their color, religion, gender or disability, banning books is yet another way to control populations. Let’s work to make this NOT happen.
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