Banned Books: Who Gets to Decide What We Read?
Who gets to decide what belongs on your bookshelf? This week on Well Read and Unfiltered, we’re talking banned books, the freedom to read, and where parental guidance crosses into policing everyone else’s shelves. From "1984" and "The Handmaid’s Tale" to ACOTAR, we unpack the stories that spark controversy, the value of uncomfortable reads, and why representation matters. Expect strong opinions, a few reading confessions, and a debate about whether banning a book just makes us want to read it more. What banned or challenged book has left an impression on you? Tell us in the comments. BOOKS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Harry Potter series — J. K. Rowling 1984 — George Orwell Fahrenheit 451 — Ray Bradbury The Handmaid’s Tale — Margaret Atwood The Hunger Games — Suzanne Collins A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) — Sarah J. Maas Lolita — Vladimir Nabokov The Crucible — Arthur Miller (the film adaptation is mentioned) I Am Malala — Malala Yousafzai, with Christina Lamb (edition unspecified) Animal Farm — George Orwell The Outsiders — S. E. Hinton The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time — Mark Haddon The Perks of Being a Wallflower — Stephen Chbosky To Kill a Mockingbird — Harper Lee The Buffalo Hunter Hunter — Stephen Graham Jones The Love Hypothesis — Ali Hazelwood Mein Kampf — Adolf Hitler The Giver — Lois Lowry Powerless — Lauren Roberts Beloved — Toni Morrison Billy Budd, Sailor — Herman Melville The Diary of a Young Girl — Anne Frank Looking for Alaska — John Green The Bluest Eye — Toni Morrison Desert Sons — Mark Kendrick Victorian Psycho — Virginia Feito Goosebumps series — R. L. Stine Model Home — Rivers Solomon Brave New World — Aldous Huxley The Color Purple — Alice Walker Slaughterhouse-Five — Kurt Vonnegut
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