Banned Books: Which Ones We've Read And Our Thoughts | Elana K. Arnold, Judy Blume, J.D. Salinger, and More

Books are made to be read, not banned. In this episode, Megan and Marissa discuss banned books. From the most commonly banned novels to their favourite illicit reads, these two readers dive into why the books are banned and why they disagree. As always, they start the podcast with their most recent reads and end it by drawing a new topic from the jar.

Articles referenced in the episode:

• Most Banned Books of All Time (Containing list of top 25 banned books)
• Plot twist: Activists skirt book bans with guerrilla giveaways and pop-up libraries
• Top 10 Most Famous Banned Books Of All Time
• 15 of the Most Famous Banned Books in US History
• Book Censorship in Canada
• The 50 Most Banned Books in America Right Now
• Top 100 List of Banned Books 2024

Expect us to discuss:

• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (series) by Alvin Schwartz
• Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex, and Sexual Health by Robie Harris
• Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain
• The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison 
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger 
• The Color Purple by Alice Walker 
• I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou 
• The Giver by Lois Lowry 
• The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier
• And Tango Makes Three by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson 
• Beloved by Toni Morrison 
• Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 
• Captain Underpants (series) by Dav Pilkey 
• Internet Girls (series) by Lauren Myracle 
• Forever… by Judy Blume
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky 
• Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers 
• Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson 
• My Brother Sam Is Dead by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier 
• Go Ask Alice by Anonymous (Beatrice Sparks)
• In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendak 
• Harry Potter (series)
• Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
• The Shining by Stephen King
• The Sarah J. Maas Multiverse (Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses)
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Damsel by Elana K. Arnold
• Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong
• Velvet Was the Night by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
• The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Ladies by Alison Goodman

Have a question you want us to discuss? Send us an email or message our Instagram account with your question, and we'll add it to our book jar.

You can find our sister podcast, the Queens of Fantasy Podcast, on Instagram as well.

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00:00 Cold Open
0:44 Intro
1:29 Most-Recent Reads
1:33 Immortal Longings
2:54 The Benevolent Society of Ill-Mannered Women
4:27 Velvet Was the Night
8:03 Topic: Banned Books
10:12 Top 25 Most Banned Books
33:58 Fantasy Is A Religious Complaint
39:32 Banned Books We've Read
42:13 Speak
44:33 The Shining
46:24 SJM Books
51:52 Lord of the Flies
53:53 Damsel *Spoiler Warning*
1:02:55 Next Topic!
1:03:44 Outro & Socials
1:04:47 A Mini After-the-Pod

What is The Book Jar Podcast?

A podcast between two avid readers in which the topics are chosen from the book jar! Episodes are released every two weeks. Send us your topics to have them added to the jar.