Corrosive to young minds? Politically incendiary? Or just downright sexy? Books that are mad, bad and dangerous to read.
To promote freedom of expression, libraries have got together to celebrate "banned books" between 24 September and 1 October.
You might expect to see
Lady Chatterley's lover in the list but be surprised that
Black Beauty was banned by the South African government during the Apartheid era because of the word 'Black' in the title.
More can be found out at
www.banned-books.org.uk
These and more titles are available from the National Library Service in all formats:
I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings - Maya Angelou
About the life of African-American author and poet, Maya Angelou. It has been banned in some US schools and libraries on grounds of pornography and violence.
To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
This book is a classic which is frequently taught in schools and is also frequently censored due to the racial issues with which it deals and its stereotypical portrayal of a black character.
Tropic of Cancer - Henry Miller
Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice Michael Musmanno wrote that Tropic of Cancer is "not a book. It is a cesspool, an open sewer, a pit of putrefaction, a slimy gathering of all that is rotten in the debris of human depravity." It was banned in the UK and the USA for its explicit nature.
Ulysses - James Joyce
Ulysses follows its central character, Leopold Boom, around Dublin during an ordinary day - 16 June 1904. It is one of the most highly regarded English-language novels of the 20th century, and was banned in the UK on obscenity grounds until the 1930's.
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
A dystopian fictional world where women's only function is to breed. It was no.37 on the American Library Association's 100 most frequently challenged books 1990 - 2000 - challenged because it was claimed to be anti Christian and pornographic.
For whom the bell tolls - Ernest Hemmingway
Tells the story of the tragedy of the civil war that tore Spain apart and of a young American volunteer who is sent blow up a bridge behind the lines of Franco's army. This book was banned in Spain during Franco's rule due to its pro-Republican views