It is interesting to look at the book bans in Florida educational institutions. These are set at the county level and not all counties have imposed bans. The number of complaints targeting each book are small. A few zealots are imposing their will on the other 21.5 million Floridians. Here is the list of banned books as compiled by the FL Dept of Education: https://www.fldoe.org/…/5574/urlt/2223ObjectionList.pdf .

Some three hundred county actions have resulted in the banning of a book. This seems outrageous to me. The list of titles includes a diverse mix, ranging from best sellers to possible junk. Have any of you read, “Assassination Classroom?”. The movie scored just 5.7 on IMDB, but the book turned up at 4.8 on Amazon. Some books may contain controversial material that could prompt a discussion, like “The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood. I don’t see any truly dangerous titles (eg, nothing on how to build a bomb). But, some bans appear clearly mistargeted by most indicators. How about “Relish: My Life in the Kitchen” by Lucy Kinsley (Amazon 4.5), 2013, about growing up around chefs and her memories of foods and tastes? You can read a sample of Relish here: https://a.co/d/fel2lMU .

With climate change, pandemics, the war in Ukraine, and the rise of political extremism, I would rather focus directly on tackling the big existential issues. But, by successfully starting to censor access to literature, the zealots pose a further threat to the health of our society. They could undermine our ability to think critically and to consider the full range of solutions to these bigger problems. And, more basically. they could deprive some of the pleasure of their free choice of a simple good read.