Book bans reach all-time high, led by Texas and Florida and fueled by AI

Book bans reached an all-time high this year as political pressure and AI fuel a spike in titles taken off the shelves. Almost 12,000 books were banned between 2025 and 2026, a 5,000-book jump from the previous year, according to a Monday report by PEN America, a free-speech organization. The vast majority of the book bans…