As the chill of autumn begins to descend, particularly before the madness between Black Friday and Christmas, I review the books next to my bed … and on the book table next to the chaise … and usually change up the order.

Right now those books include Alice Hoffman’s “The Book of Magic,” the final book of her “Practical Magic” series. Hoffman is one of my favorite authors. What is her genre again? I just read it .. oh, yeah, “magical realism.” Another favorite author, Gabriel Garcia Marquez – definitely magical realism. Back to the books bedside ...

Another that’s made its way to the bedside (I gotta get a bigger table!) has been in the bookshelf for years: “The Thinking Woman’s Guide To Magic” by Emily Croy Barker. A young woman gets lost at a friend’s wedding, and stumbles into a portal with, get this: a copy of “Pride and Prejudice” in her back pocket (must not have been a fancy dress wedding, huh?) Once through the portal, magicians, fairies and other beings become part of Nora’s world. It could be fun … or I’ll make it to page 337 and put it back on the shelf.

I’ve had a hankering for Stephen King as of late and just added a copy of “Cell,” written this year, to my Kindle. It’s always so satisfying to sit down on a chilly evening, fireplace (or in my place an electric model, not the real thing, alas! But, sitting in my chaise, good book in one hand, wine or tea in the other … all warm and cozy and ready for chaise-side adventure. Can’t wait!

For years now I’ve been reading only about my spiritual practice, but not what used to be known as “pleasure reading” – not, mind you, that I do not thoroughly enjoy those spiritual journeys, I do. Yet I find this year it’s back to fiction, science fiction and, well, too early to tell!

In checking out the New York Times Bestseller list – “ The Boys from Biloxi” by John Grisham; “No Plan B” by Lee Child and Andrew Child; “The Passenger” by Cormac McCarthy; “Fairy Tale” by Stephen King; “Livid” by Patricia Cornwell; “Dreamland” by Nicholas Sparks; “Long Shadows” by David Baldacci; and “Demon Copperhead” by Barbara Kingsolver – I decided to get Cornwell’s new one. I used to read all of her books – I mean, who doesn’t enjoy the adventures of Special Medical Exmainer Dr. Kay Scarpetta? Scarpetta used to be great for a weekend’s reading adventure. And, she will be again when I open “Livid.”

I was on Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library’s website last week and found myself scrolling through each year’s lists of books banned somewhere for some reason. It’s a crime. It’s censorship. It’s not First Amendment behavior.

Many of these books are classics, books written during extremely pivotal moments in our country, our very young country’s history. You remember history – it’s something many people with the power want to rewrite. To make our country and what transpired here less ugly, and less truthful.

“To Kill A Mockingbird?” Really? The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel? And why did it earn Harper Lee the Prize? From Arts.gov: “Harper Lee is recognized for her contribution to American literature with her Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird.’ A powerful statement of the Civil Rights movement, the novel continues to speak to new generations about tolerance and justice.”

“A powerful statement of the Civil Rights movement… tolerance … justice.” Well, I guess we can’t have that timeframe in our history around to remind us of what was happening in the U.S. and what is still happening today.

Another book on the list I’ve always loved is Hemingway’s “The Sun Also Rises.” Yes, there is quite a bit of promiscuous behavior, frivolity and decadence … but that is not something everyone experiences; nor finds interesting. And yet, it is a compelling look at love, death, duplicity, relationships, writers, drinking … the history of a period in time that does repeat itself. But should not be feared.

This is a slippery slope. Reading is a form of learning – travel to new places, albeit real or imagined; about relationships with others and ourselves; it’s about learning about other countries, planets, societies … and there’s nothing wrong with learning, with reading.

I hope all of the well-meaning groups out there insisting on making decisions about life for everyone – instead of just themselves – realize the danger before it’s too late and our history becomes so politically and socially correct that we are, as the networks say, canceled. Nothing to see, read, or experience here … the few have decided we are not capable of making our own reading choices, our own film, health, lifestyle, work and play choices.

Remember the “propaganda machine” in “1984” … information control and revisionist history? We were introduced to Big Brother – and now we know “him” quite well – he lives in all technology, including the laptop I am writing this column on.

We should be wary of those who are given, or take, power to decide what is in the humankind’s best interests … even if it means rewriting history, eliminating rights – one at a time (in the hope we won’t notice).

If we are not diligent, if we do not call out those among us who want to control what we do, how we do it; what we see, read, experience ...well, we might just realize too late we have replaced George Orwell’s original residents of Oceania.