Thank you William Morrow and Kirsten Miller for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Kirsten Miller just has a way of making her characters pop right off the page, it's so impressive to me! This book is unfortunately extremely timely but damn it if it's not absolute perfection. In the words of Schmidt: No Notes.

The Change was in my Top 10 Books of 2022 and Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books is definitely going to be making my top 10 in 2024. Seriously, I cannot recommend this book enough. I've got my finished copy pre-ordered!

Pub date: June 18.

Eons ago, in undergrad, I read a critic who believed that, at the core of Mark Twain’s humor, was rage. I tend to agree with this. Outside of his more slapstick bits, Twain’s commentary frequently hums with a kind of moral outage that he bends into hilarious storytelling. Best example: His first book, a send-up of European and Holy Land travel and travel writing, The Innocents Abroad.

It was this energy I felt the entire time reading Kirsten Miller’s newest Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books. If you read her previous novel, The Change, you know she works deliciously from a place of rage. Harriet is still one of my favorite characters I’ve read, and so I was THRILLED to see how Miller might take her same verve and apply it to the topic of book banning.

I’ll start by saying that Lula is not The Change. So if you weren’t a rabid fan of The Change (like moi), this may be the Miller book for you. I think the difference between these two, and I’ve spent months figuring out how to say this (because I desperately want to be friends with Miller and I hate not loving a book of hers): The Change felt like characters led the concept. With Lula, it felt like the concept led the characters.

Which it may have. Miller notes in the afterword that her editor actually pitched her the concept of a little free library with banned books.

Don’t get me wrong: I love what Miller is saying with Lula. She is doing the Lord’s work. I think this is a fun concept; there are lots of great moments and laughs; I just would have preferred more focus on a smaller cast of characters, particularly octogenarian lawyer and cake master Wilma Jean Cummings, who absolutely, ahem, erupts from the pages.

Overall, 3.5/5 ⭐️ for me.

Read with: ebook 📱

For fans of:

-truth, justice, and the American way
-the complicatedness of small Southern towns
-the power of the book
-ensemble casts

Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Kirsten Miller for sending me an ARC!

This is a tough review for me to write. I finished the book 3 days ago and I’ve been trying to put my feeling into words ever since. I really enjoyed The Change by Kirsten Miller and I was hoping to love this one as well. However it is a very different book. It is enjoyable - lots of humor in a small southern town, but the topics covered are very political and sometimes hard to laugh about. Topics include book banning, racism, prejudice - both racial and LGBTQ - gun ownership, BLM and CRT.
I’ll give it 3 stars. Thank you Netgalley and HarperCollins for the digital ARC.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books is a satire set in Georgia. It is the story of a Southern town that is politically and ideologically divided. Lula Dean is a woman on a mission to get the books she finds deplorable banned. She is soon leading the Concerned Parents Committee, made up of herself and other members of the community that don’t mind making their divisive views known. The CPC pulls all of the books they find to be undesirable from the library and school bookshelves. Lula puts a Little Library of the books she believes should be available to the town in her front yard. Meanwhile, a smaller, less vocal contingent starts to fight back by giving people the chance to experience the books the CPC has decided they should not be reading.

Many people in the town have their minds changed in positive ways by the books they find in the new and improved Little Library. Not everyone is convinced or swayed by the changes that start happening to and around the people in the town, but many good conversations take place between families and neighbors throughout the story. Some are funny, some are heartwarming, some are sad or frustrating, but all are important in their own ways.

The stories of many of the townspeople’s experiences with the books they borrow are interwoven throughout the pages, which lends a cohesiveness to the narrative that makes it even more interesting and poignant. I cannot say enough good things about this book. It deals with racism, white nationalist beliefs, homophobia, anti-Semitism, ageism and a host of other issues (including, of course, the banning of books) in an incredibly thought provoking way. This is a book that we should make sure all of the states, towns, schools, and libraries that try to ban books receive a copy of, because who needs to hear the message about the importance of providing access to all types of literature more than the people trying to deny that very access to others?

If the idea of banning books bothers you, you’ll also want to pick up a copy of Kirsten Miller’s book as a reminder of why we must continue the fight against the practice. This may be a work of fiction, but the truths it shows us are all too real, and happening right now all around us. Books can’t save themselves; they need readers to do the work for them to remain on the shelves where they belong.
Thank you to NetGalley, William Morrow, and Kirsten Miller for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Kirsten Miller's, Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books, is what the country needs right now. Everyone should read this novel. What happens when banned books are disguised with different dust covers? This is a novel for anyone who loves books and libraries and who knows how important it is to read. It is perfectly okay to read novels, as well as nonfiction and history. Readers learn about the world beyond their own doorstep when they read.

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books is a series of vignettes about what happens in the small town of Troy, Georgia, when people read books that have been banned. The literary device is what happens when banned books are disguised by the dust covers of books deemed acceptable. Miller cleverly uses dust covers, with titles that complement the banned books within. Reading enriches lives, while allowing readers to escape into a new and dynamic world. Books teach us compassion and history and how important it is to read. Books of all kinds teach lessons about honesty, compassion, and hope. Reading is how people are educated about the world and about difference. Readers learn empathy and how important it is to get to know those who are different than us. Reading books accomplishes all of these lessons. I know I am preaching to the world of readers, but I hope I can illustrate all that Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books can accomplish.

Miller's characters are richly described and complex. Readers of Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books meet characters of all walks of life. The title character, Lula Dean, is vicious, mean, hurtful, and focused on revenge. Her meanness has isolated her from the rest of the town. She uses grudges to feel important and to ban books and hurt others. Of course, Lula has not read the books she bans. In contrast, Beverly is Lula's counterpart. She gives back to her small community and is much admired. Beverly is who Lula wishes she could be. Finally, Wilma is the perfect description of how older people can still contribute to the world. She is not useless, as so many people seem to think. She may be elderly, but Wilma has much to contribute. There are many more characters who make up the small town of Troy and who will delight readers.

I definitely recommend Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books. Miller's novel is the perfect novel for people who love libraries and books. Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC to read and review. I honestly hope that everyone will read Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books and be educated about the world of books.

4.5 stars rounded up

Kirsten Miller certainly knows how to write fleshed out, engaging characters! I loved The Change by this author and Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books did not disappoint! This novel follows the residents of a small Georgian town who are shaken up when one of the locals forms a Concerned Parents Committee hellbent on banning books. When she sets up a Little Free Library outside her house, a prank is pulled and all her wholesome books are replaced with insightful and life changing novels. I particularly enjoyed the first few chapters which followed individual characters as they each pick out a book from the library and have their lives and routines changed by the words they read.

Miller’s novel reflects on the politics that have been tearing our nation apart and makes great commentary on the importance of access to novels and open information. I loved following the residents of Troy and seeing the progress they made. An overall hopeful novel despite the conflict it addresses.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for access to an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This book was pure magic (but, to be clear, there is no fantasy/magic in the book). It was pure and heartwarming, but also dealt with some real issues in the world.

Plus, haven't we all encountered a book that changed our lives?

Lula Dean is craving attention and admiration. She found her cause in protecting children by banning books from the local library and school libraries. She even built a little free library in front of her house with acceptable books. But there s a rebel in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia. A local troublemaker has stolen her wholesome books, removed their dust jackets, and restocked Lula’s library with banned books: literary classics, gay romances, Black history, witchy spell books, Judy Blume novels, and more. In a case of the right book finding the right reader, her neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean’s library find their lives changed in unexpected ways.

Why I started this book: Requested an ARC because I had read The Change with my Book Club and loved it... plus this title appealed to me.

Why I finished it: I was hooked by the first chapter and read this book in one day. It was so delightful. (Okay at parts it felt a little to pat, but I loved it all.). And I do believe that the right book at the right time can give you the bravery to change you life. I am looking forward to pressing this book into patrons' hands once its published.

Synopsis: The results of a book ban and Lulu Dean’s little library shake up the small town of Troy, Georgia.

Thoughts: I had such high hopes for this book. The premise sounded amazing but definitely fell short for me. I did not find anything about this book funny. It was very depressing how divided this country is. The book ended up being very political and after a few chapters, it felt like the same theme hammered into the reader over and over again. This book is definitely left leaning politically. Topics of racism, LGBTQIA+, rape, suicide etc. are included in this book.

Thank you to Kirsten Miller, William Morrow and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

Kirsten Miller is a new author for me. The story is about a small Southern town battling book banning. I enjoyed the interconnecting characters and how books can open minds.

The story made me reflect how grateful I am to my Silent generation mother that she let this Gen Xer read whatever I wanted.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Hooray for everyone who supports intellectual freedom. What a fun novel about circumventing book banners.

Wow! This is exactly what we need to read right now with these crazy efforts to ban books from school and public libraries. This is a hilarious satire about what happens when one small minded person in a small southern town tries to ban books in her town and how many of the townspeople fight it in their own individual way.
Lula Dean is a nasty, attention seeking person and to get the attention she craves, she decides to go to the school board and demand that many books in the school libraries and classrooms be banned. Lula Dean has set up a Little Free Library at her house that has "appropriate" books for the townspeople to read, but late one night, Lindsay, the college age daughter of the school board president swaps out the "appropriate" books with some of the banned books but keeps the book covers of the "appropriate " books on the books. As these switched out books are borrowed and people catch on and add their own books, a quiet revolution takes place in this town. The affect of these books are told in separate chapters and addresses the issues of racism, antisemitism, gender and sexuality.
This book addresses what happens when books are banned but also what a community can do to combat the book banning when they join forces and speak up and out.
Book banning is a serious topic but the author created a very entertaining and charming story while getting her message across.
This is a very timely book and I highly recommend it.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I loved this satirical look at book banning, racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia, all wrapped up in a small town story about a power grabbing, attention seeking Lula Dean and the community members that work together to defeat her. While Lula Dean forms a committee to protect the children of the community by pulling books from the library that they deem inappropriate, an enterprising young person changes out all Lulas little library books with banned books by changing out the dust jackets. One by one the banned books are shown to make a difference in peoples lives, and various chapters are devoted to how those characters are changed.

We are introduced to a lot of characters, and I would have loved to see more of retired DA Wilma who I adored, but I was eventually able to keep everyone straight. Despite the important subject matter, the author manages a balance of humor and heart, and although some of our townspeople are basically caricatures of a certain type, she gets her point across in a thoughtful and enjoyable way. I think there are many important and timely issues dealt with here in a clever satirical story, and it was a hit for me.

Thank you to net galley and the publisher for this e galley in exchange for an unbiased review.

I really enjoyed this book about a small town in Georgia, book bans, and how to stand up for what you believe in. It's a story about how books can transform lives. And it's funny!!

This was a GREAT book!! It is a book that everyone needs to read! There were so many great lessons that people learned.

Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley! Honestly this book, from page one, took me on a completely different journey that I imagined but I was sold as soon as it starts in that town square. I feel like a lot of books now focus on “controversial” topics but this felt so seamless and had just a great redemption arc. I loved the characters. I would read more from this author.

I really enjoyed this book. I laughed out load and tsked and rolled my eyes and cheered. This was a fun diversion, a great premise, and a fun ending. I’m not sure my book club would appreciate the humor, but then if someone is attending my book club, they are strong library supporters. They might quibble about the rest of the topics presented. I can see people loving or hating this one, but it was right up my alley. I would recommend it! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this fun ride!
4 solid stars

What a great read! I could hardly put it down once I started reading. I loved the flow of the story and the characters were amazing as well. I will definitely recommend this to my patrons at the library.

A cute little tale to upend that manages to provoke and upend everything in a tiny rural town. Lula lives in Troy, Georgia and has made it her mission to ban books that are inappropriate. It does not matter if she has read them, they are wrong! They are pornographic!

To supplement her mission of removing all the nasty books in the libraries and schools, Lula creates a little library outside of her home. Unbeknownst to her, the books in the little library are replaced with banned books. Then town starts borrowing them, conversations kick up and all heck breaks loose!

A fun testament to the not so fun beliefs and powers of the alt-right movement. Join Lula's town for a day- a great conversation starter for you at work, book club and your library
#williammorrow #luladeanslittlelibraryofbannedbooks #kristienmiller

In Troy, Georgia Lula Dean’s mission is to rid schools and libraries of all books she deems inappropriate. Erecting a little free library she fills it with titles she thinks everyone should read instead. But someone has beat her at her own game changing the books out, leaving the cover and substituting a wide variety of banned books. The novel is a series of vignettes about how the replaced books have changed their readers lives. Timely, and while lightly written still serious at the same time showing how hate can be banished and all types of books can better your life, when not restricted. I loved this book and hope all take the time to read it.