I was a little worried this book might be too ‘cosy’ for my liking but it turned out very well and the story touches on a very negative issue facing society today - censorship.

America has taken the lead by banning books deemed inappropriate, mainly by narrow minded stuck ups and, honestly, visions of ‘1984’ and ‘Fahrenheit 451’ kept flashing across my mind.
These were works of fiction that are turning into bleak reality.

We learn about the residents of Troy and their stories, ranging from abuse/abuser, sexuality, racism/slavery and mushrooms. I admire the range covered in this book, I don’t think I’ve come across anything like this before where several major subjects are covered in a small space and works.

Towards the end it did get ‘cosy’ and I started feeling queasy but the rest of the book was so good I have chosen to ignore this.

I am recommending this to everyone because our books need to be left well alone.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this ARC.

Lula Dean is determined to ban "offensive" books that will damage the morals of the young people of Troy. On a short trip home from college, Lindsay Underwood decided to take on Lula in her own way by swapping the books out. This "prank" has a ripple effect on the community of Troy as we see townspeoples lives transformed by the books they read in Lula's library. Kirsten Miller used humour to deal with serious topics such as racism, sexism and homohobia and really drills home the importance and power that access to literature offers everyone.
I really enjoyed reading this as the characters were well written and developed, however I found the final chapters a bit disappointing and the story wrapped up to easily.

An entertaining look at life in the southern states, peopled by a cast of characters who are linked by a history revered on the one hand, and reviled on the other. The title refers to the indignant and misinformed mothers of America, supposedly protecting their offspring from the evils of modern life. The banned books of the title lead unwittingly to revelations and many changes of attitudes, with amusing incidents on the way. The writing was very well expressed and organised, as it could have been very confusing, with constant new characters brought in along the way. The far right comes in for a good bit of criticism, and all sorts of diversity are celebrated also.

A 4.5 star read for me! Lula Dean is on a crusade to make a name for herself through ridding her town of filth. When she gets the opportunity to start a) banning books and b) a small library in front of her house filled with only the most wholesome reading material, she takes it.

But of course the town fights back. And in these individual stories and narratives, some of which interweave in the most surprising ways possible, you get to meet a real breadth of characters all navigating their lives in this little Southern town as best they can.

I don’t think I’ve read many books set in the contemporary South but this is a great one. Timely, topical and thought-provoking.


The only reason I’ve chosen to round down rather than up to 5 stars is because the ending went a little off-piste for me with the final showdown a bit too unrealistic. But I’d read more from this author for sure!

This book is brilliant. I could start and end my review with the words - stop reading reviews and read the book already. But I really should explain why...
So... the action takes place in a small Southern town and revolves around banned books. Lula Dean is on a mission to rid the world of anything she finds offensive and, to that end, has a very long list of books that she wants banned from the library and school. To replace them, she has installed in her front yard, a library of good and wholesome alternatives for all to borrow.
Lula is the nemesis to another of our main characters, Beverly Underwood and, as the book progresses, we delve into the past to see what happened to make the two lifelong enemies.
And then there's Lindsay, Beverly's daughter who is the instigator for what will happen in the rest of the book. She secretly replaces the good and wholesome books in Lula's library with the banned ones. Swapping out the dust jackets to cloak them.
We then sit back and watch the action as, one-by-one, the townsfolk start to borrow the books. Each one seems to borrow just the right book... but I am going to leave you to discover the whys and wherefores of all that as the author intended.
I loved this book. I can't wait until it is actually released as I will be getting the audiobook and revisiting it all. It's quite a deep book as certain of the characters are going through some pretty heavy stuff in their lives. And this, in turn, reinforces the power of books. Both fiction and factual, and their place in assisting people to understand things they struggle with. I'm being deliberately opaque as I do not want to give any examples which might spoil things.
Aside from the books, the story of Beverly and Lula is also interesting and kept my attention nicely along with all the other townsfolk's stories. I ran the whole gamut of emotions as I was reading it, even laughing out loud on the bus and getting some strange looks.
Along with this book, I would also recommend this author's other adult fiction book, The Change, which I read a few years ago.
My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

In small town, Troy, Lula Dean and some ‘ Concerned parents’ band together To try and ’ Improve’ The Morals of the towns people by banning books which they consider to be perverse and non-American in their outlook.

So goes the tail of Troy, And has some concerned citizens decide to share their opinions through Lula Dean’s little Library. Had set up her library to share the contents of her personal Library with the townsfolk in order to better them and leave them in the path of goodness. (According to her own opinion).

Although this is a fictional story, it could be set in any small community Where people believe they know better, that they judge others, and that they can use their power to control the thoughts and ideas, and actions of others

I enjoyed the story and I hope the message will travel far and wide, that hypocrisy, and judgemental attitudes should not be the Way to live.
Thanks to #NetGalley For the opportunity to read this digital copy, and listen to the audible of this book and exchange for an honest review.

If there’s ever a book that takes you by surprize then this is it.
I couldn’t put it down. An absolute must this summer.

Through a series of vignettes we are introduced to the community of Troy, which at its helm are two strong women with a grudge to bare going right back to their cheerleading days. Lula Dean the local busybody has made it her mission to introduce the town to a library catering for books she deems appropriate. In short anything (that doesn’t corrupt the young mind). Her right wing beliefs and attitudes however are dangerous as they go unchecked by the town.

Her rival Beverley Underwood is her nemesis especially when she confronts the small southern town and its history by introducing issues surrounding the slave trade and the fight against the North to keep it going. Other characters are used to highlight subjects like homophobia, misogyny and neo-Nazism as we explore their stories. There is a brutal rape recount, which has been hidden for years that is revealed and punished to a certain extent.
For me it was the voices of the women, some who had been silenced for years were now heard.
Thank you NetGalley for this brilliant read

Apologies but I tried to read this title but the editing of the file must be off because the words “material”, “copyrighted” and “publishers” appear every few lines in the middle of the text and it’s really distracting

I am sorry I found this very hard to read as the pages and editing were a little all over the place and I struggle with that
Very sorry did try twice to read but couldn’t get it into my head and couldn’t get it to download corrected

I really enjoyed Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books. I was immediately tickled by the mischief in the opening chapter and I knew it was going to be my kind of book straight away.

However, as I turned the pages of the book and met the residents of Troy, Georgia I came to realise just how far reaching the ripple effect is that one person can have on a whole community. I think this book is a masterpiece for its pitch perfect delivery of messages everyone needs to hear and topics everyone should read about. It really tugs at the heart of the issue - if you go about banning books that feature alternative life experiences to your own, you negatively affect education, empathy, critical thinking and freedom.
I really enjoyed the author’s writing style. It drew me right in and the characterisation was brilliant, because by the end of each chapter I really felt like I knew and understood them when I had only just met them a few pages before.
There are a lot of different characters in this book and initially it can be difficult to remember who is who…but keep with it, it’s totally worth it and it’s needed to show 1) How far reaching the consequences of the little library are and 2)The variety of viewpoints and life experiences in the town.

I genuinely believe this book needs to be on the curriculum, especially in America at the moment but I suspect this book too will be banned. This is of course exactly why you should be reading it!

If you have enraged by the book banning that is currently occurring across America, if you enjoy books set in small town America and if you enjoy reading about a variety of perspectives and life experiences then this is the book for you.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the chance to review an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this, a light fun read about an intense depressing subject. Set in a small town in Georgia, Lula Dean starts banning books and creates a library outside her home of more 'wholesome' titles. A local teen, swaps the dustjackets and places banned books inside Lula's choices. Each chapter is devoted to another person reading one of these 'banned' books, and being changed for the better as a result. With the aim of showing that actually the silent majority are good people, who need a catalyst to speak out against bigotry. Nazi's and rapist's are outed, nefarious motives are brought into the open and queer people are accepted with open arms. This is a delightful read that I really enjoyed, it brings hope and cleverly shows the ridiculousness of banning books.

With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

According to a recent Guardian article, more books were banned in 2023 in US schools and libraries than any other year for which records have been kept.

Many of the books were targeted because they related to issues of LGBTQ+ communities or race, though the list is broad, including commonly taught novels such as Lord of the Flies and To Kill a Mockingbird.

The group documented 4,240 unique book titles targeted for censorship.

Kirsten Miller’s novel is set in a Southern US town and tackles the issue head on.
Lula Dean, a prominent local figure and book banner (“when you have everything, the only luxury left is taking things away from others”), sets up a little library of wholesome titles. An activist swaps the books, but not the covers, for banned books.
Each chapter is titled after a banned book and we get to see the effect this has on the reader and their lives; for example, a down-trodden wife slavishly cleans her husband’s Nazi memorabilia but secretly is reading Anne Frank’s diary. When her son is indoctrinated into the secret group and he paints a swastika on a local Jewish man’s front door as initiation, she calls out the viral hate, provides rational argument to the anti-Semitic nonsense and takes her son away.

In addition to banning books, the novel also explores some of the other means by which control and influence is being applied to people. Many media and news channels are pumping out sensational stories that are aimed at creating fear, stoking culture wars and increasing tensions.

An important and interesting story with a positive message about the power of books and libraries.

I really wanted to love this book. Great premise and good promise. Characters were interesting but could have done with more development, colour and description of the setting.

But unfortunately it was riddled with formatting errors - and protective text (which I support) but this meant that text was missing with sentences cut off midway, that disrupted the flow in the kindle formatting. On the iPad it was a little easier to read, but unfortunately I do most of my reading via the kindle.

Unfortunately I stopped reading at 50%. If the formatting issues can be resolved for the kindle format, I’d be delighted to try to continue.

I struggled through. I loved the premise of this book, however for me it fell short. I almost gave up at 25% but made myself continue. It just wasn't for me as much as I wanted.to love it.

Small town southern states a little library where the community can share books is infiltrated. The books swapped out for those on the 'banned list.' I enjoyed the fiddt couple of chapters but felt a lack of plot development or character depth.

I enjoyed Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books but unfortunately, like a lot of other reviewers, I struggled with the formatting of missing text and random words on each page.

Overall, the premise is good and there were a lot of controversial topics covered in a thought-provoking way.

A topic that I cannot help but get riled up about, but told in such a way as to highlight the hypocrisy and bigotry that seems to be behind such moves.
Lula is outraged at the material available to loan at her local library, so she starts a committee to get worrying books banned. Naturally, she hasn’t read any of them but she is convinced it is her role to be the moral compass for the town. As part of this, she establishes her own library on her property full of books that she believes to be wholesome.
Unfortunately(only not, it’s the best thing ever) a local girl all too aware of the bigotry around swaps the books inside for those on the banned list.
We follow a number of characters as they loan one of Lula’s books, and see how the experience impacts them.
Parts of this had me laughing out loud. A lot of the characters are racist bigots, and I found myself increasingly angry at their behaviour. However, there’s plenty of characters who challenge these ideas. There needs to be more.
Thanks to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this before publication.

An interesting (if at times a bit twee) look at the fate of one small town in Georgia when Lula Dean, a woman who has felt ignored for too long, decides to become the town's arbiter of decency and the consequences when others fight back.

I listened to a very well read audio. The narrator, January Lavoy, had a good clear voice and the differences between characters was very good. I liked listening to her mild Southern drawl and she gave just enough drama to the text which could have easily fallen into melodrama at times.I also had a hard copy and it was great to swap between the two. It was an excellent book for audio though.

The story is an interesting one and was written in response to the increasing amount of book banning going on in the USA. Although I'd have to say its not just an American problem- it is worldwide. The wider premise of the book is to show that history is not what you may think it is - there's a famous quote about history always being written by the victors. The history in Troy, Georgia is of a very personal nature as very different people discover their shared history.

The book, on the whole, is an easy read even if the contents are quite astonishing at times. For example I was bewildered by why any of the books would be banned but then I'd read quite a lot of them.

The book is quite funny at times but it is sending a clear message of tolerance, understanding and being judgemental when you don't know the true facts. For that alone it should be applauded.

I would definitely recommend this book and the audio to anyone.

Thankyou to Netgalley, Harper Collins HQ and Harper Collins Audio for both the hard copy and the audio. Very much appreciated.

Thanks to #Netgalley for an #ARC of #LulaDeansLittleLibraryofBannedBooks.
I really enjoyed this book, it is one of those rare books that you wish to remove all memory of it and read it for the first time again.

This uplifting novel certainly doesn't shy away from difficult and upsetting topics and I think that's why I loved it so much.
Set in a small town in Georgia, Lula Dean takes matters into her own hands when she feels that the children are being corrupted by books in the twon library. This starts a butterfly effect through the town and each chapter shows how this touches on other people's lives.
This book will definitely get people talking, I think it would be perfect for a book club. Especially the way it is written, it almost lulls you into a false sense of security before hitting you with a few home truths.
Racism, sexism, homophobia, terrorism and indoctrination are all explored.
This will have you laughing. It will have you angry and it may even make you shed a tear. I highly recommend picking this one up.

I was very intrigued by the idea of this book. With all the misinformation, lack of tolerance and paranoia in the world today I liked the idea of a story that dealt with this. Unfortunately this book is not for me. I have to be honest and say that I couldn't finish this book. It started okay though admittedly I did find it a little basic in terms of the prose and story telling. However I was interested to see where this went. It wasn't long however but I was just plain bored. This book just seems to be a series of chapters from different perspectives (which is fine in itself) but the writing is superficial and not the output of a professional author. No character depth and boring writing means I gave up at about the 20% mark.