I began listening to this book but part way through it disappeared from my app. An interesting idea but not one we can really relate to in the UK. I’m not a great fan of American literature with all its references which I do not get. However, this book had a gentle comedy aspect which helped to dispel that problem. Perhaps I will find this in the library one day and complete it.

This is a fine book but unfortunately unbearably twee for me. Had to stop at the woman who has only now realised her Nazi memorabilia collector husband is indeed a Nazi.

I adored The Change by Kirsten a few years ago and have been desperately awaiting something new since - and with this necessary and topical new novel she’s gone and raised the bar even higher. This is a story about a Southern town which has let fear and hate seep in, after a woman desperate for attention makes it her mission to get lots of incredible books banned. But when someone switches the banned books back into her ‘little library of banned books’, hiding them under the approved dust jackets, the townspeople find themselves reading these books unexpectedly and learning a whole lot more than they dreamed of.

What’s amazing about this novel is that it’s dealing with some seriously devastating subjects, like slavery, banning books, white nationalism, feminism, sexual assault and a lot of hatred and violence, yet it still retains it’s sense of humour and a mischievous spirit. The characters and their journeys are mostly a joy to behold, and it brings these books (many of which have actually been banned in towns in the US 🤯) right back to the attention of readers, and shows us just why reading and learning about history and experiences different to our own is SO important. I loved every second of it, and have no doubt it’ll be in my top books of the year!

And please, PLEASE read the author’s note if you do pick this one up, because it moved me to tears.

Overall, I enjoyed this. It's a clever, biting, mischievous, relevant satire that often reads like a fairytale, and is deeply passionate about the power of books, stories and the truth.

This book was full of 'hot potatoes' that are more nuanced to the US Market over the UK one. That didn't take away my appreciation of the story and the subjects it was raising. I do think that using Lula in the title was misleading, but perhaps that was intentional. Ban guns, not books is what I came away thinking (perhaps international news contributing to that feeling). A thought-provoking read that I enjoyed.

4.5 stars.

In Troy, Georgia, Lula Dean has decided to cleanse the town’s reading habits. All banned books have been removed from public spaces, and the townspeople are only allowed to read books Lula has deemed ‘appropriate’. But a small group refuse to be told what they can and can’t read. The revolution is coming …

I’ve always been attracted to books about books, and this was why I picked up this book. I didn’t expect the story to be as prominent as it was, so I’m glad to have found this book and I’d recommend this to everyone!

It was interesting to see that Lula Dean didn’t actually get much air time in the book even though the title was based on her. I’m glad she didn’t though, because she wasn’t a nice person. Beverly Underwood was the super mum and unsung hero in the story, and Lindsay was pretty much the revolution kickstarter!

I loved seeing how each person interacted with the books they ‘chose’ (or stumble into) in the story. In general, I love the idea that there’s a perfect book for everyone, if they just know to stop and look.

This was such a heartwarming story, full of social commentaries about book banning, restrictions and inclusions. I think everyone should read this book!

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator (one of my favorites) was amazing- she always is!! I wasn’t sure what to expect from the book but I really enjoyed the humor amongst the serious subject. Highly recommend this one!

A book is superbly powerful when on the surface, it seems to be a light hearted jaunt but actually, it makes you question your own views and prejudices too.

In a Nutshell: A contemporary satire about what happens in a small Southern town after a woman campaigns against controversial books. Excellent if you read it as a satire. Might ruffle feathers of a few people. Better for those who enjoy character-oriented storytelling and are liberal in their thinking.

Plot Preview:
Forty-something Lula Dean has always lived in the shadow of her arch-rival Beverly Underwood in the small (fictional) town of Troy, Georgia. Lula has finally hit celebrity status, thanks to her latest campaign: ridding the local libraries of inappropriate books. To set the right example and provide the townspeople with quality reading material, Lula sets up a Little Free Library outside her home and fills it with “wholesome” books. Unknown to Lula, Beverly’s daughter Lindsay sneakily changes the composition of the free library, by replacing Lula’s books with the banned books but retaining the original “wholesome” dust jackets. As the neighbours borrow books from Lula’s library, they realise that the content isn’t exactly what the cover promises, and see how the right book can change their lives. A secret revolution is brewing in Troy, and Lula doesn’t even know that she has caused it.
The novel comes to us as interconnected stories from various townspeople, with each chapter coming from one specific character.

Bookish Yays:
📚 A satire that works exactly as a satire should: thought-provoking, humorous, hyperbolic yet rooted in reality, and provocative. Love how the book tackles such a serious topic in a sensible and fun manner.
📚 The characters: Coming from varied age groups, genders, professions, financial status, and racial backgrounds. Beverly Underwood was my favourite. For a while, I thought she'd go the stereotypical hyper-PTA-mom way, but she turned out to be a treasure. Old Wilma Jean Cummings was another exceptional woman. A special shout-out to the Indian rep of Dr. Chokshi – I'm delighted with the refreshing authenticity of his portrayal.
📚 Despite the multitude of characters, the author writes them in a way that it is fairly easy to keep track of them. I especially loved the way she ensures that their age is clarified right towards the start of their chapter – so important to do this!
📚 The representation deserves its own Yay. Not only is the list of characters inclusive in every way, but many characters also have traumatic pasts and hardships in their present, which adds further depth to their arcs.
📚 The depiction of the small-town lifestyle through the fictional location of Troy, where everyone knows everything about everybody, and supports and gossips in equal measure. Not sure if the name “Troy” was chosen by the author to be ironic, but it made me think of Lula Dean’s library as the famous Trojan Horse, where the innocent-looking outside disguised the unexpected inside content.
📚 Each chapter is named after a “book”, with most titles being actual books, including some banned titles. Love how the title bended seamlessly with that particular chapter.
📚 The best part of the novel is that there's no generalisation. It focuses on the good as well as the bad of most of the represented segments, whether in race or religion or even location. I appreciate how the author highlighted the positives of Southern lifestyle such as the food and the hospitality.
📚 Adored the Christian content! It was so nice to see criticism against the misguided idiots who twist biblical beliefs into their own version of righteous Christianity, but without any hateful slings against the religion itself. A related quote from the book: “They are fighting for the glorious past instead of ensuring a glorious unified future.“
📚 An interesting array of relationships: parents and children, siblings, couples, friends. Loved how almost every character arc felt almost like a short story because of the detailed backstory of the relationships and issues of that character.
📚 The title made me assume that Lula Dean would be the hero of the story, the person who fills her LFL with banned books. But Lula Dean turned out to be more like Dolores Umbridge. Regardless, I loved how the book banning theme was tackled. We get to hear from both sides of the book ban argument, so obviously, we can rationally decide which side is right. (Not that there was any doubt about whom to support!)
📚 The author's note at the end of the book: honest, heartfelt, excellent! (As she too comes from the South, this is like an OwnVoices novel.) There is also a list of the books named in the chapter titles, with a mention of whether they are banned or not.

Bookish Didn’t-Make-A-Difference-To-Me-But-Could-Be-A-Nay-For-Others:
📖 By sheer coincidence, this is my third composite novel in a row, where each chapter is from a different character and hence the overall effect is like that of linked short stories. I enjoyed the shifting character perspectives, as each had enough merit on its own, and yet added to the events established until that point. But those who don’t enjoy short fiction or too many character arcs might not enjoy this novel.
📖 The book gets politically intense after a certain point, with a clear stance taken against one political party. Might offend a few readers. (Oh, and there are also many cuss words, just in case that also bothers you.)

Bookish Nays:
📕 It goes overboard on the themes:, misogyny, gender discrimination, racism, homophobia, religious discrimination, discriminatory school policies, mental health, gaslighting, anti-Semitism, closet Nazis, slavery, rape, the role of the media in spreading hate, fake news, and many more. Every single theme was important, no doubt. But not all of them needed to be in a single book.
📕 Most of the characters slot neatly into good and bad categories. There are hardly any in-between shades. I wish there had been some layers to the unidimensional portrayal, though I do understand how having so many character perspectives reduced the scope for depth in the individual arcs.
📕 The last couple of chapters were a bit dragged, and the finale was too neat to be believable. There was also an extended infodump, of which I am never a fan.

🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 10 hrs 12 min, is narrated by the usually reliable January LaVoy. For a book with such a wide range of characters, she did a very good job. A couple of the character voices felt a bit off as per their age or gender, but on the whole, the audiobook is fabulous. That said, it is only for seasoned audiobook listeners. Newbies might get confused with the sheer number of characters and their arcs.

All in all, I enjoyed this amazing satire that highlights the restricted thinking of many people. It is light-hearted in its approach, yet unflinching in its agenda and impressive in its declarations. The book would have rated even higher for me had the overly neat ending not spoiled my mood so much.

As the author rightly says, this problem isn’t limited only to Southern USA, and the book certainly isn’t indicative of everyone in Southern USA. But the topic and the setting are such that I can see many features being ruffled by this title. Remember that it's a satire, and is meant to be over the top.

This is my first Kirsten Miller book. And I am quite impressed by her outspoken writing style! I am surely going to try more of her works.

Definitely recommended to those who enjoy short-story-styled novels, literary fiction, hot issues, and character-oriented writing. Keeping my fingers crossed that this book doesn’t get banned. It would be quite ironic if it does!

4.25 stars.

My thanks to HarperCollins UK Audio for providing the DRC of “Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books” via NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I really enjoyed The Change and this was even better. It combined all the slightly claustrophobic drama of a small town boiling over with current socio-economic and political issues, all told with wit and humour. Essentially small town ‘bigot’ who is really an unhappy woman who wants attention, causing a huge book banning at her local library. She then opens a little free library and stocks it with ‘appropriate’ titles. Someone swaps the dust jackets on the books and hilarity ensues. No spoilers but it’s great to watch the unfolding of how a single book can change a person’s perspective. While this has a generous measure of wish fulfilment, it’s inkeeping with the hopeful tone of the book. Miller extends grace to almost everyone and it’s good to see everyone, regardless of background, status, education or race being both very wrong on some things and very right on others. I have a few minor quibbles but nothing I care to mention here – matters of opinion only. This is an exceptionally clever and funny book. Highly recommend. As a bonus, the incomparable January Levoy narrates the audio book.

In Troy, a small southern USA town, right-wing widow Lula Dean has succeeded in getting multiple books banned from libraries and schools. She's also set up her own little library of what she considers suitable reading for the townsfolk. Unknown to Lula, after a teenage prank, the covers now hide the very books she has banned. The unwary townsfolk are about to find themselves reading things they never intended, with consequences they couldn't have expected.

The book is told from multiple viewpoints, each named after a specific book that appears somewhere in it. Initially it seemed a bit disconnected, but quickly the links between the different characters start to appear and a strong narrative drive develops. There's a powerful, compelling story here about the so-called 'culture wars' and how they impact the residents of one small town. I want to say some of the views and characters are exaggerated, but I don't think they are. The townsfolk are split between those who are certain reading a book with a gay character is going to cause people irreparable damage, and those who are equally certain that banning such books will have the opposite effect. Plus all the people in the middle who just want to get on with their lives.

There's a good range of characters, male and female, young and old, wealthy and not, black and white, in favour and not-in-favour. It isn't an even handed account - it's very clear which side the author is on and the anti-banning characters are more sympathetic. But the 'banners' are not cardboard cut out villains either and the writing shows compassion for them even though it clearly disagrees with their views and actions. Ultimately it's a feel-good story, albeit one where bad things do happen. It restores your faith in the basic goodness of most people. Which is nice, but not very realistic. The neat ending almost undermines the very real problems the rest of the book does such an excellent job of describing.

The narration is done well, the narrator's voice being nice to listen to and I enjoyed hearing the southern accents. It's easy to follow as an audio book and the narration is even and not shouty.

If you enjoy literary fiction, this is a great choice to read - it's interesting, well paced and the characters are likeable. It's also quite funny in places. In places it's a bit too neat, but overall it's enjoyable and has some important things to say as well. It would be a good 'holiday read' for people who like their beach books to still have a bit of bite.

A heartwarming story about the influence of books on a little town in Georgia…. Lula Dean, head of the Concerned Parents Committee and always eager for attention, holds on to old fashioned values and wants to ban certain books because they supposedly would be dangerous and inappropriate for kids. Not that she read any of these titles….. To “help” the town she places a little library in her garden with books like “The southern Belle’s guide to etiquette” and “Chicken soup for the soul”; perfect reading material. That is a step too far for young Lindsay, who decides to swap the books for banned books, and places these back with the dust jackets of the approved books. One by one the books are read by townspeople and something begins to change in the small town. People become more understanding of certain social issues and their lives are changed, and ultimately this leads to a confrontation between the more progressive townspeople and the conservative ones. Luckily the young generation knows how to stop Lula and help everybody to understand each other better and show why books should not be banned to begin with.

I absolutely loved the story and hope that people who read this realize how absurd it is to have books banned. The author addresses many topics like antisemitism, homophobia and racism in a very good way, explaining how we need to learn from the past and not try to act like this isn’t an issue. It’s sad that books like this are necessary to educate and make sure we learn from the past and do better. The writing style is superb and my compliments to the narrator of the audiobook, you did magic bringing the characters to life! I loved how the younger generation - and an old lady called Wilma - ultimately know how to bring people closer together again.

This book is exactly why I love reading, it’s informative, satirical, funny, heart warming and just an amazing story. Oh and I recommend listening to the author’s note at the end!

This book covered a range of topics from racism, sexism, homophobia, and more. It was told beautifully, with the underlying theme of banned books and reclaiming said books. There were quite a few characters which made the audiobook a little hard to follow in places, but overall I loved this listen and would recommend to a friend.

As you’d expect, this book really challenges the idea that books are dangerous and should be banned. Through various people in the town, we see their connections to different books which had been banned. How they’ve helped them, inspired them, thoroughly bored them. It’s a magical book looking closely at prejudice and small minded folk whilst also bringing together a community of people. It tells us how loud voices aren’t always the right voices and that people are far more dangerous than books ever were. It was a little difficult to keep track of who’s who with such a vast range of characters in this small town but they were all interesting in their own way and it was incredibly empowering to see small and large rebellions taking place through this book. Here’s to keeping the books unbanned, and offering acceptance to everyone who needs it. I listened to the audiobook and it was well-narrated and it made for a great reading experience.

Completely fabulous! A hard hitting tale in respect of the racial, sexual and religious prejudice experienced in the small town of Troy, Georgia, but cleverly written with several laugh out loud moments.

Lula Dean removes all of the "inappropriate books" from the local library and sets up her own mini library with "suitable" books for the community. Lindsey, a local gay woman, sneaks by in the night and swaps the books for banned ones, using the dust jackets from Lula's book choices to hide what's really inside - genius!

What happens is a huge rush of acceptance and understanding in the community and I loved them all, but the one that really took my heart was the story of the young boy, who after reading Judy Blume's "Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret", understands with relief that his mother doesn't use pads because she is desperately ill and dying, and is happy that he will one day be able to understand his own girlfriend or wife better. Families are drawn back together, including Lula's with a hilarious showdown when her own children come back to town.

Just wonderful and narrated brilliantly by January Lavoy.

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Kirsten Miller and Harper Collins for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Phenomenal!

This book is beautifully crafted and incredibly clever; it deals with the subjects such as racism, homophobia, anti-semitism, sexism and more, and does so in the most brilliant way. Bit by bit, you get to know the residents of Troy, how their lives are connected and how some suffer due to outdated thinking and bigotry. Brilliant, funny, and relevant- everyone needs to read this book!

When local busy-body Lula Dean takes it upon herself to remove books that she has deemed as unacceptable from the schools and libraries, she sets up her own small library outside her house of 'acceptable' books. Little does she know that there seems to be a rebel in the small town who is determined that people should still have access to these books.

This was a fun and entertaining read that also covered some important and timely issues - sexism, racism, book banning and right-wing views, to name just a few. There was a great cast of characters, good, bad and downright awful, but it gave a well-rounded and believable feel to the book. Excellent narration too!

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books
By Kirsten Miller

I loved Miller's last book "The Change" but I have a resistance to books that have "Library" in the title, being suspicious of trope hooks, but on closer inspection I figured that this is satire and is heavily leaning into tropes deliberately. I gave the audio a go, and it didn't take long to realise that this is not my cup of tea.

I appreciate the skewering of the conservative, fundamentalist wave that is hitting the US recently. They deserve to be pilloried and their narrow mindedness challenged, but I found this to be so over the top and unnuanced, that it bordered on the ridiculous rather than the comical. I can imagine that many will find it hilarious and thought provoking, but we can't all share the same humour. If I laughed at the same things my husband finds funny, or giggled at the tiktoks that crack my sons up, they'd all be taking my temperature. They glaze over at the things that have me in paroxysm.

Don't heed me, go ahead and try it. I have a warped humour anyway, and January LaVoy is a fantastic narrator.

Publication date: 20th June 2024
Thanks to #NetGalley and #HarperCollinsUK for the ALC

Gloriously and unashamedly inflammatory, uplifting and full of a love of books.

It's hard for me as a lifelong UK resident to understand the mindsets one sees in books such as this. I know often there's tropes, stereotypes, exaggeration, but I also see enough of international news and interviews to know that the types of characters represented here are far from fictional.

And this book made me mad. Mostly because I am a fervent and passionate reader, former librarian and big believer in the power of reading to inspire change, educate and as a source of comfort and community. And I think Kirsten Miller agrees with me, from what I read here.

In a small Georgia town (the literary subtlety here was not lost on me), a war is going on, though on the surface all is peach pies and happy families. Lula Dean, long-time thorn in school board member Beverly Underwood's side, has mounted a crusade to ban books from the school and public libraries that she feels are damaging the town's youth and morals. Replacing it with her own homemade lending library, full of 'The Southern Belle's Guide to Etiquette'-type titles will of course send the townsfolk down the correct path to righteousness.... of course.

But Beverley's daughter, with access to all the stored banned books starts a rollercoaster of change off when she replaces each book with one of those banned, recovering them, and the Troy residents, each of whom with their own personal problems and questions, start to discover understanding, answers and the courage to change their lives in what they are reading.

That’s when all the townspeople who’ve been borrowing from Lula’s library begin to reveal themselves. It’s a diverse and surprising bunch—including the local postman, the prom queen, housewives, a farmer, and the former DA—all of whom have been changed by what they’ve read. When Lindsay is forced to own up to what she’s done, the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.

I loved this. I loved the array of characters: those needing answers about girls, long-downtrodden wives realising what they've been prevented from achieving, young people with fears of homosexuality, an older lady giving up on fighting her money-grabbing relatives... all can find motivation from the written word. There are more than a dozen storylines each threaded together by Lula Dean's library, and I didn't find this a problem on the audiobook to track.

And how it all comes together... oh, it was marvellous! I desperately want to see this on the screen. Some wonderful roles here, a fair bit of sermonising, some very funny scenes (the cake scene was a standout) and I'm just so glad books like this actually exist. We need them, to remind us what education, knowledge and the freedom to think for ourselves does for ourselves and for everyone collectively. Thank you Ms Miller.

With thanks to Netgalley for providing a sample reading copy.

This was SO GOOD! The storytelling was really fantastic and the characters were great. It’s hard to put down - the way all the storylines were interwoven kept you wanting more.

I didn’t know what to expect as it felt maybe was more of a book for US readers, but will be recommending this to all my friends in the UK for the story. The audiobook narration was perfect too.