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

Garabrandt Reviews

June 9

Title: Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books

Author: Kirsten Miller

Genre: humor and satire, small town, books about books

Is this book part of a series? No.

I discovered this book via... Netgalley working with William Morrow Publishing

Publish date: June, 18th, 2024

The provocative and hilarious summer read that will have book lovers cheering and everyone talking! Kirsten Miller, author of The Change, brings us a bracing, wildly entertaining satire about a small Southern town, a pitched battle over banned books, and a little lending library that changes everything.

Beverly Underwood and her arch enemy, Lula Dean, live in the tiny town of Troy, Georgia, where they were born and raised. Now Beverly is on the school board, and Lula has become a local celebrity by embarking on mission to rid the public libraries of all inappropriate books—none of which she's actually read. To replace the "pornographic" books she's challenged at the local public library, Lula starts her own lending library in front of her home: a cute wooden hutch with glass doors and neat rows of the worthy literature that she's sure the town's readers need.

But Beverly's daughter Lindsay sneaks in by night and secretly fills Lula Dean's little free library with banned books wrapped in "wholesome" dust jackets. The Girl's Guide to the Revolution is wrapped in the cover of The Southern Belle's Guide to Etiquette. A jacket that belongs to Our Confederate Heroes ends up on Beloved. One by one, neighbors who borrow books from Lula Dean's library find their lives changed in unexpected ways. Finally, one of Lula Dean's enemies discovers the library and decides to turn the tables on her, just as Lula and Beverly are running against each other to replace the town's disgraced mayor.

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.

This book captivated me from the first page. I was completely invested in the shenanigans of the townspeople, their lives and interactions. Some were upsetting, most were hilarious.

I loved the characters. Lindsay and Bella were probably my favorites, but they were all amazing. The way each book touched the character that grabbed it was amazing. I loved the amount of character development.

Fast paced with a great plot, this was probably one of the books I read the fastest this year. I could not put it down; it was so addicting! You just keep turning pages because you have to know what they're going to do next. From triping on mushrooms and allowing yourself to commit a crime with an angel, to making a penis cake to piss off your family... you just never knew what you were going to see. For me, this was definitely a five star book. I will be buying a paper copy when it comes out so that I can share- though I will probably be sending the eBook to a few buddies as gifts.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

We touched on some really heavy subjects here: language, racism, homophobia, emotional/ physical abuse, and sexual abuse. Miller took the book banning, white supremecy/ nazi leanings and everything else and added just enough humor without making light of the issues. I would say this one is geared toward adults and new adults, but I don't think there's anything here that would be too inappropraite for any age.

I recieved an eARC of this book from Netgalley working with William Morrow Publishing in exchange for an honest review. While I am grateful, it did not have an impact on my opinion of the book. My thanks!