This was an entertaining saga that illuminates an all-too-real possibility.
Who would have thought book banning would exist in our country?
Let's ban the bans, together.

Thank you William Morrow and NetGalley for this advance copy. I really appreciate what the author is trying to do here. I enjoy a small town setting and a cast of quirky characters, and as an avid reader I certainly don’t support banning books. I thought the premise was cute, but overall the execution was a little too simplistic for my taste. I think the author was going for a fairytale type satire, and I wanted something with more depth and character development. I’ve seen many reviewers absolutely loving this book, so it is definitely finding much success with the right reader.

Kristen Miller certainly knows how to beat the drum of the message she’s trying to get across and she does it with a dish a humor. But. She beats that drum so hard in this book that it almost distracts from what she’s trying to do.

Despite all this, it was a delight to read and I finished it in an afternoon. It did tie up into a nice bow that I certainly wish were real life but alas. Real life is a mess right now.

I wanted to love this and I’d say for the most part, I did, where it mattered. This novel about a community deeply impacted by a resident’s decision to place a LFL on her property with ONLY “approved” books (read: books not banned or considered offensive, as determined by her and her league of fellow book-banners) touches on the very serious topic of book banning. When one of the community’s youth decides to take it upon herself to replace the books with banned books, concealing them beneath the dust covers of the approved books, she begins a small ripple effect. Soon, others begin to follow her example, all the while not knowing who the original individual who started this rebellious act is. It is interesting to note that the community’s adults who did not necessarily agree with Lula Dean’s book banning all remained quiet and didn’t fight back or argue against her. Rather, it was the youth who resisted and rebelled in their own nonviolent ways. However, those most deeply affected positively by the secret book swaps are adults who had been beaten down, silenced, and had their own independence taken from them. The books awakened something in them, igniting a fire and re-empowering them, inspiring them to make changes and fight back against Lula Dean and those who backed her.

At a certain point, the political portion became too heavy and I know that may seem confusing because politics is so much a part of the book banning culture. But book banning has been an age old problem. From the time books have been made available to the public, there have been groups of people who have tried to control which books should and should not be available to our youth. The culture of book banning can best be fought not by taking a political side, but by speaking from the perspective of desiring that books of all topics be available to our youth. The same message is easily conveyed in the novel without the political aspect being quite as heavy.

I loved this book! Kirsten Miller has crafted a story that is absolutely relevant, humorously entertaining and very engaging. Every character was very realistic. Everyone's story within the story was captivating. This book is a must read! Thanks #NetGalley #WilliamMorrow #KirstenMiller

I love books where everything feels interconnected and you feel as though we're all part of this world together. This book took the idea of a little private library and used it to change the entire community. The person in charge of the library is an unhappy person who has spent her life trying to inflict her unhappiness on others, and she is the reason there are so many books banned in the area. She also has other prejudices, so it's a surprise when people take books out and find that the banned books are there with different covers.
People read the books and their lives are changed; in the end, everyone has to confront who they really are. There is humor here, and tension, and I laughed and teared up sometimes. This is a good story. but I also wanted to visit and meet the people I'd come to care for.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

Lula Dean is the head of the Concerned Parents Committee in Troy, GA. They have tasked themselves with the removal of boxes of books from the town's public library that the committee has decided to be inappropriate. Lula then sets up a little free library in front of her house filled with the kinds of books she thinks are appropriate for the town to read.

Here’s the clever part. Someone decides to get back at Lula by removing the dust jackets of the books Lula has chosen and puts them instead on the books Lula and her committee banned and puts them back in her little library. These banned books then end up in the hands of Troy's citizens and as fate would have it, the right banned book finds its way to those who most need it.

This is a story of satire, about how books that some would find controversial can be beneficial to different readers.

Not a page turner but still an enjoyable read.

Oh my word! This book was so so good! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️! So well written. Loved how everything intertwined and connected in the end. Belly splitting laughter and so very relevant to what is happening right now in our society. Thank you, Kirsten Miller, for this work of art. You knocked it out of the park!

LOVED this book!!! Hilarious, irreverent and timely! Read it. That is all. I loved the writing, the characters, the messages in each chapter. It was funny, heartwarming, it also made me think. This would be a great book club book. It would have so many good discussion points!

4.40 stars for me! I thought this book was great fun. It was a small town feud with Lulu leading the charge. I loved how each chapter was based on a real book and the impact that book had on the characters of that particular chapter and eventually, the town. It was a small town drama but one with laughter, growth, changing relationships and a new perspective on seeing those around you. It was sweet, sassy, and thought provoking with characters of all ages and genders. Relationships and perspective grew throughout the story and you were cheering right along with the characters.

I was excited to read this book. Everything about it SCREAMED that it was something I had to pick up, and I'm so glad I did. The first couple chapters were a bit hard for me to connect with but, once they all started to connect, I couldn't put the book down.

Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books is both hilarious and terrifying. Kristen Miller tackles topics like racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and sexual assault with a cast of strong female characters who are fiercely intelligent, disarmingly eccentric, and bracingly funny. If only the people, events, and dialogue in the book were exaggerations. I enjoyed every minute of the book - I read it in less than a day - and although it pains me to know that many Americans would stand by Lula Dean in her misguided attempts to “protect” the children of her town, it also gives me hope that one small choice can change the trajectory of a community. Thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

One of my favorite books of 2024! In a world full of hate and ignorance, Kristen Miller has hit the perfect balance in Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books. As someone who's been in love with reading from a young age, the idea of banning books has always been abhorrent to me, so I was excited to see how this book unfolded. We've got Lula Dean, who is trying to take control of her town by banning all books she deems "unfit" against all the other people in the town who don't want to see her get away with it. Through multiple view points of characters on both sides of the debate, Kristen Miller does a great job of showing the reader how a little ignorance goes a long way, and the lasting impact it can have on a town. It's a scary reminder how quickly the vocal minority can rise up and truly impact a town and its people.

Thank you so much to Kristen Miller, NetGalley and William Morrow for this ARC, it is one of my favorite reads of the year!

I loved loved loved Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books! Definitely one of my 2024 top reads so far!

Wow! I was pleasantly surprised by this book. So many unique and well developed characters that come together to make this an interesting and enticing read. I couldn't put it down at times waiting to see what would happen next! An impactful story about the importance of stories in our lives.

This was my first book by Kirsten MIller and I absolutely LOVED IT. the story was a tough subject matter but I felt very educated and I didn’t realize how many ban books there actually is. The characters were a delight this was a funny story with likable characters. I cannot wait for more books by this author.

4.5/5 stars
This outrageous satire of a small southern town in Georgia is an homage to books and the freedom to read. Given the uptick in book banning across the country I am hopeful, that once again, the power of words - in a book - will create moments of conversation and help to change minds and hearts.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I just recently started to get into Little Free Libraries just before reading this book, which was a fun coincidence. One of the most fun things about looking at LFLs is seeing all the books that I'm excited that other people have the opportunity to read for FREE! Libraries of any sort are just magical places that really need to be protected at all costs, and it's a shame that books get banned that can provide a lot to a potential reader.

I LOVED this book! I think it brought up so many interesting and unique things about libraries and reading in general. The thought of someone switching dust jackets in a LFL was so fun and so funny and so clever!

I think the town in this book learned a lot about book banning, and I think this book is extremely important and one everyone should read.

Such a great idea for a book and so well written!! I loved all the characters, there were a lot of them, but the author did a good job making it clear who they all were. I liked reading stories from different perspectives, especially when they were opposing viewpoints. This inspired me to go buy banned books for my own Little Free Library! I just wish it was this easy to change people's minds in real life!!

An absolute delight! This is a love letter to all of us book loving southerners who refuse to give up on the south.