What a delight! It's cutesy but fun and packs a major whollop of a statement on the crazy times in which we live. I did struggle sometimes to keep track of the characters but adored the beginning chapters showing each book changing lives. I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just an unbelievably pleasant surprise! I went into this book not really knowing what it was about, and I could not put it down. I was so wrapped up in the story line, characters and dynamics between everyone. I loved how the multiple stories, perspectives and characters all tied into one story. They were all so dynamic and different that I was never confused about what or who I was reading about. It is not easy to write a book this way, but Miller did an incredible job. The story flows well and its fast pace works perfectly. The topics touched upon are serious and real - racism, rape, homophobia, antisemitsm, sexism and much more all connected to the censorship and banning of books and stories. Yet, it is also an entertaining book that will make you laugh out loud. I think this is a must read for everyone, it touches on important topics without feeling too heavy or pushy.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

This book literally touches very important topics even political ones in a very interesting way. It focuses on Troy in Georgia where Lula Dean and Beverly are on opposite sides on the topic of banned books and book policing to decide what books are good for their society and this key plot is what held it for me. But somewhere the execution faltered for me with introduction of too many characters and slightly preachy approach. But the way it shows how books impact the lives of so many people was beautiful. Also it was pretty straightforward touching multiple important relevant topics with a great message and intent. But using so many topics all in one book was probably too much. I still encourage everyone to read it for the underlying message!

I rated it 3.5 stars.

This was a great tale explaining the issue with book bans. The author intertwines these books and characters in a way that gives them all an even greater meaning and shows the possibility of closed minds becoming more open. Overall I loved this story, but towards the last 20% things seemed rushed and character lines seemed to be a bit extra fantastical (which made it feel like a very very far fetched dream).

This story takes place in a small town in Georgia. Lula Dean and Beverly Underwood have been rivals since high school and things get pretty sticky when Lula makes it her mission to rid the school and town libraries of books she deems inappropriate. Beverly is on the school board and she isn’t going to let Lula get away with banning books. But Lula is swaying many in the town to get on the book banning bandwagon and books are pulled off library shelves. Lula sets up her own little lending library in front of her home filling it with “safe” books. Unbeknownst to her or the rest of the town though Beverly’s daughter Lyndsey pulls those books out, removes their dust jackets and wraps them around some of the very books that have been banned. She puts them back into the little library and that’s when things in town really start changing! People pull a book thinking it’s one thing, but they get something else all together and it turns out it’s often just the book they need!
I like the premise of this book. I don’t support banning books. I don’t want someone else dictating to me what I can and cannot read. There are lots of other hot button issues the book presents as well such as racism, misogyny, homophobia and antisemitism to name a few. The story is told from quite a few different viewpoints as different characters pull books and we learn how reading these banned books affect them and what they learn from them that meets their needs at just the right time. I had a few favorite characters and enjoyed their stories. I also enjoyed seeing various townspeople step up and make their voices heard to effect positive change in their town.
Here is what I didn’t enjoy however: I didn’t find the book “hilarious” as the description states. It was actually kind of dark. And I felt that it was very heavy handed on pushing the topics it presented. It felt very “us vs. them” juxtaposing the conservative vs the liberal. I don’t support anything Lula or the rest of the book banning whack jobs in that town supported. That’s what just hit wrong with me because I feel like conservatives get grouped in with all the whack jobs like them in today’s world. The conservative people I know would never support the dark, ugly agendas many of the characters in the book pressed.
One final thought involves the town’s physician, Dr. Chokshi who is of Indian ancestry. He takes the time to chat with Mitch who was initially supporting Lula’s agenda. I loved how he explained his ideas to Mitch. He used humor and found some commonalities between them. It took Mitch off his guard and he really listened and changed some of his thoughts. It’s a great example of how we can approach someone with differing viewpoints and have a civil discussion. Beating someone over the head doesn’t seem the best approach to me.

Thought provoking story of Tory, Georgia that showed how people and a community can change from reading books. The book dealt with some heavy topics including racism but also included some humorous parts. I liked that it had a positive ending.

Lula Dean has filled her "Little Library" with books that she considers wholesome reads for her community. What she doesn't know is that a local prankster has sneaked in and exchanged the books with "banned" books and then replaced the original covers. As folks check out Lula's books, they are surprised by what they are reading, and chaos ensues. The story has a moral message and the ending is quite satisfying.

The story takes place in a very conservative town in the South, and the characters are just a little "over the top". I couldn't wait to finish this book (though it's really well written) because I know people like Lula, and I just don't want to spend my spare time reading about such people. I found her and her cronies so annoying, and it was hard for me to get past that.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

This is a very hopeful book in these current times. I was heartened to see the influence of books on the community. I would have liked to see some change in the villains of the story, but you can't have everything.

TONS of characters and the way the book is written is very disjointed and often difficult to follow when it comes to weaving them all together. But three and a half stars rounded up because the freedom to read is so near and dear to me.

As a book-lover, I can’t really resist a Little Free Library - but in all the times I’ve visited one, I’ve never experienced what this town in Georgia goes through…

Book-banning is a hot topic, & in this scathing & comical satire the author expertly captures a wide variety of issues with a diverse cast of characters. History is unearthed & lives are changed when the woman spear-heading the movement to remove “inappropriate” material from the local library sets up her own lending library with “quality” books inside. Unbeknownst to her, someone secretly slides the slipcovers off all of her “good” books & puts them on banned ones, giving the borrowers a number of surprises…

I adored this book! It made me angry & it gave me hope & it somehow is also extremely funny. The way the author connected the townspeople was complicated & ingenious, & people featured at the beginning of the story coming back up again towards the end led to multiple awesome conclusions. I also really enjoyed that all the chapters had titles :)

Thank you very much to NetGalley & William Morrow for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I absolutely LOVED The Change by Kirsten Miller, so I jumped at the chance to read her latest novel about hot-topic book banning. As a Little Free Library owner, reader and mother of a little, this topic really makes my blood boil.

The premise of the book is wonderful, I enjoyed the book titles for chapter headings, and there were definitely moments that made me laugh out loud. Overall, however, I felt like this book fell a little flat for me. I get where the author was coming from, but it felt like she pushed each hot-button topic a little too far at times and pulled in every type of person that’s considered controversial. I get that it’s satirical, but this felt overly done. I wish that there had been more plot versus tiny snippets of each character in the town.

While I struggled with this one, I think this book is perfect for people passionate about reading and getting books in the hands of young minds. I don’t agree with banning in the least, and am grateful to the author for tackling such a meaty and controversial topic.

Thank you to Kirsten Miller, William Morrow and NetGalley for a digital ARC of the book for an honest review.

I loved Miller's first book - seriously loved it. This seemed like a departure, but it did remind me of The Change in a few ways. Mostly in how people come together, I think.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this one. At times, it seemed almost too in your face, too didactic, but it's not wrong.

I think I'll be reading all of Miller's books, so get cracking on more! (Just kidding, but not really)

This was a great story, but took me a while to get into it. Doesn’t compare to her book from 2 summers ago, but still absolutely worth the read.

This book needs to be on everyone’s summer reading list! Witty, bold, and timely, Kirsten takes a touchy topic and faces it head-on with zero apologies necessary. This book is wildly entertaining with wonderful characters who have vastly different ideas on book banning. Lula Dean is trying her best to make a name for herself in town and banning all the books she deems inappropriate is definitely making waves. Her nemesis, Beverly, is on the school board and doesn’t agree with Lula’s views. When Lula puts up a little free library in her yard containing all the books she finds wholesome, a local “troublemaker” sees this as an opportunity. Under the cover of night, they swap out the books in the library with books that have been banned, covering them with Lula’s dust jackets. This small act will either tear the town apart or bring them together in ways they never saw possible.

This book needs to be on everyone’s summer reading list! Witty, bold, and timely, Kirsten takes a touchy topic and faces it head-on with zero apologies necessary. This book is wildly entertaining with wonderful characters who have vastly different ideas on book banning. Lula Dean is trying her best to make a name for herself in town and banning all the books she deems inappropriate is definitely making waves. Her nemesis, Beverly, is on the school board and doesn’t agree with Lula’s views. When Lula puts up a little free library in her yard containing all the books she finds wholesome, a local “troublemaker” sees this as an opportunity. Under the cover of night, they swap out the books in the library with books that have been banned, covering them with Lula’s dust jackets. This small act will either tear the town apart or bring them together in ways they never saw possible.

I flew through the audiobook in a day and was once again awed by the sheer talent of January LaVoy! The character voices and personalities she creates are always top tier and this performance is no different! If you haven’t listened to January yet, let this one be your first and then promptly go and listen to Kirsten’s The Change because January knocks that one out of the park too!

Thank you, NetGalley and William Morrow!

Kirsten Miller has written both a laugh out loud and thought provoking book. She takes you on a tour of the little town Troy and gives you an in depth look at the lives of it's citizens. Which it just so happens that close to every closet in that town has a skeleton or two....or three.

Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books is a story of strong personal beliefs and the consequences that come with the inability to view any other perspective but your own.

This was a joy to read and Kirsten made it easy to fall in love with not only the town of Troy but also the mix bag of people who live there.

First of all, The Change by Kirsten Miller was one of my favorite books of last year and has characters that will forever live in my mind (I am dying for her to write a sequel just so I can be with the three main characters a little longer!)

So I went into this one with some high expectations obviously! And Kirsten Miller didn't disappoint (although The Change still sits above this one for me - it's just the best!). This is a book that at its core is about a small town, a busy body woman named Lula who loves to stir up trouble and uses her power to create a book ban at the local library, and the townsfolk who come together to fight the ban. But oh it's so much more than that. This book deals with a LOT of hot button issues that are relevant in our society today. But Miller does this in a way that you are not beat over the head by these issues, but rather introduced to characters throughout the town that you connect with and fall in love with - and also utterly disagree with too - that are directly impacted by these issues.

At first, I had to get into the groove of each chapter introducing me to a new character in the town and had to get my bearings to remind myself who they were as they would tie into each other's stories throughout the novel. But once I did - I could not stop reading! I was so invested in these characters, their relationships, their flaws, and the way they changed and learned throughout the novel.

Kirsten Miller is now an autobuy author for me and I will read anything and everything she writes!

Thank you to Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This book's heart was in the right place but the execution makes it a "preaching to the choir" read more than anything that would sway readers on the opposing side. I say this as, like the author, I am a southern-reared liberal who emerged from a family with views radically different from my own. At the very beginning, I thought I could maybe recommend it to some of my right wing relatives, but as the book progressed I found it to be far too heavy-handed in the examples it gave of the baddies. I'm not saying I don't agree with what's said, but if the goal is to get misguided readers to see the errors of their ways, this book isn't it, sadly.

Aside from this critique, if you do want to read a book that holds up an example of a more just society that embraces EVERYONE being free to be who they want, it's a nice "good triumphs over evil" read for those who already value that type of world.

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 loved so much of this book. I was primed too: The Change by Kirsten Miller was my favorite novel in 2022.

But wow did I hate the plot point of the arrest. Too often, I see Little Free Library stewards defacing books (i.e., stamping them) in an effort to police those taking books from their LFLs. The idea of someone *being arrested* for using a LFL was too much for me. (As was Miller needlessly killing a character.)

I also felt that, as written, Lula's heart wasn't really in this campaign for banning books. She wanted attention and this was a way to get it. I understand that this is fiction but in a world in which people are actually, forcefully pushing to ban books, this portrayal felt unrealistic.

To be sure, Miller's writing is still for me, and Wilma was a delight. But the plot of Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books just wasn't for me personally. I imagine this book will work better for many others (especially those who have given the actions of LFL stewards and book ban supporters much less thought than I have). 3.5 rounded up