Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books: A Novel

“Kirsten Miller has that rare ability to take a serious subject and make it very, very funny. I enjoyed this novel and you will too.”--James Patterson

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.

What Lula doesn’t know is that a local troublemaker has stolen her wholesome books, removed their dust jackets, and restocked Lula’s library with banned books: literary classics, gay romances, Black history, witchy spell books, Judy Blume novels, and more. 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. That's when the showdown that’s been brewing between Beverly and Lula will roil the whole town...and change it forever.

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Published Jun 18, 2024

301 pages

Average rating: 7.79

390 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

MWojo
May 11, 2025
10/10 stars
An absolute must for everyone.
literarily_occupied
Aug 12, 2025
8/10 stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
SherylStandifer
Jul 31, 2025
6/10 stars
This book was recommended by a friend and at times made me chuckle out loud for being way over the top. But, in an entertaining way, given all the present-day tongue in cheek subjects in today’s news. Racism. Book-banning. Misogynism. Anti-gay sentiment. And the rise of Trumpian Nationalism. I probably should have used a scorecard to keep all the characters straight. But it deftly illustrated that one should not follow uneducated conventions, but be free to read and open to differing opinions. Banning books or editing what we are allowed to read is not the way forward.
Cortese
Jul 14, 2025
10/10 stars
What a timely subject matter done with a bit of seriousness & fun. My favorite club read this year.
EYEGirvin
Jun 15, 2025
8/10 stars
I didn’t laugh out loud, but the book was thought provoking and yet fun

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