4.5 Stars from me
This delightfully titled seemingly wholesome read takes a sharp sticky and jabs the pointy end at prejudice, sexism, racism and generally small minded folk – which the character of Lula Dean embodies in spades.
Somewhat bafflingly, Lula decides certain books are just not right for the residents of a small town called Troy, in Southern USA, deeming books like Anne Frank as ‘pornographic’ books and ‘propaganda’ and getting them banned.
Instead, she sets up her own little library filled with what she thinks are more appropriate reads – and this is where the fun begins as the actual books are swapped.
I enjoyed the style of the chapters with each persons backstory and then leading onto the book they take from the library. I had to suppress a laugh when one lad started reading a book which began with ‘Are you there god, it’s me, Margaret’…
There are some delightful little character driven segments, the cheerleaders for example, some of which are heartwarming and some which are sadly reflectively of some of the less educated elements of society. I started to think this had gone too far in some respects and then I remembered that Roe v Wade has been overturned and had to remind myself that these views unfortunately do exist.
Overall this thought provoking and intelligent celebration of literature and mocking of archaic views is a great read. My thanks to the author, NetGalley and HQ Stories for an ARC in return for an honest review.
Blurb: 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.
Read and Rated 