Welcome to Litsy!

This is the second novel I've read from Kirsten Miller and it will bump her up to an automatic buy author for me. If you understand that banning books, even monster erotica, is stupid, this book is for you.

Who knows when I‘ll get to my reading wrap up in my #AlwaysFullyBooked planner and since the StoryGraph graphics are so fun….

January #wrapup

2025 is off to a strong reading start despite the fact that I didn‘t complete any books for challenges. Lots of clunkers and mediocre reads this month but my favorites were Lula Dean, Twelve Dancing Princesses and Agatha Christie. Animal Albums for children was adorable, make sure to listen to the songs!

#Read2025 #JumpStart2025

My Libby library hold came in on this one so it snuck into January & I‘m so glad it did! I loved the author‘s The Change that I read in Oct 23 & I may have even liked this one more as it‘s so full of heart & shows the power of books & reading. Is it too optimistic? Probably. Do I care right now? Not at all. Life is too rough in this country & world to not see the positive change a group of people can make fighting for ⬇️

This book is a must read! I love how the banned books are seen through all the various characters‘ eyes.

Sadly, we live in a world where book banning not only exists, but has a never ending list of books some consider “dangerous”. Knowledge is the one thing no one can ever take away from you. Read the banned books and form your own opinions. 🩵

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

So good! This almost felt like a series of disconnected fairy tales in the beginning but then settled more into a novel. Maybe it‘s the Love Actually of book bans and closet Nazis? Whatever it was, it was pretty damn good. It did drag a bit at the end, stopping it from being a five star read for me but it got close.

My January #DoubleSpin

Headed to Hilo for the day. Traveling with colleagues & ran into someone I know in the lounge so the reading will have to happen inflight. Just started this one yesterday as my Libby loan came in last week. So far, so good.

It‘s important to model behavior for your children. If they see you reading, they‘re far more likely to become readers themselves.

A note about Lula Dean & dogs. Miller reinforces the bad rap given to pit bulls, which I wish she‘d skipped:

“Isaac…was naturally cautious. As a boy, he‘d never stopped his brother from reveling in life, but he was always there, waiting to step in, if necessary. When Elijah danced too close to a campfire…👇🏻

It‘s so sweet that Miller wrote this book as a “loving tribute” to her childhood friend who died in 2021, and who “fought like hell” to have the Confederate statue in their hometown removed.

The level of hope encapsulated in this novel is almost painful. It doesn‘t feel real. But…it also feels cathartic to believe, for the span of its pages, that one book (or, even more remarkably, one conversation for Mitch Sweeney)…👇🏻

We took the pup for a New Year‘s Day beach walk and stumbled upon a rowdy group of kids & adults braving the waters for a Polar Plunge! Maybe we‘ll join next year? We also found (real) bedraggled roses tossed amongst the seaweed. 🥀🌊📚

Here‘s my official #AuldLangSpine stack from @Christine (in addition to a couple of audiobooks I‘ve got queued up)!

Happy reading, everyone!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Fun lighthearted read about a little free library, a book ban, and a town in Georgia where hate begins to take hold.

Book number 52 this year!

#10beforetheend

Happy to finish the year on this one. A story of the power of books and the damaging world we find ourselves in when they are banned. Troy is a southern town full of secrets who have started down the book banning route when a teenager hides them in the covers of a local lending library. Learning ensues. The Indiana story with real heart, stark warning and sense of hope. Loved it

#12Booksof2024 @Andrew65

Reading with my lapcat Hazel. Just started this today!

#catsoflitsy

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Lula Dean‘s Little Library of Banned Books” is a must read. Set in the Deep South, this small book tackles topics such as racism, homophobia, bigotry, and rape in a poignant manner that showcases how a little book library can cause an upheaval to an entire town that still honors the Confederacy. Even with its heavy themes, it is heartwarming, funny, and very important. It is very relevant today and I will forever recommend this book.

I absolutely loved this. A middle aged woman loses the plot and starts a campaign to ban books that she thinks are bad for young people to read (she's bored and needs attention) and the town retaliates in rather spectacular ways. I wish my book club had picked this one but oh well. I also loved The Change so read that too.

#BookSpinBingo @TheAromaofBooks

I have a nice plan for November but I also have 5 library holds about to come in at once ( I know I could postpone some but I like to live dangerously 😄) so I‘ll probably be using up free spaces. Can‘t believe it‘s almost November! #BookSpinBingo

“When you have everything, the only luxury left is taking things away from others.”

Reads like a quaint southern book, but the drama is political with book bans, white nationalism, antisemitism etc. Each chapter touches on a character who takes one of Lula‘s books, but each book has had the cover replaced, and we learn how the chosen book relates to the individual. Things get out of control when book banning leads others to wanting a Confederate statue removed. A divided town learns how to respect one another and their history.

To me, this was a great idea but could have been done better.

I felt like I was reading a Creative Writing assignment that was predictable and not very creative.

Okay, but not earth-shattering.

Onward!

There are a LOT of characters in this book. I'm having trouble keeping track. #listeninganddriving

First book finished for #hauntedshelf 👻📖🎃 #hexesandcrows @Catsandbooks

I really enjoyed this one!

I‘m in the minority here, but I gave up on this. It‘s not sharp or clever enough to really be a satire. It‘s mostly a very exaggerated conflict lacking any nuance. The characters are ridiculously one-dimensional. I love books, and I hate censorship, but this book just reinforces all of the terrible conservative stereotypes and pits people against each other. It doesn‘t seem like a helpful book or a funny book. It just seems not very well written.

#SchoolSpirit #Library #Sports Days 6 & 7

Tagged book is on my TBR and I do intend to give Backman a second chance with this series.

@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I have this one saved on Everand to read soon! Have you read it?! 📚📚📚

#Setinlibrary
#Aboutabook

This was good. Lots of great characters. A little preachy but I agree with the point of view so it didn't bother me and felt a little inspiring.

Up next, based on the kooky character list on the back cover, I‘m going to like this one.

I was blown away by this book. It‘s a book that hits really close to home, especially for those of us who live in the US…the topic of banned books and books harmful to children has shadowed (in my opinion) really important issues. But, I don‘t want to make this political, so I digress…

I laughed so much and cringed so much while listening to this. Miller writes of the power of books and words and history. I love how the book concludes, and ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Really enjoyed this one! Good decision to buy in York @TrishB @squirrelbrain

Book banning comes to a southern town, but one local fights back in a clever way. Ultimately those who want things to change for the better gain steam and harness their voices. Plus, there‘s deliciously wicked humor laced through. I loved The Change and loved this and love what Miller is doing.

At first, I was afraid this would end up being a bit too cheesy. By the end, I was more enthralled, but I still prefer her debut, The Change.

Lula Dean has gotten some attention in her small Georgia town with a book-banning initiative. When a college student swaps out the wholesome books in Lula Dean's LFL with banned titles, town secrets come unraveled and many people‘s lives change.

It felt a little too repetitive for my liking. As a librarian, I loved the concept and the themes.

Loved this one! It's maybe a little too spot-on for satire and not as laugh-out-loud as it's billed, but I was thoroughly entertained (and appalled) nonetheless!

Wowsers! Two top year reads in the same week!?! I literally only picked this up from the title but inside was so much more. Definitely gave off Fredrick Backman Beartown vibes in the writing style but with a deep American south setting that could have also been set in numerous other parts of our country. Filled with dozens of current topics, varying viewpoints and memorable characters.

Great narrator. I enjoyed it but thought it was a bit too on the nose.

If I knew a word that meant over-acting in book form, I‘d use it to describe this book and nab Majorie Taylor Greene to narrate Lula Dean. I really liked this book. If only right-wing book-ban enthusiasts would read this, see themselves on the pages, and be enlightened enough to not fear what others might gain from reading a book.

The weekend is almost over.😩 I'm starting the new Kirsten Miller.

Every type of bigotry addressed in this book- in a light hearted but serious way. Some brilliant characters and a lot of positive messages, about communities, good people and, of course, books. A lovely read.

This book should be mandatory reading in schools, especially with some of the things happening in our country right now. The rest of my review is in the comments (and the pic) because it‘s too long for Litsy. Book#61in 2024

It‘s a love letter to books, their importance, and the power they have to create empathy and change people. This one will be in my top five for 2024, no doubt. This book is EVERYTHING!! Backwards small towns and how they got there, people standing up against those that fuel fear about the “problems” but ARE the problems, and people learning to love each other. This book needs to be flung frisbee-style at every reader everywhere. 10/10 🏆✊🫶👏🤟

Even the author‘s note in this book is perfection. Everything in this book is perfection.

#BookMail

📚Manga for my daughter
📚Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books is a shelf-trophy
📚Of Jade and Dragons bought purely for its beautiful cover (yes, I'm shallow like that)

Loved this!! So funny and clever, pulls no punches yet heartwarming and hopeful (if idealistically so). It‘s also full of compassion and recognizes the humanity of and forces that shaped each and every character (and their culture). Great January LaVoy narration, too. 🩵

Small town in Georgia, the usual biases (definitely not found just in the south). When Lula Dean can't ban baby-yoga (indoctrination into Hinduism), her latest target is books. A committee is formed and books are banned from the library shelves. A LFL is set up in front of Lula's house, stocked with books approved by her. Only, a prankster changes all the books with ones on the banned list and by that sets things in motion

The ending made me 🥹

“Offer (Delvin) lemonade and yammer on about the weather. Meanwhile she was making lists of books that Delvin‘s kids shouldn‘t be allowed to read. When you have everything, the only luxury left is taking things away from others. It was an indulgence that Lula Dean certainly seemed to relish.”

Thirty-four pages in and I‘m OBSESSED!! Small town, Little Free Library, banned books, schools bowing down to bs demands for books to be removed from library shelves, and people that are about to fight against it. HELL, YES!!!! ✊✊✊

Started this on the tram to an appointment and nearly missed my stop.

It's so important, but I fear the people who should read it won't.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This novel is so of-the-moment and revels in the mightiness of books. It‘s not necessarily realistic or overly nuanced, but it‘s heartening and hopeful. It deals with serious topics, but it‘s also fun to read. I would highly recommend reading this as an audiobook; the narration is incredible! 🎧