Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned books by Kirsten Miller - Summer Reading Spectacular!
Circulating Ideas 263
Chugga-chugga-choo-chooooooooo! 🚂 The Summer Reading Spectacular Express keeps chugging along!
When I heard about Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller, I knew I needed to speak with the author for the podcast. Yes, books about books and books about libraries are always going to pique my interest (Rebecca and Yaika discuss this phenomenon in The Circ Desk segment of this episode), but this also took place in the South, written by a Southerner, and it was as perfect a description of a small Southern town as I could’ve hoped. In the interview, Kirsten and I discuss how Southerners have traditionally been portrayed in literature and why it’s important to combat those stereotypes.
The other big reason for wanting her on the show should be obvious because it’s right there in the title: banned books. Censorship and book bans have been topics on the podcast a number of times in recent years (211 with Shannon Oltmann, 220 with Dr. Tasslyn Magnusson and John Chrastka, 246 with Emily J. M. Knox, and 253 with James LaRue), but I wanted to get the author POV and see how she explores it in her fiction. Reader, she does not disappoint, hitting the issue from multiple sides with humor, grace, drama, and more than a little heart.
Check out my interview with Kirsten Miller now, either as a podcast or the transcript!
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.
Summer Reading List
One of the things I’m enjoying is putting together a Summer Reading List, with each guest author adding a book or two of their choosing. I’ll update the list with each episode until we have our complete list at the end of the summer!
The Steerswoman (Cory Doctorow’s pick)
How to Solve Murders Like a Lady; Children of Anguish and Anarchy; Georgette Heyer; Saara El-Arifi; the Daevabad Trilogy (City of Brass, Kingdom of Copper, Empire of Gold) (Amita Murray’s picks)
How the Word Is Passed (Kirsten Miller’s pick)
Ready Reference
Mentioned on the podcast:
The Circ Desk
Rebecca Vnuk from Library Reads and Yaika Sabat from NoveList are back for another shift on The Circ Desk, this time discussing books about books and the various shades of satire!
The Circ Desk recommends:
Steve Thomas is a public library manager who lives in the suburbs of Atlanta with his wife, two kids, and one dog. He has worked in libraries since the year 2000 and has hosted the Circulating Ideas podcast since 2011. He really likes Coke Zero.
Currently Reading: The Bourne Evolution by Brian Freeman