I think I liked this ... but I was actually more than ready to be done. It definitely had some points to ponder (book club discussion ideas, notes/highlights) and yet it was just TOO much. Too many characters, too many "bad" people/things in such a small town (we've got Nazis gathering, and complete Confederate pride, book banning/burning, LGBTQ characters (those with supportive families, those not), rape, a macho-movie star ... the characters were caricatures, and there were too many coincidences and easy outs.  

Given the title - I think I was expecting something different. A steward of a Little Library that was proudly trying to provide access to books. Instead, Lula is the one behind the "bans" and with her little library she's graciously offering up what she thinks are appropriate reads. The library DOES end up being filled with banned books ... and everyone is oblivious.  

In my own Little Library, only a small portion of the books have dust jackets. That every single book had a dust jacket here, well, I guess if that's what Lula bought. It was totally necessary for this storyline. And that someone could switch out, fitting new/controversial books that just happen to be the same size to fit said dust jackets... and that people taking the book and starting to read without realizing it's not the same book? To have one character (okay, given, she didn't graduate high school and this doesn't sound like the most progressive of towns) but that she's NEVER heard of Anne Frank? That she happens to pick that book (thinking it was Buffy Halliday Goes to Europe - not a real book, the books here are about half and half? Real and invented for this story) and "it wasn't quite what she'd been expecting. The book's narrator seemed a lot younger than the girl pictured on the cover ... Nobody in the book was named Buffy Halliday" It sure takes her a while to figure out it's a different book (I mean, usually the title IS right there at the front, often at the top of pages depending on the publication) and it's quite the coincidence that the person that just happened to pick up this book ... is married to a Nazi. 

Not as much of a stretch that one of the Black townsfolk takes Our Confederate Heroes ... to take it out of circulation, not because he wants to read it. He does recognize the switch immediately, and appreciates the irony and support that represents. One of the older residents picks up a cookbook with an interesting idea for a cake, another woman hoping to keep her man, instead of "The Rules: Time-Tested Secredts for Capturing the Heart of Mr. Right" finds herself reading "All Women Are Witches: Find Your Power and Put it to Use" ... I didn't really get the end of that chapter. Elijah, who happens to a brother who is gay, finds a story about two gay boys under the cover of Chicken Soup for the Soul. A little boy wondering about women issues/periods happens to pick up "Are You There God It's Me Margaret" ...

There were SO many different characters (all 3rd person/past tense) and then there were time shifts too, to Beverly and Lula's past when they were in high school. It was just a bit much to keep track of, to connect with enough to care about. I felt like the ending was over-the-top (although I loved how it showed how new-stories can be twisted and presented with a bias, even shocking those interviewed). 

I feel like I'm on the liberal side ... I could see some with more "conservative values" perhaps being offended by the content itself (siding more with Lula). A bit of Trump bashing/Art of the Deal included "a lot to learn from the master" "make Troy great again" ... "The radical left ... they've got our kids baking dirty cakes and learning how to use butt plugs. Now they're out to destroy our statues ..."

The final Chapter is "Happy Ending" ... I appreciated the Table of Contents including the chapter headers (in both Kindle and Audio, I didn't have a physical copy of this book). On the one hand, I would have also liked to have the POV for the chapters listed, but just the headers (names of books) were enough to nudge my memory, so that I could revisit a specific chapter as needed. There was a note from the author - I always listen to author's notes, and more often than not, find them illuminating. I do wish that in audio, the author would present the author's notes themselves, it would make it so much more personal. 

Quite a bit of proFanity (x73) and just presentations that I didn't care for - the first line "Ronnie Childers was tripping his balls off in Jackson Square when an angel of the Lord appeared before him." (It wasn't an angel, just a girl, and he was high ...) When Movie-Star Mitch appears on the scene "You ain't got nothing bigger? My granny wouldn't be caught dead in this pussy mobile."  Much of the "Southern" presentation (drawls and such), the prissy women, as well as the macho-men, just seemed overdone. Someone said the book said it was satire? This really did hit a lot of important issues, but it was hard to get over the cartoonish characterizations. 

No discussion questions included in the text - I wish there had been. That always makes me stop and think a little more. I even Googled but didn't find any/many set up (yet).