Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller

 

           

Reviewed by Christy

Lula Dean is out to cleanse her small Georgia town of “filth” and protect young, impressionable minds while doing so. She has ignited a campaign against questionable material in the school and public libraries, and if she gets a little much deserved attention while doing so - well, what’s wrong with that? Lula sets up her own little free library in her front yard, filled only with wholesome, Lula-approved books. But a prankster has switched out the book jackets. Instead of the Nancy Drew series or The Art of Crochet, readers are really getting Gender Queer or Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret. Chaos ensues.

            I’m not sure I’ve ever read a book before that was simultaneously fun and enraging. There are some seriously heavy topics discussed in this book as well as general small-town wackiness. Kirsten Miller balances them well. It’s also a book with an “ensemble cast”, so to speak. You get to know a little bit about all the townspeople, and I love books like that. A woman finds out her husband is cheating so she leaves him and becomes a witch? Love it. Discovering Lula’s desperate need for attention and acclaim ramped up after she failed to make the high school cheerleading team? Love it. The local florist blackmailing the bank manager into giving her a loan simply by sending his mistress a bouquet of flowers? Love it. Ok, I’m realizing maybe I just love small-town gossip. But it’s so fun!

While I really enjoyed this book, it does have an After School Special quality to it. The Good Guys have long, righteous rants that are scathing but still eloquent. The Bad Guys get their comeuppance (or even more surprising - see the error of their ways). It’s all tied up very neatly with a bow at the end. And you know what? I love that, too. I get the sense that Miller was not trying to write a totally realistic depiction of these matters. Instead, she was more interested in the idealistic version – a version of life where (most) people react with love and understanding instead of hatred and fear. Sometimes that's just the kind of story you want to read.

Drinking and Tweeting by Brandi Glanville

Reviewed by Meygan

We all know that the media loves celebrity gossip.  (Remember the Jennifer Anniston and Brad Pitt divorce? Tabloids STILL talk about their divorce nine years later!) I have been guilty of reading these magazines while waiting on my groceries to be bagged, and, as pathetic as it sounds, there are celebrities that I want to know more about. 

When a copy of Brandi Glanville’s book Drinking and Tweeting: and other Brandi Blunders made its way to me, I was somewhat inclined to read the book because her name was very familiar. I didn’t know anything about Brandi other than she was on The Real Housewives and although I had never watched the show, I had friends who ranted and raved about Brandi and her unfiltered mouth. So, I googled her and found that her ex-husband, Eddie Cibrian, left her for Leann Rimes. I’m still not sure why, but I wanted to read Brandi’s story. Also, it had been a while since I read what I call a “junk food” book (a book that you read for enjoyment only and retain nothing beneficial from it). 

Brandi and Eddie’s marriage was never perfect. He had several affairs and he wasn’t the best hands-on father to their children. Nonetheless, Brandi was wealthy and by being married to Eddie, she was able to live in sunny California, close to Los Angeles. Brandi had ignored Eddie’s first affair because she was comfortable with forgiving him due to her circumstances. (Where would she go if she ever left him? She had given up a modeling career to stay home with their two children.) 

However, thanks to Celebrity Gossip sites and magazines, Brandi caught wind that Eddie was having another affair and this time it was with country singer, Leann Rimes. With Eddie two-timing her yet again, Brandi decided that enough was enough. She was filing for divorce. 

Brandi’s Drinking and Tweeting is a somewhat humorous book that gives readers insight just how ugly a celebrity divorce can be. There were times when I felt sorry for Brandi because she was a complete wreck after the divorce. I couldn’t feel too sorry for her though because the woman “downgraded” to a Land Rover because of finances, and she also dropped thousands of dollars for a plastic surgery. (I’ll give you a hint—the surgery wasn’t for her nose.) But in spite of her vulgar name-calling language, a reader doesn’t have to be a genius to see that she loved and possibly still loves her ex-husband. Journalists don’t realize that when they capture this celebrity sleaze, they aren’t just destroying a person’s reputation—they may be destroying their life. However, if not for the tabloids and paparazzi then Brandi wouldn’t have known about Eddie’s second affair, so kudos to her for dumping him for good! 

Drinking and Tweeting isn’t on my favorite book list or my worst book list. If I had to create a list for Drinking and Tweeting, I would place it on the “not sure why I read that, but it was OK” list. I’m sure we all have checked out a book unsure why we were intrigued to read it. Drinking and Tweeting wasn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as I hoped, and I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are fan-crazy about Brandi Glanville. Her writing style and language reminds me of Chelsea Handler, so for those of you who like Chelsea Handler’s books and Brandi Glanville, then you may want to check out Drinking and Tweeting.