Looking for you next great read? See what the Newfields librarians are reading and loving this month…
The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street, by Karina Van Glasser
The Vanderbeeker books are wonderful. I’ve read all of them.
They show the power of family love and understanding. These books are for middle grade readers but really, as an adult I found them completely charming. I worried about them, loved their sense of humor, championed their efforts to get ahead in the world and take chances.
All five children have interesting personalities and come alive on the page. Because they have good parents, the kids are trying to be good, but sometimes, being good just doesn’t cut it and that’s when things get interesting. I was intrigued by how the siblings responded when things didn’t go according to expectations.
They met all of life’s challenges with the support of their parents and each other.
PML owns the first and last book of this 7 book series.
Book 1 and Book 7 of the series are available in our collection and you can find the whole series available digitally through the Libby app.
-Cori C.
Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular.
By the time Carrie retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Slam titles. And if you ask her, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father as her coach.
But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning, British player named Nicki Chan.
At thirty-seven years old, Carrie makes the monumental decision to come out of retirement and be coached by her father for one last year in an attempt to reclaim her record. -Goodreads
This book was a delight to read. I listened to the audiobook version on the Libby app and thought the cast of performances were excellent and engaging.
This was my first book by Taylor Jenkins Reid (I know, I know, I’m late to the bandwagon), and it’s immediately clear why her books are so popular. Her writing is crisp and pacing perfect. Even guessing at the likely outcomes for the narrative arc, I was still kept at the edge of my seat during the match scenes—especially the ending—as she expertly plotted the suspense of a live game. I’m not even a tennis fan but the lingo of the game and the insider talk was not a deterrent to my enjoyment or understanding of the stakes. I think it takes real skill as a writer to write about pro sports at a level that feels authentic without excluding (or boring) novice readers.
Carrie Soto isn’t always the most charismatic or relatable character but I found myself rooting for her the whole way. And I loved the gradual growth she showed inch by inch through the book.
This book is available in our collection as well as through the Libby app with your library card.
-Brittney T.
Legendborn by Tracy Deonn
First book of the Legendborn series
This is one of the better YA fantasy books I’ve read in a long while. I have been nonstop thinking about it ever since I finished it, and I can’t wait to pick up the second.
The world buildling was detailed but not too overpowering for a YA series. The representation was amazing and the discussion on grief and racism was such a powerful part of the story. And the ending did not go how I had expected! I typically can predict endings (or at leaset elements of it), epseiclaly YA fantasy but his book had me moving so fast through it, I had one thought “keep going!!”
I’ve read a lot of retellings, but none have been a King Arthur retelling and I gobbled this up. It truly felt like a breath of fresh air for the genre.
Any YA fanatsy fans looking to find a book with some new themes and unlike other YA fantasy books, I highly suggest this one. The second is already out and the third is being published in 2025!
This book is available to check out from our collection.
-Marie S.
