Anderson has written a delightful female main character in Nan. She is a force to be reckoned with and lively ups everyone's life.

Give this a slot in your summer beach reads list.

Thank you to Ninestar Press and Netgalley for providing an eARC for a honest review.

A fun romp about a librarian who shakes things up in her new community.

Nan reminds me of my favorite humor author, Laurie Notaro, if she were a lesbian librarian. On the brash side, which mayt not be everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought Nan seemed like a blast. I loved her tactics for dealing with troublesome teens, the hypochondriac hotline, and the “discuss whatever you’re reading instead of assigning a specific book” book club. While I wasn’t particularly invested in the love interests, they weren’t really the focus of the story. This was more a fish out of water story with a few dashes of romance.

If you love libraries and could use a chuckle, definitely check this out.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher and am voluntarily leaving this review.

This one sounded so good but it’s definitely not for me. DNFing pretty early on. WAY too many exclamation points right from the get go. The writing style is way too choppy. I appreciate the effort but it’s a no from me! Thanks anyway for the ARC.

If you are looking for a snarky, summer beach read with an unabashedly queer, middle aged protagonist trying to kickstart her life in a small South Jersey town, then this is the read for you. It's a great quick read due to its casual prose and has its literal laugh out loud moments.

As a Jersey girl myself, Pinetree was a wonderful slice of home. Diners and delis, overbearing Italian aunties, the Jersey Devil, and so much more.

However, the protagonist Nan is pretty one dimensional, with little character development outside of "rebel" and the plot is not very deep. The story had a lot of potential to be something really engaging, but overall it falls a bit flat at times.

A fun, quirky read but that's it.

I thought this was such a cute book! It was deff a cozy style of writing, and an easy read, but it touched on some really serious and heavy topics and I found myself crying more than once.. good crying and sad crying. I don't want to give too much away- but I think we can all relate to the MC at some point in our lives. And the ending involves a cat so.. enough said.

THE NEW TOWN LIBRARIAN was a sweet story of a queer middle aged woman making a lot of life changes and learning personal lessons by running a library in South Jersey, but the plot and the prose were underwhelming. Some of the cast of side characters were funny or memorable but others were forgettable. The main character was also kind of annoying and not particularly sympathetic. Anderson did a lot of telling and not showing, and I wish I could've emotionally connected more to this book. It had a lot of potential.

Not sure how I feel about this book. If it was another time in my life I would probably love it but right now it fell flat

2023 has proven to NOT be the year of rom-coms for me. I chalk it all up to my own personal mental state and a case of “right book, wrong time.” And this book has proved no exception. I can see so many qualities in this book that I’m sure many will love. There’s a vast community of colorful characters who get up to lots of mischief, there’s found family, and, of course, there’s a love story. But this one just proved too zany for me and the main character was just, for me, wholly unbelievable. I just can’t imagine a 50 year old doing some of the things this character does. From the aspect of being a librarian who is a book snob, to ridiculing and judging individuals born with birthmarks on their faces, to behaving childishly at almost every inconvenience…or otherwise calling the police. It was just too much for me. However, I am so grateful for the opportunity to read a book that features a main character within an often too-overlooked demographic (50+ lesbian).

This book wasn't my cup of tea. I found Nan to be rude, unprofessional, and honestly, she's been a librarian for 20 years and can't handle middle schoolers?

I'm sure there will be folks who enjoy it, but it wasn't for me.

In this book, Nan, whose last name is only mentioned once at the very beginning of the book and which I promptly forgot, is tired of the monotony of her life at age 50, which is mentioned several times throughout the book. So she takes a leap and leaves her 25 year job as a librarian in the big city and moves to a small town, taking over their dismal library. As expected, it's a culture shock, and she almost gives up and runs away, but of course, she doesn't. Unexpectedly, though there was a hint of spice (complete fade to black, no description at all), the story pretty quickly veered away from it. And while there was a romance on the horizon, it didn't focus on that at all. This book was more about Nan figuring out who she is and what she wants out of life. And when she's presented with an opportunity that most people wouldn't think twice about accepting, she listens to herself and recognizes that it's not what she wants or needs and that it won't make her happy. I greatly appreciate that this book was about a middle-aged, established queer, rather than someone just discovering her sexual identity. Not every queer book has to be about the beginning. We also have a middle and an end, and they can be just as interesting as the beginning, if not more so. As I get older and look back on my younger days, I don't miss the anxiety and uncertainty of that time of my life. We aren't always dramatic, and our love lives aren't always tumultuous. And so, I enjoy reading about people like myself, who have already had their journey of self-discovery and are just living their lives like everyone else. I would give this book 4 stars for that reason alone. But it was also well-written, and I liked all of the supporting characters, as well. I would have loved happier resolutions for some of them, but that's real life, and Kathy Anderson captured that perfectly in this book.

I want to start this review by saying that I went into this book expecting it to be one genre and it ended up being completely different.

I expected romance but that is not what this book is, or rather not the type of romance I had anticipated.

It is a book about love though, and it’s a deep love I appreciate so much, because it is about a love of books, a love of readers interacting and a love of libraries.

Nan was someone who took me a little bit to love as a character, and the entire book, of course is from her point of view. She is a little judgemental at first, and very set in her ways and what she thinks she wants out of life. What I appreciate most about her, is that she does allow herself to change, because no matter what age you’re at it’s never bad to learn or turn over a new leaf.

T was a character I almost feel like the book could actually do without. I admittedly almost put down the book because she was not to my taste.

Jeremy is the one I became most attached to throughout the book, as well as the men in Nan’s bookclub.

Overall this book left me with warm fuzzy feelings.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun, fresh, quirky, delightful book!

2.5/3
Thank you to the publisher, getredprbooks and NetGalley for my copies.

I wanted to love this book, but it just didn’t grip me the way I had hoped. Nan is a librarian who moved to South Jersey to start fresh as the town librarian. There are many antics that happen in the library that frustrate Nan, but she develops a friendship with many of the staff and patrons, and over time is able to build a makeshift family out of her new found friends.

This is a great story of LGBTQ+ representation, and I loved how Nan is unapologetically herself. I enjoyed learning about the inner workings of the library, and seeing the people rally around eachother to create a little network for Nan. Unfortunately, I didn’t feel connected enough to Nan or the supporting cast, and I felt a lot of the scenes dragged on or could have been eliminated.

I was a little apprehensive about this book after starting it- I wasn’t sure about the main character and her motivations/ambitions. But as kept reading, I was very drawn in. I fell in love the cast of characters, really felt the highs and lows they did. I ended up liking this much more than what I expected and would definitely recommend it for anyone looking for reassurance that even when we’re older, we can still change and life is good.

Enjoyable, great pacing, exciting settings kept me hooked. Fun novel that will be the perfect beach read. Thank you Net Galley for ARC in exchange for my honest opinion

The New Town Librarian is such a sweet story about all your dreams coming true. There are not enough stories about badass librarians. This is the perfect pallette cleanser book, especially if you have been reading heavy books.

A feel-good slice-of-life story about a queer middle-aged librarian who gets a new job in a small New Jersey town. The simple writing, quirky cast of characters and short chapters made this a breeze to read through. I really enjoyed reading about Nan's love for books as well as her connecting with some of the townspeople, especially Joe and Jeremy. I did find that the sheer amount of characters caused me to not be able to connect to them as much as I would've liked. I also didn't care for the way this novel was structered - two or three chapters at a time would be dedicated to a specific issue in Nan's life before we were swiftly moved on to the next event. Instead of weaving these mounting worries throughout the chapters of this book, the story sortof read as a guide for how to get your shit together as a queer middle-aged hypochondriac. Which wasn't bad to read about necessarily?? IDK, I enjoyed reading this story but I wouldn't read it again, if that makes sense.
TL;DR: If you're in the mood for a "no plot, just vibes" story about a queer horny fifty-year-old librarian, this might be the book for you!

The New Town Librarian was such a cozy read!📚👓

Nan is in her 50s and still hasn’t found what she would consider her “dream job”. When a job posting for the head librarian in a small town opens, she jumps at the chance for something new. What she doesn’t expect is a stingy council, masked middle-schoolers who like to run in and shout obscenities, or a new romance (or two…).

Honestly, the only thing that irritated me about this book was the presence of T (Thomason’s). She was an absolute cringe human and I do not understand why Nan was into her. The cursing middle scholars and Nan’s retaliation was definitely a highlight. And her relationship with her landlady and her husband was so sweet!

thanks NetGalley and Ninestar Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review

After turning the last page of Kathy Anderson's "The New Town Librarian," I found myself unexpectedly moved by this tale of self-discovery and transformation. The idea that it's never too late to find yourself and your place in the world was beautifully conveyed. The protagonist, Nan, was as unconventional as they come - a hypochondriac, cynical, middle-aged librarian who managed to make me root for her despite her flaws.

What particularly struck me was the authentic representation of small-town life and the library's role. Nan's unique approach to the library, with initiatives like provocative book displays and a hypochondriac hotline, had a certain charm. It was heartening to see her win over the town's diverse and, at times, quirky inhabitants and to witness how they, in turn, helped her shed her cynicism and genuinely become part of their community.

Of course, some parts stretched reality, but these elements added a touch of whimsical humor instead of detracting from the story. The narrative's flow might have stumbled in places, but it didn't hamper my engagement. Instead, it felt like I was reading a series of vividly drawn vignettes from Nan's life. It was like being on a fun rollercoaster ride, slightly topsy-turvy but ultimately exhilarating.

Ultimately, "The New Town Librarian" was a journey that offered far more than I had anticipated. It was not just about a woman finding her place but about the power of community, friendship, and being open to change at any age. It was a heartwarming tale that made me laugh, tear up, and, most importantly, think. And as a reader, there's nothing more I could ask for. This is one book I can't recommend enough. Thanks to Kathy Anderson, Ninestar Press, and Netgalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book is perfect for anyone who loves the library. It is quaint and is a love letter to all things bookish. This is the perfect gift for anyone who loves the literary world.