More After the Break

News is the first draft of history.

I’m obsessed with the news so this immediately caught my eye! The name was clever too. This is a collection of meaningful stories from Jen Maxfield’s career as a reporter for a NBC local affiliate in NJ.

It’s amazing to see the impact that local journalists have on their communities. Especially right now, with trust in the media at an all time low. When stories are slanted one way or another on whichever national channel you choose, it’s nice, and also refreshing, to be reminded there are still real journalists out there chasing the stories that people need to hear.

I always wonder what happens to people after the news cycle ends. I’m nosy but it’s just because I care. I Google them sometimes hoping to see that they’re doing well so I think this was a fantastic idea! I hadn’t heard about many of these local crimes so it was mostly all new information to me, but even if I had heard of the stories, it’s different hearing it from her perspective. It’s heartbreaking to hear so I can’t imagine how it feels to bear witness to it regularly.

I think this was really informative and also brave because she was so honest. People don’t always look at journalists in the best light when they’re chasing the story in the moment and it doesn’t always sound good to say out loud what you’ve done or said to get a quote or to consider whether or not you made things easier or more difficult for the family or victims. It can be a double edged sword and I think this reporter has a great balance and a lot of self-awareness. If you like the story behind the story, this might be for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the audiobook to review. I devoured it!

More After the BreakBy  Jen Maxfield

[Google Books] Blurb: In More After the Break, Jen Maxfield revisits ten memorable stories from her career as a TV news reporter, describing in heart-pounding detail how the events unfolded and revealing what happened after the cameras went away
Review:  I, like you,  read the blurb about the book.  But beyond that, I didn't look more into it. I didn't google Jen Maxfield or what stories she might have in this book. 
I THOROUGHLY enjoyed this book.  It's 20/20 meets "where are they now". It's the early 00's true crime/ news version. As a true crime junkie and a person who graduated in 2004 this is right up my alley. 
And I'll be honest, I didn't think I'd like Jen's Narration style. You can tell she's a fantastic  news voice. But the style needed for audiobooks is different.  But by the second and 3rd stories she really found her stride and. 
I also really liked how she as a privileged white woman takes the time out in this book to call out racial inequalities.  Why did one family have to fight all the way to the president to get their daughter, her to save their other daughters' life?  While another family is afforded medical trials and can travel the world. 
The stories that really stuck with me were:Tamika. Wow......  The power of a mother's love and how you can will yourself to be okay, so your kids don't see you're not. And, Tiffany and the hit-and-run. I know Jen had to be professional. But Brian is a MURDERER. The fact that he still had his party just left me speechless. And I'm in shock that in New Jersey if you kill a person and flee the scene you're less likely to serve a drastic prison sentence than if you stay and help. That's so backwards. 

I think that this is a really powerful book and could be a trend in books heading forward. And this book is poignant now heading forward in news media where there is such an attack on news. Seeing how the news can really affect people they are reporting on positively and how they are reporting in a way that is true and honest even all these years later is something I think the world really needs to hear. 

Thank you, Jen Maxfield, NetGalley, Greenleaf Book Group Press, and Greenleaf Audiobooks for allowing me the chance to read this book.

Jen Maxfield has had long tenure in the journalism world covering stories at the local news station. In More After the Break, she revisits ten unforgettable stories from her career as a TV news reporter.

Maxfield really unfolded each story in depth without making the recounts overly long winded. I think coming from a 90 second sound bite world really helped tell the stories efficiently without making them boring. Maxfield did a great job recounting the events and setting the stage for each story. Every story written has its own set of emotion. Some of the events she wrote about truly pull at your heart strings.

Overall, this would be a great book for anyone that is interested in the behind the scenes of broadcast journalism. I was uncertain if I would be able to enjoy the book, because I did not know what to expect. I finished pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book to review. All opinions are my own.

More after the Break by Jen Maxfield is about Jen Maxfield's time being a breaking news reporter in New York City and surrounding areas. She decided to sit down and start looking up some of the people she interviewed over the years and catch up with some of these people who when she met them were most likely one of their worst days. Through the chapters, she beautifully writes about the initial story and does it so well that I felt like I was right there on the scene with her.
I really enjoyed this book though some of the stories made me cry as I was listening to it in my car. I enjoyed hearing about how these stories started and the reunion of how these people picked up their lives to carry on.

I give this book 5 stars because I believe everyone could use these stories to give a little hope to people who feel like they are just running on empty.

Thank you to Greenleaf Audiobooks for gifting me this audiobook.

It will be available on 7/12/22

Jen Maxfield highlights ten career defining stories in More After the Break, the stories she highlights are often heartbreaking, some inspirational and others simply make you angry, but this book highlights Jen Maxfield’s compassion as well as the stories she covers.





In this book she introduces some Inspirational people often at the most difficult time of their lives. The ten year old girl who survived the same bus crash that killed her best friend, the man that lost both of his legs, in a ferry crash but not his hope, or his sense of humor, and the nurse who came from another country, who saved his life, the woman who was an endurance athlete and had Lung Cancer, her will to live, evident . A young woman who gave her life for an animal, a Wall Street executive on an ill-fated bike ride, a preschooler whose health hinged on an immigration battle, a family who lost everything in a hurricane, a mother who fought back against domestic violence, and a man who stood up for his rights while seated in his wheelchair.






Being able to return to these people years, even decades later news gives Maxfield an opportunity to ask the burning questions she had always pondered: What happened after the live truck pulled away? What is the rest of the story?



I give More After the Break five out of five Stars!


Happy Reading!

I enjoyed this audiobook very much. Every day when we watch the news we see snippets of peoples lives and most of the time it is their very worst moments. We watch for days in hopes that we may finally learn something good for them, but then there are more stories and we move along never really knowing what happened. This was a look back at just a few of the stories that impacted this reporter and speaking for myself, as someone who watched her reporting and was left wondering as well. I have watched and listened this Jen Maxfield on both ABC and NBC and enjoyed her work so when I saw this book I jumped at the chance to listen to it. I am glad that I did. She’s a wonderful story teller. I hope that you take the time to listen to this book (or read). She also narrates the book beautifully. By listening to this book it is abundantly clear how much of her heart and soul she has put into her work all while trying to balance objectivity, decency, drawing a professional line when appropriate, not be exploitive while still making sure that a proper story is told.

The book beautifully captures the story of a journalist who pens down the 10 most impactful stories she covered in her career.

At first glimpse the book may appear to be just those incidents jotted down. But as you dive deeper you discover so many more aspects to it. A few of my favourites from them are:

🧬 Being appreciative of the life you have
🧬 The motivation to think about others & save them from suffering one has insured themselves
🧬 Life is unpredictable & sometimes bad things happen to good people
🧬 The glamorous on-camera people have to endure a lot more than just slammed doors shuts on their faces, it could be shooting incidents with not even bare minimum facilities like electricity, washrooms or a clean place to sleep.
🧬 The book makes you reflect upon so many choices we casually make - Maybe we should keep in touch with people, even after decades. When you hear a story, think about the people mentioned in them, the role they played & how they managed to stay connected after that.


Note: I have purposely not mentioned the details of any story said to keep it novel to the reader. I hope you enjoy reading this book and be more appreciative of the life blessed upon you 🙏

In More After the Break, television news reporter Jen Maxfield returns to ten of her most memorable stories to revisit and follow-up on what has transpired since she first met them on what is often, she explains, the worst day of their lives. It is a captivating premise for a news book, as the fast pace of local news reporting rarely leaves time for their viewer to fully absorb or understand what the people featured are going through. We also don't get to appreciate the triumphs or witness the unexpected beauty that often follows devastation.

In these stories, compiled during the recent years of the Covid-19 pandemic, Maxfield revisits life-changing devastation and loss, narrowing in on the personal lives affected in such incidents as Hurricane Katrina and Sandy, the Staten Island Ferry crash, the terrorist attack on the bike trail in Manhattan, as well as victims of personal health crises, wrongful convictions and tragic accidents. In her well-researched reporting, she shares the original stories as well as follow-ups from anyone involved who agreed to share their lives with us now. The results are overwhelmingly hopeful and many times inspirational, as those who have had their lives shaped by tragedy often go on to help others in need.

The theme of connection runs through these stories and Maxfield's work as a whole. She discusses the reasons she prefers to knock on doors and follow-up with in person visits, even after the pandemic has made meeting online standard practice. She shows us how she truly cares for the people she speaks to and shares her emotional connections, as well as her methods for keeping enough distance to save her mental health.

Overall, I really enjoyed this up-close view of the life of a local tv news reporter and have come away with more respect for the profession than I had before. I'm also glad I listened to the audiobook narrated by Maxfield herself, who has a wonderful "news voice" and made the stories seem all the more personal. Although I struggle with the role that modern media plays in American society and believe the news has become way too political, I was engaged and filled with admiration as I listened to these amazing, emotional pieces of the lives of everyday people touched by extraordinary events.

Thank you to NetGalley and Green Leaf Book Group Press for the chance to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Greenleaf Audiobooks, Greenleaf Book Group Press for the audio version of this book. I loved this book. I loved that it sounded like you were watching the program on TV. I was impressed that the author took the time to go back and look into some of the stories that stuck with/touched her throughout the years. I enjoy watching news stories I understand that there is not usually a whole lot of time to really get into the story or situation and I enjoyed learning the why behind that. I enjoyed the follow up on all the stories she chose to go back to.