Reading Lists
Booklists for younger readers
Popular Themes / Genres
BRAND NEW BOOKS!
COLORS OF OUR COMMUNITY:
- Colors of Our Community Picture Books
- African American
- Asian
- Hispanic / Latino
- Italian Heritage NEW
- Middle Eastern
- South Asian
PICTURE BOOK THEMES:
- Airplanes
- Cars: Beep Beep
- Dinosaurs: Digging for Dinos
- Lots of Laughter: Funny picture books
- Trains: Chugga Chugga Choo Choo
- Trucks: Vroom Vroom
OTHER LISTS:
- Our Favorite Early Reader Books
- Fun Chapter Books for Beginner Readers
- Fantastically Fun Fantasy (for fans of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson, grades 3 and up)
- Fantastic Fairy Tales NEW
- Kindness Counts NEW
Holiday Themes
- Let's Celebrate! - Juneteenth
- Let's Celebrate! - June Holidays (Flag Day & Juneteenth)
- Let's Celebrate! - Father's Day
- Let's Celebrate! - Mother's Day
- Let's Celebrate! - Memorial Day: Honoring Our Military NEW
- Let's Celebrate! - Cinco de Mayo
- Let's Celebrate! - Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr
- Let's Celebrate! - Easter
- Let's Celebrate! - St. Patrick's Day
- Let's Celebrate! - Passover
- Let's Celebrate! - Purim NEW
- Let's Celebrate! - Holi
- Let's Celebrate! - Valentine's Day
- Let's Celebrate! - Chinese/Lunar New Year
- Let's Celebrate! - The New Year
- Let's Celebrate! - Kwanzaa
- Let's Celebrate! - Christmas
- Let's Celebrate! - Hanukkah
- Let's Celebrate! - Thanksgiving
- Let's Celebrate! - Diwali
- Let's Celebrate! - Day of the Dead/Dia de Muertos
- Let's Celebrate! - Halloween & The Halloween Pumpkin Patch
- Let's Celebrate! - Fall Harvest Holidays (Sukkot and Mid-Autumn Festival)
Seasonal Themes
SUMMER THEMES:
- Fun in the Sun: Summertime is Here!
- I Scream for Ice Cream
- Let's Go Camping!
- Sandy Shores: Time for the Beach!
SPRING THEMES:
MAY THEMES:
- Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
- Jewish American Heritage Month
- National Teacher Day (5/4): Terrific Teachers
- Star Wars Day (5/4): May the Fourth Be With You
- National Nurses Day (5/6)
- National Space Day (5/7) - Out of This World: Spectacular Space
APRIL THEMES:
- Autism Awareness Month
- National Poetry Month for Children
- April Fools' Day (4/1)
- National Library Week (4/4 - 4/10)
- National Unicorn Day (4/9) - Unique Unicorns
- Earth Day (4/22) - Let's Save the Planet
MARCH THEMES:
- Women's History Month
- National Pig Day (3/1): Piggies in the Mud
- Dr. Seuss's Birthday / National Read Across America Day (3/2)
- National Panda Day (3/16): Pandas on Parade
FEBRUARY THEMES:
- Black History Month
- Groundhog Day (2/2)
- Lincoln's Birthday (2/12)
- Presidents' Day (2/15)
- Susan B. Anthony Day (2/15)
JANUARY THEMES:
- National Train Your Dog Month: Man's Best Friend (Books about Dogs)
- National Spaghetti Day (1/4): Slurping Spaghetti
- Appreciate a Dragon Day (1/16): Dragon, Dragon, Swing Your Scaly Tail!
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day (1/18)
- Penguin Awareness Day (1/20): Playful Penguins
- Squirrel Appreciation Day (1/21): Oh, Nuts! Books about Squirrels
WINTER THEMES:
- Snowy Days are Here! (Picture Books)
- Snowy Days are Here! (Easy Readers)
- Build a Snowman (Picture Books)
- Let's Learn about Snow
- It's Time to Hibernate
NOVEMBER THEMES:
OCTOBER THEMES:
- Bullying Prevention Month
- Pizza Month
- Fire Prevention Week
- Let's Learn Spanish
- Favorite Children's Books in Spanish (Libros infantiles favoritos en español)
SEPTEMBER THEMES:
- Library Card Sign Up Month: Love My Library
- Grandparents Galore: (9/13)
- Argghh Pirates: (9/19)
- Excellent Elephants:(9/22)
FALL THEMES:
SUMMER:
Favorite Chapter Book series
- Big Nate Series
- Captain Underpants Series (with Super Diaper Baby)
- Cupcake Diaries and Sprinkle Sundays Series (Coco Simon)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series
- Dog Man Series
- Dork Diaries Series
- Geronimo Stilton Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Cavemice Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Creepella von Cacklefur Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Journey Through Time Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Kingdom of Fantasy Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Micekings Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Spacemice Series
- Geronimo Stilton: Thea Stilton Series
- Harry Potter Series
- I Survived Series
- Magic Tree House Series
- Percy Jackson and Other Rick Riordan Series
- Wings of Fire Series
Booklists for tweens & teens
Popular Themes / Genres
- Animals: Tween Reads for Animal Lovers
- Dystopian Books for Teens
- Fantasy and Science Fiction Reads for Teens
- Funny Graphic Novels (if you like Dog Man) NEW
- Great Graphic Novels (for fans of Smile) NEW
- Historical Fiction for Teens
- Horror Reads for Tweens
- Horror for Teens
- Like the movie/TV show? Read the book! (for young adults)
- Middle School Mysteries NEW
- Mystery and Suspense for Teens
- Realistic Reads for Tweens
- Realistic Fiction for Teens
- Staff Favorites: Teen Edition
- Who HQ (Who was/What was/Where is/What is the story of), Ages 9 - 12
- South Plainfield Middle School Summer Reading Suggestions
- South Plainfield High School Summer Reading
- ALL SOUTH PLAINFIELD PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUMMER READING LISTS
Favorite Authors / Series for Teens
- Cinda Williams Chima: (wrote Heir Chronicles, Seven Realms, Shattered Realms series)
- I am Number Four Series
- James Patterson for Teens
- John Flanagan: (wrote Ranger's Apprentice and Brotherband Chronicles)
- Sara Shepard: (wrote Pretty Little Liars, The Amateurs, The Lying Game, The Perfectionists)
- Sarah Dessen
- Sarah J. Maas: (wrote Throne of Glass, A Court of Thorns and Roses, Crescent City series)
- A Twisted Tale Series
Booklists (and more) for adults
By Genre / Subject
⇒Fiction ⇒Non-Fiction
Adult Fiction
- African-American fiction
- Action and Adventure Reads NEW
- Anti-Boredom Month (July) NEW
- Asian/South Asian fiction
- Bridgerton (Julia Quinn)
- British Crime fiction
- Christmas is Coming: new fiction and movies NEW
- Classics
- Historical Fiction
- Latinx fiction
- Middle East fiction
- Military / War fiction
- Movies & TV: Books adapted into movies/tv shows for adults (fiction and non-fiction)
- Mysteries
- Mysteries: Curiously Cozy Mysteries
- Nordic Noir
- Romance: Fun Romance Reads
- Romance: New Romance Reads
- Science Fiction and Fantasy
- Thrillers You Won't Want to Put Down!
- Thrilling New Reads (Thrillers / Suspense)
- Westerns NEW
Adult Non-Fiction
- All About New Jersey
- Asian Voices
- Biography: Lives of the not so famous
- Black Voices
- Cookbooks
- Cooking Outdoors (Grilling, BBQ & more!)
- Crafting Books
- Espionage and Cryptography
- Explore the Great Outdoors (Camping, Hiking, Cycling, Sailing, and more!)
- Financial Fitness
- Gardening Books: Use Your Green Thumb
- Health Awareness (May): MAY Your Health Be With You
- Holidays Year Round: Cooking, Crafts & much more!
- Jazz Appreciation Month - books & CDs (April)
- The Kennedy Family
- Latinx Voices
- LGTBQIA Pride Month (June)
- MeToo Movement: Sexual Assualt Awareness Month (April)
- Mental Health Month (May)
- Movies: Books adapted into movies/tv shows for adults (fiction and non-fiction)
- Pet Month (May)
- Poetry Month (April)
- The Untold Story Revealed
- Vietnam War
- World War I
- World War II
Favorite authors / series
- Elizabeth Adler
- Susan Wittig Albert
- Donna Andrews
- Mary Kay Andrews
- Nancy Atherton
- David Baldacci - Aloysius Archer
- David Baldacci - Amos Decker
- David Baldacci - Atlee Pine
- David Baldacci - Camel Club
- David Baldacci - John Puller
- David Baldacci - Sean King & Michelle Maxwell
- David Baldacci stand-alones
- David Baldacci - Will Robie
- M. C. Beaton - Hamish Macbeth
- M. C. Beaton - Agatha Raisin
- Cara Black
- C. J. Box
- Sandra Brown
- Andrea Camilleri
- Lee Child - Jack Reacher
- Mary Higgins Clark - Stand Alones
- Mary Higgins Clark - Alvirah & Willy
- Mary Higgins Clark - Under Suspicion Series
- Harlan Coben
- Jackie Collins
- Michael Connelly - Harry Bosch
- Michael Connelly - Jack McEvoy
- Michael Connelly - Mickey Haller
- Michael Connelly - Renée Ballard
- Patricia Cornwell
- Catherine Coulter
- Clive Cussler - Dirk Pitt
- Clive Cussler - Fargo Adventures
- Clive Cussler - Isaac Bell Adventures
- Clive Cussler - NUMA Files
- Clive Cussler - Oregon Files
- Nelson Demille
- Janet Evanovich
- Janet Evanovich - Stephanie Plum series
- Janet Evanovich - Fox & O'Hare series
- Janet Evanovich - Knight & Moon series
- Joanne Fluke - Hannah Swensen
- Vince Flynn
- Ken Follett
- Dorothea Benton Frank
- Diana Gabaldon - Outlander series
- Sue Grafton
- John Grisham
- Elin Hilderbrand
- Jonathan Kellerman
- Stephen King
- Donna Leon
- Debbie Macomber
- Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series
- Robert B. Parker - Spenser series
- Robert B. Parker - Jesse Stone series
- Robert B. Parker - Sunny Randall series
- Robert B. Parker - Cole & Hitch series
- James Patterson - Alex Cross
- James Patterson - Harriet Blue
- James Patterson - Michael Bennett
- James Patterson - NYPD Red
- James Patterson - Private series
- James Patterson stand-alones
- James Patterson - Women's Murder Club
- Louise Penny
- Anne Perry - Monk series
- Anne Perry - Pitt series
- Anne Perry - Christmas novels
- Amanda Quick
- Julia Quinn - Bridgerton series
- J.D. Robb
- Daniel Silva
- Karin Slaughter
- Nicholas Sparks
- Danielle Steel
- Victoria Thompson
- Brad Thor
- Stuart Woods - Ed Eagle
- Stuart Woods - Holly Barker
- Stuart Woods - Stone Barrington
- Stuart Woods - Teddy Fay
