a little too real but fun. The Faculty Lounge pulls back the curtain on high school politics and teacher drama in the best way.

I must admit that as a school librarian (and public librarian), I thought this book was going to be a satire of a high school (my school is NOthING like Baldwin HIgh). but as I continued to read, I caught onto the structure of this book--each chapter is about a teacher, nurse, or other faculty member who had a connection to Mr. Lehrer, a retired teacher who is now substituting at the school. Each story shows how this gentle man affected the staff member and probably didn't even know it. I found, today, the the school nurse chapter is especially touching and is an example of how we should appreciate teachers and staff members for all they do--it also drives home the fact that school staff members are human. However, I don't think the reader has to work at a school to enjoy and be touched by this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher!
Although a work of fiction, this novel is immediately relatable to anyone who has worked in a public school. I’m reading this in August, right before I go back for another year of teaching, and this book was just what I needed.

The Faculty Lounge is my first Jennifer Mathieu read, and while I’m not a teacher myself, I have many relatives in education—so I appreciated the honest, sometimes sobering look into the lives of public school staff. The novel begins with the death of a substitute teacher in a Houston high school but quickly shifts into a series of character-driven vignettes focused on the faculty and staff. Some chapters were insightful and emotionally compelling, while others felt repetitive or bogged down by backstory.

The structure is more slice-of-life than plot-driven, and while the book touches on everything from grief and alcoholism to book banning and bureaucratic pressure, it sometimes tries to do too much in too little space. Still, Mathieu’s writing is thoughtful, and she captures the emotional weight and absurdities of school life well—especially the tension between passionate educators and out-of-touch administration.

While not every character worked for me, I appreciated the reminder that teachers, like anyone else, are human—flawed, exhausted, and often stuck doing things they don’t believe in just to keep the system moving.

Final thoughts: Uneven but heartfelt, this is a book I’d recommend more strongly to readers in education or those who enjoy character-focused stories about workplace dynamics and emotional labor. It didn’t fully click for me, but I’d definitely be curious to see what Mathieu does next in adult fiction.

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel about teaching. After a teacher passes away in the faculty lounge, his colleagues share their stories about him and their own lives as teachers at the same school. As a public school teacher, I enjoyed and could relate to the stories of the teachers in the story.
I'm looking forward to more stories by this author.

Thanks to @penguingroupdutton, @netgalley, and the author for this arc.

I didn’t expect this book to make me so emotional; there were some laugh-out-loud moments, but a lot of it also made me tear up or downright sob (the nurse’s storyline especially). There’s also less of a central plot and more of a bunch of interwoven storylines with the different faculty members, but once I adjusted my expectations I was pretty hooked. More than a book about teaching (although it’s definitely that), it’s about vocation, calling, changing as you age. For people who like Abbott Elementary but wish it made them cry even more.

CWs - Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Infertility, Infidelity, Grief, Abortion, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Miscarriage, Mass/school shootings, Deportation, Pandemic/Epidemic

If you are a public school teacher or know a public school teacher– you need to read this book.

Quite literally all I wanted to do was read this book from the time I started it to the time I finished it. The Faculty Lounge is a novel set in a fictional public high school in Texas. Each chapter is from a different point of view of a staff member that works there. As a public school teacher myself, I can wholeheartedly say these stories are all so relatable. I was laughing out loud at the relatability of what these teachers go through on a daily basis.

This contemporary fiction novel lets us peek our heads through the windows of stories about humanity and it was a joy throughout the whole thing. It is really hard to explain to people not in the educational field all of the thoughts and feelings surrounding working in a public school, and Mathieu did a wonderful job helping us put our thoughts into words.

This book is heart-warming, funny, reflective, and will leave you with a smile on your face. Do yourself a favor and read it.

“There was so much about their jobs that could not be explained well, especially to those who had never worked in a school. It often felt like trying to describe some strange supernatural phenomena, some bizarre thing outside the laws of nature."

“It took an exceptional amount of strength and commitment to not become worn down by the constant focus on the T-SOAR and instead remember that the children they served were real, actual people with unique gifts and needs.”

“That there were more books in the world than he would ever have time to read was equal parts comforting and troubling.”

***Thank you Netgalley for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.***

This novel gives you the feeling like you're reading short stories following the lives of different teachers and staff of Baldwin High School. Some stories do connect a little but not all of them do.I can't say that's what being a teacher and working for public schools is exactly like the book says, but being a student I did get to see some of the problematic moms going to teachers and giving them attitude and all that. It was a good book .

This was a pleasant surprise for me. Being an educator and in Texas, the story premise was close to home. A high school where the day to day of teaching happens by teachers and administrators. Normally not something people really think about, and that is this setting until one day the a substitute teacher who is a long-tenure retiree of that school dies in the faculty lounge - hence the title. From there you visit with each of the teachers and learn short snippet of their life both in and out of the classroom. That teachers are human like the rest of us. Sometimes, you laugh, cry or are angry at the choices made by the characters but realize the world the of teaching is complex and nuanced. You learn about an administrator's world, the nurse, new teachers, seasoned teachers. Reading the epilogue, you learn that it was a series of short stories that were pulled together, and it can read like that at times, but they do tie together. I enjoyed it and would recommend it as a palette cleanser after a very intense book where you just get to go along for the short ride in these peoples' lives.

This was okay! I enjoyed the multiple different perspectives and it held my interest. I really enjoyed the different ways everyone intertwined.

When the beginning of the book has someone dying in the teacher lounge it really sets a crazy mood to the story. I loved it. The author did an amazing job setting up the scene, character lives, and just creating a story that bonded together so well. Thank you for the read.

As a high school teacher myself, I freakin' loved this book! It rang so true. I did like certain POVs more than others, but overall, so funny and true. I think any teacher would like it and be able to relate to it.

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy. This was a really great read and I really loved the character building.

I didn't care about this book but I was offered the ARC so I decided I'd try it and give it a fair shot. But since my opinion doesn't really matter, I'm not going to fight through a book I don't enjoy. It's not for me.

I enjoyed this book about teachers and staff at a school. Each chapter focuses on one person who teaches or works at the school. I was at school almost everyday, when my kids were in school, as a volunteer and could see some of the situations that are talked about in the book. Maybe that is why I liked it so much and could relate to certain stories. The narrator, I listened to the audio, did a fantastic job. I will look for other books by Jennifer Mathieu and thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

DNF - I attempted to start this book and it just did not hold my interest. This may be a book I come back to in the future.

“The Faculty Lounge” was a thoughtful, often humorous piece of fiction detailing the experiences of teachers and administrators in a public school. There was behind the scenes drama and a reminder that teachers are people, too. This reminded me of a book version of “Abbott Elementary”, which is an incredibly funny show. The characters and their backstory was interesting in addition to how today’s politics in the educational field has shifted the classroom setting. This was a good, thoughtful book. 4 stars 🌟. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for review.

Faculty Lounge by Jennifer Mathieu is a witty, heartfelt glimpse into the chaos, humor, and humanity behind the teachers’ lounge door. When a substitute teacher’s unexpected death sets off a chain of wild events, the novel follows an eclectic cast of educators juggling personal struggles, school politics, and the absurdity of daily life. With sharp humor and genuine warmth, Mathieu brings these characters to life, making you root for them through every mishap and moment of triumph. Being a public school teacher for almost 30 years, I related to so much of this book. I also recognized so many people I have worked with in the characters. I do think since the book kind of highlights a different character with each chapter, that perhaps some readers might feel like it isn't a cohesive story. But for me, the main character in the book is the school. The teachers and admin profiled in the novel are merely orbiting around the school. I really loved this book. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read it as an ARC.

Working in a school, this book spoke to me in a few levels. The building politics, the alliances (whether on purpose or accidental), all of it is pretty standard in a school setting for students and staff alike. Thankfully I work in a building with less drama than happens in this book but it was mostly light and funny while dealing with some serious topics. My biggest critique is the pacing. It was inconsistent going from fast to slow and everywhere in between. I’d have preferred a consistent pace - although the pace of the chapter did seem to match that of the character it was focused on so perhaps this was purposeful.

The Faculty Lounge is a compassionately written slice of life novel by Jennifer Mathieu. Released 23rd July, 2024 by Penguin Random House on their Dutton imprint, it's 304 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

Warmly written "comfort reading", set around a fictive (but realistically rendered) high school in Texas and the staff who call it home, it's got good bones and the author makes good use of the vignette format to interweave the stories of the large cast of characters.

After the death of a retired elderly substitute teacher on a sofa in the school faculty lounge, the story radiates outward in ripples, tracing the interconnections between the late Mr. Lehrer (10th grade English) and his colleagues, former students, and others... and with the connections between the characters themselves.

Four stars. It would be a good low stress choice for a book club discussion, for public library acquisition, or for home use.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.