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Don't plan on getting anything done at home once you start Goodnight Beautiful (2020) by Aimee Molloy). What a wild ride: so creepy and so entertaining to read! Sam Statler is a well-liked psychotherapist in upstate New York. He's a newlywed; he and his wife Annie are very happy together. One stormy afternoon after leaving his office, Sam just disappears into thin air. Even his car can't be found. Annie feels something really terrible has happened. Many others, including the police, think that Sam has just taken off, due to serious financial troubles. So, who is right? Filled with several surprising twists, Goodnight Beautiful is one novel you won't want to miss.

Read the ebook from Overdrive.

A Silent Voice (2015) is a Japanese manga that follows the story of Shoya, a rambunctious kid who always gets into trouble with his friends. When Shoko, a deaf girl, transfers to his school he becomes obsessed with her in all the wrong ways, teasing and bullying her at any chance he gets. Eventually things get so bad that Shoko transfers schools and the bullying transfers towards him now. Years pass and Shoya and Shoko run into each other by pure chance. Now Shoya wants to find a way to make amends for his past deeds, while dealing with his own insecurities.

Check out the complete series by Yoshitoki Oima today.

Looking for a weekend getaway, best friends Riley and Gwen book a room at a small quaint inn in the middle of the woods where they are away from the bustle and hustle of city life. Joining them is a group a people who come from varying backgrounds coming for a calming weekend. Everything is going well until they hear a scream in the middle of the night and wake up to find a fellow guest at the bottom of the stairs. Caught in the middle of a snowstorm, they have no choice but to spend their weekend inside with someone who might be lurking in the shadows. Tensions rise as suspicion grows with every minute and the group begins to wonder if they will make it to the end of their trip alive.

Check out An Unwanted Guest (2018) by Shari Lapena. Visit Overdrive to read or listen to the book. For similar books, check out our lists of Psychological Suspense and Domestic Thrillers.

This is a funny book, but the humor is very dark. Peter Brown tells the story himself. He is an emergency room intern. His real name is Pietro Brnwa, and he's a mob hitman. Because the story is told by this former hitman, the language is pretty crude. Very crude. But it has to be, given his background. And the violence is bone crushingly graphic. Still, Beat the Reaper (2009) is really funny. Author Josh Bazell has an M.D. from Columbia (the university, not the country), giving authenticity to Dr. Brown.

The tough guy narration by Robert Petkoff brings Dr. Brown to life. This audiobook is first class entertaining (if you're okay with language and violence). Get this audiobook and thank me later.

Listen to the book on Hoopla or read the book on Overdrive.

The Age of Miracles (2012) is beautifully told from the point of view of eleven-year-old Julia. As the Earth's rotation slows, it has unintended and dire consequences for all life on the planet. Meanwhile, Julia is already grappling with all the complexities of being a pre-teen girl, including a crush on a boy, falling out with close friends, and strained relations with her father.

Karen Thompson Walker does an excellent job of putting you in the frame of mind of this young girl, which makes the calamity seem that much more real and heartfelt. Read the ebook or listen to the audiobook on Overdrive. 

Cath and Wren have been inseparable, but when they get to college Wren decides it's time to venture out on her own. Cath struggles to adjust to college life on her own and attempts to avoid any situations that are out of her comfort zone. One of Cath's passions is writing fanfiction for her favorite book series Simon Snow, which has manifested into her writing one of the most popular Simon Snow fanfictions online.

Something that I enjoyed while reading the novel was how it includes some of Cath's writing from her fanfiction. Fangirl (2013) brings a mix of family and internal struggles about coming of age with a sprinkle of romance and fanfiction.

Read or listen to this Rainbow Rowell novel instantly on Overdrive.

Marie-Angea, a young French girl, experiences tragedy, leaving her with only one remaining family member. Unfortunately, that relative lives in the United States, the two have never met, and the aunt is a mean and nasty individual. Marie-Angea isn't completely alone, though; she connects with Billy, a neighbor who stays with her and befriends her.

Marie-Angea must work hard to survive at her aunt's house, and it feels like a fairytale story as it progresses, the likes of Cinderella. Marie-Angea can be a bit naive in Leap of Faith (2001), but it doesn't distract from the overall story and is still worth a look at if you like fairytale-esque stories.

Check out Leap of Faith by Danielle Steel today. Listen to the audiobook via Overdrive.

This book started it all. Watson needs to find a cheaper place to live. Holmes is looking for a roommate. They move to 221B and the legend is born. The first use of a magnifying glass by a detective is here too.

The mystery: Scotland Yard asks Sherlock Holmes for help investigating a murder. Holmes has a look around and says the murderer is 6 feet tall, has long fingernails on his right hand, smokes cigars, was taken to the scene in a carriage pulled by a horse with 3 old shoes and 1 new one, and the man was poisoned. Wow! But that's Sherlock.

Arthur Conan Doyle was criticized for his depiction of Mormons in this book. He eventually apologized. And Holmes kills a dog to find out if a pill contained poison. It did. I didn't much like that scene but that was the 1880s and sensibilities were different then. Check out the classic mystery A Study in Scarlet (1887). 

I listened to the audiobook read by Stephen Thorne (4.5 hours), and you can too through Hoopla. If you prefer to read the book, that's in Hoopla too. Check out the series list.

In May 1945, a plane took off from an American military base on the perimeter of Netherlands New Guinea en route to buzz the interior. Recently, they had discovered a civilization lost to time that had not had contact with the outside world in thousands of years. To boost morale, one of the officer's greenlighted this sightseeing tour, loaded up the plane with curious personnel, and embarked. Unfortunately, after dipping low into a valley, the plane failed to climb over the next ridge and crashed. Only two men and a woman survived. Injured and surrounded by unfriendly natives, they were stranded. This is the true-life story of the daring rescue mission to extract them from the land that time forgot.

Check out Lost in Shangri-La: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II (2011) by Mitchell Zuckoff today. Find the ebook and audiobook on Overdrive. Also browse of list of True Adventure titles.

Miriam Toews has written a beautiful book about suicide. She tells it with humor, but this was still a hard book to read. There were times I had to put the book down and walk away. All My Puny Sorrows(2019) is a book that makes you think.

It is the story of two sisters, Elf and Yoli: one has a messed-up life and the other is a famous pianist. And it is the story of mental illness and the depths one will take to achieve what they want. In the end, it's the story of what you would be willing to do for someone you love. Miriam Toews has written a powerful novel that will stay with you and have you wondering, "What would you do?"

Listen to the audiobook on Hoopla today.

This is a long book, over 30 hours, but worth every minute. It's the story of Jake Epping. His friend Al has found a time portal to September 9th, 1958. Al has been using it to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. But now Al is dying. He shows the portal to Jake and convinces him to take over the project. What could possibly go wrong?

Plenty. The portal has rules. First, while everyone else is whatever age they were in 1958, Jake is still aging normally. Second, the past doesn't want to be changed. The bigger the change, the bigger the resistance to change. Third, every trip through the portal erases any changes made during previous trips. Jake has to start from scratch each time he enters the portal.

Stephen King did a great job researching Lee Harvey Oswald. Jake has to be sure he's got the right man.And then there's Sadie.

Check out 11/22/63 (2011) today. You can read or listen to the book via Overdrive.

If you are interested in World War II or the aftermath of World War II in Japan, then this is a great in depth look at all levels of Japan's reconstruction. From how the Americans and Japanese worked together to restructure the government to how the public managed from day to day, John W. Dower covers it all. It includes how American influence changed Japanese daily life and how the public viewed these changes. It even includes individuals with memorable stories, such as a soldier who sent money back to the government so he would owe them nothing and would take nothing from them because they surrendered.

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II (2005) is lengthy and in depth, but the information it holds is fantastic if you are interested in Japan after World War II.

Listen to Embracing Defeat on Hoopla today.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, The Road (2006) follows a father and his young son heading south on a mostly deserted road, pushing a shopping cart with all their belongings. Any human they encounter is a threat to either steal their food or worse, to eat them as food. Every second is a fight for survival, and barely a page goes by where there is not a description of hunger. The father's sole purpose is to keep his son alive.

I would recommend this Cormac McCarthy title to readers of dystopian fiction.

Check out our list Welcome to Dystopia for more ideas.

The Road is available as an ebook on Overdrive and audiobook on Hoopla.

Gene Luen Yang is a comic author and writer who has written award-winning graphic novels as well as for the most iconic comic book character Superman. In Dragon Hoops (2020), Yang follows his local high school basketball team, telling their stories and comparing their athletic feats to those of the comic heroes who inspired him when he was young. Yang proves that it is the story of the hero that matters most, not the fancy cape or superpowers.

This is a great read for readers who enjoyed Ghost by Jason Reynolds, American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang, or Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson.

You can also read Dragon Hoops on Overdrive today. 

Pregnant by her high school art teacher, Izzy Poole decides to join the Infinite Family Project because of the stability it will provide her and her newborn son, Cap. The project is the idea of Dr. Preston Grind and billionaire Brenda Acklen. Basically, ten families with babies agree to live together for ten years and raise the children communally, with the kids not knowing who their real mothers and fathers are for the first several years.

Izzy finds herself fitting in well with the rest of the parents, but starts to develop feelings for Dr. Grind. Not surprisingly, cracks begin to form in the relationships between other participants, too. Will Dr. Grind succeed in his vision of forming lifelong bonds, i.e. families made of people who aren't related?

Perfect Little World(2020) is an intriguing story about an unusual community and the moral compromises that keep it together. Check out this Kevin Wilson novel today—borrow the ebook or audiobook instantly via Hoopla or Overdrive.