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Recommended for Adults

Warmer in the Winter

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Warmer In The Winter by Lindsey Stirling
Format:  Music
Who it’s for:  Everyone

I love Lindsey Stirling’s music, but I especially love her holiday album, Warmer in the Winter.  You will recognize a lot of old favorites like Carol of the Bells, Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and Jingle Bell Rock.  All songs are played in Lindsey’s signature violin style.  This is the perfect music to listen to while wrapping gifts, snuggling under a blanket, while reading a book, in the car or anywhere!

Some of us are struggling to read during this COVID-19 pandemic.  If you need an uplifting and pretty way to get into the holiday spirit, check out this holiday album on Hoopla. Happy Holidays!

Find it on hoopla digital.

Hillbilly Elegy

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Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance
Format: Digital audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

J.D. Vance grew up in the Rust Belt town of Middletown, Ohio.  He is the grandson of a poor, uneducated couple who left their Appalachian roots at a very young age for a better life in Ohio.

Although part of the white middle-class in Ohio, J.D.’s family could never quite escape the Appalachian stereotype described as “uneducated and prone to impulsive acts of violence”.  Life for J.D. and his family was chaotic and dysfunctional, fraught with the social problems of his hometown including alcoholism, drug addiction, and constant money problems.

J.D.’s family struggled like many working-class American families from small towns do.  But J.D. was fortunate.  He had the constant love and support of his grandmother and extended family members. J.D.’s grandmother taught him that working hard matters as well as taking responsibility for one’s choices.

Hillbilly Elegy is J.D. Vance’s story of surviving the dysfunction of white working class America to become a graduate of Ohio State University and Yale Law School.  It is his own explanation of how the Appalachian values passed down from his grandparents actually helped him survive the stigma of the poor American and taught him that if he worked hard enough, he could make it.

The audio version of this book is narrated by the author.

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The Hate U Give

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The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Format: Book, eBook, Audiobook, eAudiobook.  Movie version available DVD or Blu-Ray
Who it’s for: Adults, Teens

Sixteen year old Starr is living a double life.  One Starr lives in a black, lower income neighborhood and feels like she doesn’t quite fit in.  The other Starr attends a private, mostly white school and feels like she can never quite be herself.
One night, Starr is riding in a car with her childhood friend Kahlil when they get stopped by police. After a short but tense exchange, Kahlil is fatally shot leaving Starr as the only witness.
A whirlwind of events send Starr’s two worlds crashing into each other so she is left with no choice but to find her voice and decide who her one true self is and what she stands for.

 

The audiobook was amazing and the movie was a very good adaptation of the book although they did have to condense some characters.  I read the book first and it helped to better understand some parts of the story that I might have missed otherwise.

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Ties That Tether

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Ties That Tether by Jane Igharo
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Nigerian-born, Canadian-raised Azere has always felt a conflict between what her family expects of her and what her own heart desires. At twelve years old, she made a promise to her dying father that she would marry another Edo man and to never forget her culture. She had always had every intention of keeping that promise, especially with her mother strongly encouraging Azere’s efforts by constantly matchmaking for her. However, one night Azere finds herself particularly frustrated with yet another of her mother’s failed setups and indulges in the company of Raphael Castellano: tall, handsome, and…white. Azere insists on leaving their relationship as a one-night-stand but their relationship suddenly and unexpectedly becomes extremely serious when she discovers she is pregnant with his child. Despite her mother’s strong disapproval, Azere is undeniably drawn to the charming Raphael and finds herself wrestling with a core question: can she successfully keep him in her life without compromising her Nigerian culture? Ties That Tether is a heartfelt examination of one woman’s struggle between what she thinks she is supposed to do and what her heart is telling her to do.

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The Perfect Wife

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The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney

Format: Book, eBook, Digital Audiobook

Who it’s for: Adults

When Abbie Cullen wakes up in a hospital bed with no memory of how she got there, the man beside her explains that he is her husband Tim and he’s there to take care of her.  He tells her she is an artist, a great mother, and that they are madly in love.  What he doesn’t immediately explain is that the real Abbie Cullen has disappeared, and this new Abbie is the newest creation of his successful Silicon Valley tech company Scott Robotics.  What can Abbie trust?  Are her memories the memories of the real Abbie, or fabrications that Tim has programmed into her processors.  Who can she trust?  And what happened to the real Abbie five years ago?

The perfect wife is an amazing psychological thriller that explores love, obsession, artificial intelligence, and autonomy.  It delivers many twists and turns, and has an ending that make me drop my book.  If you are looking for a unique thriller that always keeps you questioning what is real and what is not, give The Perfect Wife a try!

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Evvie Drake Starts Over

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by Linda Holmes

Eveleth “Evvie” Drake rarely leaves her house in small town Maine, recently widowed people in town, including her best friend Andy, thinks the death of her husband keeps her locked inside and she doesn’t bother to correct them.  In New York, Dean a former major-league pitcher and Andy’s childhood friend, is struggling on the baseball mound he can’t throw straight anymore, and he can’t figure out why.  An invitation from Andy to stay in Maine for a few months seems like the perfect chance to regroup and figure out what is going on with his mind, body and soul. When Dean moves into an apartment at the back of Evvie’s house, the two make a deal. Dean won’t ask about Evvie’s late husband, and Evvie won’t ask about Dean’s baseball career. Rules, though, have a funny way of being broken, what starts as an unexpected friendship soon turns into something more.  With broke bonds, broken plans and secrets they’ve kept to themselves, they’ll need a lot of help from family and friends to help them maneuver through their life challenges.  I thought this book was a pleasant read a little sad, charming and at times funny.  It shows that life is not always easy and that sometimes you will have challenges in life that you will eventually have to deal with, but through friendship and love there is always a chance at a happier life ..

 

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