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Digital Audiobook

Bigfoot and the Librarian

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Bigfoot and the Librarian by Linda Winstead Jones
Format: Digital Audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Marnie Somerset needs a fresh start; a new beginning, away from her dysfunctional family, and a worrying string of unsuitable ex-lovers. She accepts the position of Librarian for a charming little town she’s never heard of before: Mystic Springs, Alabama. Upon arriving, she finds the long-time citizens, who call themselves “Springers,” are a bit… stand-off-ish. Well, she supposes that’s to be expected. After all, Mystic Springs is a very small town, with a very insular community. At least the local author, Clint Maxwell, is helpful, and not hard on the eyes!

Clint knows the truth: Mystic Springs isn’t an ordinary town, and the people who’ve lived there for generations aren’t ordinary people. There is magic in Mystic Springs; witches, werewolves, fairies, fortune-tellers, and more. Clint himself is a shape-shifter who turns into Bigfoot whenever the mood strikes him! And Springers don’t take kindly to strangers. This Librarian is an outsider! It could be dangerous for her to stay, and much better for everyone if she left… too bad he can’t stop thinking about her!

This cute paranormal romance about a small southern town is the first in the Mystic Springs series by Linda Winstead Jones, and is available to listen to via Hoopla.

Devolution

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Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks
Format: Book, eBook, Digital Audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

If you’ve read World War Z, you know Max Brooks is the master of writing imagined violent disasters as if they were non-fiction, and his latest book Devolution continues the tradition.

The novel is presented as the diary entries of Kate Holland, resident of Greenloop, a secluded environmentally-conscious neighborhood of telecommuting professionals in the vast forested area of Washington state, interspersed with interviews of other individuals impacted by mysterious events that occurred there in the wake of a volcanic eruption at Mount Rainier.

Kate’s diary begins when she arrives in Greenloop, and the first few entries consist of descriptions of her quirky new neighbors, complaints about her husband Dan, and observations about the elegant “smart” homes. She goes for invigorating nature walks, attends a cathartic meditation class, pretty standard stuff. But after Rainier erupts, and Greenloop is completely cut off from civilization, it becomes apparent that a group of enormous bipedal primates are living in the woods surrounding her community. Sasquatches are real. And they are hungry.

If you like fast-paced adventure, survival stories, or have always been fascinated by the legend of Bigfoot, you should definitely make this your next read.

Find Devolution in the catalog

All Systems Red

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All Systems Red by Martha Wells
Format: Book, eBook, digital audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Working for a money-hungry interplanetary research company is hard. It’s even harder if you’re a self-aware SecUnit (security unit) AI tasked with keeping humans safe. Humans determined to complete useful research can be extremely annoying by not worrying about their safety on hazardous planets. Murderbot, as the SecUnit secretly refers to itself, just wants its assigned humans to be safe so it can spend its off-hours watching television in peace. When the humans decide to challenge their less than honorable employees, Murderbot wants to just ignore their well-intentioned bravery and go back to its shows. But somehow these aggravating humans have gotten under Murderbot’s armor and it just can’t seem to let them down.

All Systems Red is a great example of a novella done well. Somehow in only a few short chapters, author Martha Wells makes you care about this grumpy AI who would really prefer that you didn’t waste your time doing so. With dark humor and sarcastic wit, you will be looking up book two of the Murderbot Diaries (Artificial Condition) as soon as you finish reading All Systems Red.

Find All Systems Red in the Catalog 

Find All Systems Red on Hoopla

The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains

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The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains by Neil Gaiman
Format: Book, Audiobook, Digital Audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

“The truth is a cave in the black mountains. There is one way there, and one only, and that way is treacherous and hard, and if you choose the wrong path you will die alone, on the mountainside.”
– A quote from this “tale of travel and darkness” by master storyteller Neil Gaiman

The unnamed narrator of our story is seeking a mythical cave, on a mythical island, that’s purportedly filled to the brim with mythical gold, ripe for the taking, for any adventurer that should be brave (or foolhardy) enough seek it. He’s hired a guide, Callum McInnes, who claims he’s been there before, and certainly possesses riches well above his station as an average border reaver for us to take his word for it. McInnes also claims the cave, and its gold, is cursed, but our narrator is undeterred, and so they begin their journey, and oh, what a journey it is, filled with many unexpected twists and turns.

You can enjoy the story in a print edition, which is complimented by “pictures of all kinds” illustrated by Eddie Campbell, or an audio version, complimented by original music from the FourPlay String Quartet.

Find it in the catalog

or on Hoopla

Eternal

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Eternal  by Lisa Scottoline
Format: Full cast digital audiobook
Who it’s for: Adults

Author Lisa Scottoline is best known for writing legal thrillers. Eternal is Scottoline’s first historical novel, and it is just as good as her thrillers.  The story is based on true events that took place in Rome, Italy during World War II.  In 1937, Italians in Rome never believed that they would be touched by Hitler and his unnerving rules and laws.  But when Mussolini aligned the Fascist party with Hitler’s Nazis, terrible things began to tear their beautiful city, and the people within it, apart.

Scottoline has woven the true account of Rome’s fall to the Germans into the lives of high schoolers, Elisabetta, Marco, and Sandro.  The three of them have grown up as best friends.  It seems as if overnight Rome is thrust into chaos and confusion.  The families of Marco, Elisabetta, and Sandro are caught up as casualties.

Marco lands a job working for the Fascist government, supporting what his family raised him to believe in.  Sandro and his family, always loyal to Fascist Mussolini, are shockingly moved to the Jewish ghetto and lose everything.  Elisabetta is caught struggling to support herself and at odds with the love that she feels for Marco and Sandro.  As World War II rages on, its consequences destroy the lives and dreams of these three friends and their families.

Scottoline does a wonderful job of revealing the devastation of Rome at Mussolini’s hands and expressing how love, friendship, faith, and family prevail enabling people to survive terror and hardship, and eventually begin to heal.  Fans of WWII historical fiction will appreciate Scottoline’s account of the effects WWII had on Italy.

Find it in the catalog!

 

 

¡Vamos! Let’s Go…

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¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat!  by Raúl the Third
Format : Book, eBook, Digital audiobook, digital movie, DVD
Who it’s for: Kids,  Adults

Hope you’re hungry!


Little Lobo and his dog Bernabé are back, taking their food delivery service to their friend El Toro’s big wrestling match.  The story is laid out in a fantastic format that is part graphic novel and part Richard Scarry storybook. With detailed illustrations that make your mouth water, this bilingual tale of food, friendship and fun is one you can read and reread, finding something new every time!  This is a spot on selection for any detail oriented picture book reader!

 

Don’t forget to check out the super delicious Spanish/English food glossary in the back, a great resource to expand vocabulary.   Another engaging learning extension to hear the proper Spanish pronunciations within the story is available on Hoopla in a super cool animated digital read-along format! 

 

Find this title in the catalog and on Hoopla as an eBook, digital audiobook and movie.

 

¡Vamos! Let’s Go to the Market by Raúl the Third

Format : Book, eBook, Digital audiobook, digital movie, DVD

Who it’s for: Kids, Adults

 

If you enjoyed ¡Vamos! Let’s Go Eat  also check out Little Lobo and Bernarbé’s other adventure in food! Available in the catalog as both a book and an eBook.  And on Hoopla as a digital audiobook, movie and read-along!