April's Recommended Reads
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All books mentioned in this edition of the Great Reads Newsletter are available on the Ocean County Library's OverDrive Collection. You can browse the entire OverDrive Collection
here
.
On mobile devices you can download the Libby App from the device's app store to browse the collection.
For help and support visit the library's
help page
and click on the OverDrive tab.
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The Bookshop on the Shore
by Jenny Colgan
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Desperate to escape from London, single mother Zoe wants to build a new life for herself and her four year old son Hari. Zoe's sister-in-law comes to her aid, hooking her up with a job as far away from the urban crush as possible: a bookshop on the banks of Loch Ness. There’s also a second job to cover housing: Zoe will be an au pair for three children at a genuine castle in the Scottish Highlands.
But while Scotland is everything Zoe dreamed of—clear skies, brisk fresh air, blessed quiet—everything else is a bit of a mess. The Urquart family castle is grand, but crumbling, the childrens’ single dad is a wreck, and the kids have been kicked out of school and left to their own devices. Zoe has her work cut out for her, and is determined to rise to the challenge, especially when she sees how happily Hari has taken to their new home.
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Agent Running in the Field
by John Le Carre
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Nat, a 47 year-old veteran of Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service, believes his years as an agent runner are over. He is back in London with his wife, the long-suffering Prue. However, with the growing threat from Moscow Centre, the office has one more job for him. Nat is to take over The Haven, a defunct substation of London General with a rag-tag band of spies. The only bright light on the team is young Florence, who has her eye on Russia Department and a Ukrainian oligarch with a finger in the Russia pie.
Nat is not only a spy, he is a passionate badminton player. His regular Monday evening opponent is half his age: the introspective and solitary Ed. It is Ed, of all unlikely people, who will take Prue, Florence and Nat himself down the path of political anger that will ensnare them all.
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Swipe Right for Murder
by Derek Milman
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Finding himself alone in a posh New York City hotel room for the night, Aidan does what any red-blooded seventeen-year-old would do–tries to hook up with someone new. That lapse in judgement leads him to a room with a dead guy and a mysterious flash drive…two things that spark an epic case of mistaken identity that puts Aidan on the run–from the authorities, his friends, his family, the people who are out to kill him–and especially from his own troubled past.
Inspired by a Hitchcock classic, this whirlwind mistaken-identity caper has razor-sharp humor, devastating emotional stakes, and a thrilling storyline with an explosive conclusion.
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Long Way Down
by Jason Reynolds
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Will's older brother, Shawn, has been shot. Dead. Will feels a sadness so great, he can't explain it. But in his neighborhood, there are THE RULES:
No. 1: Crying. Don't. No matter what.
No. 2: Snitching. Don't. No matter what.
No. 3: Revenge. Do. No matter what.
But bullets miss. You can get the wrong guy. And there's always someone else who knows to follow the rules…
Told in short, fierce staccato narrative verse,
Long Way Down
is a fast and furious, dazzlingly brilliant look at teenage gun violence, as could only be told by Jason Reynolds.
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Redwood and Ponytail
by K.A. Holt
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Kate and Tam meet, and both of their worlds tip sideways. At first, Tam figures Kate is your stereotypical cheerleader; Kate sees Tam as another tall jock. The more they keep running into each other, the more they surprise each other. Beneath Kate's sleek ponytail and perfect façade, Tam sees a goofy, sensitive, lonely girl. Tam's so much more than a volleyball player, Kate realizes: She's everything Kate wishes she could be. It's complicated. Except it's not. When Kate and Tam meet, they fall in like. It's as simple as that, but not everybody sees it that way.
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Other Words for Home
by Jasmine Warga
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Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. However, when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven't quite prepared her for starting school in the US—and her new label of "Middle Eastern," an identity she's never known before.
But this life also brings unexpected surprises—there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical that Jude might just try out for. Maybe America, too, is a place where Jude can be seen as she really is.
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Big Cat, Little Cat
by Elisha Cooper
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There was a cat
who lived alone.
Until the day
a new cat came . . .
And so a story of friendship begins, following the two cats through their days, months, and years.
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How to Read a Book
by Kwame Alexander
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Find a tree—a
black tupelo or
dawn redwood will do—and
plant yourself.
(It’s okay if you prefer a stoop, like Langston Hughes.)
With these words, an adventure begins.
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milk and honey
by Rupi Kaur
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The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache.
milk and honey
takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.
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