Ready, Steady, Listen Up! New CD Audiobooks at APL

Have you missed them? The humble CD audiobook may not be the newest kid on the block, but it’s as dependable as an old friend, and no WiFi necessary. So if you feel like going off grid for a bit, or just prefer physical formats to digital ones, you can feel free to place holds on new offerings or browse around older titles. Our curbside pickup service will help you get your hands on the books you’ve had on your to-listen list!

We have a handy selection of newbies at the ready right in the Evergreen catalog: just click here. Remember Crazy Rich Asians? The author is back with another frothy tale of romance among the 1%, complete with exclusive settings in Capri and East Hampton, hate at first sight, and family-forbidden attraction: Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan. If you like your romance a bit more local and with a literary twist, you’ll not go wrong with Writers and Lovers by Lily King. Savor the life dramas of a recently-bereaved protagonist trying to finish her first novel while subsisting in a slummy Boston apartment and considering the merits of two possible love interests. Or settle down with perennial beach-read favorite Elin Hilderbrand, whose reliably entertaining fiction will whisk you away to Nantucket for a mind-vacation from present realities in 28 Summers.

Not so keen on romance right now? There are a couple of recent celebrity-endorsed book club picks to choose from. You might give J. Courtney Sullivan’s psychologically-complex exploration of women’s relationships a try with her newest novel, Friends and Strangers, now a “Read with Jenna” title (from July 2020). Alternatively, Kiley Reid’s Such a Fun Age examines a vexed relationship between a women’s self-help guru and her babysitter that is complicated by racial tension.

There’s more, so do go and have a look for yourself! All the titles mentioned here–as well as the others highlighted in the Evergreen list–are also available on Overdrive/Libby. And keep an eye out for more new CD audiobook titles in the coming weeks!

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Love is in the Air in These Rom Coms!

Here are some romantic comedies that read like a box of chocolates…

Contemporary

I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

Author of Confessions of a Shopaholic, Sophie Kinsella is the queen of funny and creator of endearing characters. In I Owe You One, meet the loveable Fixie Farr, who runs a housewares store with her family. After rescuing a stranger’s laptop in a coffee shop from a ceiling collapse, the grateful Sebastian gives Fixie an IOU slip with his business card. When Fixie’s old flame, Ryan, returns, she finds she might need to use that IOU after all. 

Accessible on Overdrive/Libby as an ebook and audiobook.

The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa

Wedding planner Lina Santos was jilted at the altar, and the ex-groom had sent his brother, Max, to deliver the bad news. Years later, Lina finds the job of her dreams, but it will be working alongside Max, the man who had been the messenger of her heartbreak.

Accessible on Overdrive/Libby and hoopla

Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory

Accessible as an ebook and an audiobook.

Classic

Emma by Jane Austen

Classic, timeless Jane Austen’s fourth published novel is one of her funniest. Emma Woodhouse is an incurable romantic and matchmaker, though happily single herself. As her efforts go awry for her friend Harriet Smith, she suddenly finds herself falling for a long-time friend and neighbor, Mr. Knightley. 

Accessible as an ebook and audiobook

Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding

The classic chick lit by brilliant author Helen Fielding has everything, even delightful references to Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Beginning with Bridget’s assiduously writing down her New Year’s resolutions that she notates in her diary, including not having a crush on her boss,  Daniel Cleaver, and finding a nice, steady boyfriend. The year doesn’t set off the way she planned at all, though.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

This is number one in the series. Nick Young and girlfriend, Rachel Chu, travel to Singapore to attend the wedding of Nick’s friend, Colin, and to visit Nick’s home and family. Rachel visits her friend, Peik Lin, and starts to learn just who her boyfriend and his family really are, and she worries she might not fit in. 

Accessible as an ebook and an audiobook.

Sex and the City by Candace Bushnell

Candace Bushnell started writing for The New York Observer in 1993 and created her own column called “Sex and the City” based on her and her friends’ experience living in New York. These columns were published in an anthology in 1997 and went on to become a popular television series. The book follows the escapades of Carrie Bradshaw, a young writer, and her friends and businessman, Mr. Big, who is a love interest, maybe.

Available on hoopla as an ebook and an audiobook.

Check out more great Rom Com books by visiting NoveList with your library card and under “Recommended Reading Lists” clicking on “Romance” and then “Romantic Comedies,” or browse ebooks directly on Overdrive/Libby and ebooks as well as movies on hoopla.

Summer Love: Noteworthy Love Stories of May and June 2020

Summer is the season of love, and the Abbot Public Library has over 25 new and upcoming titles to suit all of your summer romance needs! Whether you’re a fan of historical fiction, suspense, thriller, fantasy, humor, or a combination of it all, we have the best stories for you to fall in love with.

If you’re looking for a good laugh, the recently released title Not That Kind of Guy by Andie J. Christopher has plot elements from The Proposal and Crazy Rich Asians with a strong heroine. 

In Beach Read by Emily Henry, two polar opposites have only a few things in common: for the next three months, they’re living in neighboring beach houses, broke, and bogged down with writer’s block. 

In Alli Frank & Asha Youmans’ Tiny Imperfections, The Devil Wears Prada meets Class Mom in this novel of love, money, and misbehaving parents.

In Sajni Patel’s The Trouble with Hating You, a strong-willed and proudly single engineer walks out when her parents set her up with a lawyer — but when work brings them together again, she just might give love a second chance. 

Mary Alice Monroe is back with book 6 of her Beach House series. On Ocean Boulevard reunites the Rutledge family in Isle of Palms for love, tradition, and tragedy.

In Real Men Knit by Kwana Jackson, four brothers struggle to keep open the doors of their adoptive mother’s beloved Harlem knitting shop after she suddenly dies. Follow the heart-breaker son, Jesse, as he tries to prove to part-time shop employee, Kerry, that he can be her forever and always man. 

From the author of Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors, Sonali Dev brings her newest, Recipe for Persuasion – another clever, deeply layered, and heartwarming romantic comedy that follows in Jane Austen’s tradition.

We see even more romances coming this June!

500 Miles from You: A Novel by Jenny Colgan

Lissa is a nurse in a gritty, hectic London neighborhood who struggles with PTSD. Her supervisor quietly arranges for her to spend a few months doing a much less demanding job in the little town of Kirrinfeif in the Scottish Highlands, hoping that the change of scenery will help her heal. Lissa will be swapping places with Cormack, an Army veteran who’s Kirrinfeif’s easygoing nurse/paramedic/all-purpose medical man.

What will happen when Lissa and Cormack finally meet?

Always the Last to Know by Kristan Higgins

The Frosts are a typical American family. Barb and John, married almost fifty years, are testy and bored with each other…who could blame them after all this time? At least they have their daughters– Barb’s favorite, the perfect, brilliant Juliet; and John’s darling, the free-spirited Sadie. The girls themselves couldn’t be more different, but at least they got along, more or less. It was fine. It was enough.

Until the day John had a stroke, and their house of cards came tumbling down.

The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon

Samiah Brooks never thought she would be “that” girl. But a live tweet of a horrific date just revealed the painful truth: she’s been catfished by a three-timing jerk of a boyfriend. Suddenly Samiah-along with his two other “girlfriends,” London and Taylor-have gone viral online. Now the three new besties are making a pact to spend the next six months investing in themselves. No men and no dating.

Then she meets the deliciously sexy Daniel Collins at work. What are the chances? But is Daniel really boyfriend material or is he maybe just a little too good to be true?

Dance Away with Me: A Novel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

When life throws her one setback too many, midwife and young widow Tess Hartsong takes off for Runaway Mountain to outrun her heartbreak and find the solace she needs to heal. But instead of peace and quiet, she encounters an enigmatic artist with a craving for solitude, a fairy-tale sprite with too many secrets, a helpless infant, a passel of curious teens, and a town suspicious of outsiders, especially one as headstrong as Tess. Just as headstrong is Ian North, a difficult, gifted man with a tortured soul—a man who makes Tess question everything. 

In running away to this new life, Tess wonders— Has she lost herself… or has she found her future? 

Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho

At thirty-three, Andrea Tang is living the dream: She has a successful career as a lawyer, a posh condo, and a clutch of fun-loving friends who are always in the know about Singapore’s hottest clubs. But – she’s about to become the lone unmarried member of her generation in the Tang clan. Andrea then decides to give the charming, wealthy entrepreneur Eric Deng a chance while her office rival, Suresh Aditparan, keeps throwing a wrench in her plans. Now Andrea can’t help but wonder: In the endless tug-of-war between pleasing others and pleasing herself, is there room for everyone to win?

The Lost Diary of Venice: A Novel by Margaux DeRoux

In the wake of her father’s death, Rose Newlin finds solace in her work as a book restorer. Then, one rainy Connecticut afternoon, a struggling painter appears at her door. William Lomazzo brings with him a sixteenth-century treatise on art, which Rose quickly identifies as a palimpsest: a document written over a hidden diary that had purposely been scraped away. Yet the restoration sparks an unforeseen challenge when William—a married man—and Rose experience an instant, unspoken attraction.

Sisters and Secrets: A Novel by Jennifer Ryan

There’s nothing more complicated than the relationship among family, especially when the Silva Sisters are keeping secrets. As the secrets between Sierra, Amy, and Heather are revealed, each realizes that there is more to their family than meets the eye… and forgiveness may be the only way to move forward and reclaim true happiness at last.