Now Hear This! New Audiobooks on Overdrive/Libby

We’re falling for autumn here at the Abbot Public Library: the trees are turning, the weather is cooling, and reading seems even more appealing than ever. But if the arrival of fall has filled up your schedule, you may be finding it difficult to curl up with a book as often as you’d like. That’s where the library can help! Take your books with you wherever the season takes you by checking out audio versions from Overdrive/Libby. And you’ll find that your virtual bookshelf has recently expanded to include some soon-to-be-favorites!

If you’re craving the comfort of another instalment in a top-notch mystery series, then you’re in luck. All the Devils Are Here by Louise Penny finds Chief Inspector Armand Gamache in Paris rather than Quebec. Read by English actor Robert Bathurst, who is notable for playing Sir Anthony Strallan in the Downton Abbey series, this audiobook will whisk you away to the City of Light with the whole of Gamache’s family as they search for answers “from the top of the Tour d’Eiffel, to the bowels of the Paris Archives, from luxury hotels to odd, coded, works of art.”* Sounds a treat!

Or if you’re eager to settle down with a favorite author once again after a summer hiatus, you’ll be pleased to find new offerings from the likes of Christina Baker Kline, Emily Giffin, Jodi Picoult, and Elena Ferrante. The Exiles follows the intertwined lives of three underprivileged women–a disgraced governess, a petty thief, and an aboriginal chief’s daughter–as they navigate the dangerous, unjust, yet fascinating world of 19th-century colonial Australia. The Lies That Bind will take the reader back to the era of 9/11 and the dilemma of an investigative reporter searching for her missing boyfriend, who quite possibly wasn’t who she thought he was. In The Book of Two Ways, we’re brought to the present day with a plane crash that is not the tragedy the reader might think. Instead, it gives the main character the opportunity to consider the path she is on and explore another one. And if you’ve been enthralled by the internationally acclaimed Neapolitan Quartet, you’ll not want to miss The Lying Life of Adults. Once again, Ferrante turns her lens on the angst of the transition to adulthood and renders an oft-told tale fresh and fascinating.

You’ll also find fresh and timely nonfiction from Isabel Wilkerson (Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents), as well as “indie” novels from Maggie O’Farrell (Hamnet), Yaa Gyasi (Transcendent Kingdom) and Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Mexican Gothic).

Here’s to autumn and brand-new “To Read” lists!

If you’re new to Overdrive/Libby, our FAQs page will get you started. And if you need a Marblehead library card, you can begin here.

Advertisement

What’s New in Nonfiction Books: History

Recently, many distinguished, interesting, or even outstanding nonfiction books have been published; books that received starred reviews in leading newspapers and captured readers’ interest.

Here are some of the latest library acquisitions of history books.

Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson is one of those books that is both hailed by the critics and also has attracted numerous readers.

Deeply researched, the book explores and examines the American caste system that has shaped the country through its history and demonstrates the effects of the system on the country’s culture and politics. You can read a splendid review in The New York Times.

Reserve the print book or book on CD for Curbside Pickup, or the ebook or audiobook on Overdrive.

Isabel Wilkerson is also the author of The Warmth of Other Suns (2010), for which she received the Pulitzer Prize. Publication of Caste revived an interest in her previous work and placed The Warmth of Other Suns on hold shelves again.

Reserve the print book or Playaway (audio format) for Curbside Pickup, or read the ebook on Overdrive. 

also available as a hoopla audiobook

Reaganland: America’s Right Turn 1976-1980 by Rick Perlstein (in print and ebook format) is another book on American history. This is the fourth book by the author, which concludes a saga about the rise of conservatism in modern American politics. The others that come before it are Before the Storm (print and hoopla audiobook), Nixonland, and The Invisible Bridge. The author examines the four years of the Carter administration (1976-1980), and shows how that time period created a Launchpad for conservatism that is still alive today. The New York Times reviewed the book.

The 20^TH Annual Massachusetts Book Awards were recently announced, and the books below received nonfiction Honors:

American Radicals: How 19^th-Century Protest Shaped the Nation by Holly Jackson explores the turbulent history of the nineteenth-century political activism and activists. Many names are forgotten today, but those people were influential in their time, and their work is associated with reformers such as Frederick Douglass and Elizabeth Cody Stanton.

The book was named one of Ten Best History Books of 2019. Check it out in ebook or audiobook format. 

Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter by Kerri K. Greenidge is a very well researched, meticulously documented, and well-written biography of William Monroe Trotter, a Harvard-educated Black radical, and the founder, editor, and publisher of the weekly Boston Guardian that launched in 1901. Written by a Tufts University professor, the book offers a fresh perspective on African-American history.

Check out Black Radical in print, Overdrive ebook, Overdrive audiobook, or hoopla ebook. 

And here is yet another history book, which explores a fascinating subject: the history of hurricanes.

It is a particular pleasure to introduce this book, written by Eric Dolin, who is a successful nonfiction writer and resident of Marblehead. The Abbot Public Library has hosted several of his book presentations, including talks about his books Black Flags, Blue Waters and Brilliant Beacons.

A Furious Sky is Dolin’s latest book, which earned him very positive reviews, including from The New York Times. The author chronicles the history of American hurricanes from the 16^th century through 2017, discusses their nature, and traces the development of hurricane science. He reflects on the American history and shows how hurricanes impacted it.

Reserve A Furious Sky in print, book on CD, or ebook format. He will be speaking about this book at the local Jewish Book Month, sponsored by the JCCNS, which will be held online starting on Tuesday, October 6^th!

Other books by Eric Dolin include:

All books are available in print format or digital, very frequently both. Browse Dolin’s books in the library catalog or on Overdrive or hoopla. 

The library’s digital nonfiction collection has grown significantly in the last few years, and even more so in the past 6 months. You can access the collection through Overdrive/Libby or hoopla with your library card.

Currently, almost every book published on paper is also available in digital format, as the library strives to satisfy public demand, and purchase books to appease diverse tastes and interests.

If you have a choice between print and digital formats, please know that digital books circulate much faster, since they cannot be kept overdue, and do not need to be quarantined. You can reserve print books to pick up in our Curbside Service – please read our instructions carefully about how to reserve titles and set up an appointment once all your items come in.