Today is National Hammock Day and what better time to sink into an eBook or eAudiobook from our digital collection!
Take a look at our current downloadable collections:
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From the author of The Dollhouse and The Masterpiece comes the compelling national bestselling novel about the thin lines between love and loss, success and ruin, passion and madness, all hidden behind the walls of The Dakota—New York City’s most famous residence.
When a chance encounter with Theodore Camden, one of the architects of the grand New York apartment house the Dakota, leads to a job offer for Sara Smythe, her world is suddenly awash in possibility—no mean feat for a servant in 1884. The opportunity to move to America. The opportunity to be the female manager of the Dakota. And the opportunity to see more of Theo, who understands Sara like no one else…and is living in the Dakota with his wife and three young children.
One hundred years later, Bailey Camden is desperate for new opportunities: Fresh out of rehab, the former interior designer is homeless, jobless, and penniless. Bailey’s grandfather was the ward of famed architect Theodore Camden, yet Bailey won’t see a dime of the Camden family’s substantial estate; instead, her “cousin” Melinda—Camden’s biological great-granddaughter—will inherit almost everything. So when Melinda offers to let Bailey oversee the renovation of her lavish Dakota apartment, Bailey jumps at the chance, despite her dislike of Melinda’s vision. The renovation will take away all the character of the apartment Theodore Camden himself lived in…and died in, after suffering multiple stab wounds by a former Dakota employee who had previously spent seven months in an insane asylum—a madwoman named Sara Smythe.
A century apart, Sara and Bailey are both tempted by and struggle against the golden excess of their respective ages—for Sara, the opulence of a world ruled by the Astors and Vanderbilts; for Bailey, the nightlife’s free-flowing drinks and cocaine—and take refuge in the Upper West Side’s gilded fortress. But a building with a history as rich, and often as tragic, as the Dakota’s can’t hold its secrets forever, and what Bailey discovers inside could turn everything she thought she knew about Theodore Camden—and the woman who killed him—on its head.
Copies of the eBook and eAudiobook are available for download now!
Have you seen our Summer Vibes collection of downloadable eBooks and eAudiobooks? They are perfect for lazy summer reading. Here are just a few that are ready for you!
Summer with My Sisters by Holly Chamberlin – eBookBestselling author Holly Chamberlin’s heartfelt novel, set in a beautiful Maine beach town, tells of three sisters–and one summer filled with revelations…
Same Beach, Next Year by Dorothea Benton Frank – eAudiobookNew York Times bestselling author Dorothea Benton Frank returns to her magical Lowcountry of South Carolina in this bewitching story of marriage, love, family, and friendship that is infused with her warm and engaging earthy humor and generous heart.
Sunshine Beach by Wendy Wax – eBookBy the USA Today bestselling author of The House on Mermaid Point, three women join forces to bring a historic seaside hotel back to life. There’s nothing that a fresh coat of paint and a few glasses of wine can’t fix….
Looking for other summer reads? View our Summer Vibes collection here.
Now that it’s officially summer, will you head outdoors and sink into a comfortable chair with a new book on your device? What will you read? Something light, like a beach read or a summer romance? Maybe a mystery or some historical fiction. If you like nonfiction, perhaps a book on mindfulness or travel.
You can browse all these genres on OverDrive:
Maybe you want to flip through a new magazine. We have more than 100 magazines ready for you on Flipster. Visit https://chescolibraries.org/downloads and scroll to Flipster to sign in with your library card.
Or if you’re ready to try our curbside pickup, search our catalog at ccls.org or look for suggestions on NovelistPlus.
Learn more about curbside pickup here.
You’re just a download or a hold away from your next great read!
By targeting black men through the War on Drugs and decimating communities of color, the U.S. criminal justice system functions as a contemporary system of racial control–relegating millions to a permanent second-class status–even as it formally adheres to the principle of colorblindness.
Based on the viral Instagram challenge that captivated participants worldwide, Me and White Supremacy takes readers on a 28-day journey of how to dismantle the privilege within themselves so that they can stop (often unconsciously) inflicting damage on people of color, and in turn, help other white people do better, too.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed.
Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr.
A current, constructive, and actionable exploration of today’s racial landscape, offering straightforward clarity that readers of all races need to contribute to the dismantling of the racial divide.
Book summaries taken from chester.overdrive.com
Looking for a different kind of novel? An epistolary novel is a story written as a series of documents, often in the form of letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. More recent formats include emails and blog posts. All offer a realistic view into the narrator’s life and story.
Dracula by Bram Stoker – eBook
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley – eBook
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis – eAudiobook
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë – eBook
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins – eBook
The Color Purple by Alice Walker – eBook
Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn – eBook
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Annie Barrows – eBook & eAudiobook
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky – eAudiobook
We Need to Talk about Kevin by Lionel Shriver – eBook
Take a look at these lists of classic and popular epistolary novels:
Book Riot 100 Must-Read Epistolary Novels from the Past and Present
We have new collections of kids and teen eBooks, eAudiobooks, and Read-Alongs that are available without holds! These books are from Rosen Publishing, Lerner Publishing Group, Britannica Digital Learning, Orca Book Publishers, Triangle Interactive, and other participating publishers. More titles will be added in the future!
Looking for Read-Alongs? Here are some of the ones in the kids collection:
Are you missing sports? Maybe these books from Britannica will help:
Check out the rest of the 100 + titles available with no holds! Here is the kids collection. Here is the teen collection.
Take a look at our Black Voices digital collection on OverDrive.
These titles are currently available for you, with no holds.
Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo – eBook
Solitary by Albert Woodfox – eBook
Thick by Tressie McMillan Cottom – eBook
The Yellow House by Sarah M. Broom – eBook
Our Black Voices collection includes many other eBooks and eAudiobooks to download or reserve. You can view the entire collection here.
Nothing is better on a hot summer day than a tall glass of iced tea. To celebrate National Iced Tea Day, here are some recipes and a few books to enjoy while you sip!
20,000 Secrets of Tea by Victoria Zak – eBook
The Book of Tea by Kakuzo Okakura – eBook
Sweet Tea and Sympathy by Molly Harper – eBook
Looking for more books about tea and tea-related mysteries? Visit this keyword search.
AudioFile Magazine’s Golden Voices list is like a Hall of Fame of Audiobook narrators. One of this year’s Golden Voices is Julia Whelan. Here are some of our favorite Audiobooks that she has narrated:
Educated by Tara Westover
This Audiobook won two 2019 Audie Awards (like the Oscars of the Audiobook industry) – Best Female Narrator and Memoir.
Far From the Tree by Robin Benway
Winner of AudioFile Magazine’s Earphones Award
Girl in Pieces by Kathleen Glasgow
This Audiobook made AudioFile Magazine’s Best of 2016 Young Adult list
The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker
Since We Fell by Dennis Lehane
Here are more titles that she has narrated.
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