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New and Featured eAudiobooks March 2026 |
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Kin
by Tayari Jones
Vernice and Annie, two motherless daughters raised in Honeysuckle, Louisiana, have been best friends and neighbors since earliest childhood but are fated to live starkly different lives. Raised by a fierce aunt determined to give her a stable home in the wake of her mother's death, Vernice leaves Honeysuckle at eighteen for Spelman College, where she joins a sisterhood of powerfully connected Black women and discovers a world of affluence, manners, aspiration, and inequality. Annie, abandoned by her mother as a child and fixated on the idea of finding her and filling the bottomless hole left by her absence, sets off on a journey that will take her into a world of peril and adversity, as well as love and adventure, culminating in a battle for her life. A novel about mothers and daughters, friendship and sisterhood, and the complexities of being a woman in the American South, Kin is an exuberant, emotionally rich, unforgettable work from one of the brightest and most irresistible voices in contemporary fiction.
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The Astral Library
by Kate Quinn
Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures. Alexandria Alix Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: unlike people, books will never let you down. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books. The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as danger draws inexorably closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy--Alix, the Librarian, or the Library itself?
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Crown of War & Shadow
by J. R. Ward
A mercenary out for himself. A kingdom that must be saved. In the deep, dark, dead of night, passions rise, and empires fall... The Fulcrum is failing, and demons are slipping into the mortal world. No one is safe. Especially not Sorrel. An orphan and an outcast within the walls of her small village because of her mystical abilities. She wants to survive...and find somewhere she can call her true home. But Fate has other plans. Sorrel has been chosen. Cursed. She must cross the Badlands to return the Queen's crown and convince the fearsome female to save their world from destruction. Well aware she's no brave hero, Sorrel makes a dangerous deal with Merc, a brooding, commanding mercenary known only by his unscrupulous profession. The deal? A night in his bed that she will never forget, in exchange for her safe passage. But Merc has secrets of his own, and even though desire runs hot between them, adventure, danger, and betrayal lurk around every corner. Crown of War and Shadow is the first book in the Kingdoms of the Compass series.
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A Sociopath's Guide to a Successful Marriage
by Mk Oliver
Meet Lalla Rook. Lalla has a lot on her plate: She needs to guarantee her husband makes partner, secure her dream house in Hampstead, and get her daughter into a prestigious prep school. And on the afternoon she stabs a stranger seven times after he breaks into her living room, she has a four-year-old's birthday party to host. With an unambitious partner, two demanding children, and a barely adequate large house in a nice (if not quite fashionable) part of town, Lalla's life isn't quite perfect yet. And she can't pretend she hasn't missed the adrenaline rush that comes with transgressing. Besides, as a wife and mother, she's already an expert multi-tasker. So, disposing of a body, framing a friend, and being the world's best mother can easily be managed alongside the usual domestic minutiae. It's just that her husband Stephen seems distracted, her daughter's drowning of the class hamster is affecting her academic future, and then there is the unexpected intruder. Who is this man and what does he want from her? Because Lalla has a past she'd rather keep hidden--and the sudden appearance of the police means that avoiding them will be yet another task to cross off her to-do list. Funny, calculating, hypercompetent, and ambitious, Lalla is your next favorite antiheroine. Just don't mention it to her mother-in-law.
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The New Neighbors
by Claire Douglas
They seem like the perfect couple. But what are they hiding? When Lena overhears a conversation between her next-door-neighbors she thinks she must have misheard. The Morgans are a kind, retired couple who recently moved to their sleepy suburban street in Bristol where nothing ever happens. But to Lena it sounded very much like they were planning a crime. Her family and friends tell her she must be mistaken. Yet Lena can't stop thinking about that strange conversation. What if they really are about to do something terrible? What if she can prevent it? Especially when doing something might help ease her conscience about her own dark past . . .
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Operation Bounce House
by Matt Dinniman
All colonist Oliver Lewis ever wanted to do was run the family ranch with his sister, maybe play a gig or two with his band, and keep his family's aging fleet of intelligent agriculture bots ticking as long as possible. He figures it will be a good thing when the transfer gate finally opens all the way and restores instant travel and full communication between Earth and his planet, New Sonora. But there's a complication. Even though the settlers were promised they'd be left in peace, Earth's government now has other plans. The colossal Apex Industries is hired to commence an eviction action. But maximizing profits will always be Apex's number one priority. Why spend money printing and deploying AI soldiers when they can turn it into a game? Why not charge bored Earthers for the opportunity to design their own war machines and remotely pilot them from the comfort of their homes? The game is called Operation Bounce House. Oliver and his friends soon find themselves fighting for their lives against machines piloted by gamers who've paid a premium for the privilege. With the help of an old book from his grandfather and a bucket of rusty parts, Oliver is determined to defend the only home he's ever known.
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Keeper of Lost Children
by Sadeqa Johnson
In this new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The House of Eve, one American woman's vision in post WWII Germany will tie together three people in an unexpected way. Ethel Gathers, the proud wife of an American Officer, is living in Occupied Germany in the 1950s. After discovering a local orphanage filled with the abandoned mixed-race children of German women and Black American GI's, Ethel feels compelled to help find these children homes. Philadelphia born Ozzie Phillips volunteers for the recently desegregated army in 1948, eager to make his mark in the world. While serving in Manheim, Germany, he meets a local woman, Jelka, and the two embark on a relationship that will impact their lives forever. In 1965 Maryland, Sophia Clark is given an opportunity to attend a prestigious all white boarding school and escape her heartless parents. While at the school, she discovers a secret that upends her world and sends her on a quest to unravel her own identity. Toggling between the lives of these three individuals, Keeper of Lost Children explores how one woman's vision will change the course of countless lives, and demonstrates that love in its myriad of forms--familial, parental, and forbidden, even love of self--can be transcendent.
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Good People
by Patmeena Sabit
Zorah Sharaf could do no wrong. Zorah Sharaf brought shame upon her family. What's the truth? Depends on who you ask. The Sharaf family is the picture of success. Prosperous, rich, happy. They came to this country as refugees with nothing more than the clothes on their backs. And now, after years of hard work, they live in the most exclusive neighborhood, their growing family attending the most prestigious schools. Zorah, the eldest daughter, is the apple of her father's eye. When an unthinkable tragedy strikes, everyone is left reeling and the family is thrust into the court of public opinion. There is talk that behind closed doors the Sharafs' happy household was anything but. Did the Sharaf family achieve the American dream? Or was the image of the model immigrant family just a facade? Like a literary game of ping-pong, Good People compels the reader to reconsider what might have happened even on the previous page. Told through a kaleidoscope of perspectives, it is a riveting, provocative, and haunting story of family--sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers, and the communities that claim us as family in difficult times.
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Mattering: The Secret to a Life of Deep Connection and Purpose
by Jennifer Breheny Wallace
From award-winning journalist and bestselling author Jennifer Wallace comes Mattering--a landmark book that introduces a transformative new framework to confront the loneliness, burnout, and lack of purpose so many of us face today. In this groundbreaking work, Wallace makes an urgent case: mattering--the feeling that we are valued and have an opportunity to add value--is a core human need, as essential to our well-being as food and water. And yet, in today's world, that fundamental need is going unmet, with perilous consequences. As mental and social health crises surge, we often blame social media, the pace of modern life, and polarizing politics. But beneath these issues lies a deeper crisis, what Wallace calls an erosion of mattering. With her signature warmth and insight, Wallace weaves together research and deeply moving stories of mattering lost and regained. From burned-out employees to overwhelmed caregivers to people grappling with grief or struggling through a destabilizing transition, Mattering explores how our lives are transformed when we are reminded, in small and intentional ways, that we are valued and that we have value to offer. Wallace provides the essential elements to building what she calls our mattering core recognizing your impact, being relied on (but not too much), feeling prioritized, and being truly known and invested in. Strengthening this core helps us reconnect to our sense of purpose, deepen our relationships, and navigate life's uncertainties and challenges with greater resilience. With a clear road map and actionable takeaways, Wallace reveals how to unlock this powerful force within ourselves and how to build cultures of mattering in our homes, workplaces, and communities. Mattering is both a call to action and a blueprint for living a meaningful life and creating a world we so urgently need.
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Never Mind the Happy: Showbiz Stories from a Sore Winner
by Marc Shaiman
In Never Mind the Happy, musical dynamo Marc Shaiman looks back on five decades of Broadway triumphs, Hollywood hijinks, and unforgettable collaborations. Along the way, he charts the personal highs and heartbreaks that have shaped him--spending his teenage years in community theater, starting a decades-long collaboration with Bette Midler in the '70s, surviving the AIDS crisis of the '80s, his award-winning film music career in the Hollywood of the '90s, right up to the peaks (and valleys) of creating Broadway musicals from 2000 on. Candid, hilarious, and deeply human, Shaiman's story is a tribute to the power of music, the pull of the spotlight, and the beat that never stops. Part showbiz tell-all, part love letter to the melancholy that fuels creativity, told with perfect comic timing--along with a few wrong notes, and plenty of standing ovations.
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Buried Lies
by Kathleen Donnelly
When the man she loves is framed for murder, Maya Thompson and her K-9 will follow every trail to track the real killer down, in the fourth book in Kathleen Donnelly’s National Forest K-9 series. U.S. Forest Service law enforcement officer Maya Thompson and her K-9, Juniper, are both ready for a break. Ever since moving to Colorado, it’s been one investigation after another. Murder, arson, kidnapping…they’ve handled it all. Now that her boyfriend, Undersheriff Josh Colton, is coming home, Maya is looking forward to spending some quality time together. Until she and Juniper find the body of a woman in a pile of forest debris meant to burn, that is. Then Maya’s just looking forward to having Josh’s help in solving the crime. But when the victim turns out to be Josh’s volatile ex-fiancée, and all signs point to Josh as the main suspect, Maya and Juniper must dig into Josh’s past to uncover the truth…before the killer, fixated on revenge, finds them.
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Tell-Tale Treats
by Jennifer J. Chow
Is Felicity to blame when a hotel guest drowns after eating her enchanted cookies? Felicity Jin returns in the third installment of the Magical Fortune Cookie series. A group of high school alumnae reunite years later and reserve rooms at Pixie Inn for an extended retreat. As part of their pampering package, Felicity delivers a scrumptious assortment of enchanted pastries, including her new almond cookies. But the queen bee of the group is soon found dead in her bathroom, drowned in the tub, and she recently sampled the delicious baked goods. Could Felicity's almond cookies have set off a fatal nut allergy? The enchanted pastries are supposed to bring joy, not sorrow--and certainly not death. Boyfriend, Kelvin Love, is eager to assist, although odd things have been happening to his senses ever since he baked with Felicity. Will his extra sensitivity help or hinder the investigation? Plus, special bunny Whiskers lends a magical paw to the detecting since Felicity can't and won't relax until she restores both order and magic to her world.
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The Witching Hours
by Heather Graham
Good and bad, the past unreels in her mind's eye like a movie. That's why she's been summoned by Special Supervisory paranormal investigators Jackson and Angela Crowe, to help solve a mystifying murder and kidnapping on the outskirts of historic Salem. Alicia Bolton discovered her grandfather-in-law murdered, her nanny and her young son have both vanished without a trace, and her infant daughter was found terrified and crying in her playpen. Skye, partnered with Zachary Erickson, a charmer with a psychic touch, is at first beset only by visions of Salem's witch trials and the tragic, paranoia-fueled executions. Then she sets foot in the Bolton's house. What Skye sees is not another innocent from the 17th century swinging from a noose, but a bona fide crone, pointed hat and all, preying on the family like something from a nightmarish fairy tale. And when another local woman and her daughter inexplicably vanish, Skye has a second vision--that same witch creeping up on new victims on a lonely Salem road. It's impossible to believe. Yet Skye's visions never lie. As Skye and Zachary grow closer, they're lured into a mystery enveloping Salem like a fog. Navigating suspects, whispers of a cult, and a sinister history that threatens to reignite, with Zachary's help, only Skye can see the way to find the missing--but first, she may have to dance with the devil himself.
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Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die
by Greer Stothers
All his life, Sir Cameron has stayed as far away from danger as possible. He is quite frankly too handsome to die a pointless death in battle. But then the Church hands down a prophecy to his fellow knights: the only way to defeat their nemesis, the mad sorcerer Merulo, is to kill Sir Cameron. Short of ideas, Cameron throws himself on the mercy of the one person who now actually wants him to survive: the mad sorcerer. Merulo isn't thrilled to be babysitting a spoilt, attention-seeking knight, but transmogrifying him into a vulture is at least entertaining. Cameron, meanwhile, is on a voyage of self-discovery. It turns out he's really, really into surly sorcerers who lock him up and tell him what to do. Who knew? As a legion of knights surround their stronghold, the sorcerer's poisonous ambitions draw ever closer to fruition. Cameron is quite invested in not dying, but he finds he's also invested in Merulo. And sometimes, supporting the sorcerer you care about means taking an interest in their hobbies. Even if that hobby is trying to kill God. Even if it might get you killed, too. Fall in love with this laugh-out loud, genre-bending romp full of concussed elves and queer romance like you've never seen before.
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Hearts on the Fly
by Toni Shiloh
Jabari Hall has spent his life on the ice until an injury leaves him benched. When his teammates set him up on a blind date, he never expected to be sitting across from Val Elliott, his ex's sister. With Val's loyalty on the line and Jabari searching for a new purpose, can they make it to the goal together, or will their hearts wind up in the penalty box?
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The Lost Language of Oysters
by Alexander McCall Smith
The latest installment in Alexander McCall Smith's charming and hilarious Professor Dr Dr Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld series Professor Moritz-Maria von Igelfeld is not just any German professor--he is the author of the highly-regarded work of scholarship, Portuguese Irregular Verbs. His eminence in language studies is widely respected, albeit rarely acknowledged by his colleague, Professor Detlev-Amadeus Unterholzer, the writer of a far less important book on the subjunctive. Their rivalry bubbles under the surface, but is quick to come into the open if something unusual disturbs the calm waters of the institute in Regensburg where they both work. One such event is the arrival of two visiting scholars from New Orleans. These ladies, Professor Pom Pom Boisseau and her friend, Professor Alice Martinique, are experts in the Provençal language and avid bikers. When they choose to make a dramatic entrance atop large, noisy motorbikes, Unterholzer is shocked, but von Igelfeld is rather taken with Pom Pom. In fact, he is very taken with her. Everyone can foresee this infatuation leading to disappointment, if not worse. But for von Igelfeld, disasters often arrive in twos and threes. Von Igelfeld may suffer humiliation after humiliation, but at the end of it all is the promise of a visit to Louisiana, where important research on communication among oysters is underway...
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Last Night at the Disco
by Lisa Borders
I may have ended up more notorious than famous, but make no mistake: long before Aura Lockhart began commodifying her feminist rage ballads, I was the best-known person to come out of Keyhole, New Jersey. In 1977, twenty-six-year-old Lynda Boyle is desperate for fame and a way out of New Jersey. After failing to make her mark as an East Village poet and rubbing elbows with stars at Studio 54, she discovers a new path to glory through two local musicians, Johnny Engel and Aura Lockhart. Lynda believes she alone can transform them into rock ' n' roll legends. Fast forward four decades: Lynda is in hiding after a series of events force her to flee the tri-state area. When she sees Aura inducting Johnny into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Lynda's rage ignites. Determined to reclaim her narrative, she sets out to tell her story and secure her rightful place in music history. If she settles a few other scores along the way, that's just a bonus. Last Night at the Disco is a bold exploration of ambition, fame, and the often messy intersections of friendship and betrayal in the music world.
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The Better Mother: A Thriller
by Jennifer Van Der Kleut
Still recovering from a devastating breakup, 34-year-old Savannah Mitchell has finally managed to put her life back together when she gets the shock of her life--after a brief fling with a man named Max, she is pregnant. When she gets in touch to tell him, he reveals that he's just gotten back together with his ex, Madison, and he will need time to break it to her. Surprisingly, Madison isn't upset--in fact, she's excited, and wants to help. Max insists Madison has the best of intentions, but Savannah finds her efforts--popping by uninvited, demanding lifestyle changes, and pretty much trying to take over the pregnancy--anything but helpful. When Savannah finally stands up for herself, Madison's treatment of her goes from casually cruel to downright dangerous. All Savannah wanted to do was form a friendly co-parenting relationship with the father of her child--but his new girlfriend obviously has much more sinister plans in mind. She has no plans to co-parent at all.
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Plainfield Area Public Library
15025 S. Illinois St.
Plainfield, Illinois 60544
815.436.6639papl.info |
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