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Polk County Public Libraries have added an exciting new digital resource – Hoopla! Download the Hoopla app on your smart device and create an account with your PCPL card to read, listen, and watch more than 950,000 e-book, e-audiobook, comic, movie, music, and television titles. You can check out up to four titles per month, with no wait! Here are some of my favorite books that are available on the app (but don’t forget to search for movies, music, and TV shows as well!).

 

Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris

I just finished listening to this witty autobiographical book of essays, and really enjoyed it. The author’s move to Paris from New York inspired many of these hilarious pieces, including the title essay, about his attempts to learn French. 

 

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy 

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean (dubbed Dumplin’ by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. When Will gets a job at the local fast-food joint she meets Bo, and is surprised when he seems to like her back. Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does. 

 

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini 

A breathtaking story set against the volatile events of Afghanistan in the late twentieth century – from the Soviet invasion to the reign of the Taliban to post-Taliban rebuilding – that puts the violence, fear, hope, and faith of this country in intimate, human terms. It is a tale of two generations of characters brought jarringly together by the tragic sweep of war, where personal lives are inextricable from the history playing out around them.

 

Home Body by Rupi Kaur 

In this collection of poetry, the author walks readers through a reflective and intimate journey visiting the past, the present, and the potential of the self. It is a collection of raw, honest conversations with oneself – reminding readers to fill up on love, acceptance, community, family, and embrace change. 

 

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin 

This is another book I really enjoyed the audio version of! After her true crime podcast became an overnight sensation, Rachel Krall is now a household name. Under pressure to make the next season a success, Rachel heads to the small town of Neapolis, which is being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. Meanwhile, someone is following Rachel and leaving her mysterious letters about a girl who died in the same town 25 years ago. Officially, Jenny Stills tragically drowned, but the letters insists she was murdered―and when Rachel starts asking questions, nobody seems to want to answer. The past and present start to collide as Rachel uncovers startling connections between the two cases that will change the course of the trial and the lives of everyone involved.

 

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett 

I would highly recommend this young adult novel for anyone who enjoyed the recent Showtime television series Yellowjackets! In Garner County, girls are told that their skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth. That’s why they’re banished for their grace year when they turn 16, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive. Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

 

Jen Pace Dickenson is the youth services librarian for Polk County Public Libraries. For information about the library’s resources, programs, and other services, visit polklibrary.org or call 828-894-8721.