Open to all ages.
Registration required.
Enjoy hot beverage with a cool, personalized, famous-dog cartoon character mug, you get to color.
All supplies provided, while they last.
Children 9 and younger
must be accompanied by an adult.
Open to children & teens, aged 10 and older. Registration required. Stop by with your friends for a fun afternoon at the library for pizza and a variety of exciting board games. All programs are subject to change or cancellations.
Open to children and teens,10 and older. Stop by with your friends for a fun afternoon of board games and puzzles. All programs are subject to change or cancellations.
Open to adults. Registration required. Indulge your imagination and flex your writing muscles! Bring your own writing supplies--laptop, journal, etc--and join us for afternoon coffee and quality company. Whether you write poetry, fiction, non-fiction, memoir, or if you've never written before, this is the meet-up where you'll find the encouragement and inspiration to keep you going or get you started. Sponsored by the Atlantic County Library Foundation. All programs subject to change or cancellation.
Open to all ages. Registration required. Join us for a family craft day. Share your family's creativity with other participants and take home your art pieces. All materials provided. All programs are subject to change or cancellation.
April 13- SPRING WREATH
Author: Swift, Earl, 1958- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: 364.1523
Format: Books
Summary: On a Sunday morning in the spring of 1921, a small boy made a grim discovery as he played on a riverbank in the cotton country of rural Georgia: the bodies of two drowned men, bound together with wire and chain and weighted with a hundred-pound sack of rocks. Within days a third body turned up in another nearby river, and in the weeks that followed, eight others. And with them a deeper horror: all eleven had been kept in virtual slavery before their deaths. In fact, as America was shocked to learn, the dead were among thousands of Black men enslaved throughout the South in conditions nearly as dire as those before the Civil War. Hell Put to Shame tells the forgotten story of that mass killing and of the revelations about peonage, or debt slavery, that it placed before a public self-satisfied that involuntary servitude had ended at Appomattox more than fifty years before. By turns police procedural, courtroom drama, and political exposé, Hell Put to Shame also reintroduces readers to three Americans who spearheaded the prosecution of John S. Williams, the wealthy plantation owner behind the murders, at a time when white people rarely faced punishment for violence against their Black neighbors.
Author: Nee, John Shen Yen, author. Rozan, S. J., author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F NEE
Format: Books
Summary: In 1924 London, when shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, these unlikely allies investigate the murders of Chinese immigrants, all stabbed to death with a butterfly sword and must connect the dots to catch a killer before they become victims themselves. "London, 1924. When shy academic Lao She meets larger-than-life Judge Dee Ren Jie, his quiet life abruptly turns from books and lectures to daring chases and narrow escapes. Dee has come to London to investigate the murder of a man he?d known during World War I when serving with the Chinese Labour Corps. No sooner has Dee interviewed the grieving widow than another dead body turns up. Then another. All stabbed to death with a butterfly sword. Will Dee and Lao be able to connect the threads of the murders?or are they next in line as victims?..." --Amazon.com
Author: Breyer, Stephen G., 1938- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: 342.7302
Format: Books
Summary: An analysis by recently retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer that deconstructs the textualist philosophy of the current Supreme Court's supermajority and makes the case for a better way to interpret the Constitution.
Author: Klinenberg, Eric, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: 306
Format: Books
Summary: "Crisis has a way of laying bare our truest selves: who we trust, which principles and impulses we heed, whose lives we deem expendable. As it ravaged millions of lives, the Covid-19 pandemic revealed and accentuated the dividing lines that had already, for decades, splintered American public life. Against the backdrop of the 2020 presidential election, misinformation regimes, and the transformation of the facemask into a flagrant political symbol, acclaimed sociologist Eric Klinenberg takes careful inventory of how the U.S. and other nations handled the extraordinary challenges of that seminal year. Any autopsy searches for causes, and in this book, Klinenberg uses seven people's piercingly vivid reflections to examine how communities across the globe reckoned with the profound tragedy and loss of 2020--and how they built networks of solidarity in an attempt to survive. We move from the gross negligence in Canadian for-profit nursing homes, to England's gradualist approach to instating robust Covid safety protocols, to early policy innovations in Australia, South Korea, and Taiwan, which dramatically curtailed the virus' spread. According to Klinenberg, our capacity to bear witness to the rampant failures and successful models of resilience of 2020 will help shape our responses to the escalating climate emergency, the ongoing fight for racial justice, and widening global economic disparities. This book is both mirror and roadmap--a reflection of the social divisions that plague our world and a set of principles for how we might approach the next global catastrophe differently"--
Author: Enger, Leif, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F ENGER
Format: Books
Summary: "Set in a not-too-distant America, I Cheerfully Refuse is the tale of a bereaved and pursued musician embarking under sail on a sentient Lake Superior in search of his departed, deeply beloved, bookselling wife. Rainy, an endearing bear of an Orphean narrator, seeks refuge in the harbors, fogs, and remote islands of the inland sea. Encountering lunatic storms and rising corpses from the warming depths, Rainy finds on land an increasingly desperate and illiterate people, a malignant billionaire ruling class, crumbled infrastructure, and a lawless society. Amid the Gulliver-like challenges of life at sea and no safe landings, Rainy is lifted by physical beauty, surprising humor, generous strangers, and an unexpected companion in a young girl who comes aboard. And as his innate guileless nature begins to make an inadvertent rebel of him, Rainy's private quest for the love of his life grows into something wider and wilder, sweeping up friends and foes alike in his strengthening wake. I Cheerfully Refuse epitomizes the "musical, sometimes magical and deeply satisfying kind of storytelling" (Los Angeles Times) for which Leif Enger is cherished. A rollicking narrative in the most evocative of settings, this latest novel is a symphony against despair and a rallying cry for the future"--
Author: Jones, Stephen Graham, 1972- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F JONES
Format: Books
Summary: It's been four years in prison since Jade Daniels last saw her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the day she took the fall, protecting her friend Letha and her family from incrimination. Since then, her reputation, and the town, have changed dramatically. There's a lot of unfinished business in Proofrock, from serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity. But there's one aspect of Proofrock no one wants to confront... until Jade comes back to town. The curse of the Lake Witch is waiting, and now is the time for the final stand. --
Author: Gold, Gracie, 1995- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: B GOLD
Format: Books
Summary: "In this explosive tell-all memoir, an Olympic figure skater reveals her battle to survive mental illness, eating disorders, and the self-destructive voice inside that she calls "outofshapeworthlessloser." When Gracie Gold stepped onto center stage (or ice, rather) as America's sweetheart at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, she instantly became the face of America's most beloved winter sport.... But little did the public know what Gold was facing when the cameras were off. In 2017, she entered treatment for what was publicly announced as an eating disorder and anxiety treatment but was, in reality, suicidal ideation. While Gold's public star was rising, her private life was falling apart: Cracks within her family were widening, her bulimia was getting worse, and she became a survivor of sexual assault...Told with unflinching honesty and stirring defiance, Outofshapeworthlessloser is not only a forceful reckoning from a world-class athlete but also an intimate account of surviving as a young woman in a society that rewards appearances more than anything and demands perfection at all costs"--
Author: Birbiglia, Mike, writer of foreword. Moth (Organization), editor.
Published: 2024
Call Number: 808.882
Format: Books
Summary: "From storytelling phenomenon and hit podcast The Moth, featuring contributions from Elizabeth Gilbert, Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Lin-Manuel Miranda alongside tales of an international rescue mission for Paddington Bear, a family matriarch running numbers in Detroit, an epic Lucha libre showdown in Mexico City, and more. An inspiring and entertaining collection of unforgettable true stories about finding unexpected beauty in life's transitions. Carefully selected by the creative minds at The Moth and adapted to the page to preserve the raw energy of stories told live, onstage and without notes, readers of The Moth Presents: A Point of Beauty will encounter moments that cut and moments that heal. If we look closely enough, we can find real beauty in moments when our lives change forever-for better or for worse"--
Author: Reich, Christopher, 1961- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F REICH
Format: Books
Summary: "Robbie Steinhardt lives a peaceful life. A fixture of his small alpine village, he tends cattle, minds his own business, and doesn't dwell on his former life and the family and lover he left behind--back when he was Mac Dekker, CIA. But when he learns his son Will died following in his footsteps, he needs answers. What mission took Will up into the alpine heights, and why is Ilya Ivashka on the same trail? Ilya--his close friend, his rival in love. Ilya, who framed Mac for treason and sent him into hiding. Wiping away the years, Mac returns to the field to find the secrets Will hid and finds himself facing the Herculean task of stopping a terrorist plot that threatens thousands. But in a field of double agents, who can he trust?"--
Author: Piazza, Jo, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F PIAZZA
Format: Books
Summary: "Sara Marsala barely knows who she is anymore after the failure of her business and marriage. On top of that, her beloved great-aunt Rosie passes away, leaving Sara bereft with grief. But Aunt Rosie's death also opens an escape from her life and a window into the past by way of a plane ticket to Sicily, a deed to a possibly valuable plot of land, and a bombshell family secret. Rosie believes Sara's great-grandmother Serafina, the family matriarch who was left behind while her husband worked in America, didn't die of illness as family lore has it . . . she was murdered. Thus begins a twist-filled adventure that takes Sara all over the picturesque Italian countryside as she races to solve a mystery and prove her birthright..."--
Author: McFadden, Freida, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F MCFADDEN
Format: Books
Summary: "A night spent sleeping on dirt and leaves is not how Claire Matchett expected to spend her vacation. She thought this would be a break from the stresses of work and raising her young children. A chance to repair her damaged marriage. A week of hiking and hot tubs with friends. It sounded like heaven. Then Claire's minivan breaks down on a lonely dirt road. With no cell reception, the group has no choice but to hike the rest of the way to their hotel. But it turns out the woods aren't as easy to navigate as they thought. Hours later, they are lost. Hopelessly lost. And as they navigate deeper into the woods, the members of their party are struck down mysteriously one by one. Has a wild animal been hunting them? Or is the hunter one of them? But as more time passes, one thing becomes clear: only one of them will return home alive"--
Author: Kim, Crystal Hana, 1987- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F KIM
Format: Books
Summary: "A hauntingly poetic family drama and coming-of-age story that reveals a dark corner of South Korean history through the eyes of a small community living in a reformatory center--a stunning work of great emotional power from the critically acclaimed author of If You Leave Me"-- "In 2011, Eunju Oh opens her door to greet a stranger: a young Korean American woman holding a familiar-looking knife?a knife Eunju hasn?t seen in thirty years, and that connects her to a place she?d desperately hoped to leave behind forever. In South Korea in the 1980s, young Eunju and her mother are homeless on the street. After being captured by the police, they?re sent to live within the walls of a state-sanctioned reformatory center that claims to rehabilitate the nation?s citizens but hides a darker, more violent reality. While Eunju and her mother form a tight-knit community with the other women in the kitchen, two teenage brothers, Sangchul and Youngchul, are compelled to labor in the workshops and make increasingly desperate decisions?and all are forced down a path of survival, the repercussions of which will echo for decades to come..." --Amazon.com
Author: Donati, Sara, 1956- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F DONATI
Format: Books
Summary: "In 1857 a young midwife braves the perilous journey west from New York City to Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory in this captivating epic from Sara Donati, the international bestselling author of Where the Light Enters. Carrie Ballentyne's life was upended in 1845 when she had to leave the only home she'd ever known in the mountains of upstate New York. With her are her widowed mother and younger brother Nathan, but the separation from Bonner, Ballentyne, and Savard relatives weighs heavily. In time Carrie finds footing as a midwife and nurse, but she never feels at ease in the city. So when, a decade later, she receives an invitation from a doctor in Santa Fe to join him at his practice, she readily accepts. The trip across the country is long and often dangerous, but she travels the last leg on horseback with men who have been hired to see her safely through the Native nations fighting the westward flood of colonizers. On that journey she makes friends who will be with her for all her life: Eva, a young widow; and Eli, an experienced surveyor. Once Carrie is established in Santa Fe, it becomes clear that her employer is not everything she was led to believe, and she is forced to face far more challenges and responsibilities than she anticipated..."--
Author: Winslow, Don, 1953- author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: LP F WINSLOW
Format: Large print
Summary: Sometimes you have to become what you hate to protect what you love. Danny Ryan is rich. Beyond his wildest dreams rich. The former dock worker, Irish mob soldier and fugitive from the law is now a respected businessman-- a Las Vegas casino mogul and billionaire silent partner in a group that owns two lavish hotels. Finally, Danny has it all: a beautiful house, a child he adores, a woman he might even fall in love with. Life is good. But then Danny reaches too far. When he tries to buy an old hotel on a prime piece of real estate with plans to build his dream resort, he triggers a war against Las Vegas power brokers, a powerful FBI agent bent on revenge and a rival casino owner with dark connections of his own. Danny thought he had buried his past, but now it reaches up to him from the grave to pull him down.
Author: Peikoff, Kira, author.
Published: 2024
Call Number: F PEIKOFF
Format: Books
Summary: "In a world where any biological matter can be used to create life, stolen celebrity DNA sells to the highest bidder--or the craziest stalker"-- "In the near-future United States, where advanced technology can create egg or sperm from any person?s cells, celebrities face the alarming potential of meeting biological children they never conceived. Famous singer Trace Thorne is tired of being targeted by the Vault, a black market site devoted to stealing DNA. Sick of paying ransom money for his own cell matter, he hires bio-security guard Ember Ryan to ensure his biological safety..." --Amazon.com
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