In the book stacks: Atlantic County Library News

The Atlantic County Library System/Hammonton is located at 451 South Egg Harbor Road and may be reached by calling (609) 561-2264. Many library services are available 24/7 at www.atlanticlibrary.org.

The library will host in-person storytimes and other events. The library is committed to providing a safe environment. In-person events will follow government recommendations for health and safety and have been redesigned to create a sanitary environment that allows for physical distancing. Face masks for anyone over the age of 2 will still be required for any indoor activities until further notice.

To view our calendar of events, visit atlanticlibrary.evanced.info. Registration required for all programs.

The library will be closed on Tuesday, November 2 for Election Day, Thursday, November 11 for Veterans Day and Thursday, November 25 for Thanksgiving.

Toddler Storytime and Craft will be held on Tuesday, November 9, 16, 23 and 30 at 10:30 a.m. Open to ages 2.5-5. Registration required for each session. Space is limited to 10. The latest books and some old favorites will help introduce new vocabulary and reinforce learning. Children and their caregivers will enjoy stories, songs, crafts, games and movement while building language and literacy skills. Materials are provided. Face masks are required regardless of vaccination status (for those 2 and older) for all indoor programs.

Recommended Reading: Upcoming titles that will be circulating in our collection soon:

Wish You Were Here

A Novel by Jodi Picoult

Diana O’Toole is perfectly on track. She will be married by 30, done having kids by 35 and move out to the New York City suburbs, all while climbing the professional ladder in the cutthroat art auction world. She’s an associate specialist at Sotheby’s now, but her boss has hinted at a promotion if she can close a deal with a high-profile client. She’s not engaged just yet, but she knows her boyfriend, Finn, a surgical resident, is about to propose on their romantic getaway to the Galápagos—days before her 30th birthday. Right on time.

But then a virus that felt worlds away has appeared in the city, and on the eve of their departure, Finn breaks the news: It’s all hands on deck at the hospital. He has to stay behind. You should still go, he assures her, since it would be a shame for all of their nonrefundable trip to go to waste. And so, reluctantly, she goes.

Almost immediately, Diana’s dream vacation goes awry. Her luggage is lost, the Wi-Fi is nearly nonexistent, and the hotel they’d booked is shut down due to the pandemic. In fact, the whole island is now under quarantine, and she is stranded until the borders reopen. Completely isolated, she must venture beyond her comfort zone. Slowly, she carves out a connection with a local family when a teenager with a secret opens up to Diana, despite her father’s suspicion of outsiders.

In the Galápagos Islands, where Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was formed, Diana finds herself examining her relationships, her choices, and herself—and wondering if when she goes home, she too will have evolved into someone completely different.

Never

A Novel by Ken Follett

“Every catastrophe begins with a little problem that doesn’t get fixed.” So says Pauline Green, president of the United States, in Follett’s nerve-racking drama of international tension.

A shrinking oasis in the Sahara Desert; a stolen U.S. Army drone; an uninhabited Japanese island; and one country’s secret stash of deadly chemical poisons: all these play roles in a relentlessly escalating crisis.

Struggling to prevent the outbreak of world war are a young woman intelligence officer, a spy working undercover with jihadists, a brilliant Chinese spymaster and Pauline herself, beleaguered by a populist rival for the next president election.