June 2026 Great Reads Ocean County Library banner featuring a rainbow and a photo of a women reading on a bus

June's Recommended Reads

All books mentioned in this edition of the Great Reads Newsletter are available in the Ocean County Library's Libby by OverDrive Collection and/or in our catalog
 
On mobile devices you can download the Libby App from the device's app store to browse the OverDrive Collection.
 
For help and support visit the library's help page and click on the Libby by OverDrive tab.

Adult Fiction
With Stars in Her Eyes
by Andie Burke
Book cover for With Stars in her Eyes by Andie Burke
Seconds from a meteoric career launch, cellist Courtney Starling suffers a frightening migraine attack during a key performance. While harmful rumors fly, she escapes to her happy place—her best friend's Kansas bookshop. Courtney's working incognito when a scream sends her leaping off a shelving ladder to find the woman who screamed cowering near the register. When Thea Quinn dropped in for a misdelivered package, she did not expect a mortifying encounter with a bearded dragon in front of an inconveniently attractive bookseller. Clutching an upcoming book club flyer and the tattered shreds of her dignity, she heads back to her new piercing job at the tattoo shop next door. She moved to this quirky place for a fresh start. But maybe the meet-disaster was a sign? Maybe Thea needs to branch out beyond her photography hobby and connect with new people...like at a historical romance book club run by a particularly mysterious and sexy bookseller with a pixie cut? 

The (Most Unusual) Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy
by Roan Parrish
Book cover for The Most Unusual Haunting of Edgar Lovejoy
Jamie Wendon-Dale creates haunted houses for a living. Haunting is their life—but nobody working New Orleans' spooky circuit actually believes in ghosts. Edgar Lovejoy is 100% haunted. No, really. Ghosts have tormented him since childhood and he's organized his life around attempts to avoid them. Opposites? Get ready to attract. But while Jamie's biggest concern is that Edgar sometimes seems a bit distracted, Edgar's fears are much greater. Not only is he scared of encountering the dearly departed whenever he leaves the house, but he's terrified of making himself vulnerable to Jamie. After all, how do you tell someone who believes ghosts only exist as smoke and mirrors that you see them everywhere you go? And how can you trust in a happy future when you can't even believe in yourself?
Young Adult Fiction
Devils Like Us 
by L.T. Thompson
Book cover for Devils Like Us
Remy wants to rescue her father.
Cas wants to finally be himself.
Finn wants to get the girl.
Nineteenth-century Massachusetts high society isn't kind to anyone who doesn't conform to its norms. For years, Remy, Cas, and Finn have done their best to blend in. But when they find themselves targeted by an evil magical society, they'll have to find the strength to stand out. When a prophetic vision sets the three of them on a collision course, they embark on a journey that will take them aboard a ship of queer smugglers, into the path of a demon, and inside a sinister stronghold of dark magic. Together, they'll confront hidden secrets and face deadly odds-and, hopefully, find out who they truly are.

Marisol Acts the Part
by Elle Gonzalez Rose
Book cover for Marisol Acts the Part
Actress Marisol Polly-Rodriguez might be entering her flop era. After wrapping up a hit show, she’s neither booked nor busy. Not to mention, her former costar turned boyfriend, Miles, recently dumped her for being an “unserious” performer. Can you imagine? To prove to Miles—and online trolls—that she takes her craft very seriously, Marisol lands a role on the same upcoming drama series he does. But with the eccentric director constantly rewriting her lines and a snobby castmate trying to upstage her, Marisol quickly realizes that her hope of nabbing an award nomination might be a pipe dream. The only person she doesn’t have to put on a performance for is the show’s leading lady, Jamila. Marisol hasn’t been able to look away from her since their first audition. Falling for Jamila wasn’t part of Marisol’s plan, but even the most dedicated actors go off script sometimes, right?
Middle Grade Fiction
13 Ways to Say Goodbye
by Kate Fussner
Nina always followed her older sister, Lily. But just before her thirteenth birthday, Lily died, leaving Nina behind forever. In the three years since she lost her sister, Nina has completed Lily's secret Before Birthday lists to continue in her footsteps. But now Nina is catching up. When Nina flies to Paris, France, and completes tasks that Lily never finished, Nina finds herself magically transported inside of her own memories, face-to-face with the ghosts of her past. With her birthday looming and the last list running out, Nina is torn between visiting her sister in her memories and adventuring in the present, including crushing hard on her art classmate, Sylvie. Should she follow Lily's instructions or try something new? And what happens when she finishes the list?

Ice Apprentices
by Jacob North
Set in Tundra, a deserted world of frost and snow, Oswin Fields has always felt like an outsider, having been rescued from the outer expanses. So when he is sent to a school for ice apprentices, he sets out to prove his worth.
Soon he begins to learn a special kind of ice magic and finds that it isn't all as it seems in this enchanted place. Then the beasts begin to strike, and he and his best friend, Ennastasia, have to risk everything they hold dear to protect the settlement. Will they succeed? Or will the world close in against them?
Picture Books
My Dad is the Best
by Fran Pintadera
Two boys try to one-up each other about their strong dads. One says his dad can pick up a truck filled with elephants, which makes the other boy claim his dad can do the same, but with pregnant elephants! Eventually the boys realize something even more special about their dads.

Papa's Coming Home
by Chasten Buttigieg
Jojo and Rosie's papa has been away on a trip, and they can't wait to welcome him home! They make signs, they pick flowers, and with Daddy's help, they bake a cake and pack the car with absolutely everything Papa might have missed while he was away. When Papa's plane arrives, they give him a huge hug—but when they bring him to the car, they realize there's one small problem: Where will Papa sit?

Check This Out

July Online Author Talks: The High Protein Plate, The Secrets We Hide, Migrant Heart
Ocean County Library showcases a virtual author talk series each month featuring bestselling, award-winning, and highly acclaimed authors from around the world. The featured writers and thought leaders will cover a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. This free, virtual series takes place a few times a month and includes the opportunity to ask questions to the author. A complete list of events is available on our virtual author talk series website. Miss a talk you were looking forward to? No problem! Past recordings are available to watch.
Register for Upcoming Author Talks on our Website

One Book OCL
The Marlow Murder Club
by Robert Thorogood
Reading Period: May 22 - July 24
Book cover of The Marlow Murder Club on an iPad
Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper. One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar. Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club. When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape…

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