It’s that time of year again – time to get your beach read on.  We love this time of year and not just because of the weather.  Now’s the time to read all your guilty pleasure books without the guilt!  Just read them in the summer and voila, totally acceptable.  Of course, if you are well adjusted enough to read what you want, when you want then try these fantastic beach reads now or whenever – they are part of OPLs “Always Available” content.

In eBook try a new twist on the cold war spy novel, Who is Vera Kelly? follows a young denizen of the happening 1962 Greenwich Village scene as she is recruited by the CIA to infiltrate a group of student activists in Buenos Aires.

In eAudio this summer stick with the cold war theme and try When We Left Cuba by Chanel Cleeton.  In 1960's Florida, a young Cuban exile will risk her life-and heart-to take back her country in this exhilarating historical novel from the author of Next Year in Havana. Three words. Beautiful. Daring. Deadly.

Our French eBook suggestion this month is Haute saison by Adèle Bréau. Strangers meet and form friendships at a club in French Basque Country. Embark on a dream trip with your new friends Germain, Chantal, Matthias, and Fanny.

And in audiobook we recommend Trois by Valérie Perrin, read by Tess Lauvergne. Virginie, a journalist, returns home to cover an event and discovers secrets about three childhood friends. Valérie Perrin has won numerous prizes, including le Prix Maison de la Presse.

Suggestions and Resources for a successful online Book Club  

In order to have your Book Club take place online you can try creating Facebook groups, or using various social media channels to discuss books.  Or you could try meeting live via online video conferencing tools. The following tools are free: 

• Google Hangouts provides free video/chat/voice conferencing and does not have a time limit 
• Jitsi is a free open source video conferencing tool 
• In French, there is a platform built by Les librairesthat allows book clubs to meet online! You can request to create your own club, or there are groups that are already running that you can join. All book clubs, including the current book club picks and comments, are visible to anyone accessing the site
• Le Regroupement des éditeurs franco-canadiens is offering a monthly book club called D’un océan à l’autre – hereis more information (in French only), and the books available at OPL!

Finding eBooks and eAudiobooks for your Book Club 

• Always Available eAudio from OverDrive – many great Book Club reads in this list 
• Books with 100 simultaneous checkouts  -- this new format offered by publishers to libraries lets your whole book club borrow a book at once!
• Special Collection of Always Available eBooks and eAudio from Overdrive– a quality collection available until the end of 2021
• Always Available ebook Classics from Duke Publishing 
• OPL streaming eBook and eAudio collections 
• Some French publishers OPL purchases from through Cantook Stationoffer many loans of the same title at once.  You can search the Cantook platform for these publishers and make your choice.  Participating publishers include Gallimard, Actes Sud, Rivages, POL, Flammarion, and Payot.
• Radio-Canada offers free “Always Available” French eAudio - stream from the ICI Première website or download the Radio-Canada OHdio app.
• D'un océan à l'autre | club de lecture 2021

Contact OPLs InfoService 613-580-2940 if you need help accessing these titles and resources 

Hosting and Discussions 

If you would like discussion questions for your book, here is a list of 40 Great Book Club Discussion Questions from Book Riot.  They work for any book. 

Here are some great tips about how to host an online book club from Bustle Magazine: 10 Tips For Hosting A Digital Book Club 

Enjoy your Book Club – online or off!