Renting Audiobooks From Library Novels & Stories

ISLA'S POV Wednesday. 9:47 AM. The second floor of the Astoria Public Library smells like industrial lemon disinfectant fighting a losing war against the scent of decaying paperbacks. I find a computer bank near the back, tucked away from the children's section where a toddler is currently screaming. I plug in my headphones—cheap, wired earbuds I bought at the bodega for $3.99 because my wireless ones died and I can't afford the electricity to charge them, let alone a replacement.

She leaned closer, scanning the options. Most of them were small community libraries — the kind with limited collections and more children’s books than anything remotely academic. Probably not the kind of place that would carry records about ancient words or forgotten dialects. Her finger moved across the screen as she scrolled down the list. “Hmm…” Then, one name caught her attention. >The Aurelion Grand Archive — < Her thumb hovered over the screen for a moment before she tapped the listing. The information page expanded immediately. Pictures loaded first. Her eyes widened slightly.

Rachel asked and closed the locker door shut quickly before any book decided that it did not want to squeeze in with the others. Audrey curled a strand on her finger before she pulled herself away from the wall and walked alongside her best friend who was a business administration student in the same university as her. “I went to the Book Café to pick up some books and enjoy a mug of my favorite Black Beauty," Audrey replied. "Wow, that’s amazing ! But I missed it," Rachel pouted. "It wasn't all that amazing !" Audrey muttered under her breath and Rachel clearly heard it. "Why, what happened ?" Rachel asked intrigued.

Under the September sun, in front of Anna’s house, with him leaning casually on his bike, looking like a bad boy straight out of a teen romance movie. But I didn’t want to be insincere about how I felt. “I don’t want anyone else,” I said, my voice husky, holding eye contact with his intense gaze. *** “And keep these books here,” I pointed out to Caleb, who followed me to the back room of the library with stacks of books in his arms. It smelled like old books, worn out pages with a hint of musk. Since it was Saturday, people were huddled in the corners, queuing up at the reception to borrow books and running their hands through the cracked spines of various books.

No more rushing I hope! **You must remove the book from your library and re-add it to see the changes of which there are many! If you added this book before 12/16/21 you'll need to delete it and re-add. You will NOT lose the chapters you paid for. Thank you for understanding and please enjoy!** ~Saree Bee

“You looked, I don’t know, peaceful.” “Honestly, this book is terrible,” Audrey said, holding up some thriller that I vaguely recognized. “I don’t know why the hell Annabelle has it on her shelf, but I fear for any of the recommendations she’s been giving out at the bookstore.” I suddenly realized where I recognized the book from. “Oh, that’s the one that all the book clubs were reading a while back,” I said. “She probably only got it because of that.” “Oh, that makes more sense,” Audrey said. There was an awkward silence. “So, are you going to sit down or what?”