So we all know by now that Overdrive is a great place to find something to read, even while the library is closed. And we also know that our librarians are available to help you learn to access these materials, even though you can’t visit us in person. But did you know Overdrive contains a few other features that can help you to better connect to your next read? Read on:

BPLs Lucky Day Collection: Recently, individual consortia in Massachusetts have opened up their Overdrive collections to pretty much any library card holder in Massachusetts. This means, with just your Chelmsford card, you can connect to any of eight different Overdrive collections to find the book you want, including that of the Boston Public Library. BPL features a collection called Lucky Day, where you can have access to available,  in-demand titles right away, for 14 days on a first-come-first-serve-basis, similar to the physical Fast Tracks you know so well when our library is open.

Deliver Later: This is great if the next book you have been waiting so long to read becomes available but you have already reached your checkout limit, or, you are simply not ready to access your book. Now you can log in to your account and click “Deliver Later”. Doing this will preserve your place in a hold queue (select up to 180 days in the future), but will pass the current copy along to the next person in the queue. Seems like the best of both worlds for you and the next person waiting!

Coming Soon!: Did you know that you have the option to place yourself in a queue for titles that aren’t even in Overdrive yet? You can see some of the titles that will likely be in high-demand, and will soon be added to the collection. The latest from James Patterson, John Sandford, John Grisham are in there, but so is the highly anticipated novel The Prettiest Star, by Carter Sickels. Here’s Entertainment Weekly’s take on this one.

What’s currently being checked out: Want to check out what your neighbors are reading? See what’s popular by scrolling to the bottom of whatever page you are viewing and clicking Check Out What’s Being Checked Out Right Now. View a real time scroll of specific items being checked out in real time, as well as a count of how many borrows per day, per month, and per year. Then borrow or put yourself on hold for something that looks good. When we’re all back together, maybe you and your neighbor will have common books to talk about!

Author Interviews: Did you know that Overdrive contains a whole collection of recorded interviews with some of your favorite authors? Professional Book Nerds is a podcast by some of the people that work for Overdrive, selecting and negotiating titles for lending. This collection accessible through Overdrive, includes interviews with authors such as Lee Child, Tana French, Kwame Alexander, Dav Pilkey, Colson Whitehead, James Patterson, and much more. Browse by selecting Collections – Featured Collections – Author Interviews.

So we’re ten days into April, and since we’ve been sheltering in place, there’s no doubt you’re looking for something new to read/ watch/ listen to now.  Both Hoopla and Overdrive have made your #quarantinelife easier with Bonus Borrows and Always Available Titles! Check out some of the highlights of these collections below.

Books, audio books, music, comics and TV:

Harry Potter has never even heard of Hogwarts when the letters start dropping on the doormat at number four, Privet Drive. Addressed in green ink on yellowish parchment with a purple seal, they are swiftly confiscated by his grisly aunt and uncle. Then, on Harry’s eleventh birthday, a great beetle-eyed giant of a man called Rubeus Hagrid bursts in with some astonishing news: Harry Potter is a wizard, and he has a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An incredible adventure is about to begin!

In 1959 Florence Green, a kindhearted widow with a small inheritance, risks everything to open a bookshop – the only bookshop – in the seaside town of Hardborough. By making a success of a business so impractical, she invites the hostility of the town’s less prosperous shopkeepers. By daring to enlarge her neighbors’ lives, she crosses Mrs. Gamart, the local arts doyenne. Florence’s warehouse leaks, her cellar seeps, and the shop is apparently haunted. Only too late does she begin to suspect the truth: a town that lacks a bookshop isn’t always a town that wants one.

This unique and hilarious #OwnVoices memoir breaks down what it’s like to live with autism for readers on and off the spectrum. Candid scenes from McCreary’s life are broken up with funny visuals and factual asides. Funny, You Don’t Look Autistic is an invaluable and compelling read for young readers with ASD looking for voices to relate to, as well as for readers hoping to broaden their understanding of ASD.

An essential, must-read for all parents-now more than ever! A kinder, more compassionate world starts with kind and compassionate kids. In Raising Good Humans, you’ll find powerful and practical strategies to break free from “reactive parenting” habits and raise kind, cooperative, and confident kids.

There’s a serial killer on the loose, bent on working his way through the alphabet. There seems little chance of the murderer being caught — until her makes the crucial and vain mistake of challenging Hercule Poirot to frustrate his plans …

No one is good enough for her son…As a single mother, Annie has an especially close relationship with her son, Ben. They have always been together. Just the two of them. So, when Ben brings home his mysterious beautiful new wife, Daisy, immediately Annie doesn’t trust her. Who is this woman who has taken her son away from her? And what is she hiding? A gripping, psychological page-turner, perfect for fans of Sally Hepworth’s The Mother In Law, Lisa Jewell and K.L. Slater.

Audiobook: Stella Lane thinks math is the only thing that unites the universe. She comes up with algorithms to predict customer purchases-a job that has given her more money than she knows what to do with as well as way less experience in the dating department than the average thirty-year-old. It doesn’t help that she has Asperger’s and that French kissing reminds her of a shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish. She decides that she needs lots of practice-with a professional-which is why she hires escort Michael Phan. This book was featured in our ___ Friday Fiction

In a windswept British seaside town, single mum Alice Lake finds a man sitting on the beach outside her house. He has no name and no idea how he got there. Against her better judgment, she invites him inside. Meanwhile, in a suburb of London, twenty-one-year-old Lily Monrose has only been married for three weeks. When her husband fails to come home from work one night, she is left alone in a place where she knows no one and with the police telling her that her husband never existed. In this suspenseful drama, both women must sort through the secrets surrounding men neither of them knows if they can trust.

From New York Times bestselling writer BRIAN K.VAUGHAN (Y: THE LAST MAN, EX MACHINA) and critically acclaimed artist FIONA STAPLES (MYSTERY SOCIETY, NORTH 40), SAGA is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in a sexy, subversive drama for adults.

Damn is the critically acclaimed fourth album by award winning hip hop artist Kendrick Lamar, featuring artists: Bekon, Anthony (Top Dawg) Tiffith, Mike Will Made-It, Sounwave, DJ Dahi, James Blake, Ricci Riera, Rihanna, Steve Lacy, BadBadNotGood, Zacari, Teddy Walton, Greg Kurstin, U2, The Alchemist, 9th Wonder

Lone-wolf detective Angie Tribeca and a squad of committed LAPD detectives investigate the most serious cases. Starring Rashida Jones, written and directed by Steve Carell and Nancy Carell.

What’s keeping you sane these days? Have you been trying to distract yourself by really diving into that hobby that used to sit patiently for the one hour a week you had time? Maybe your picking up a guitar again, or fishing, or dusting off the DSLR with all the lenses you had to buy. Or maybe, as I mentioned in the last post, you’re picking up running or biking again, maybe even thinking about training for a big race. If #quarantinelife is any indication, you’re baking! Or maybe it’s a quieter hobby like knitting, or scrap-booking. Hey, if it’s reading, you know we have you covered.

Whatever your hobby is, the library has some excellent resources for you. Check out the list below, as well as a few podcast recommendations and some streaming TV shows to check out.

Overdrive, Hoopla and Safari simultaneous streaming eBooks:

Databases:

Creative Bug: If you’re a crafter of pretty much any persuasion, there is no better resource than Creative Bug! Find hundreds of classes, curated and taught by experts from knitting to calligraphy to pickling. The collection includes crafts specific to Teens and kids too!

Universal Class: Learn a new hobby among 500+ offerings including knitting, yoga, baking and much more.

Bingeable TV shows:

Acorn TV: Acorn TV is a streaming service available for free with your library card that provides you with access to thousands of commercial free television.

Hulu:

The best makers from around the country take on a series of handmade projects they must complete in their own unique way. As the competition goes on, the challenges become increasingly difficult, and the least successful maker is eliminated each week.

Netflix:

Some of the most renowned chefs in the world share their deeply personal stories, inspirations, and unique styles. Each chef’s discipline and culinary talent is explored while he or she prepares an awe-inspiring creation.

Podcasts:

Song Exploder: Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. At the end of each episode the song is played in its entirety.

How I Built This: Stories about innovators and entrepreneurs behind many influential products. Listen to stories about people who have made their hobby or side project a major career!

My Favorite Murder: Talk about needing a new hobby – and Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark do! These comedians and true crime super-fans cover some of the most notorious crimes in American history with style and much hilariousness.