Books of the week of Sept. 29

Title: “500 Miles From You” 

Author: Jenny Colgan 

This is the third book of the Scottish Bookshop series.   

In this installment, we meet Alyssa Westcott, a nurse in London, who is witness to a murder and is having trouble dealing with the trauma. Her employer sets up an exchange for her to go to Scotland to work in a slower-paced environment.  They will also send Cormac, a nurse from that area, to London to take her place for three months.   

Alyssa agrees to go and settles into Cormac’s cottage and starts to work.   

She and Cormac message work notes back and forth about their patients for the day as far as what to expect. Between work notes, they start to get to know each other a little bit at a time.   

Lissa meets the other English girls who have relocated to the area and forms a bond with them. Talking with them and getting to know Cormac over messaging, she starts to enjoy her time away.  

 Before she knows it, she is going to social functions, and her anxiety is floating away – that is, until she gets a letter that she is to appear in court to testify.   

Lissa and Cormac agree to finally meet since she will be coming back to London for a few hours.  

An anxiety attack in the bathroom and a brawl in the court make a mess of their plans. Will Lissa and Cormac ever meet each other face to face? And if so, will it change the way they have started to feel about one another? Only Scotland will tell.   

Title: “After” 

Author: Anna Todd 

Reading Level: Adult 

Tessa Young is the picture-perfect good girl. She wears clothes that cover her completely, she’s never late, she doesn’t party, and she has only ever dated one person.  

This all changes when she moves away for college. Now on her own, she makes new friends who show her life is more than the small bubble her mother created.  

One of these new friends, Hardin Scott, shows her not everyone had a perfect childhood and is a fully-functioning adult.  

She questions whether she can go back to seeing the world with rose-colored glasses. 

This book is a New York Times bestseller that focuses on the journey from high schooler to college student and adult. Tessa is strong willed but has faults that take her down paths where she learns hard life lessons.  

This book is great for readers who love realistic characters and fictional romance. This book is available in the library and on eBook via Libby or Overdrive.