Welcome to The Librarian Is In, The New York Public Library's podcast about books, culture, and what to read next.

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Happy New Episode Day! You know how we can tell things are slowly (so slowly) returning to normal? New York construction! So much construction!

Frank and Rhonda come together for Rhonda's last episode and discuss what they read this week. And New York construction makes an appearance. Over and over and over! 

Rhonda wanted to choose something new and picked a book that was published in the last year. 

This Close to Okay by Leesa Cross Smith

On a rainy October night in Kentucky, recently divorced therapist Tallie Clark is on her way home from work when she spots a man precariously standing at the edge of a bridge. Without a second thought, Tallie pulls over and jumps out of the car into the pouring rain. She convinces the man to join her for a cup of coffee, and he eventually agrees to come back to her house, where he finally shares his name: Emmett. Over the course of the emotionally charged weekend that follows, Tallie makes it her mission to provide a safe space for Emmett, though she hesitates to confess that this is also her day job. What she doesn't realize is that Emmett isn't the only one who needs healing and they both are harboring secrets. Alternating between Tallie and Emmett's perspectives as they inch closer to the truth of what brought Emmett to the bridge's edge as well as the hard truths Tallie has been grappling with since her marriage ended This Close to Okay is an uplifting, cathartic story about chance encounters, hope found in unlikely moments, and the subtle magic of human connection.

Frank decided to revisit a book he first read while in college.

The Waves by Virginia Woolf

Innovative and deeply poetic, The Waves is often regarded as Virginia Woolf's masterpiece. It begins with six children; three boys and three girls; playing in a garden by the sea, and follows their lives as they grow up, experience friendship and love, and grapple with the death of their beloved friend Percival. Instead of describing their outward expressions of grief, Woolf draws her characters from the inside, revealing their inner lives: their aspirations, their triumphs and regrets, their awareness of unity and isolation.

Don't forget to tune in next time! Frank will be back with a new cohost!

Tell us what everybody's talking about in your world of books and libraries! Suggest Hot Topix(TM)! Send an email or voice memo to podcasts[at]nypl.org.

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