Adults

About Adult Services

Looking for book recommendations, information about upcoming events, or online resources for adults? Learn more about our services for adults on this page, and contact us if you have any questions! 

Visit an Information Desk for help with:

  • Finding items in the library and requesting items for us to purchase
  • Navigating our online catalog
  • Accessing our downloadable items through Libby or Palace Project
  • Using our public computers, printers, copiers, or scanners
  • Using our online databases and conducting research
  • Participating in a library program
  • Reserving a meeting room for your community group
  • And much more!

We also welcome appointment requests if you need more intensive help.

Call us at Maring-HuntCall us at KennedyCall us at Carnegie for Local History and Genealogy | Call us at Connection Corner for Creative Technology | Email Us 

Upcoming Adult Events

This event is in the "Adults" group.

Seed Swap

1:00pm - 3:00pm
Adults
Maring-Hunt Library (MH)
This event is in the "Adults" group.

Android Q & A

1:00pm - 2:00pm
Adults
Connection Corner (CC)
This event is in the "Adults" group.

Open Door Connections

12:00pm - 3:00pm
Adults
Maring-Hunt Library (MH)
This event is in the "Adults" group.

Books on Tap Book Club

6:30pm - 7:30pm
Adults
Offsite
Offsite Event

Staff Picks for Adults: Fiction

Cover art for "Demon Copperhead" with black and white illustrations of flora, fauna, people, pharmaceuticals and hilly landscapes..

Demon Copperhead

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE * WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

New York Times Readers' Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century * An Oprah's Book Club Selection * An Instant New York Times Bestseller * An Instant Wall Street Journal Bestseller * A #1 Washington Post Bestseller * A New York Times "Ten Best Books of the Year"

"Demon is a voice for the ages--akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield--only even more resilient." --Beth Macy, author of Dopesick

"May be the best novel of [the year]. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love." --Ron Charles, Washington Post

From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees and the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity

Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.

Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.

Cover art for "Noir" featuring a woman in a red dress in the foreground and the silhouettes of two men and a bridge in the background.

Noir

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

The absurdly outrageous, sarcastically satiric, and always entertaining New York Times bestselling author Christopher Moore returns in finest madcap form with this zany noir set on the mean streets of post-World War II San Francisco, and featuring a diverse cast of characters, including a hapless bartender; his Chinese sidekick; a doll with sharp angles and dangerous curves; a tight-lipped Air Force general; a wisecracking waif; Petey, a black mamba; and many more.

San Francisco. Summer, 1947. A dame walks into a saloon . . .

It’s not every afternoon that an enigmatic, comely blonde named Stilton (like the cheese) walks into the scruffy gin joint where Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin tends bar. It’s love at first sight, but before Sammy can make his move, an Air Force general named Remy arrives with some urgent business. ’Cause when you need something done, Sammy is the guy to go to; he’s got the connections on the street.

Meanwhile, a suspicious flying object has been spotted up the Pacific coast in Washington State near Mount Rainer, followed by a mysterious plane crash in a distant patch of desert in New Mexico that goes by the name Roswell. But the real weirdness is happening on the streets of the City by the Bay.

When one of Sammy’s schemes goes south and the Cheese mysteriously vanishes, Sammy is forced to contend with his own dark secrets—and more than a few strange goings on—if he wants to find his girl.

Think Raymond Chandler meets Damon Runyon with more than a dash of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes All Stars. It’s all very, very Noir. It’s all very, very Christopher Moore.

Cover art for "Our Hideous Progeny" with the title framed by illustrations of bones and assorted flora and fauna.

Our Hideous Progeny

"A gripping Gothic tale of grief and ambition, passion and intrigue." -- Jess Kidd, author of The Night Ship

"An immersive blend of historical and science fiction brims with surprises and dark delights. . . . An incisive exploration of women's rights within the field of science. . . . Readers will revel in Mary's personal and scientific discoveries and root for her to succeed in an unfair world." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A LAMBDA Literary finalist for Lesbian Fiction

A Triangle Publishing finalist for Debut Fiction

It is not the monster you must fear, but the monster it makes of men . . .

Mary is the great-niece of Victor Frankenstein. She knows her great uncle disappeared under mysterious circumstances in the Arctic, but she doesn't know why or how. . . .

The 1850s are a time of discovery, and London is ablaze with the latest scientific theories and debates, especially when a spectacular new exhibition of dinosaur sculptures opens at the Crystal Palace. Mary is keen to make her name in this world of science alongside her geologist husband, Henry--but despite her sharp mind and sharper tongue, without wealth and connections their options are limited.

When Mary discovers some old family papers that allude to the shocking truth behind her great-uncle's past, she thinks she may have found the key to securing her and Henry's professional and financial future. Their quest takes them to the wilds of Scotland; to Henry's intriguing but reclusive sister, Maisie; and to a deadly chase with a rival who is out to steal their secret.

A queer, feminist masterpiece inspired by Mary Shelley's classic, Our Hideous Progeny is a sumptuous tale of ambition and obsession, of forbidden love and sabotage and a twisty Gothic adventure that may forever change your view of human nature.

Cover art for "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" with illustration of a cat seated beneath two empty chairs at a table.

Before the Coffee Gets Cold

*NOW AN LA TIMES BESTSELLER*

*AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER*

The first book in the five million-copy bestselling magical realism series

If you could go back in time, who would you want to meet?

In a small back alley of Tokyo, there is a café that has been serving carefully brewed coffee for more than one hundred years. Local legend says that this shop offers something else besides coffee--the chance to travel back in time.

Over the course of one summer, four customers visit the café in the hopes of making that journey. But time travel isn't so simple, and there are rules that must be followed. Most important, the trip can last only as long as it takes for the coffee to get cold. 

Prepare to meet four visitors, each of whom is hoping to make use of the cafe's time-travelling offer in order to: 
 

  • confront the man who left them
  • receive a letter from their husband whose memory has been taken by Alzheimer's
  • see their sister one last time, and
  • meet the daughter they never got the chance to know.


Heartwarming, wistful, mysterious and delightfully quirky, Toshikazu Kawaguchi's internationally bestselling novel explores the age-old question: What would you change if you could travel back in time?

Meet more wonderful characters in the rest of the captivating Before the Coffee Gets Cold series: 
 

  • Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Book 1)
  • Tales from the Cafe (Book 2)
  • Before Your Memory Fades (Book 3)
  • Before We Say Goodbye (Book 4)
  • Before We Forget Kindness (Book 5)
  • Before the Coffee Gets Cold - Boxed Set (Books 1-3)


 

Book cover for The Women by Kristin Hannah, Red and gold cover with helicopter and palm trees on cover.

The Women

A #1 bestseller on The New York Times, USA Today, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times!

From the celebrated author of The Nightingale and The Four Winds comes Kristin Hannah's The Women—at once an intimate portrait of coming of age in a dangerous time and an epic tale of a nation divided.

Women can be heroes. When twenty-year-old nursing student Frances “Frankie” McGrath hears these words, it is a revelation. Raised in the sun-drenched, idyllic world of Southern California and sheltered by her conservative parents, she has always prided herself on doing the right thing. But in 1965, the world is changing, and she suddenly dares to imagine a different future for herself. When her brother ships out to serve in Vietnam, she joins the Army Nurse Corps and follows his path.

As green and inexperienced as the men sent to Vietnam to fight, Frankie is over-whelmed by the chaos and destruction of war. Each day is a gamble of life and death, hope and betrayal; friendships run deep and can be shattered in an instant. In war, she meets—and becomes one of—the lucky, the brave, the broken, and the lost.

But war is just the beginning for Frankie and her veteran friends. The real battle lies in coming home to a changed and divided America, to angry protesters, and to a country that wants to forget Vietnam. 

The Women is the story of one woman gone to war, but it shines a light on all women who put themselves in harm’s way and whose sacrifice and commitment to their country has too often been forgotten. A novel about deep friendships and bold patriotism, The Women is a richly drawn story with a memorable heroine whose idealism and courage under fire will come to define an era.

Featured Resources

BookPage

BookPage is an independently published recommendation guide for readers, highlighting the best new books across all genres as chosen by BookPage editors. Pick up a free copy at the library or MITSbus station each month while supplies last, or subscribe to the free newsletter.

Legal Forms (Gale)

Legal Forms (Gale)

Legal forms plus law dictionary and articles to explain legal topics.

View Resource

All Services for Adults

Accessibility

Muncie Public Library strives to provide services, collections, and spaces to everyone in a welcoming, accessible environment. To request reasonable accommodations to participate in a program, fill out a Disability Accomodation Request form at least one week in advance.

Ask for Recommendations

Are you in search of your next book or movie? Fill out an Ask for Recommendations form and let us suggest some for you!

Blockbuster Collection

It's a movie lover's lucky day when you check our Blockbuster shelves. This special collection of new releases turns over quickly with three-day loans, no holds, and no renewals.