Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!

–

American Revolution at 250: Twenty-Four Historians Reflect on the Founding, edited by Francis D. Cogliano

The preeminent historians of the founding era speak their mind on the anniversary of the United States’ birth 

In these powerful and personal essays, some of the most celebrated historians of the American Revolutionary era reflect on the meaning of 1776 to the nation in 2026, offering fresh insights and food for thought on every page. They tackle the most pressing topics that Americans debated in 1776 and continue to debate today: the meaning of democracy; the nature of information wars; immigration and the rights and obligations of citizenship; race and slavery; public health; the various and conflicting legacies of the founders; and the shifting nature of commemoration itself. Like the Revolutionary generation they know so well, on some issues these scholarly authorities find themselves largely in accord; on others they vehemently disagree. This is historical debate at its most urgent. 

Contributors: Allison Bigelow * T. H. Breen * Katherine Carté * Lindsay M. Chervinsky * Marlene L. Daut * Andrew M. Davenport * Christa Dierksheide * Lauren Duval * Joanne B. Freeman * Annette Gordon-Reed * Eliga H. Gould * Patrick Griffin * Nicholas Guyatt * Ricardo A. Herrera * Woody Holton * Brendan McConville * Michael A. McDonnell * Peter S. Onuf * Robert G. Parkinson * Teresa R. Pollak * John A. Ragosta * Bertrand Van Ruymbeke * Rosemarie Zagarri 

– 

Daisy Chain Flower Shop by Laurie Gilmore 

The brand new summer romance set in Dream Harbor from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Pumpkin Spice Café and The Strawberry Patch Pancake House! “Another gentle small-town romance with Hallmark movie vibes… Dream Harbor remains a cozy spot to linger” Publisher’s Weekly “A delightful escape filled with Gilmore’s signature whimsy and coziness” Hannah Bonam-Young, New York Times bestselling author *** The greatest love is the one you never expected to find Daisy is fed up with being unlucky in love. And since Mayor Kelly declared her beloved flower shop cursed in one of his infamous visions, business has been slow. Dream Harbor newcomer Elliot has been adjusting to small-town life following his own relationship turmoil. And until now he’s avoided the flower shop at all costs. If the mayor is correct, he doesn’t need any more bad luck in his life. When he finds himself walking through the door of the Daisy Chain Flower Shop, he doesn’t expect it to be a life-changing moment. But as the petals blossom in the sunlight, might the unluckiest woman in Dream Harbor finally find that love comes when you’re least expecting it? The Daisy Chain Flower Shop is a cozy romantic mystery with a fake relationship dynamic, a small-town setting and a HEA guaranteed. Tropes: Fake relationship Found family Small town He falls first Returning favorite characters Every book in the Dream Harbor series can be read as a standalone. “A setting that rivals the Gilmore Girls’ Stars Hollow for cozy charm… wonderfully warm and whimsically witty” Booklist 

Reader’s Note: Daisy Chain Flower Shop is the sixth book in the Dream Harbor Mystery Series. If you’d like to binge read from the beginning, check out book one: The Pumpkin Spice Cafe.  

– 

Dissection Of A Murder by Jo Murray  

Murray’s riveting debut is filled with murky twists and characters whose deceptive veneers cover dark secrets. Leila is determined to be a barrister, and her hard work and determination pay off. Soon after completing her law degree, she joins a prestigious London law firm, where illustrious prosecutor and King’s Counsel Julian Kessler is appointed her mentor. It doesn’t take long for the relationship to morph from mentor and pupil to husband and wife. Unsurprisingly, Leila always feels inferior to her celebrated husband. Determined to prove she can become as successful as he is, she takes on cases other barristers might refuse, like that of Jack Millman, who’s arrested for assault. She loses the case, but that merely spurs her to work harder. Five years later, Jack is arrested again, this time for murder, and to Leila’s surprise, he insists that she defend him. She accepts, determined to win this time . . . until she learns that the prosecutor will be none other than her distinguished husband. Daunted but undeterred, she’ll do everything she can to triumph. As the story progresses, innocence and guilt, shame and blame, secrets and lies, cold ambition and bitter disappointment from the past and present are exposed in this complex legal-psychological thriller. 

– 

Our Perfect Storm by Carley Fortune 

Frankie and her best friend, George, have been inseparable since they were eight years old, but their relationship has shifted in the past few years as George travels more for his successful career as a reporter. Now, on the eve of her wedding, Frankie isn’t even sure that he’ll show up to be her best man until she sees him at the rehearsal dinner. When her groom-to-be shockingly and unexpectedly calls off the wedding the next morning, a devastated Frankie doesn’t know what to do next, until George suggests that the two of them go on her already paid-for honeymoon to Tofino, on Canada’s lush west coast. Frankie sees the trip as a chance to fix the rift that has developed between them, even as long-buried feelings surface for both of them. However, George is keeping secrets that might ruin their friendship forever. Frankie and George are compelling main characters, even if the third-act conflict is a bit predictable.  

VERDICT Longtime fans will devour Fortune’s (One Golden Summer) latest, full of her signature lush Canadian scenery and dual-timeline storytelling. Good for all public libraries and contemporary romance fans. – Library Journal Review  

– 

The Silent House of Sleep by Allan Gaw

A withdrawn pathologist earns the respect of colleagues by solving a grotesque high-profile crime. London, 1928. Scottish pathologist Dr. John Archibald Cuthbert devastates an arrogant prosecutor at trial with his incisive testimony, which leads to the exoneration of an accused widow. He’s next called upon regarding the baffling mystery surrounding the disappearance of popular university student Freddie Dawson, this time to dampen hopes that a recently discovered corpse belongs to the missing young man. Gaw’s offbeat debut novel runs on two interwoven tracks. It’s first and foremost a police procedural long on forensic detail, studded with an account of the taciturn young Cuthbert’s experience at Scotland Yard. Woven into Cuthbert’s methodical investigation is a deep dive into his past, from his years as a soldier in World War I all the way up to his work at Colchester Military Hospital after graduating from college. He harbors a personal secret, gradually revealed, which shadows and potentially jeopardizes his burgeoning career. The Dawson investigation begins in earnest three months after the appearance of that first corpse with the discovery of two others that are bizarrely glued together. One of these bodies is identified as Dawson. It’s all quite a mystery to unravel both who- and howdunit. A prolific nonfiction writer and poet, Gaw has a style that’s precise, concise, and sometimes lyrical. Given the sharp focus on Cuthbert’s character, it’s no surprise this case is also the first in a promised series. A dark and complex mystery with a sympathetic hero and an acute forensic focus. – Kirkus Review 

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

–

Information on the four library catalogs

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

All titles can be requested/checked out through the library.

If you’d like to go the traditional route to request a title on this list and drop by the library, or give us a call – please do!

Our telephone number is: 607-936-3713

You can also request titles through StarCat found at https://starcat.stls.org

–

THE BESTSELLERS

FICTION

1. THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi: A man travels to a small Southern town, where he purchases pencil drawings of local residents and exchanges them for stories.

2. PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir: Ryland Grace awakes from a long sleep alone and far from home, and the fate of humanity rests on his shoulders; the basis of the movie.

3. YESTERYEAR by Caro Claire Burke: Natalie Heller Mills, a privileged tradwife social media influencer, wakes up to find she is living in the comparatively difficult reality of 1855.

4. PURPLE STATE by Dana Perino: A public relations professional goes with two of her friends to a swing district in Wisconsin and meets a guy with a different perspective.

5. THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans: Letters from someone she used to know push Sybil Van Antwerp toward revisiting her past and finding a way to forgive.

6. WOMAN’S PLACE by Danielle Steel: After the sinking of the Titanic takes her father, Lady Victoria Oldbrooke marries an older industrialist and eventually steps into his business.

7. HOPE RISES by David Baldacci: The second book in the Walter Nash series. Using an alias and some lethal skills, Nash works to bring down a global criminal operation.

8. DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman: A Coast Guard vet named Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, are trapped in a fantasy dungeon.

9. PARADOX by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston: The second book in the Cash & Colcord series. A new case involves money, murder and a secret society.

10. GAME ON by Navessa Allen: The third book of the Into Darkness series. Tyler seeks revenge against his father and pretends to be Stella’s boyfriend.

11. MAD MABEL by Sally Hepworth: An elderly woman who was once Australia’s youngest convicted murderer tries to keep her previous life hidden.

12. REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt: A widow working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is aided in solving a mystery by a giant Pacific octopus living there; the basis of the movie.

13. THE MOTHER-DAUGHTER BOOK CLUB by Susan Patterson and James Patterson: In a follow-up to “Things I Wish I Told My Mother,”epiphanies occur at Lake Como.

14. THE NIGHT WE MET by Abby Jimenez: Larissa makes a choice after a concert to ride home with Chris’s best friend, which may cause life-changing results.

15. SHADOW STRIKE by Brad Taylor: The 20th book in the Pike Logan series. Pike and his team pursue an assassin known as the Ghost.

–

NON-FICTION

1. STRANGERS by Belle Burden: Burden retraces her marriage of 20 years in search of clues to help shape her understanding about its demise and to find a way forward.

2. WHEN WE SEE YOU AGAIN by Rachel Goldberg-Polin: A mother recounts the capture of her son, Hersh, from the Nova Music Festival and his subsequent execution.

3. FAMESICK by Lena Dunham: The author of “Not That Kind of Girl” evaluates the effects that pursuing her creative endeavors had on her.

4. LONDON FALLING by Patrick Radden Keefe: The author of “Say Nothing” details the efforts by the parents of a 19-year-old Londoner to uncover the truth about his mysterious death and secret life.

5. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk: How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.

6. THIS VAST ENTERPRISE by Craig Fehrman: A revisionist history of the Lewis and Clark expedition viewed from the perspectives of 10 people connected to it.

7. YOU WITH THE SAD EYES by Christina Applegate: The Emmy Award-winning actress, who received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021, shares personal stories.

8. A WORLD APPEARS by Michael Pollan: The author of “This Is Your Mind on Plants” explores several perspectives on consciousness.

9. ALITO by Mollie Hemingway: The editor in chief of The Federalist depicts Justice Samuel Alito’s judicial career and his impact on the Supreme Court.

10. THE ROLLING STONES by Bob Spitz: A biography of the rock band that delves into the relationships of its musicians and their output over more than six decades.

11. A WALK IN THE PARK by Kevin Fedarko: The author of “The Emerald Mile” goes with a friend on a journey to hike the Grand Canyon from end to end.

12. THE FUTURE IS PEACE by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon:A Palestinian and an Israeli share reflections from the journey they took together over the course of a week.

13. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION by Jonathan Haidt: A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the mental health impacts that a phone-based life has on children.

14. FOR THE LOVE OF THE GRIND by Sara Hall: The professional runner describes overcoming obstacles she encountered and becoming a mother through adoption.

15. ON THE HIPPIE TRAIL by Rick Steves: The travel writer and TV host recounts his journey from Istanbul to Kathmandu in the 1970s.

–

Have a great Sunday!

Linda

–

New York Times Bestseller lists are shared via blog post on Sundays.

–

LIBRARY CATALOGS:

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

–

For more information on library materials and services, including how to get a library card call the library at 607-936-3713.

–

*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.

Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring ten songs and two streaming video recommendations, one from a mainstream service and the other from Kanopy, the library’s free to access streaming service (all you need is a library card!).

Happy May Day and Beltane to all who celebrate and happy weekend wishes for everyone!

And now, on to the music; this week we’re turning our listening spotlight on the music of musicians born in May.

–

If I Had A Hammer by Pete Seeger (b. May 3, 1919) 

Found on the Album: The Essential Pete Seeger (2013) 

– 

Music! Music! Music! By Teresa Brewer (b. May 7, 1941) 

Found on the Album: The Best of Teresa Brewer (1989) 

– 

Aries by Mary Lou Williams (b. May 8, 1910) 

Found on the Album: Zodiac Suite (1995)  

– 

Avalon by Red Nichols (b. May 8, 1905) and His Five Pennies 

Found on the Album: Red Nichols and His Five Pennies (Miff Mole – Jimmy Dorsey – Glenn Miller – Pee Wee Russell) [Recorded 1928 -1930) Encore 2 (2020)

– 

Piano Man by Billy Joel (b. May 9, 1949) 

Found on the Album: The Hits (2010) 

– 

Catch The Wind by Donovan (b. May 10, 1946) 

Found on the Album: The Essential Donovan (2012) 

– 

The Jitterbug Waltz by Fats Waller (b. May 21, 1904) 

Found on the Album: The Essential Fats Waller (2014) 

– 

Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan (b. May 24, 1941) 

Found on the Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) 

– 

Moon Dreams by Miles Davis (b. May 26, 1926) 

Found on the Album: The Birth of Cool (1957) 

– 

Come To My Window by Melissa Etheridge (b. May 29, 1961) 

Found on the Album: Greatest Hits: The Road Less Traveled (2005) 

– 

And onto the Streaming Videos

Recommended Mainstream Stream of the Week

A new title available through one of the usual U.S. streaming services, followed by a Kanopy title that you can check out with your library card and stream on-demand.

Man on Fire (2026) (Netflix) 

– 

Recommended Kanopy Stream of the Week

H is For Hawk Trailer 

Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Information on the four library catalogs 

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/ 

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go! 

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog. 

And The Digital Catalog/Libby features titles that may be checked out via the one-copy-one-user lending model, just like print books.  

– 

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/ 

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron checkout limit is 10 items per month. 

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders. 

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players. 

Titles in the Hoopla Catalog are available to be checked out on-demand by all library card holders, with the caveat of being able to check out a maximum of ten titles per month, per card.  

– 

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en 

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.  

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders! 

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV). 

– 

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org 

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System. 

Hi everyone, here is a list of all the new books, physical media items, eAudios & eBooks the library has ordered this month.

New Books Coming Your Way: May 2026

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

P.S. Some of the print books & physical media items may not yet appear in StarCat. So, if you see any title you’d like to check out, but it isn’t in StarCat yet, send me an email or give me a call and I’ll put your name on the list for it, as soon as it has arrived.

P.S.S. The three digital catalogs are:

The Digital Catalog found online at https://stls.overdrive.com/ and its companion app Libby found in mobile app stores.

The Hoopla Catalog found online at: https://www.hoopladigital.com/ and its companion app, also called Hoopla and found in mobile app stores.

Kanopy: The streaming video catalog found online at https://www.kanopy.com/ and its companion app, also called Kanopy, found in mobile app stores.

–

And you can request print books via StarCat found at https://starcat.stls.org/client/en_US/default

Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!

–

Bumble Bee Season by Eileen Garvin 

In this much-clamored-for sequel to Garvin’s The Music of Bees (2021), former troubled teen with paraplegia Jake Stevenson has turned the Hood River honey farm he established with widow Alice Holtzman into an unqualified success. But Alice is away during harvest time, and with ICE agents conducting stealth raids on local immigrant communities, Jake can’t find reliable workers. Then one day, while checking on remote hive locations, Jake encounters 14-year-old migrant Flaco Lopez, impoverished and malnourished after walking hundreds of miles from his border crossing in California. Despite the risks, Jake takes Flaco in, and while the teen quickly becomes a welcome extra pair of hands, he’s not enough. Another fortuitous hive check puts Jake in touch with Abigail Plue, a university grad student conducting field research on bumblebees, whose team members rally to Jake’s rescue. Amidst threats of deportation raids, habitat destruction, and wildfire devastation, the trio overcome cultural and behavioral differences to form unlikely bonds. Undoubtedly inspired by her own experiences as an Oregon beekeeper, Garvin is a master at creating hive-like communities vibrating with characters readers will enthusiastically embrace. Like Jake and Alice, Flaco and Abigail deserve to return to the page some day, shining in stories of their own. – Starred Booklist Review  

– 

Mad Mabel: A Novel by Sally Hepworth  

Melbourne octogenarian Elsie is comfortable being the grouch of Kenny Lane, and she fills the role beautifully when she clambers her neighbor Ishaan’s fence, determined that he stop hiding from his turn answering the relentless questions of the street’s only child, Persephone. Instead, she finds Ishaan’s body and must answer police officers’ relentless questions. Elsie assumes that 93-year-old Ishaan succumbed to natural causes, but the police become suspicious after discovering Elsie’s past. She’s Mabel Elsie Waller, aka Mad Mabel, Australia’s youngest murder convict. Hounded by police and protesters, Elsie takes documentarians Libby and Adeel up on their offer to help her tell her story on her own terms. Through flashbacks, Elsie reveals a lonely, abusive childhood, the deaths of her toddler sister, her mother, her favorite teacher, and a series of violent accidents laid at Mad Mabel’s feet. Then Persephone’s abusive father shows up, and Elsie doesn’t hesitate to act. Hepworth balances heartbreak with Elsie’s delicious snark and strong suspense, but readers will be hard-pressed to resist feeling something here as allies emerge to defeat Elsie’s resigned loneliness. Arguably Hepworth’s best, this is a must-read for fans of Helene Tursten’s Elderly Lady series and Christopher Bollen’s Havoc (2024).  

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Hepworth gets more inventive and more incisive with each thriller, winning the attention of ever more readers. – Starred Booklist Review  

– 

A Violent Masterpiece: A Novel by Jordan Harper  

Jake Deal prowls the seedy underbelly of Los Angeles while his rapt audience on social media awaits his view of the chaos and carnage he finds in the City of Angels. In addition to this “Creepy Crawl” livestream, Jake sells photos of the crime scenes he comes across to a local media outlet for a tidy sum. One of his media contacts now offers Jake a lucrative opportunity, but Jake is wary of how deeply into depravity it would require him to plunge. Across the city, Kara Delgado works for Sub-Rosa, a concierge service catering to the eccentric needs of the uber-wealthy. She has witnessed hedonistic behavior that compares to ancient Rome, and she is approaching burnout. There’s also Doug Gibson, a veteran defense attorney whose new client is a disgraced Hollywood director with a story to tell that could send seismic waves through Los Angeles. Bringing these Angelenos together, Harper’s latest (after The Last King of California) displays his sublime storytelling talents. VERDICT Uniting three disparate lost souls in a case of blackmail, human trafficking, and murder involving the glitterati and power brokers, this novel is perfect for fans of James Ellroy and Raymond Chandler. – Starred Library Journal Review  

– 

This Weekend Doesn’t End Well for Anyone: A Novel by Catherine Mack 

Dead bodies disrupt a weekend writers’ retreat memorably narrated by a disgruntled author. Cynical sleuths are no strangers to mystery fiction, but Eleanor Dash takes snark to an uncomfortable new level. Everything is a source of grievance to the bestselling author: her ex-boyfriend, Connor Smith; her sister/assistant, Harper, whom she’s itching to fire; her insufficiently attentive editor, Vicki Morgan; her former best friend, Sandrine, who dumped her; the outdated decor at the Bahamian resort hosting the retreat; the prospective authors she mentors, who rarely write to her standards; and the reviewers of her books, who sometimes wish she’d write better herself. Even the corpse on the floor of her hotel suite seems like a personal affront, causing an irksome encounter with Bahamian police and necessitating a change of rooms. It isn’t until a second death hits even closer to home that Eleanor shows much interest in finding the culprit. Mack’s trademark self-referential style is unique, and her teasing of a staggering number of possible solutions to the puzzle is awe-inspiring. But Eleanor’s relentless sense of victimization is too much of a downer to overlook. Bonding through a shared sense of grievance is increasingly popular these days but can be corrosive in ways Mack may not recognize. When Mack allows her heroine a flash of empathy, as when Eleanor shares a moment with a veteran writer who recognizes that her best days are over, she can be incandescent. Letting in more light would provide a welcome balance to Mack’s quirky style and offbeat sense of humor. An oxymoron perhaps emblematic of the moment: a discontent cozy. – Kirkus Review  

– 

A Woman’s Place by Danielle Steel 

In April 1912, twenty-three-year-old Lady Victoria Oldbrooke is traveling with her beloved father from England on the maiden voyage of the Titanic. But when the ship strikes an iceberg and lifeboats are lowered with women and children first, Lord Alfred gives his place to another, and they are separated.  Before he goes down with the ship, he asks his friend Bert Banning, a mill owner from Manchester, to promise he’ll marry his daughter and care for her. 

Devastated by the loss of Lord Alfred, Victoria and Bert take comfort in their growing friendship. Bert accepts his role as her guardian but, as friendship turns to deeper feelings,  hesitates to propose. Not only is he forty years her senior, but her marrying an industrialist will cause Victoria to be ostracized by the aristocratic world she comes from. But she marries Bert and—cruelly shunned by everyone she knows, even family friends—moves to his home in Manchester. 

Isolated from her familiar universe and peers, she becomes fascinated by Bert’s business and learns all she can about it. When he meets a tragic end, she steps into his shoes and applies everything she has learned, in spite of opposition from all sides.  Taking on the risks, the hard decisions, and the responsibilities, Victoria has the sheer grit that it takes to make a difference in a man’s world and change the limitations women have had to face and defy for centuries. 

A stirring portrait of a strong woman who carves out her own place against all odds, this is a novel that will linger long after the final page is turned. 

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

–

Information on the four library catalogs

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

All titles can be requested/checked out through the library.

If you’d like to go the traditional route to request a title on this list and drop by the library, or give us a call – please do!

Our telephone number is: 607-936-3713

You can also request titles through StarCat found at https://starcat.stls.org

–

THE BESTSELLERS

FICTION

1. HOPE RISES by David Baldacci: The second book in the Walter Nash series. Using an alias and some lethal skills, Nash works to bring down a global criminal operation.

2. PROJECT HAIL MARY by Andy Weir: Ryland Grace awakes from a long sleep alone and far from home, and the fate of humanity rests on his shoulders; the basis of the movie.

3. THEO OF GOLDEN by Allen Levi: A man travels to a small Southern town, where he purchases pencil drawings of local residents and exchanges them for stories.

4. YESTERYEAR by Caro Claire Burke: Natalie Heller Mills, a privileged tradwife social media influencer, wakes up to find she is living in the comparatively difficult reality of 1855.

5. THE CORRESPONDENT by Virginia Evans:  Letters from someone she used to know push Sybil Van Antwerp toward revisiting her past and finding a way to forgive.

6. THE FAITH OF BEASTS by James S.A. Corey: The second book in the Captive’s War series. The ruthless reign of the Carryx empire is challenged.

7. GAME ON by Navessa Allen: The third book of the Into Darkness series. Tyler seeks revenge against his father and pretends to be Stella’s boyfriend.

8. DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL by Matt Dinniman: A Coast Guard vet named Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, are trapped in a fantasy dungeon.

9. RITES OF THE STARLING by Devney Perry: The second book in the “Shield of Sparrows” series. Secrets uncovered may stop the devastation of a cursed realm.

10. GO GENTLE by Maria Semple: Adora Hazzard, a contented divorcée, meets a handsome stranger and becomes engulfed by desire and intrigue.

11.REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt: A widow working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is aided in solving a mystery by a giant Pacific octopus living there.

12. REVENGE PREY by John Sandford: The 36th book in the Prey series. Davenport and White must protect a Russian intelligence officer and his family who are in hiding.

13. THE NIGHT WE MET by Abby Jimenez: Larissa makes a choice after a concert to ride home with Chris’s best friend, which may cause life-changing results.

14. JUDGE STONE by Viola Davis and James Patterson: Judge Mary Stone oversees an ethically complex case in her courtroom in Union Springs, Ala.

15. THE AUCTION by Sadie Kincaid: A billionaire who wears a mask brings home a young woman who was sold at an auction as a penance for her parents’ alleged crimes.

–

NON-FICTION

1. FAMESICK by Lena Dunham: The author of “Not That Kind of Girl” evaluates the effects that pursuing her creative endeavors had on her.

2. STRANGERS by Belle Burden: Burden retraces her marriage of 20 years in search of clues to help shape her understanding about its demise and to find a way forward.

3. POISONED IVIES by Elise Stefanik: The Republican congresswoman from New York shares her perspective on higher education in America.

4. LONDON FALLING by Patrick Radden Keefe: The author of “Say Nothing” details the efforts by the parents of a 19-year-old Londoner to uncover the truth about his mysterious death and secret life.

5. THE FUTURE IS PEACE  by Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon: A Palestinian and an Israeli share reflections from the journey they took together over the course of a week.

6. LAST BRANCH STANDING by Sarah Isgur: The editor of SCOTUSblog gives insights into how the current Supreme Court functions.

7. A WORLD APPEARS by Michael Pollan: The author of “This Is Your Mind on Plants” explores several perspectives on consciousness.

8. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk: How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.

9. INTO THE WOOD CHIPPER by Nicholas Enrich: An account of the impact Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency had on the United States Agency for International Development.

10. GHOSTS OF SICILY by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll Jr: The authors of “Ghosts of Honolulu” describe an alliance between the Office of Naval Intelligence and the mob during World War II.

11. THE STORY OF US by Olivia Levin: A Taylor Swift superfan looks at the loyalty of Swifties as they followed the pop and country icon through different eras.

12. STRIPPED DOWN by Bunnie Xo: The host of the “Dumb Blonde Podcast” shares how redemption was an important part of her journey toward reaching her goals.

13. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION by Jonathan Haidt: A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the mental health impacts that a phone-based life has on children.

14. A WALK IN THE PARK by Kevin Fedarko: The author of “The Emerald Mile” goes with a friend on a journey to hike the Grand Canyon from end to end.

15. YOU WITH THE SAD EYES by Christina Applegate: The Emmy Award-winning actress, who received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2021, shares personal stories.

–

Have a great Sunday!

Linda

–

New York Times Bestseller lists are shared via blog post on Sundays.

–

LIBRARY CATALOGS:

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

–

For more information on library materials and services, including how to get a library card call the library at 607-936-3713.

–

*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.

Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring ten songs and two streaming video recommendations, one from a mainstream service and the other from Kanopy, the library’s free to access streaming service (all you need is a library card!).

First off the music!

–

Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins 

Found on the Album: The Legendary Sun Classics Vol. 1 (2010) by Various Artists 

– 

Daddy Sang Bass by Johnny Cash 

Found on the Album: The Greatest: The Number Ones (2012)

–

Dream A Little Dream Of Me (Single Version) by Ella Fitzgerald (b. April 25, 1917) with Louis Armstrong 

Found on the Album: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Ella Fitzgerald (2003)

–

Finger Poppin’ Time by Hank Ballard & The Midnighters 

Found on the Album: All 20 Of Their Chart Hits 1953-1962 (2002) 

– 

Good Golly Miss Molly by Little Richard 

Found on the Album: The Very Best of Little Richard (2008) 

– 

I Feel Good All Over (Single Version) by The Drifters 

Found on the album: Under the Boardwalk (1964) 

–

Orange Colored Sky by Nat King Cole

Found on the album: The Ultimate Nat King Cole (2019)

–

Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night of the Week by Frank Sinatra

Found on the album: The Ultimate Sinatra (2015)

–

Teardrops from My Eyes by Ruth Brown  

Found on the Album: The Best of Ruth Brown (2009) 

–

Tweedle Dee by LaVern Baker

Found on the Album: LaVern Baker (1957)

–

Walking To New Orleans by Fats Domino 

Greatest Hits: Walking To New Orleans (2007) 

– 

And onto the Streaming Videos:

A new title available through one of the usual U.S. streaming services, followed by a Kanopy title that you can check out with your library card and stream on-demand.

Recommended Mainstream Stream of the Week

Your Friends & Neighbors, Season 2 (2026) (Apple TV+)

–

Recommended Kanopy Stream of the Week

Inheritance (2025)

Trailer

–

– 

Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Information on the four library catalogs 

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/ 

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go! 

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog. 

And The Digital Catalog/Libby features titles that may be checked out via the one-copy-one-user lending model, just like print books.  

– 

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/ 

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron checkout limit is 10 items per month. 

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders. 

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players. 

Titles in the Hoopla Catalog are available to be checked out on-demand by all library card holders, with the caveat of being able to check out a maximum of ten titles per month, per card.  

– 

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en 

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.  

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders! 

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV). 

– 

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org 

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System. 

Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!

–

The Book Tour by Emily Ohanjanians 

DEBUT Ohanjanians debuts with a solid rivals-to-lovers story that will resonate with anyone who has felt compelled to prove themselves to their family and community. The book follows podcaster-turned-author Ana Movilian, daughter of Armenian immigrants, on the tour for her first self-help book. She’s thrilled to spread her message of self-worth to audiences around the country, but her excitement turns to dread when she finds out that sexy literary snob Ryan Grant has been assigned to accompany her on the tour as her publicist. As they get to know each other as colleagues, friends, and, eventually, lovers, Ana and Ryan start to see that they are both struggling with familial expectations and the stress of caring for their families, to the point that it’s negatively affecting their lives. They begin to fall in love, in a relationship that inspires them to embrace their dreams and become better people. Fans of relationship fiction as well as romance readers will find a lot to enjoy here. VERDICT A sweet, sexy, and heartfelt novel about finding oneself through the power of love. – Library Journal Review    

– 

The Faith of Beasts by James S. A. Corey 

The human moiety (last seen in The Mercy of Gods, 2024) has adapted surprisingly well to their imprisonment on the Carryx world, proving their usefulness and even making their prison something like a home. The conspirators continue to wait for the right moment, and potential new allies are revealed. A handful of humans sent out into the wider galaxy make discoveries that radically alter their understanding of what underlies the never-ending galactic conflict. This entry in the Captive’s War series feels more intimate than its predecessor. With less world building to do, the focus has shifted more toward exploring the characters, including their relationships and complexity, as well as the ways they adjust to their new circumstances, offering an examination of how people acclimate even during horrific upheaval. Readers also learn more details about the society of the Carryx. While it’s somewhat less propulsive than The Mercy of Gods, The Faith of Beasts is a wonderful set-up for whatever is next. Fans of the series should be satisfied here and excited for the next installment. –Booklist Review 

Reader’s Note: The Faith of Beasts it the third book in the Captive’s War series; if you’d like to start reading the series from the beginning, check out book one: The Mercy of Gods.  

– 

London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth by Patrick Radden Reefe  

In November 2019, Londoners Rachelle and Matthew Brettler’s 19-year-old son Zac jumped from the fifth-floor balcony of an elite condo building on the Thames; his body was found the next morning. The Brettlers soon discovered Zac, a privileged teen whose behavior had changed in later adolescence, had been posing in certain powerful circles as the son of a Russian oligarch and the inheritor of billions. Exactly who he had been consorting with, and the nature of his jump from the balcony–suicide or survival?–became the Brettlers’ obsession as London’s police force kept leaving them unsatisfied, giving up too soon on far too many leads. Wary of the British press, the Brettlers kept their story private until they were introduced to Keefe, whose 2024 New Yorker article about Zac’s death would launch their private loss into public conversation. Based on Keefe’s years of communications with the Brettlers and exhaustive research into Zac’s life and death and London’s criminal underworld, this tour de force of staggering yet sensitive reportage also brings in England’s colonial past, the history of the banking industry, and the stories of Zac’s Holocaust-survivor grandfathers. Ultimately, Keefe arrives at a relatively simple (and sad, and sordid) conclusion. As Rachelle told Keefe, “”It’s been eye-opening. This whole world we did not know about, this underworld that exists on our doorstep.”” 

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Particularly after the popular streaming adaptation of Keefe’s Say Nothing (2019), readers recognize him as a go-to author of riveting narrative nonfiction, and this contemporary story is sure to spark interest. – -Starred Booklist Review 

– 

No Matter What: A Novel by Cara Bastone 

Bastone’s latest, following Promise Me Sunshine (2025), is a heartfelt, heart-wrenching tale of people becoming their best selves in the tasks and routines of everyday life following a cataclysmic accident. Roz, who works for an NYC food rescue organization, her husband Vin, and his brother (and her best friend) Raff have their lives as they know them destroyed by an accident. A year later, it looks like they’re all going their separate ways. Roz finds an apartment lease on the kitchen counter, indicating Vin is planning to leave both their apartment and their marriage. He’s following Raff, who found his own apartment weeks before. When Roz visits the building on the lease, she stumbles into a life-drawing class and joins in, finding respite in drawing as well as having an epiphany about trauma and art. There is much love–familial, collegial, and romantic–throughout this leisurely paced, comforting story of healing and rediscovering the magic of caring and connection. – Library Journal Review  

– 

Two Kinds of Stranger by Steve Cavanagh 

There’s nary a dull moment in bestseller Cavanagh’s electrifying latest legal thriller featuring con-man-turned-attorney Eddie Flynn (after The Trial). Elly Parker is a young influencer known for filming random acts of kindness. One night, she returns to her Manhattan apartment in the middle of a livestream and discovers, in front of 132 million viewers, that James, her husband of six months, has been having an affair with her best friend. When James and his mistress die by poisoning a short time later, suspicion falls on Elly, and she’s charged with their murders. Insisting on her innocence, she hires Flynn, whose considerable talents are tested by the prosecution’s strong case. Meanwhile, Flynn tries to protect his ex-wife, Christine, and his 16-year-old daughter from con man Arthur Cross, who’s targeting Christine’s new husband with physical threats and menacing letters. Cavanagh shrewdly braids the two main plot threads together, alternating perspectives between Flynn, his legal assistants, Elly, and a sociopathic killer who’s lurking in the background. With relentless surprises and surprisingly sharp commentary on social media narcissism, this is sure to win Cavanagh new fans. — Starred Library Journal Review 

Reader’s Note: Two Kinds of Stranger is the nineth book in the Eddie Flynn series; if you’d like to binge read from the beginning, check out book one: The Defense. 

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

–

Information on the four library catalogs

The Digital Catalog aka Libby: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.