Suggested Reading Five: August 19, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Freight: A Novel by Ryan Lowell  

DEBUT Lowell’s debut features a dynamic cast of characters who are all struggling to lead their best lives despite flaws and deeply held secrets that keep each of them perpetually on the brink of disaster. Curtis, an overnight dispatcher for Maine-based trucking company Hart Logistics, is teetering toward alcohol addiction and trapped in a deteriorating marriage. He views his job as beneath him, even though he is one mistake away from being fired. Theo, one of his drivers, is trying to start a family, but things are complicated in no small part by his affair with Sarah, a local woman desperate for attention and currently accompanying Theo on a long-haul run to Quebec. Another driver, Phil, is seeking refuge on the road after his wife left him, even if it means violating safety protocols by pushing well beyond his legal driving limit. And Billy Trask is looking to use them all, whatever the cost, to pull off the heist of a lifetime.  

VERDICT A fast-paced caper steeped in grim humor with characters who aren’t just carrying baggage; they’re hauling full-scale emotional freight. Will appeal to fans of Carl Hiaasen, Lou Berney, and Joe Ide.–Library Journal Review  

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God’s Country by William Kent Krueger (Cork O’Connor Series, No. 22) 

Cork O’Connor, preparing for a family trip into the Boundary Waters, is troubled by ominous visions about his future. Ignoring the warnings, he uncovers signs of violence while searching for his missing friend, Cordell Bishop. Soon, he is forced to negotiate with dangerous criminals, the Kennedy brothers, who are seeking their late father’s hidden stash. 

Facing escalating danger and difficult choices, Cork grapples with his darkest instincts as he helps others escape and eventually takes justice into his own hands. God’s Country is an action-packed thrill ride that will keep readers on the edge of their seats. 

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Our Marriage Is Murder by Carol Goodman  

In Goodman’s (Writers and Liars) latest, husband-and-wife writing team Fred and Thea Morgan-Lane are attending a mystery-writers’ conference at an Italian castle that was the setting for the couple’s first book, Death Takes the Castle. Their series “Death Takes a Holiday” is up for an award at the conference, but after 20 books and 20 years of marriage, things are falling apart personally and professionally for Fred and Thea. Before the award winner can be announced, the conference coordinator dies, having drunk a cocktail meant for Thea. Thea, who earlier told Fred she wants to end the series and their marriage, wonders if she is worth more to him dead than alive. Despite the tragedy, the conference continues and so does the scheduled treasure hunt. As attendees scour the castle grounds for clues, more deaths occur. It soon becomes clear that the killer is drawing on Death Takes the Castle. With their relationship on shaky ground, Fred and Thea must work together to stop someone from using their book as a guide to murder.  

VERDICT Goodman’s entertaining plot is a great combination of adventure and suspense. Recommended for fans of Frances and Richard Lockridge’s classic “Mr. and Mrs. North” mysteries.–Library Journal Review 

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A Moment in the Sun: Black Manhattan Before the Civil War by Shane White 

A Moment in the Sun dispels the pernicious narrative that in New York City, slavery was followed by a hundred years of poverty and destitution. 

Dispelling the persistent narrative that abject poverty followed the end of slavery in New York City, acclaimed historian Shane White finally sets the historical record straight. A Moment in the Sun, a revisionist and immersive retelling of antebellum Manhattan, depicts a long-forgotten, nineteenth-century era when ordinary Black men and women, now free, “stood a brief moment in the sun” (W. E. B. Du Bois), ushering in a roughly half-century period when New York City bulged and thrummed with Black creativity and achievement nearly a hundred years before the storied Harlem Renaissance. 

Culling a narrative from thousands of fragmentary sources gathered over three decades of research, White conjures the distant world of these Black New Yorkers, from the streets where dandies flaunted their signature style to a rollicking dance cellar on a Friday night in the Five Points neighborhood. “In a city still rife with racism and violence,” White writes, “ordinary African New Yorkers―among them oystermen, petty entrepreneurs, fortune-tellers, and ‘confidence men’―brought into being a free urban Black culture.” Along the way, White introduces us to a notable parade of characters who helped transform Gotham into a booming urban metropolis, among them Thomas Downing, the “Oyster King of New York”; Mary Thompson, who ran a cookshop out of her cellar; and Cato Alexander, whose tavern provided cocktails and carriage races to a diverse clientele. 

As these people, languages, and cultures mixed in the so-called amalgamated city, racial tensions heightened and often exploded, but this friction helped facilitate a cultural melding that was extensive. To a startling degree, White reveals the myriad ways this first attempt at integration in New York City actually worked. 

A triumph of historical reclamation, A Moment in the Sun paints a pointillist portrait of this time in New York history, one that presents an entirely different story that was waiting to emerge from the archive. And in bringing to vivid life these Black New Yorkers and their eponymous moment in the sun, this shimmering history preserves their memory and, in the words of Caleb Gayle, “takes us into the experiment in freedom whose possibilities could have and should have lasted generations.” 

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Plant Lady by Minyoung Kang 

This addictive South Korean import is part horror story, part noir mystery, and part women’s revenge tale. In the quiet neighborhood of Dosan-gu, Yoohee opens the Plant Shop, where she has a loving relationship with each plant. The shop becomes a popular attraction both in the city and on the web. After architect Hoyoung consults with Yoohee on a new project, the two fall in love. When Hoyoung mindlessly pulls leaves off her beloved plants, Yoohee gets rid of him, literally. Yoohee soon discovers that the young women who wander into her store are being mentally and physically abused by the men in their lives. She resolves to help these women take their revenge. Yoohee’s ingenious methods make the men disappear. When police Inspector Dokyung investigates a number of cases of missing men, the only connection seems to be the Plant Shop, but he doesn’t see how the mousy Yoohee fits in. When her childhood abuser comes into her shop, Yoohee must deal with him while playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the detective and the reader. This atmospheric, twisty, and darkly humorous novel has a strong message about men’s abuse of women. Readers of relationship fiction will be cheering for Yoohee and her plants. – Starred Library Journal Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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.

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

Suggested Listening & Viewing: August 14, 2026

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here is the our second newly streamlined weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring one album or musical collection for your listening pleasure; one movie or TV show/season for your viewing pleasure and one recommendation for background viewing – perfect for having on while having dinner, reading or just hanging out at home. Enjoy! 

First off the music, this week the album:

In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning (1955) by Frank Sinatra 

 

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Moving on to our suggested viewing title of the week; this week our recommendation is the movie:

The Kid (1921).

Here is the trailer:

About Formats: You can request a DVD of the film via StarCat https://starcat.stls.org or stream it through the library’s streaming video service Kanopy either online at https://www.kanopy.com or by downloading the Kanopy app from your app store.

About The Movie: Written and directed by Charlie Chaplin and starring Charlie Chaplin (1889 – 1977) and a cute kid – then child actor Jackie Coogan (1914 – 1984); who later appeared in the memorable role of Uncle Fester in the 1960s Addams Family TV series. The Kid was Chaplin’s first full-length movie and told the tale of an unwed mother leaving her infant son, with a note, in an expensive car, only for thieves to steal the car and the child to wind up being recused  by Chaplin’s character.

About Charlie Chaplin: Charlie Chaplin was born on April 16, 1889, in London, England, the son of actor parents Charles Chaplin & Hannah Hill. Charlie had a rough childhood; his father died when he and his older half-brother Sydney were young boys; and their mother’s mental health challenges saw her committed to an asylum leaving the brothers to face the world on their own. 

As a youth Chaplin worked as a Vaudeville performer and in 1910 traveled to New York, to tour as a member of the Fred Karno Company. In 1913, he was hired by the Keystone Film Company for $150 a week.; and it quickly became apparent that Chaplin was a natural in the newly emerging field of (silent) filmmaking. Between 1915 and 1917 Chaplin worked for several film companies making humorous short films and introducing his signature character The Tramp, a lovable a young man with a mustache in a suit and bowler hat who frequently finds himself in humorous situations.  

In 1917, Chaplin decided to become an independent filmmaker in order to gain greater creative control over his work. After producing several more short films, he released The Kid (1921), widely regarded as his first feature-length film and one of his masterpieces. He followed it with a remarkable series of films that are also considered classics of the silent era, including A Woman of Paris (1923), The Gold Rush (1925), The Circus (1928), City Lights (1931), and Modern Times (1936). In 1940, he released his first “talkie” or talking film, The Great Dictator. During this period, Chaplin became one of the most celebrated and influential actors and filmmakers in the world.  

Chaplin was one of the brightest and most influential stars of the silent film era; but by the early 1940s films, that era had passed as movie making technology had advanced to offering films with recorded sound; and that combined with Chaplin being involved in two sensational public controversies, a false paternity suit with a subsequent acrimonious trial; and his fourth marriage to an 18-year-old actress, Oona O’Neill; daughter of the famous playwright Eugne O’Neill – saw Chaplin’s popularity as filmmaker sharply decline in the 1940s.  

In 1952 Chaplin was traveling from the U.S. to Europe and learned that he was going to be denied reentry to the U.S. upon his return. So, Chaplin, O’Neill and their growing family; which eventually included eight children, moved to Switzerland and Chaplin continued making films until shortly before he died in 1977. 

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Background Viewing

(Perfect to have on while having dinner, reading etc.)

Cozy London Cafe 

 

Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Information on the four library catalogs (content available 24/7!)

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.  

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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.  

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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 any of the catalogs?

Give us a call!

You can reach us at 607-936-3713 or visit our website at https://ssclibrary.org/

Suggested Reading Five: August 12, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Dominion by Jean Kwok  

Rubi Morningtail has no memories from before the Annihilation that destroyed her home and forced her to migrate to the Silver Tyger Dominion. Making her way with her ribbon-dancing and a little singing magic, Rubi and her guardian Edith are barely getting by. When a raging battle tyger appears on her doorstep and Rubi wounds her, the metal mage Blake Axefire has Rubi thrown into the Bonding, where tygers bond with their riders and slaughter everyone else. Surprisingly, Rubi survives and is bonded with the tyger she once hurt. Now Rubi prepares with Blake’s elite group to join other Dominion warriors to reseal the Anchors that keep the demon realm closed. Escaping demons and rebel uprisings are the least of Rubi’s problems, because she must discover the truth about her past and her power, and figure out if the attraction she has for Blake is worth changing her future. 

 VERDICT Kwok (The Leftover Woman) launches a romantasy trilogy with an intricately crafted magic system and a romance that will keep readers clamoring for the next in the series. – Library Journal Review 

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Hot Girls Murder Club: A Novel by Ashley Winstead 

Ten years ago, when her younger sister Georgia was brutally murdered, and the Los Angeles police were unable to bring her killer to justice, Sage Scout realized if she wanted justice she would need to deliver it herself. Since then, Sage has become a famous singer/songwriter while simultaneously collecting a circle of friends, all equally talented and driven women, around her. The group soon earns the sobriquet “Hot Girl Murder Club” when, one after another, powerful individuals who have up until now evaded justice suddenly get their karmic comeuppance. However, what begins as a joke quickly becomes very real when LA Police Detective Grey Holloway charges Sage with murder. From this ingenious premise, Winstead (The Future Saints) fashions a wickedly clever novel that not only delivers all the jaw-dropping twists readers crave but also offers up a thoughtful exploration of the costs that can come from taking justice into one’s own hands.  

VERDICT Written with a razor-sharp sense of humor and graced with a memorable cast of relatably messy characters, this sleekly plotted novel of suspense is simply superb. – Library Journal Review  

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A Summer of Stars by Liana Cincotti 

Fake relationship terms and conditions: do not fall in love. After a messy breakup, it feels like the entire world hates tennis superstar Luna Aldridge. With her reputation ruined and her career at risk, the only way to repair it is a PR stunt: fake-dating Hollywood’s golden boy, Kieran Alexander. There’s just one problem … Luna can’t stand him. For Kieran, the feeling is mutual. He’s about to lead a big-screen love story, but his dating history is jeopardizing the film’s success. His team believes the world needs to see him wildly in love. And who better than Luna, the person he loathes most? 

Soon, Luna and Kieran spend the summer posing for cameras, sharing red carpets and flying around the world for the tennis circuit. But the more they pretend, the more they question if they can keep their hearts, and their careers, together. Especially with everyone watching … 

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We Will See You Bleed: A Novel by Ron Currie 

This prequel to The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne (2025) answers a lot of questions readers may have had about how the fictional character, Babs, a stalwart town supporter and grandmother, came to run a drug empire in the Little Canada neighborhood of Waterville, Maine (the neighborhood and town are real). Currie takes us back to 1984, when Babs was a struggling but strong young woman. Times are hard. A strike at the paper mill, the lifeblood of the small town, has been going on for more than a year (the strike is loosely based on the strike around this time in nearby Jay, Maine). Drug dealers and strikebreakers swoop in. The women, led by Babs, are the strong organizers against these forces. Currie often over-describes, and his use of second person singular for Babs’ thoughts and actions (for example, “And so you sat swatting bugs in the heat”) is a confusing and strained literary device. Nevertheless, this novel is a good character study and historical crime story for the patient reader. – Booklist Review  

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The Wild Beneath: A Novel by Kelly Anderson 

Annie MacLeod always knew she was different, growing up on a sailboat in the Pacific Northwest, navigating by stars and swimming with sea creatures alongside her parents and best friend Evan. But when a tsunami shatters her world, Annie is stranded on land and forced to confront how eccentric she is. In the wreckage, she rescues a wordless man named Walker, who emits a hum only she can hear. 

Their connection is instant, electric. Walker’s touch gives Annie visions of the ocean’s hidden world, a life she’s never known but feels inexplicably drawn to. Yet even as she is pulled toward him, Evan—the steadfast love who has always been there—remains on dry land, offering the stability she may have to leave behind. Annie is torn between Evan’s grounding presence and Walker’s magnetic secrets. But then, Walker vanishes, along with the answers she needs about who she really is. 

Six years later, Annie has left the sea and buried the past—until Walker’s otherworldly sound returns, pulling her back toward the ocean and the life she abandoned. The truth under the water is more ancient than she ever could have known, and Annie must confront a choice that will test her heart and determine her future. 

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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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.

Suggested Listening & Viewing: August 7, 2026

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here is the first of our newly streamlined weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring one suggested album or musical collection for your listening pleasure; one movie or TV show/season for your viewing pleasure and one recommendation for background viewing – perfect for having on while having dinner, reading etc. Enjoy! 

First off the music, this week and album:

King Oliver’s Creole Jazz Band: The Complete Set (1923) by King Oliver & his Jazz Band featuring Louis Armstrong (Genre: Jazz/Ragtime) 

 

About King Oliver: Cornetist and bandleader King Oliver was born Joseph Nathan Oliver on December 19, 1881, in Aben, Louisiana. As a young man, he moved to New Orleans, where he performed with dance bands in the city’s famous Storyville district. During the 1910s, he co-founded and led a band with trombonist Edward “Kid” Ory, establishing himself as one of the leading figures in early jazz.

In the 1920s, Oliver relocated to Chicago and formed King Oliver and His Creole Jazz Band. With this ensemble, he made his landmark 1923 recordings—the recommended listening for this week—a collection which contains some of the most influential recordings in jazz history.

The Great Depression, combined with declining health, left Oliver living in poverty during his later years. He died in 1938, but his remarkable recordings and lasting influence on jazz continue to be celebrated today.

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Moving on to our suggested viewing title of the week; this week our recommendation is the classic mystery:

The Thin Man (1934) starring William Powell & Myrna Loy

The Thin Man Trailer

About The Movie: The Thin Man (1934) is based upon the Dashiell Hammett book of the same name. The film protagonists are a married couple, Nick & Nora Charles. Nick is a retired detective who married Nora, the scion of a wealthy family; and they enjoy a rich social life with frequent cocktails and dinner parties and a terrific dog named Asta. And when they have time, they solve mysteries. In this first film in the five-film series, the couple is vacationing in New York City during the holiday season and Nick runs into young Dorothy Wynant, the daughter of inventor Clyde Wynant; Clyde being an acquaintance of Nick. Dorothy is concerned because her father left on a business trip three months ago and has not returned nor been heard from since; and the plot unfolds, culminating with a classic unveiling of the murderer at a dinner party. If you’ve never seen it – this is a light, fun film! This film can be streamed from the usual streaming services and is also available to be checked out through the library on regular & Blu-ray DVDs.

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Background Viewing

(Perfect to have on while having dinner, reading etc.)

Reading by the Fire in Summer

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Information on the four library catalogs (content available 24/7!)

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. 

Have questions about any of the catalogs?

Give us a call!

You can reach us at 607-936-3713 or visit our website at https://ssclibrary.org/

Suggested Reading Five: August 5, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Carry Me To My Grave by Christopher Golden

It’s 1956, and Malcolm, a Korean War veteran, youngest child of narcissistic Maggie, is in a race against time to get the body of his recently deceased mother from Elkhart, IN, to an island in Maine and buried safely in the ground before the sun rises in two days. It seems that the local lore about Maggie being a witch was not too far off base, as there are very real monsters who have been awakened by her death and will do whatever it takes to stop Malcolm and his family. Moving from trains to fire trucks to a VW Bus, readers are on this terrifying, desperate ride, following the point of view as it alternates between characters, good and evil, supernatural and human, allowing them to develop fully. The motivations of the ancient evil are intriguing; when balanced with the family members and their own complicated histories, the story blossoms from an average chase novel into a moving portrait of undying love.

VERDICT Intense, violent, nuanced, heartbreaking, and fun to read, Golden’s (The Night Birds) latest gives readers everything they could want in a thrilling horror story; for fans of Tananarive Due’s The Good House and Nat Cassidy’s When the Wolf Comes Home. — Library Journal

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Extracurricular by Rachel Lynn Solomon

Professor Nick Navarro is less than enthused when he discovers that the recently retired mega pop-star Ramona Wilder (the idol of his young niece) will be a student in one of his psychology classes at UCLA. Handling a celebrity’s ego while managing his own turmoil about his recent divorce is not how Nick wanted to start the new school year. Nick vows to treat Ramona like any other student but soon discovers that he can’t. He learns that there’s far more to Ramona than the persona she shared on stage and in the media, and he is absolutely flustered and enchanted by her wit and flirting. Ramona lived under a microscope as a child actor and star and has only recently been able to cut her overbearing stage mother and toxic ex-partners out of her life. She enjoys her interactions with Nick, but how can she trust that the feelings are real? Having both been hurt in the past, Ramona and Nick must navigate their histories before they can find a path forward together.

VERDICT Solomon’s (What Happens in Amsterdam) latest will suit readers looking for academia-set romances such as Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis. – Library Journal

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The Masala Chai Mystery Club by MJ Soni

A retired New England librarian takes on a case the local police have been too quick to close. Forced into early retirement by a board looking to replace her with someone younger and cheaper, Neeti Shah is bored. She misses both her late husband, Ravi, and the stimulating contact with the book-loving public she got from her job. She’s pleased to be able to provide a stable home for her niece, Myra, whose parents abandoned her when she made it clear she had no intention of marrying Shane, the shiftless father of her own son, Ved, now 5 years old. So the death of her neighbor, Rohit Solanki, in what the police insist was a slip-and-fall, provides her the perfect opportunity to put her research skills to work proving them wrong. Author Soni provides Neeti with a colorful, multinational cast of collaborators and coconspirators in her quest. This series kickoff has some problems with pacing: It takes a painfully long time to reveal the backstory of Neeti’s prior relationship with Rohit, as Soni drops the same hints over and over again. And the characters are often jarringly cartoonish, especially when they’re being mean or stupid. Sometimes there’s more than one way to handle a dilemma. A bit more nuance and a more careful approach to the solution would have made this debut a worthy addition to the cozyverse. – Kirkus Review

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Mr. and Mrs. Dixon Hide a Body: A Novel by Jennifer Holdich

Daisy is a complicated woman. She was bullied in school as an outcast who was raised by a poor single mother who dressed her in homemade clothes. For the past 20 years, however, Daisy has been married to James Dixon, a billionaire. She is now Lady Langley, overseeing a crumbling manor in the English countryside of Upper Iffley. Holdich’s (Julie Tudor Is Not a Psychopath) novel details James and Daisy’s plots to destroy each other as their relationship sours. After leaving a fundraiser, Daisy and James are involved in a pedestrian accident where Daisy injures a beloved TV personality whom James then strangles to death. James points to Daisy during the subsequent police investigation. Then Daisy uncovers James’s Ponzi investment schemes. The novel includes a humorous social media Greek chorus of neighbors who comment and speculate when two bodies are found in the river near Langley Hall after a torrential rainstorm. A key secondary character is Lady Langley’s housekeeper, Mrs. Billings, a kleptomaniac who pockets the tchotchkes left out for her to steal. VERDICT Holdich’s out-of-the-ordinary, cozy-adjacent novel is recommended for readers who enjoy marriage revenge stories with eccentric characters.–Library Journal Review

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The Oxford Detective Society by Faith Martin

Oxford biographer Lyssa Moore is delighted to be commissioned to write about Amelia ‘Monty’ Montrose, the 1960s music icon who died mysteriously at her birthday party in 1966. But as Lyssa delves into Monty’s past, she discovers the wild child portrayed by the press was hiding far more than anyone knew.

And someone is taking a very keen interest in Lyssa’s research. Her flat has been broken into, her phone is acting strangely, and she has a feeling she is being followed. Is Lyssa getting too close to a dangerous truth―was there more to Monty’s death than a tragic accident?

With the help of her cat Bibbie and her Oxford friends, who form the Oxford Detective Society, Lyssa must uncover what really happened sixty years ago. Because in Oxfordshire’s country houses and picture-perfect gardens, the past refuses to stay buried…

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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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.

Suggested Listening & Viewing: July 31, 2026

Linda Reimer

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!

And this week we’re taking a list to some classic surf songs – surfs up!

Baja by The Astronauts 

 

Found on the Album: Surfin’ With The Astronauts (1963) 

–

 

Bustin’ Surfboards by The Tornados 

 

Found on the Album: Bustin’ Surfboards (2017) 

– 

Let’s Go Trippin’ by Dick Dale 

 

Found on the Album: Surfer’s Choice (2006) 

– 

Mr. Moto by The Bel-Airs 

 

Found on the Album: Golden Echoes (1962) 

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Out of Limits by The Marketts 

 

Found on the Album: Out of Limits! (1963/2005) 

– 

Pipeline by The Chantays 

 

Found on the Album: Pipeline (1963/2001) 

– 

Soul Surfer by Johnny Fortune

Found on the Album: Soul Surfer (1963)

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Underwater by The Frogmen  

 

Found on the Album: Rock Instrumental Classics, Vol. 5: Surf (2006) (Rhino Records) 

– 

Walk, Don’t Run by The Ventures 

 

Found on the Album: Walk Don’t Run: The Best of the Ventures (1990) 

– 

Wipeout by The Surfaris 

 

Found on the Album: Wipe Out (1963) 

– 

Bonus Listen: Here is a song by a great guitarist & instrumentalist and granted he was not a surf music player but his music is definitely worth listening — Lonnie Mack. His first album is The Wham of that Memphis Man (1963). 

And from that album, here is the song: 

 Wham!  by Lonnie Mack

 

– 

And as a second bonus listen, another non-surfer & great guitar player whose music is also definitely worth checking out – although he was not just an instrumentalist – he also sang – is Freddie King and if you like guitar-centric instrumentals check out his instrumental album Let’s Hide Away and Dance Away (1961). 

And from that album, here is the original version of the song Hide Away, which Eric Clapton later recorded to great acclaim while playing with John Mayall’s Bluebreakers: 

Hide Away by Freddie King 

 

– 

Mainstream Stream  of the Week

Summer of ‘36 (2026) (Netflix) 

 

– 

Kanopy Stream of the Week

Reeling (2025) 

Reeling (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. 

Suggested Reading Five: July 29, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

–

Blood River Witch by T. J. Martinson

On Kentucky’s Blood River, a Sheriff’s Deputy investigates the death of her ex-fiance, whose brutal occultist murder strongly resembles a similar murder decades ago, for readers of Tana French, Gillian Flynn, Megan Abbott, and fans of True Detective
Deputy Sheriff Alicia Moore is thrust into the center of a chilling murder investigation when she discovers a victim identifiable only by his hauntingly familiar tattoo—her name inked onto the knuckles of her ex-fiancé, Jake.

Years earlier, Alicia’s father, the then-Sheriff, had arrested a teenage occultist for a nearly identical murder, believed to be driven by the suspect’s worship of demonic entities. Now, with Jake’s murder mirroring that past crime, doubts arise about whether the true culprit was ever caught. The mystery deepens with the arrival of Lucas Masterson, a Criminology PhD student studying the confluence between religious trauma and occult crime, who is eager to lend his expertise to the investigation. As Lucas delves into the case, his profound knowledge of the town’s grim history and his outsider perspective strain the local social fabric, while Alicia grapples with her suspicion towards his unsettling familiarity with the crimes. Caught between her strained relationship with her father, the community’s watchful eyes on a female deputy, and her own harrowing ties to the case, Alicia must navigate a maze of potential occultists, convicts, corrupt officials, and clergy to prevent a gruesome history from repeating itself once again.
For what lies at the heart of Blood River—is it an ancient malicious force seeking to harm the townfolk, or is there a deeper prejudice in a town that continues to punish women in a way that it does not punish the men?

–

If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle 

DEBUT Roxie loves romance novels, but when her wish to live out a storyline from her favorite romance author is magically granted, it’s not quite what she’d hoped for. Turns out, the new book is a crime thriller, and Roxie is stuck as the protagonist in a dangerous genre she doesn’t know much about. In an effort to escape a serial killer, she accidentally kidnaps a nerdy but hot professor, Grant, in the strangest meet-cute ever. With his knowledge of the thriller genre and her expertise in self-defense, they team up to solve an international murder plot that takes them from Boston to London. In order to end the spell and get back to her real life, she must figure out the mystery. As Roxie and Grant live through several literary devices, they find true love together, but Roxie is reluctant to give her heart to Grant since he’s a character in the novel and will disappear once the story is over. VERDICT Full of adventure, a touch of the supernatural, plenty of kooky, adorable characters, and hilarious hijinks, Eberle’s highly original and fun debut is for fans of heartfelt, original rom-coms with strong bookish themes. — Library Journal Review 

– 

Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan 

In honor of the 2026 United States Semiquincentennial, aka the 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, deep-dive American history chronicler Kiernan (We Gather Together, 2020) considers an array of contributions made by various Revolutionary War-era women. Kiernan’s approach is impressively inclusive. She tends toward less celebrated individuals whose accomplishments often occurred behind the scenes (Sarah Bradlee Fulton’s cosmetics helped disguise Boston Tea Party participants) or were left out of male-centric standard narratives (Chief Nanye’hi helped broker Cherokee peace treaties). Subjects represent diverse segments of society (patriots and loyalists, New Englanders and Southerners, enslaved individuals, aristocrats, housewives, poets, spies). Chapters alternate between detailed historic accounts, effortlessly incorporating primary source material, and accounts of the author’s recent research-inspired visits to three landmarks: Mount Vernon, a former South Carolina plantation, and a casino on Indigenous lands. A few luminaries make cameo appearances (Abigail Adams, Marie Antoinette) but the emphasis is on everyday women who are resurrected through diaries and letters, shipping lists, headstones, and bills of sale. This is an engaging, enlightening, and quite satisfying read. – Booklist Review 

– 

Sisters of the Midnight Sun by Rebecca Wright Stevens 

On August 3, 1993, the bodies of two sisters, Wanda and Bernice Ipalook, were discovered in Utqiagvik, an oil-rich area on Alaska’s North Slope. Both women had been strangled, and one had been raped. Amos Lane, a drifter with a prior record, was charged with the crimes, and Stevens was the public defender assigned to defend him. She secured immunity for him if he testified for the prosecution against the person ultimately charged with the crime, Bernice’s fiance , John Adams. Ultimately, Adams was found not guilty of the murders, and Lane was found guilty of perjury. To this day, the crime remains unsolved. Stevens’s novelistic writing style focuses less on the trial itself than on her experiences as an outsider in the community and on the lives of the Iupiat people in Arctic Alaska. Stevens spent 36 years working as a defense lawyer, and readers will appreciate everything she did to protect her client, though they may wish for more insight into the Ipalook murders. VERDICT Although this true crime book boasts an expansive view of the surrounding I upiat community, readers may leave this book with further questions about the grisly, complex case at its center. – Library Journal Review 

– 

The Talking Bone by Renee Denfeld  

Ruby Spencer, known as “the Exonerator,” has devoted her life to finding missing women and freeing the people wrongly convicted for their disappearances. Her work leads her to Georgia, where Mitchell Brown, a 32-year-old man on death row, has just two weeks left before his execution. A decade earlier, Mitchell celebrated landing a new job, drank too much, and wandered into a gas station. He later awoke in his truck to find the attendant missing and the station splashed with blood. The evidence was lost, the body was never found, and Mitchell’s memory of that night never returned. As Ruby investigates, she travels to Mitchell’s Oregon hometown. There she uncovers a chilling parallel: Mitchell’s mother vanished when he was a child, just as Ruby’s mother disappeared years before. Chapters weave between past and present, revealing the story of Ruby’s mother as the clock ticks toward Mitchell’s execution. Forced to confront her own trauma and unresolved grief, Ruby pushes deeper into a case where justice feels out of reach.  

VERDICT Drawing on her experience as a licensed death-row investigator, Denfeld (Sleeping Giants) crafts a taut, emotional thriller. Readers of her earlier novels will appreciate this intricately layered tale of suspense. –Library Journal Review  

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

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.

Suggested Listening & Viewing: July 24, 2026

Linda Reimer

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! And this week we’re turning our listening spotlight on classic country and folk songs – enjoy!

–

The Eighth of January by Sid Hemphill 

 

Found on the Album: The Devil’s Dream: Alan Lomax’s 1942 Library of Congress Recordings (2013) 

– 

I Love You A Lot A Whole Bunch by Bess Lomax Hawes 

 

Found on the Album: N/A – Recorded live in Ash Grove, Los Angles in 1963 

For more on Bessie Jones check out the following PBS article:

https://www.wkyufm.org/2022-02-18/the-african-american-folklorist-bessie-jones

– 

I Would If I Could by Frazier & Patterson 

 

Found on the Album: My Journey Home (2015) 

– 

Milwaukee Blues by The New Lost City Ramblers 

 

Found on the Album: The New Lost City Ramblers (1958) 

– 

Pan American Blues by DeFord Bailey  

 

Found on the Album: Matchbox Bluesmaster Series, Set 3 (2021) by Various Artists 

– 

Sitting On Top of the World by Mississippi Sheiks 

 

Found on the Album: Mississippi Sheiks – Complete Recorded Works 1930 – 1936 Vol 3 (1931-1934) (2000)

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Sometimes by Bessie Jones 

 

Found on the Album: Sounds of the South (2011) by Various Artists  

– 

Tishamingo Blues by Peg Leg Howell 

 

Found on the Album: Matchbox Bluesmaster Set 4 (2021) by Various Artists 

– 

Trouble In Mind by Big Bill Broonzy 

 

Found on the Album: Trouble In Mind (2000) 

– 

Walk Right In by Cannon’s Jug Stompers 

 

Found on the Album: Cannon’s Jug Stompers: The Complete Works 1927 – 1930 (1989) 

–

Mainstream Stream of the Week 

Human Vapor (2026) (Netflix) 

 

– 

Kanopy Stream of the Week 

I Am Big Bird (2015) 

) 

–

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. 

Suggested Reading Five: July 22, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

–

Data Empire The Power of Information to Organize, Control, and Dominate by Roopika Risam 

During 11,000 years of global history, recordkeeping has taken countless forms–tally sticks, clay tablets, knotted cords, scrolls, codices, ledgers, formularies, databases, and digital content–but people have always collected and classified information in pursuit of power. According to Risam (digital humanities, Dartmouth Coll.; New Digital Worlds), collecting and making sense of data drives commerce, conquest, and social control. Powerful elites decide how to interpret data and create narratives. Empires gather intelligence, draw maps, deed land, tax trade, and conduct censuses. Traditions and customs may endure, but information is authoritative only when recognized by authorities. Over the past century, data has become an empire in its own right, shaping institutions and worldviews, powering surveillance capitalism and the rise of artificial intelligence, and reducing all ideas and actions to raw data and predictive modeling. The author’s arguments will resonate with readers of Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff, and The Power of Knowledge by Jeremy Black. Readers are left with the impression that information and its uses produce exploitation, failing to enrich or empower lives. It is high time to reclaim data for good.  

VERDICT A sweeping and convincing argument that information undergirds power. –Library Journal Review 

– 

Dooneen by Keith Ridgway  

A surreal, magical realist joy of a novel, highly acclaimed Ridgway’s (A Shock, 2021) latest is a remarkable work sure to feature on best-of-the-year lists. The opening sees Bartholomew Port–Mew–mysteriously transport from a London park to a near-future Dublin with no cars, shifting roads, and a still-worsening housing crisis. As Mew drifts around a recognizable but off-kilter Dublin seeing acquaintances and family, he describes all to his lover Mootie, whom he longs to rejoin in London. Mew stumbles into being part of a reckoning of sorts, led by those seeking a collective solution to the housing crisis, and here the novel truly takes off with a staccato, breathless pace that sweeps the reader up and refuses to let go. Like the intoxicating, dreamlike prose of Evan Dara and Kazuo Ishiguro, this suspenseful tale explores community, identity, housing, and the remorseless power of the state. The vividly described backdrop of monuments of Irish revolutionary history contrasts with the contemporary feeling of powerlessness many people feel. A love letter, a puzzle, a haunting–Doneen unsettles and entrances like Susanna Clarke’s dreamlike Piranesi (2020) but also packs a political punch. A stunning achievement, Ridgway’s novel is urgent, profound, and shimmeringly beautiful. — Starred Booklist Review 

– 

 
The Forty-Year Grudge by Liza Tully 

The guests at an exclusive sorority reunion include murder. Aubrey Merritt, “the nationally renowned private investigator,” never intended to leave Gramercy Park for the wilds of New Mexico even though she was an invited member of Sarah Lawrence College’s Sigma Delta Tau chapter. She changes her mind when her old friend John Fitzroy tells her of a note announcing that “she who lives by the sword shall die” that his wife, retired Brigadier General Joan Battersea, received shortly before her guests were scheduled to arrive at the Muddy River Ranch. Merritt decides to make the trip in the company of her assistant and amanuensis, Olivia Blunt. Sure enough, someone’s shot to death during the festivities, but it’s not the general. Instead, the victim is MIT biochemist Eve Exeter, who together with her husband, entrepreneur Conrad Zander, had been about to launch Lifespan, Inc., as a public corporation dedicated to using Eve’s research to extend the lives of its clients. As the newly married Blunt mingles with the guests, all of them old enough to be her mother, she learns one of them has held a grudge against Eve since they were in school together. In case you’ve forgotten that original threat against the general, someone hides no fewer than five scorpions in her bed. Of all the possible antagonists, the one Blunt takes most seriously is Merritt, who challenges her to solve the mystery herself if she wants to keep her job. Considering Merritt’s national reputation, which actually ends up being an important plot point, the mystery is, as she acknowledges, not very challenging at all. Looking for a reason to avoid your college reunion? Tully is happy to oblige. –Kirkus Review  

– 

It Will Come Back to You: Collected Stories by Sigrid Nunez 

The dazzling first collection by novelist Nunez (The Friend, 2018) includes 13 stories published over the past few decades. They range from the nightmarishly surreal “Airport Story,” in which an unnamed woman spirals downward after being diverted to an airport she doesn’t know, to the noir-tinged “The Plan,” in which an increasingly unstable narrator contemplates murder, to the wild, coming-of-age tale “Imagination,” in which a high-strung 14-year-old sees one guest at a party at her parents’ country home “turn into a small dog, no, a large dog” as he enters the bathroom, and the deceptively casual title story, which asks, “Aren’t we all unreliable narrators of our own lives?” Nunez has a gift for surprise, whether it’s in the turn a sentence or a story takes, the little revelations that detonate as a seemingly matter-of-fact story unwinds or the variety of protagonists and settings in her stories. She also knows how to calibrate despair and surprising joy, leaving the reader giddily off-balance. Each of these stories, even the most ostensibly wispy, reverberates long after it ends. – Starred Booklist Review  

– 

Shadow Step: A Detective Miller Novel by Mark Billingham 

The Cookie Monster with a badge personified, or as the Brits might say, a biscuit fiend with a warrant card: Billingham’s peripatetic DS Declan Miller takes his third turn, following The Wrong Hands (2024), tearing around Blackpool on his trusty blue moped. His dead wife, Alex, continues to manifest herself as needed. This is one rambling and wildly funny tale that is set in motion by Ruby, a wobbling, incontinent sausage of a dog who is the companion of the unfortunate Barry Cheshire. The pair are involved in a contretemps with a mean dog owner in the park, and when that man is found dead, Cheshire is the likely suspect. It turns out the victim was involved in a major drug network with ties to Alex’s death. The story branches out from there, with intermittent fox-trotting for Miller, who proudly displays his tango trophy on his mantelpiece. Not spiraling out of control, by any means, this is as carefully plotted as expected from Billingham. There is the promise of redemption for some, although for “Google” McDougall, maybe not so much. – Booklist Review 

Reader’s Note: If you’d like to start reading the Detective Miller Mystery Series from the beginning, check out book one: The Last Dance.  

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

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.

New York Times Bestsellers: July 26, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

Note: This will be the last FYI New York Times bestseller post.

The list of New York Times Bestsellers is available for free to everyone – check out the following link:

https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/

And keep on eye on this blog for news of new books other other library related items.

Hope you’re having a great summer!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

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. 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.

3. THE CALAMITY CLUB by Kathryn Stockett: As things get tougher during the Depression, several women look for ways to improve their circumstances.

4. 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.

5. WHISTLER by Ann Patchett: Decades after their time together, a woman reconnects with her stepfather and they look back at the directions their lives have taken.

6. 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.

7. LOVE YOU MORE by Emily Giffin: Shortly after becoming engaged, Billie receives a call from her first love that compels her to return to Wisconsin.

8. THE EXQUISITE TORMENT OF LOVING YOUR ENEMY by Brigitte Knightley: The second book in the Dearly Beloathed series. Boundaries weaken between an assassin and a healer.

9. 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.

10. THE DEAL by Elle Kennedy: Hannah Wells makes a deal with the captain of the college hockey team in exchange for tutoring him that may complicate their relationship.

11. THE DIVORCE by Freida McFadden: After her husband ends their marriage and she turns her attention to his new girlfriend, Naomi suspects she might be in danger.

12. THE SHAMPOO EFFECT by Jenny Jackson: When Caroline Lash is pushed out of a social circle in a small seaside town, she exposes secrets that rile up the residents.

13. TWISTED ROAD by Christine Feehan: The 10th book in the Torpedo Ink series.

14. THE MISTAKE by Elle Kennedy: The second book in the Off-Campus series. A college hockey player attempts to redeem himself to a rising sophomore.

 15. THE SCORE by Elle Kennedy: The third book in the Off-Campus series. A brokenhearted senior resists the charms of a hockey star.

–

NON-FICTION

1. REGIME CHANGE by Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan: Two White House correspondents for The New York Times delve into the first year of President Trump’s second term.

2. REVOLUTION by Eric Metaxas: The author of “Martin Luther” and “Bonhoeffer” gives an account of the foundation of the United States of America.

3. 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.

4. CANCEL ME IF YOU CAN by Dave Portnoy: The founder of Barstool Sports describes how he grew his business from a four-page newspaper into the digital media company it is today.

5. COMMUNION by JD Vance: The vice president and author of “Hillbilly Elegy” describes how he perceives his faith played a part in his work in public life.

6. THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE by David Sedaris: Essays on the passage of time, complicated relationships and some unexpected delights life has to offer.

7. A MARRIAGE AT SEA by Sophie Elmhirst: In 1972, an incident with a breaching whale turns a couple’s dream of sailing on a boat into a monthslong struggle for survival on a raft.

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

9. 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.

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

11. THE WARMTH OF OTHER SUNS by Isabel Wilkerson: An account of the Great Migration of 1915-70, in which nearly six million African-Americans abandoned the South.

12. 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.

13. EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS by John Green: The author of “The Anthropocene Reviewed” chronicles the fight against the deadly infectious disease tuberculosis.

14. THE GREATEST SENTENCE EVER WRITTEN by Walter Isaacson: The historian and biographer examines the concepts of a statement found in the Declaration of Independence.

15. ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder: Twenty lessons from the 20th century about the course of tyranny.

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

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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

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