Fiction:
Bake Sale Murder, Lucy Stone Series, Book 13 by Leslie Meier: Ever since local developer Fred Stanton and his wife, Mimi, built five modular homes next door to Lucy Stone’s farmhouse, life just hasn’t been the same. With Mimi complaining about everything from the state of Lucy’s lawn to another neighbor’s lovable dog, quaint Tinker’s Cove, Maine, is now entangled in cul-de-sac politics and backstabbing. And when Mimi doesn’t show up for her shift at The Hat and Mitten Fund bake sale, the scent of burnt sugar leads Lucy to a shocking discovery: Mimi, face down on her kitchen floor—with a knife in her back.
While the police start their investigation, Lucy gets busy writing up the murder for the local Pennysaver—and following a few leads of her own. Lucy knows the women in her neighborhood didn’t like Mimi, but they certainly didn’t want her dead…right?
Dottie Flowers and the Skinner Gang by Sheila Gale: Dottie Flowers is a glamorous divorcee in her early sixties who runs a successful real estate business, wears designer clothes, and lusts after Harley-Davidson motor bikes. Her friend, Mabel Scattergood, is a rich widow who drives too fast, shops at discount clothing stores, and eats junk food. Even though they’re total opposites, they have one thing common: getting into trouble with the law.
In this series debut, bells ring and lights flash as Dottie wins the jackpot at a local casino. In the confusion that follows, George Fernandes, a sleaze she’d known in high school, is stabbed to death next to her machine. After being questioned by the police, Dottie and Mabel find themselves on a roller coaster adventure when they’re chased by two of George’s associates on a motor bike. They discover why they’re being followed when Dottie finds emerald jewelry in her coat pocket. It’s not only the pursuers who are after the emeralds: after Dottie’s beloved cat is kidnapped by the Skinner Gang in an attempt to force Dottie to hand over the emeralds, she decides to take action.
Romance enters the scene when Dottie meets a handsome jewelry appraiser who offers to help her by getting the emeralds copied. Despite his charms, Dottie has doubts about his motive. Are her instincts right? Will Enrique double cross her?
Get ready for adventure, thrills, and romance in Dottie Flowers and the Skinner Gang.
No Laughing Matter, Nick Madrid Series, Book 1 by Peter Guttridge: Tom Sharpe meets Raymond Chandler in No Laughing Matter, a humorous and brilliant debut that will keep readers on a knife’s edge of suspense until the bittersweet end.
When a naked woman flashes past Nick Madrid’s hotel window, it’s quite a surprise. For Nick’s room is on the 14th floor, and the hotel doesn’t have an outside elevator. The management is horrified when Cissie Parker lands in the swimming pool—not only is she killed, but she makes a real mess of the shallow end.
In Montreal for the Just For Laughs festival, Nick, a journalist who prefers practicing yoga to interviewing the stars, turns gumshoe to answer the question: did she fall or was she pushed? The trail leads first to the mean streets of Edinburgh and then to Los Angeles, where the truth lurks among the dark secrets of Hollywood.
Non-Fiction:
Blood Sisters: The Women Behind The War of the Roses by Sarah Gristwood: To contemporaries, the Wars of the Roses were known collectively as a “cousins’ war.” The series of dynastic conflicts that tore apart the ruling Plantagenet family in fifteenth-century England was truly a domestic drama, as fraught and intimate as any family feud before or since.
As acclaimed historian Sarah Gristwood reveals in Blood Sisters, while the events of this turbulent time are usually described in terms of the male leads who fought and died seeking the throne, a handful of powerful women would prove just as decisive as their kinfolks’ clashing armies. These mothers, wives, and daughters were locked in a web of loyalty and betrayal that would ultimately change the course of English history. In a captivating, multigenerational narrative, Gristwood traces the rise and rule of the seven most critical women in the wars: from Marguerite of Anjou, wife of the Lancastrian Henry VI, who steered the kingdom in her insane husband’s stead; to Cecily Neville, matriarch of the rival Yorkist clan, whose son Edward IV murdered his own brother to maintain power; to Margaret Beaufort, who gave up her own claim to the throne in favor of her son, a man who would become the first of a new line of Tudor kings.
A richly drawn, absorbing epic, Blood Sisters is a tale of hopeful births alongside bloody deaths, of romance as well as brutal pragmatism. It is a story of how women, and the power that women could wield, helped to end the Wars of the Roses, paving the way for the Tudor age—and the creation of modern England.
Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg: Thirty years after women became 50 percent of the college graduates in the United States, men still hold the vast majority of leadership positions in government and industry. This means that women’s voices are still not heard equally in the decisions that most affect our lives. In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg examines why women’s progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers compelling, commonsense solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential.
Sandberg is the chief operating officer of Facebook and is ranked on Fortune’s list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Business and as one of Time’s 100 Most Influential People in the World. In 2010, she gave an electrifying TEDTalk in which she described how women unintentionally hold themselves back in their careers. Her talk, which became a phenomenon and has been viewed more than two million times, encouraged women to “sit at the table,” seek challenges, take risks, and pursue their goals with gusto.
In Lean In, Sandberg digs deeper into these issues, combining personal anecdotes, hard data, and compelling research to cut through the layers of ambiguity and bias surrounding the lives and choices of working women. She recounts her own decisions, mistakes, and daily struggles to make the right choices for herself, her career, and her family. She provides practical advice on negotiation techniques, mentorship, and building a satisfying career, urging women to set boundaries and to abandon the myth of “having it all.” She describes specific steps women can take to combine professional achievement with personal fulfillment and demonstrates how men can benefit by supporting women in the workplace and at home.
Written with both humor and wisdom, Sandberg’s book is an inspiring call to action and a blueprint for individual growth. Lean In is destined to change the conversation from what women can’t do to what they can.
Sum It Up: A Thousand and Ninety-Eight Victories, a Couple of Irrelevant Losses, and a Life in Perspective by Pat Head Summitt: Pat Summitt, the all-time winningest coach in NCAA basketball history and bestselling author of Reach for the Summitt and Raise The Roof, tells for the first time her remarkable story of victory and resilience as well as facing down her greatest challenge: early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Pat Summitt was only 21 when she became head coach of the Tennessee Vols women’s basketball team. For 38 years, she has broken records, winning more games than any NCAA team in basketball history. She has coached an undefeated season, co-captained the first women’s Olympic team, was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and has been named Sports Illustrated ‘Sportswoman of the Year’.
She owes her coaching success to her personal struggles and triumphs. She learned to be tough from her strict, demanding father. Motherhood taught her to balance that rigidity with communication and kindness. She is a role model for the many women she’s coached; 74 of her players have become coaches.
Pat’s life took a shocking turn in 2011, when she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, an irreversible brain condition that affects 5 million Americans. Despite her devastating diagnosis, she led the Vols to win their sixteenth SEC championship in March 2012. Pat continues to be a fighter, facing this new challenge the way she’s faced every other–with hard work, perseverance, and a sense of humor.
Albums:
Jazz Profile: Duke Ellington Digital Audio Download Includes:
1. Satin Doll (Duke Ellington)
2. Stardust (Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra)
3. One O’Clock Jump (Duke Ellington)
4. Stormy Weather (Duke Ellington And His Famous Orchestra)
5. Take The “A” Train (Live) (Duke Ellington And His Orchestra)
6. 4:30 Blues (Live) (Duke Ellington)
7. In Triplicate (Live) (Duke Ellington)
8. Chile Bowl (Duke Ellington)
9. Janet (Duke Ellington)
10. Happy Reunion (Live) (1994 Digital Remaster) (Duke Ellington)
11. Caravan (1986 Digital Remaster) (Duke Ellington)
12. Wig Wise (1986 Digital Remaster) (Duke Ellington)
Psychedelic Rock Blues, Volume 1 -Practice-Tracks: Digital Audio Download Includes:
1. Tune Up (Practice-Tracks)
2. All Night Blues in E (In the style of Led Zeppelin) (Practice-Tracks)
3. Strange Blues in D (In the style of Cream) (Practice-Tracks)
4. Wicked Blues in E (In the style of Jimi Hendrix) (Practice-Tracks)
5. Broke Blues in A (In the style of The Bluesbreakers) (Practice-Tracks)
6. Hip City Blues in D (In the style of Tower of Power) (Practice-Tracks)
7. Backyard Blues in E (In the style of The Yardbirds) (Practice-Tracks)
8. Straw Hat Blues in G (In the style of Taj Mahal) (Practice-Tracks)
9. 4 Finger Blues in D (In the style of The Grateful Dead) (Practice-Tracks)
10. Roadside Blues in D (In the style of The Doors) (Practice-Tracks)
11. Blues King Blues in A (In the style of Albert King) (Practice-Tracks)
Videos:
The Art Of Acoustic Blues Guitar: Early Roots with Woody Mann: Teaches the song forms and techniques of early American folk and blues guitar styles. Acclaimed blues performer and educator, Woody Mann, teaches five blues songs based on the playing of such originators as Charley Patton, Son House, Robert Johnson, Big Joe Williams, Scrapper Blackwell, and Tommy Johnson. Written for the near beginner to intermediate student, each song illustrates the techniques and approaches of these innovators in a clear and easy to understand arrangement of a classic theme in Open G, Open D, and standard tuning. Woody teaches techniques including rhythmic fingerpicking, left-hand dumping, brushing and percussive right-hand techniques, and syncopating a melody. Included is a Technique and Variations section where Woody further explores the subtleties of dynamics and phrasing and shows how to create variations within a tune. Early Roots offers the student the tools needed to understand and play the music of the early masters – the roots of today’s acoustic fingerstyle guitar music. Each song chapter includes introduction, performance, explanation and slow performance with split screen. Songs include: Delta Blues For Patton, Jackson Moan, Blue Daze, Shuffle Blues In G, and Bullfrog Groan.
Easy Guitar: Let Easy Guitar get you started on your musical career! Even with zero experience, you’ll be playing & singing House of the Rising Sun and more at the end of your studio sessions. Whether you want to jam in a band, or just chill with your friends, Easy Guitar will teach you the skills you need to play like the pros. Get maximum support as you work on your guitar techniques. A personal tutor shows you how to play it right, whether acoustic or electric. The demos give you easy-to-follow, clear, close-up views to make sure you’re learning the correct way to form chords, pick, and strum. Plus, written insets let you learn by ear and learn to read music at the same time. From stringing and alternate tunings to effects and amps, you can quickly go from beginner to intermediate level.
The STLS Digital Catalog may be found on the library’s homepage of SSCLIBRARY.ORG
Or via the following link:
http://stls.lib.overdrive.com/FE5904CF-8A91-4688-A592-7A046C7988D3/10/536/en/Default.htm
And if you have an app device look for the OverDrive Media Console app in your app store – it is the app that will allow you to check out free library e-books and audio books.
Digital Catalog music and video titles must currently be downloaded to a Windows computer to enjoy.
Have a great weekend!
Linda R.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 