October 2016 – Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Monday, October 31, 2016

October 31, 2016 Linda Reimer

Happy Halloween everyone!

I’m going to offer a bonus listening advisory suggestion today!

In keeping with the fact that today is Halloween – I suggest you check out this cool CD!

Halloween Stomp: Haunted House Party

This neat album features really cool old time swing music perfect for the Halloween season!

Here is a listing of the songs on the CD followed by the artists performing the songs:

The Haunted House (Ray Noble)

Shivery Stop (Frankie Trumbauer)

Mysterious Mose (Harry Reser)

The Boogy Man Is Her (Tom Gerun)

Haunting Blues (Red Nichols, Jimmy Dorsey, Eddie Lang)

Bug-A-Boo (Red Nichols, Wingy Mannone)

Got The Jitters (Don Redman)

The Boogie Man (Todd Rollins, Chick Bullock)

The House Is Haunted (Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orch.)

Zombie (Gene Kardos)

Mr. Ghost Goes To Town (Louis Prima, Pee Wee Russell)

Skeleton In The Closet (Nat Gonella and his Georgians)

The Goblin Band (Glen Gray)

Hell’s Bells (Sid Peltyn)

With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm (Rudy Vallee and the Connecticut Yankees)

The Black Cat (Ozzie Nelson)

Strange enchantment (Gil Evans)

The Ghost Of Smokey Joe (Cab Calloway)

Ol’ Man Mose Ain’t Dead (Nat King Cole Trio)

Swingin’ At The Seance (Glenn Miller)

Horror Fantasia For Spooks And Wild Indians (Charlie Barnet, Peggy Lee)

Haunted Heart (Tommy Dorsey)

The Headless Horseman (Kay Starr)

Dry bones (Tommy Dorsey).

And here is the link to the request page:

https://goo.gl/CNacwr

And on to our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats!

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the downloadable audiobook:

Between Breaths: A Memoir of Panic and Addiction by Elizabeth Vargas

“Instant New York Times and USA Today Bestseller

From the moment she uttered the brave and honest words, “”I am an alcoholic,”” to interviewer George Stephanopoulos, Elizabeth Vargas began writing her story, as her experiences were still raw. Now, in BETWEEN BREATHS, Vargas discusses her accounts of growing up with anxiety-which began suddenly at the age of six when her father served in Vietnam-and how she dealt with this anxiety as she came of age, to her eventually turning to alcohol for relief. She tells of how she found herself living in denial, about the extent of her addiction and keeping her dependency a secret for so long. She addresses her time in rehab, her first year of sobriety, and the guilt she felt as a working mother who had never found the right balance.

Honest and hopeful, BETWEEN BREATHS is an inspiring read.”

Here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2582638

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

Miss Jane: A Novel by Brad Watson:

Longlisted for the National Book Award for Fiction: Astonishing prose brings to life a forgotten woman and a lost world in a strange and bittersweet Southern pastoral.

Since his award-winning debut collection of stories, Last Days of the Dog-Men, Brad Watson has been expanding the literary traditions of the South, in work as melancholy, witty, strange, and lovely as any in America.

Now, drawing on the story of his own great-aunt, Watson explores the life of Miss Jane Chisolm, born in rural, early-twentieth-century Mississippi with a genital birth defect that would stand in the way of the central “uses” for a woman in that time and place: sex and marriage. From the highly erotic world of nature around her to the hard tactile labor of farm life, from the country doctor who befriends her to the boy who loved but was forced to leave her, Miss Jane Chisolm and her world are anything but barren.

The potency and implacable cruelty of nature, as well as its beauty, is a trademark of Watson’s fiction. In Miss Jane, the author brings to life a hard, unromantic past that is tinged with the sadness of unattainable loves, yet shot through with a transcendent beauty. Jane Chisolm’s irrepressible vitality and generous spirit give her the strength to live her life as she pleases in spite of the limitations that others, and her own body, would place on her. Free to satisfy only herself, she mesmerizes those around her, exerting an unearthly fascination that lives beyond her still.

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:

https://goo.gl/U7UtKp

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

Freegal Music Service: This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day: http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

Zinio: Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available: https://www.rbdigital.com/stlschemungcony

About Library Mobile Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Friday, October 28, 2016

October 28, 2016October 24, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

Ghosts of Havana by Todd Moss:

A timely international thriller by the former deputy assistant secretary of state and bestselling author.

When four American sport fishermen stray into Cuban waters and are promptly arrested by Castro’s navy, State Department crisis manager Judd Ryker finds himself called in to negotiate their release. But the more Ryker digs in to the situation, the more things he discovers that just don’t seem to fit, especially now, with relations between the United States and Cuba supposedly thawing. Who are these men really, and what were they doing there? What is Ryker’s actual mission, and what is his own government hiding from him?

Some people want the new initiative to succeed. Others want to stop it at any cost. Still others see it as an opportunity for something much more radical. The common factor for every one of them: the time to act is right this minute.

The ghosts of Havana are walking, and Ryker is caught in the middle of them all.

Here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2589866

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

The Secrets of Wishtide by Kate Saunders:

Mrs. Laetitia Rodd, aged fifty-two, is the widow of an archdeacon. Living in Hampstead with her confidante and landlady, Mrs. Bentley, who once let rooms to John Keats, Laetitia makes her living as a highly discreet private investigator.

Her brother, Frederick Tyson, is a criminal barrister living in the neighboring village of Highgate with his wife and ten children. Frederick finds the cases, and Laetitia solves them using her arch intelligence, her iron discretion, and her immaculate cover as an unsuspecting widow. When Frederick brings to her attention a case involving the son of the well-respected, highly connected Sir James Calderstone, Laetitia sets off for Lincolnshire to take up a position as the family’s new governess–quickly making herself indispensable.But the seemingly simple case–looking into young Charles Calderstone’s “inappropriate” love interest–soon takes a rather unpleasant turn. And as the family’s secrets begin to unfold, Laetitia discovers the Calderstones have more to hide than most.

Dickensian in its scope and characters, The Secrets of Wishtide brings nineteenth century society vividly to life and illuminates the effect of Victorian morality on women’s lives. Introducing an irresistible new detective, the first book in the Laetitia Rodd Mystery series will enthrall and delight.

You can request the title clicking on the following link to StarCat:

https://goo.gl/xy7NHU

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Thursday, October 27, 2016

October 27, 2016October 24, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

Everything I Don’t Remember: A Novel by Jonas Hassen Khemiri:

WINNER OF THE AUGUST PRIZE, SWEDEN’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS LITERARY HONOR

One of Sweden’s most celebrated young writers and activists spins an exhilarating, innovative, and gripping murder mystery reminiscent of the hit podcast Serial.

A young man named Samuel dies in a horrible car crash. Was it an accident or was it suicide? To answer that question, an unnamed writer with an agenda of his own sets out to map Samuel’s last day alive. Through conversations with friends, relatives, and neighbors, a portrait of Samuel emerges: the loving grandchild, the reluctant bureaucrat, the loyal friend, the contrived poseur. The young man who did everything for his girlfriend Laide and shared everything with his best friend Vandad. Until he lost touch with them both.

By piecing together an exhilarating narrative puzzle, we follow Samuel from the first day he encounters the towering Vandad to when they become roommates. We meet Panther, Samuel’s self-involved childhood friend whose move to Berlin indirectly cues the beginning of Samuel’s search for the meaning of love—which in turn leads Samuel to Laide. Soon, Samuel’s relationship with Laide leads to a chasm in his friendship with Vandad, and it isn’t long before the lines between loyalty and betrayal, protection, and peril get blurred irrevocably.

Everything I Don’t Remember is a gripping tale about love and memory. But it is also a story about a writer who, by filling out the contours of Samuel’s story, is actually trying to grasp a truth about himself. In the end, what remains of all our fleeting memories? And what is hidden behind everything we don’t remember? Told with Khemiri’s characteristic stylistic ingenuity, this is an emotional roller coaster ride of a book that challenges us to see ourselves—and our relationships to the closest people in our lives—in new and sometimes shocking ways.

Here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2461026

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

The Firebrand and the First Lady: Portrait of a Friendship: Pauli Murray, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Struggle for Social Justice

by Patricia Bell-Scott

Longlisted for the National Book Award

A groundbreaking book—two decades in the works—that tells the story of how a brilliant writer-turned-activist, granddaughter of a mulatto slave, and the first lady of the United States, whose ancestry gave her membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, forged an enduring friendship that changed each of their lives and helped to alter the course of race and racism in America.

Pauli Murray first saw Eleanor Roosevelt in 1933, at the height of the Depression, at a government-sponsored, two-hundred-acre camp for unemployed women where Murray was living, something the first lady had pushed her husband to set up in her effort to do what she could for working women and the poor. The first lady appeared one day unannounced, behind the wheel of her car, her secretary and a Secret Service agent her passengers. To Murray, then aged twenty-three, Roosevelt’s self-assurance was a symbol of women’s independence, a symbol that endured throughout Murray’s life.

Five years later, Pauli Murray, a twenty-eight-year-old aspiring writer, wrote a letter to Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt protesting racial segregation in the South. The president’s staff forwarded Murray’s letter to the federal Office of Education. The first lady wrote back.

Murray’s letter was prompted by a speech the president had given at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, praising the school for its commitment to social progress. Pauli Murray had been denied admission to the Chapel Hill graduate school because of her race.

She wrote in her letter of 1938:

“Does it mean that Negro students in the South will be allowed to sit down with white students and study a problem which is fundamental and mutual to both groups? Does it mean that the University of North Carolina is ready to open its doors to Negro students . . . ? Or does it mean, that everything you said has no meaning for us as Negroes, that again we are to be set aside and passed over . . . ?”

Eleanor Roosevelt wrote to Murray: “I have read the copy of the letter you sent me and I understand perfectly, but great changes come slowly . . . The South is changing, but don’t push too fast.”

So began a friendship between Pauli Murray (poet, intellectual rebel, principal strategist in the fight to preserve Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, cofounder of the National Organization for Women, and the first African American female Episcopal priest) and Eleanor Roosevelt (first lady of the United States, later first chair of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, and chair of the President’s Commission on the Status of Women) that would last for a quarter of a century.

Drawing on letters, journals, diaries, published and unpublished manuscripts, and interviews, Patricia Bell-Scott gives us the first close-up portrait of this evolving friendship and how it was sustained over time, what each gave to the other, and how their friendship changed the cause of American social justice.

You can request the title by clicking on the following link to StarCat:

https://goo.gl/QMpkNy

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Wednesday, October 26, 2016

October 26, 2016October 24, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

The Inn at Eagle Point, Chesapeake Shores Novel by Sherryl Woods:

Return to the beloved town of Chesapeake Shores in this special release of The Inn at Eagle Point by #1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods—and watch the new series Chesapeake Shores on Hallmark Channel!

It’s been years since Abby O’Brien Winters set foot in Chesapeake Shores. The Maryland town her father built has too many sad memories and Abby too few spare moments, thanks to her demanding Wall Street career, the crumbling of her marriage and energetic daughters. Then one panicked phone call from her youngest sister brings her racing back home to protect Jess’s dream of renovating the charming Inn at Eagle Point.

But saving the inn from foreclosure means dealing not only with her own fractured family, but also with Trace Riley, the man Abby left ten years ago. Trace can be a roadblock to her plans…or proof that second chances happen in the most unexpected ways.

And here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2650448

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane,

and the Making of the Little House Books by Christine Woodside:

This myth-busting book finally reveals the true story behind the beloved children’s classics.

Generations of children have fallen in love with the pioneer saga of the Ingalls family, of Pa and Ma, Laura and her sisters, and their loyal dog, Jack. Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books have taught millions of Americans about frontier life, giving inspiration to many and in the process becoming icons of our national identity. Yet few realize that this cherished bestselling series wandered far from the actual history of the Ingalls family and from what Laura herself understood to be central truths about pioneer life.

In this groundbreaking narrative of literary detection, Christine Woodside reveals for the first time the full extent of the collaboration between Laura and her daughter, Rose Wilder Lane. Rose hated farming and fled the family homestead as an adolescent, eventually becoming a nationally prominent magazine writer, biographer of Herbert Hoover, and successful novelist, who shared the political values of Ayn Rand and became mentor to Roger Lea MacBride, the second Libertarian presidential candidate. Drawing on original manuscripts and letters, Woodside shows how Rose reshaped her mother’s story into a series of heroic tales that rebutted the policies of the New Deal. Their secret collaboration would lead in time to their estrangement. A fascinating look at the relationship between two strong-willed women, Libertarians on the Prairie is also the deconstruction of an American myth.

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:

https://goo.gl/bTjHlK

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Tuesday, October 25, 2016

October 25, 2016October 24, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

Mostly Void, Partially Stars, Welcome to Night Vale Episodes, Volume 1

by Joseph Fink:

From the authors of the New York Times bestselling novel Welcome to Night Vale and the creators of the #1 international podcast of the same name, comes a collection of episodes from Season One of their hit podcast, featuring an introduction by the authors, behind-the-scenes commentary, and original illustrations.

In June 2012, the creators of Welcome to Night Vale began airing twice-monthly podcasts about a fictional town in the American Southwest where ghosts, angels, aliens, and government conspiracies are all commonplace parts of day-to-day life. Mostly Void, Partially Stars contains the first year of episodes from the podcast that would become a worldwide sensation. By the anniversary show a year later, the fanbase had exploded, vaulting the podcast into the #1 spot on iTunes. Since then, its popularity has grown by epic proportions, hitting more than 100 million downloads, and Night Vale has expanded to a successful live multi-cast international touring stage show and a New York Times bestselling novel. Now the first two seasons are available as books, offering an entertaining reading experience and a valuable reference guide to past episodes.

Mostly Void, Partially Stars introduces us to Night Vale, a town in the American Southwest where every conspiracy theory is true, and to the strange but friendly people who live there.

Mostly Void, Partially Stars features an introduction by creator and co-writer Joseph Fink, behind-the-scenes commentary and guest introductions by performers from the podcast and notable fans, including Cecil Baldwin (Cecil), Dylan Marron (Carlos), and Kevin R. Free (Kevin) among others. Also included is the full script from the first Welcome to Night Vale live show, Condos. Beautiful illustrations by series artist Jessica Hayworth accompany each episode.

Mostly Void, Partially Stars is an absolute must-have whether you’re a fan of the podcast or discovering for the first time the wonderful world of Night Vale.

Here’s a link to the e-book page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2650748

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

Darktown: A Novel by Thomas Mullen:

In the tradition of our most acclaimed suspense writers, the author of The Last Town on Earth delivers a riveting and elegant police procedural set in Atlanta, a ripped-from-the-headlines depiction of a world on the cusp of great change involving race relations, city politics, and police corruption.

Responding from pressure on high, the Atlanta police department is forced to hire its first black officers in 1948. The newly minted policemen are met with deep hostility by their white peers and their authority is limited: They can’t arrest white suspects; they can’t drive a squad car; they can’t even use the police headquarters and must instead operate out of the basement of a gym.

When a black woman who was last seen in a car driven by a white man turns up fatally beaten, no one seems to care except for Boggs and Smith, two black cops from vastly different backgrounds. Pressured from all sides, they will risk their jobs, the trust the community has put in them, and even their own safety to investigate her death. Their efforts bring them up against an old-school cop, Dunlow, who has long run the neighborhood like his own, and Dunlow’s young partner, Rakestraw, a young progressive who may or may not be willing to make allies across color lines.

Set in the post-war, pre-civil rights South, and evoking the socially resonant and morally complex crime novels of Dennis Lehane, and Walter Mosley, Darktown is a vivid, smart, intricately plotted crime saga that explores the timely issues of race, law enforcement, and the uneven scales of justice.

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:

https://goo.gl/sdtW9R

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Monday, October 24, 2016

October 24, 2016October 31, 2016 Linda Reimer

I’m going to preface our daily book recommendations for today by suggesting you check out a DVD!

Today, October 24, 2016 is retired Rolling Stone bassist Bill Wyman’s 80^th birthday!

So if you’re a Stones fan you might want to check out this DVD!

Rolling Stones From The Vault: L A Forum (Live in 1975):

‘From The Vault’ is a new series of live concerts from The Rolling Stones archive which are getting their first official release. ‘L.A. Forum Live In 1975′ is the second title in this series. The Rolling Stones’ ‘Tour Of The Americas ’75’ was the band’s first tour with new guitarist Ronnie Wood. Even before the dates started there were dramatic scenes in New York City at the official tour announcement when the band unexpectedly turned up on a flatbed truck to play ‘Brown Sugar’. After a couple of low key warm-up shows in Louisiana the tour took in 44 dates between the 3rd June and the 8th August 1975. They settled into the L.A. Forum for a five night stint from July 9th to 13th and this concert film features the show from July 12th. The footage has now been carefully restored and the sound has been newly mixed by Bob Clearmountain for this first official release of the show.

Song List:

1) Introduction

2) Honky Tonk Women

3) All Down The Line

4) If You Can’t Rock Me / Get Off Of My Cloud

5) Star Star

6) Gimme Shelter

7) Ain’t Too Proud To Beg

8) You Gotta Move

9) You Can’t Always Get What You Want

10) Happy

11) Tumbling Dice

12) It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll

13) Band Intros

14) Doo DooDooDooDoo (Heartbreaker)

15) Fingerprint File

16) Angie

17) Wild Horses

18) That’s Life

19) Outta Space

20) Brown Sugar

21) Midnight Rambler

22) Rip This Joint

23) Street Fighting Man

24) Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Here’s the link to the StarCat request page:

https://goo.gl/naoS7p

And just in case the music of the Stones isn’t your proverbial cup of tea — you might check out a mellow DVD of George Winston’s music, originally show on PBS, titled Seasons – here’s the request link for it:

https://goo.gl/xfqeAs

And on to the daily book reviews!

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

The Dark Days Club, Lady Helen Trilogy, Book 1 by Alison Goodman:

Helen must make a choice: Save her reputation, or save the world.

London, 1812. Eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall is on the eve of her debut presentation at the royal court of George III. Her life should revolve around gowns, dancing, and securing a suitable marriage. Instead, when one of her family’s maids disappears, she is drawn into the shadows of Regency London.

There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few able to stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons that has infiltrated all levels of society. Carlston is not a man she should be anywhere near, especially with the taint of scandal that surrounds him. Yet he offers her help and the possibility of finally discovering the truth about the mysterious deaths of her parents.

Soon the two of them are investigating a terrifying conspiracy that threatens to plunge the newly Enlightened world back into darkness. But can Helen trust a man whose own life is built on lies? And does she have the strength to face the dangers of this hidden world and her family’s legacy?

Set in the glittering social world of the Regency upper-crust, the Dark Days Club is a supernatural adventure that introduces New York Times best-selling author Alison Goodman’s Lady Helen Wrexhall—another heroine whom, like Eona, readers can take to their hearts.

Here’s a link to the e-book page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2462240

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan:

Nina Redmond is a literary matchmaker. Pairing a reader with that perfect book is her passion… and also her job. Or at least it was. Until yesterday, she was a librarian in the hectic city. But now the job she loved is no more.

Determined to make a new life for herself, Nina moves to a sleepy village many miles away. There she buys a van and transforms it into a bookmobile—a mobile bookshop that she drives from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing one life after another with the power of storytelling.

From helping her grumpy landlord deliver a lamb, to sharing picnics with a charming train conductor who serenades her with poetry, Nina discovers there’s plenty of adventure, magic, and soul in a place that’s beginning to feel like home… a place where she just might be able to write her own happy ending.

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:

https://goo.gl/uPpKZI

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Friday, October 21, 2016

October 21, 2016October 12, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

The Queen of Blood, Book One of The Queens of Renthia by Sarah Beth Durst:

Set in the magical world of Renthia, The Queen of Blood is Sarah Beth Durst’s ambitious entry into adult epic fantasy. With the danger of Peter Brett’s The Warded Man, heart of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and lyricism of Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind, this is the first chapter in a series destined to be a classic.

Everything has a spirit: the willow tree with leaves that kiss the pond, the stream that feeds the river, the wind that exhales fresh snow . . .

But the spirits that reside within this land want to rid it of all humans. One woman stands between these malevolent spirits and the end of humankind: the queen. She alone has the magical power to prevent the spirits from destroying every man, woman, and child. But queens are still just human, and no matter how strong or good, the threat of danger always looms.

With the position so precarious, young women are chosen to train as heirs. Daleina, a seemingly quiet academy student, is under no illusions as to her claim to the throne, but simply wants to right the wrongs that have befallen the land. Ven, a disgraced champion, has spent his exile secretly fighting against the growing number of spirit attacks. Joining forces, these daring partners embark on a treacherous quest to find the source of the spirits’ restlessness—a journey that will test their courage and trust, and force them to stand against both enemies and friends to save their land . . . before it’s bathed in blood.

Here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2559860

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

Stray Cat Struts: My Life as a Rockabilly Rebel by Slim Jim Phantom:

In June 1980, 19-year-old James McDonnell (known as Slim Jim Phantom) boarded a plane from New York City to London with his childhood friends and bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker. In less than a year, they went from being homeless, hungry, and living in punk rock squats to the toast of the London music scene.

The Stray Cats developed a signature sound and style that swept across the world, released multiplatinum albums, and were embraced and befriended by classic rock acts like the Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin, as well as original punk heroes such as the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and the Clash, and rock-and-roll originators Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis. After ten years of marriage to actress Britt Ekland, Slim Jim moved down the hill to Sunset Strip, where his son was raised and he owned the world-famous rock-and-roll bar Cat Club while continuing to play with a host of well-known musicians.

Slim Jim, a veteran of the London and LA music scenes, recounts in his memoir not just the Stray Cats’ rise but a different type of life spent in the upper echelon of rock-and-roll stardom.

You can request the title clicking on the following link to StarCat:

https://goo.gl/Ys6XbM

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Thursday, October 20, 2016

October 20, 2016October 12, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

Bobby Kennedy: The Making of a Liberal Icon by Larry Tye:

History remembers Robert F. Kennedy as a racial healer, a tribune for the poor, and the last progressive knight of a bygone era of American politics. But Kennedy’s enshrinement in the liberal pantheon was actually the final stage of a journey that had its beginnings in the conservative 1950s. In Bobby Kennedy, Larry Tye peels away layers of myth and misconception to paint a complete portrait of this singularly fascinating figure.

To capture the full arc of his subject’s life, Tye draws on unpublished memoirs, unreleased government files, and fifty-eight boxes of papers that had been under lock and key for the past forty years. He conducted hundreds of interviews with RFK intimates—including Bobby’s widow, Ethel, his sister Jean, and his aide John Siegenthaler—many of whom have never spoken to another biographer. Tye’s determination to sift through the tangle of often contradictory opinions means that Bobby Kennedy will stand as the definitive one-volume biography of a man much beloved, but just as often misunderstood.

Bobby Kennedy’s transformation from cold warrior to fiery liberal is a profoundly moving personal story that also offers a lens onto two of the most chaotic and confounding decades of twentieth-century American history. The first half of RFK’s career underlines what the country was like in the era of Eisenhower, while his last years as a champion of the underclass reflect the seismic shifts wrought by the 1960s. Nurtured on the rightist orthodoxies of his dynasty-building father, Bobby Kennedy began his public life as counsel to the red-baiting senator Joseph McCarthy. He ended it with a noble campaign to unite working-class whites with poor blacks and Latinos in an electoral coalition that seemed poised to redraw the face of presidential politics. Along the way, he turned up at the center of every event that mattered, from the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis to race riots and Vietnam.

Bare-knuckle operative, cynical White House insider, romantic visionary—Bobby Kennedy was all of these things at one time or another, and each of these aspects of his personality emerges in the pages of this powerful and perceptive new biography.

Here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2631048

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

Michael Bloomfield: The Rise and Fall of an American Guitar Hero

by Ed Ward and Billy F. Gibbons:

This is the definitive biography of the legendary guitarist whom eminent figures like Muddy Waters and B. B. King held in high esteem, and who created the prototype for Clapton, Hendrix, Page, and everyone who followed.

Bloomfield was one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess. He was a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which inspired a generation of white blues players; he played with Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s, when his guitar was a central component of Dylan’s new rock sound on “Like a Rolling Stone” and at his earthshaking 1965 Newport Folk Festival performance. He then founded the Electric Flag, recorded Super Session with Al Kooper, backed Janis Joplin, and released at least twenty other albums, despite debilitating substance abuse. He died of a mysterious drug overdose in 1981.

A very limited edition of a book of this title was first published in 1983, but it has here been so thoroughly revised and expanded that it is essentially a brand-new publication. Based on extensive interviews with Bloomfield himself and with those who knew him best, and including an extensive discography and Bloomfield’s memorable 1968 Rolling Stone interview, Michael Bloomfield is an intimate portrait of one of the pioneers of rock guitar.

You can request the title clicking on the following link to StarCat:

https://goo.gl/ouvXNg

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Wednesday, October 19, 2016

October 19, 2016October 12, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

Elephant Company: The Inspiring Story of an Unlikely Hero and the Animals Who Helped Him Save Lives in World War II by Vicki Croke:

The remarkable story of James Howard “Billy” Williams, whose uncanny rapport with the world’s largest land animals transformed him from a carefree young man into the charismatic war hero known as Elephant Bill.

Billy Williams came to colonial Burma in 1920, fresh from service in World War I, to a job as a “forest man” for a British teak company. Mesmerized by the intelligence, character, and even humor of the great animals who hauled logs through the remote jungles, he became a gifted “elephant wallah.” Increasingly skilled at treating their illnesses and injuries, he also championed more humane treatment for them, even establishing an elephant “school” and “hospital.” In return, he said, the elephants made him a better man. The friendship of one magnificent tusker in particular, Bandoola, would be revelatory. In Elephant Company, Vicki Constantine Croke chronicles Williams’s growing love for elephants as the animals provide him lessons in courage, trust, and gratitude.

But Elephant Company is also a tale of war and daring. When Imperial Japanese forces invaded Burma in 1942, Williams joined the elite Force 136, the British dirty tricks department, operating behind enemy lines. His war elephants would carry supplies, build bridges, and transport the sick and elderly over treacherous mountain terrain. Now well versed in the ways of the jungle, an older, wiser Williams even added to his stable by smuggling more elephants out of Japanese-held territory. As the occupying authorities put a price on his head, Williams and his elephants faced his most perilous test. In a Hollywood-worthy climax, Elephant Company, cornered by the enemy, attempted a desperate escape: a risky trek over the mountainous border to India, with a bedraggled group of refugees in tow. Elephant Bill’s exploits would earn him top military honors and the praise of famed Field Marshal Sir William Slim.

Part biography, part war epic, and part wildlife adventure, Elephant Company is an inspirational narrative that illuminates a little-known chapter in the annals of wartime heroism.

And here’s a link to the request page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/1536579

And here is an additional link to a neat National Geographic interview with the author of Elephant Company Vickie Constantine Croke which sheds light on why she was inspired to write the book:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/140928-burma-elephant-teak-kipling-japan-world-war-ngbooktalk/

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is actually two volumes in the same fun Chuck Gunderson set that focus on the performing career of The Beatles titled Some Fun Tonight!: The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966:

Have Some Fun Tonight! Volumes 1 & 2

Here’s a summary of the two volume set:

The Beatles’ North American tours turned the entertainment business on its ear and forever changed the landscape of the concert touring industry. In February 1964, after finally achieving a number-one hit in America, the Fab Four came to the country with high hopes, performing on the wildly popular Ed Sullivan Show in both New York City and Miami and playing concerts at Carnegie Hall and the Washington Coliseum.

In just fifteen short days, the Beatles conquered America. The Beatles made music-entertainment history with their North American tours from 1964 to 1966. Some Fun Tonight! The Backstage Story of How the Beatles Rocked America: The Historic Tours of 1964-1966 is a comprehensive two-volume set which gives you a city-by-city synopsis of the group’s activities as they traveled the United States and Canada for their groundbreaking series of concerts. From San Francisco’s Cow Palace show on August 19, 1964, through their last-ever live performances at that city’s famed Candlestick Park on August 29, 1966, these books cover the music and the madness that characterized the Beatles’ three North American tours.

With hundreds of photographs and images of rare memorabilia, it is truly the definitive reference for what is arguably the most important period in the Beatles’ long and winding career. You’ll read about the behind-the-scenes negotiations, the mayhem at the airports and hotels, and the cheeky quotes delivered at the press conferences. You’ll also read about the opening acts, the concerts, and the stories behind the shows through the eyes of the Beatles, their entourage, the promoters, the emcees, and the fans.

Never before have the Beatles’ North American concerts been covered in such depth. If you witnessed the mania firsthand, you’ll relive the excitement in the pages of these books. If you were born too late to be a part of those halcyon days, you’ll learn what it was like to be swept up and carried away by the phenomenon of the greatest musical act of all time. When all is said and done, Some Fun Tonight is a tribute to the fans the first generation and beyond. Look carefully at the faces of the fans in this book; they may be your friends, parents, grandparents or even you! but together, they made Beatlemania happen. Fasten your seat belt and enjoy this comprehensive history!

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat for volume 1:
https://goo.gl/PjDCWO

And a link to the request page in StarCat for volume 2:
https://goo.gl/03oa13

And you can also request the books by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

Daily Print & Digital Suggested Reads: Tuesday, October 18, 2016

October 18, 2016October 12, 2016 Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our suggested daily recommended titles in print and digital formats.

Our Digital Catalog suggested title for today is the e-book:

Barefoot Sisters Walking Home by Lucy Letcher & Susan Letcher:

After hiking the AT from Maine to Georgia, Lucy and Susan Letcher decided that the best way to get home would be to turn around and hike it again. So they did–barefoot, of course–but this time, they encountered hardships and joys they didn’t expect at all. This second half of the Barefoot Sisters’ account has become an AT classic.

Lucy Letcher is an artist and a writer. She has an MFA in printmaking from Edinburgh College of Art, and has exhibited in galleries in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. She currently lives and works in Berlin. Susan Letcher is a doctoral student in ecology at the University of Connecticut. She plans to work as a professor for study abroad courses in Costa Rica with the Organization for Tropical Studies.

Here’s a link to the e-book page in the Digital Catalog:

https://stls.overdrive.com/media/2595775

And our Print Book Suggested Read for today is:

Fast Girl: A Life Spent Running from Madness by Suzy Favor Hamilton:

The former middle distance Olympic runner and high-end escort speaks out for the first time about her battle with mental illness, and how mania controlled and compelled her in competition, but also in life. This is a heartbreakingly honest yet hopeful memoir reminiscent of Manic, Electroboy, and An Unquiet Mind.

During the 1990s, three-time Olympian Suzy Favor Hamilton was the darling of American track and field. An outstanding runner, a major sports apparel spokesperson, and a happily married wife, she was the model for an active, healthy, and wholesome life. But her perfect facade masked a dark truth: manic depression and bipolar disorder that drove her obsession to perform and win. For years after leaving the track, Suzy wrestled with her condition, as well as the loss of a close friend, conflicted feelings about motherhood and her marriage, and lingering shame about her athletic career. After a misdiagnosis and a recommendation for medication that only exacerbated her mania and made her hypersexual, Suzy embarked on a new path, and assumed a new identity. Fueled by a newfound confidence, a feeling of strength and independence and a desire she couldn’t tamp down, she became a high-priced escort in Las Vegas, working as “Kelly.”

But Suzy could not keep her double life a secret forever. When it was eventually exposed, it sent her into a reckless suicidal period where the only option seemed out. Finally, with the help of her devoted husband, Suzy finally got the proper medical help she needed. In this startling frank memoir, she recounts the journey to outrun her demons, revealing how a woman used to physically controlling her body learned to come to terms with her unstable mind. It is the story of a how a supreme competitor scored her most important victory of all—reclaiming her life from the ravages of an untreated mental illness. Today, thanks to diagnosis, therapy, Kelly has stepped into the shadows, but Suzy is building a better life, one day at a time. Sharing her story, Suzy is determined to raise awareness, provide understanding, and offer inspiration to others coping with their own challenges.

Here’s a link to the request page in StarCat:

https://goo.gl/47lxnT

Or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat: The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. http://starcat.stls.org/

The Digital Catalog: The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos: https://stls.overdrive.com/

About Library Mobile Apps:

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