Month: October 2018

Did You Know…Halloween!

Linda Reimer

This month our Did You Know posting has an obvious subject!

Did You Know…

The library has spooky books that offer perfect reading for the Halloween season?

And I’m sure everyone will have thought “Yes, I did know that,”  in advance.

However, since Halloween is fun…

Here is a selection of neat and spooky titles for your perusal:

American Ghost by Hannah Nordhaus:

It’s one thing to hunt for a ghost that’s an absolute stranger, but it’s another when the ghost is actually connected to you: When Nordhaus finds out that her great-great-grandmother famously haunts a Santa Fe hotel, she embarks on a quest with psychics and diviners to meet her spectral relative, find out why she died — and why she’s been sticking around.

Amityville Horror by Jay Anson:

You’ve seen the movie: Now read the book! While the veracity of some of the events in the book has been called into question, Anson’s telling still terrifies. The Lutz family moves into a steal of a home in 1975, in which a year earlier, Ronald DeFeo had murdered his family: parents, brothers, and sisters. The haunting that follows the Lutz family’s arrival is so vicious, they stay in the house less than a month.

Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Ghost Anthology edited by Andrew Barger:

Ghost stories became very popular in the first half of the nineteenth century and this collection by Andrew Barger contains the very scariest of them all. Some stories thought too horrific were published anonymously like “A Night in a Haunted House” and “The Deaf and Dumb Girl.” The later story is collected for the first time in any anthology since its original publication in 1839.

The other ghost stories in this fine collection are by famous authors. “The Mask of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe; “A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family,” by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu; “The Spectral Ship,” by Wilhelm Hauff ; “The Old Maid in the Winding Sheet,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne; “The Adventure of the German Student,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving; as well as “The Tapestried Chamber,” by Sir Walter Scott.

Big Book of New York Ghost Stories edited by Cheri Farnsworth:

More than 100 stories from each region of the Empire State gathered by New York’s celebrated Ghost Author, Cheri Revai (Farnsworth).

Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti:

When hundreds of starlings inexplicably fall from the sky during a high school baseball game coached by Nate Winters, things start to go wrong for the popular Mt. Oanoke, Pa., math teacher, in this intricately plotted thriller from bestseller Moretti (The Vanishing). Nate’s marriage to Alecia, already strained by the need to care for the couple’s autistic son, is further tested when a reporter for the local paper accuses him of taking advantage of a student, Lucia Hamm, during the chaos caused by the falling birds. Nate denies acting inappropriately, but the school principal puts Nate on temporary suspension until the police complete their investigation. Nate later makes a series of bad decisions that make him look guilty, such as misleading Alecia about time he spent with Lucia, purportedly to spare his wife’s feelings. His position deteriorates further after Lucia goes missing. Fortunately, a fellow teacher and friend, Bridget Peterson, may hold the key to proving Nate’s innocence. This cautionary tale keeps the reader guessing to the end. – Library Journal Review.

Burntown by Jennifer McMahon:

Fans of McMahon’s eight earlier novels (The Winter People, etc) will be intrigued by this complex and quirky mystery set in a rundown Vermont mill town, where orphaned teenage Eva (street name Necco) lives in an abandoned car with her boyfriend, Hermes. Her grandparents have been murdered, her parents also died suspiciously, and her brother is missing. Necco recalls a mysterious machine, built by her father from plans stolen from Thomas Edison, that can talk with the dead; a killer now wants those plans and thinks Necco has them. Through a series of strange events, Necco is befriended by the Fire Eaters, a group of outcast nomadic women; Theo, a female student drug dealer; and Pru, the school cafeteria worker. There might be two killers after Necco and the plans, and as her memory of earlier family deaths returns, she realizes she does know enough about her father’s strange machine to be in danger. This is a well-crafted story with plenty of suspense to keep readers engrossed. Publisher’s Weekly Review

Come Closer by Sara Gran:

Sara Gran’s 2011 novel is a haunted story for the modern age. Protagonist Amanda burns her husband with cigarettes, dreams of affairs, and insults her boss after a demon named Naamah takes over her brain, behavior, and life. The pace quickens as Amanda’s happy marriage takes dark, dark plunge.

Diviners by Libba Bray:

An occultish murder mystery will keep you up long after dark. Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker:

From the bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten, a thriller about two missing sisters, a twisted family, and what happens when one girl comes back…

One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn’t add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister’s return might just be the beginning of the crime.

Bestselling author Wendy Walker returns with another winning psychological thriller, Emma in the Night.

Exorcist by William Peter Blatty:

Sure, the film version is scary, but imagine reading the actual narrative without the pea soup vomit image in your head. For the uninitiated, 12-year-old Regan MacNeil is possessed by a demon spirit, and her famous mother enlists a priest to perform an exorcism. Inspired by rumors and partially true events, The Exorcist is a classic portrayal of the demonic possession.
Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved.

Get In Trouble by Kelly Link:

The short story collection Get In Trouble took Kelly Link 10 years to produce, and tells tales of fairy-like “summer people,” superhero boyfriends, and wealthy families who put microchips in their children. It’s absurdist, surrealist fantasy fiction made to creep you out.

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land:

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW’S EDITORS’ CHOICE

HOW FAR DOES THE APPLE REALLY FALL FROM THE TREE?

Good Me Bad Me is dark, compelling, voice-driven psychological suspense by debut author Ali Land: “Could not be more unputdownable if it was slathered with superglue.” —Sunday Express

Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school.

But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all.

When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother’s daughter.

Grave Keepers by Elizabeth Byrne:

If you inherited your eventual grave now, would you decorate it? If you thought the cemetary might be haunted, what would you do? Lately, Athena Windham has been spending all her spare time in her grave. Her parents—owners of a cemetery in Upstate New York—are proud of her devoutness, but her younger sister, Laurel, would rather spend her time exploring the forest that surrounds the Windham’s’ property than in her own grave.

Haunted: One Family’s Nightmare by Robert Curran:

Written by a priest, The Haunted details the chilling haunting of the devoutly religious Smurf family’s home from all sides: They hear phantom pigs squealing in the night, smell foul odors, feel they’re being watched while in the bathroom, and see floating people. Don’t read this one at night, folks.

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson:

Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel is one of the most celebrated haunted house fiction books of all time, and provided the basis for Robert Wise’s 1963 film The Haunting. When a paranormal investigator invites a small group of people, including a psychic and a troubled young woman, to the potentially haunted Hill House, they end up wishing they had never sought out the supernatural in the first place. You may find yourself going to sleep with the lights on after reading this one.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill:

The first novel from Stephen King’s son Joe Hill, Heart-Shaped Box follows former rock star Judas Coyne after he buys the funeral suit of a dead man to add to his collection of relics of dark magic. The suit, which arrives in a heart-shaped box, is still inhabited by its former wearer’s spirit, and it haunts Judas in this creepy tale of ghosts, black magic, and rock n roll.

House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons:

It’s not ghosts that terrorize the inhabitants of The House Next Door, but the house itself. Anne Rivers Siddons’ 1978 novel, which counts Stephen King among its devoted fans, is written from the perspective of a wealthy Atlanta suburbanite, who observes that every new resident that moves in to the big house next to her own suffers terrible tragedy. She and her husband vow to destroy the house just as its evil influence starts to spread to the rest of the neighborhood — but the house next door fights back.

House of Furies by Madeline Roux:

This gothic horror tale will have you screaming. After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, seventeen-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boarding house. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house’s mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests.

Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave:

A new thriller from the Edgar-nominated author of Trust No One and Joe Victim about a blind teenager who receives a corneal donation and begins to see and feel memories from their previous owner—a homicide detective who was also his father.

Joshua is convinced there is a family curse. It’s taken loved ones from him, it’s robbed him of his eyesight, and it’s the reason why his father is killed while investigating the homicide of a young woman.

Joshua is handed an opportunity he can’t refuse: an operation that will allow him to see the world through his father’s eyes. As Joshua navigates a world of sight, he gets glimpses of what these eyes might have witnessed in their previous life. What exactly was his dad up to in his role as a police officer?

There are consequences to the secret life his father was living, including the wrath of a man hell bent on killing, a man who is drawing closer and closer to Joshua.

Joshua soon discovers a world darker than the one he has emerged from…

Thriller connoisseur Paul Cleave is back with another riveting story of hidden secrets and unspeakable horrors that will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Little Stranger by Sarah Waters:

Sarah Waters’ 2009 gothic novel takes place in post-WWII England, where a country doctor strikes up a friendship with the family at nearby Hundreds Hall. As he becomes more intimately acquainted with them, however, the historic estate experiences more and more strange happenings, and the family begins to unravel faster than the doctor can save them.

Mammoth Book of Vampires edited by Stephen Jones:

The masters of the macabre bring the dead to life in these never-before-collected stories and short novels of the vampire in all its frightening forms. Authors include Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, and David J. Schow. Includes the first publication of Red Reign, by Kim Newman, author of Bad Dreams and The Night Mayor.

Memory Trees by Kali Wallace:

Eight years after her sister Patience’s tragic death on her family’s remote apple orchard, Sorrow returns to the land, determined to find out what really happened the night Patience died and what other secrets may be waiting for her there. The apple orchard in Vermont was Sorrow Lovegood’s whole world– until her sister Patience’s tragic death. Sorrow was sent to Miami to live with her father, away from the only home she’d ever known. Now, eight years later, Sorrow’s memories of her life in Vermont are hazy. She returns to the orchard for the summer, determined to learn more about her childhood and the family she left behind. But it soon becomes clear that some of her questions have difficult– even dangerous– answers. And there may be a price to pay for asking.

Night Visions 2 Edited by Charles L. Grant:

This is the second in a series devoted to showcasing the work of fantasy and horror writers. The almost arbitrary bringing together of three disparate talents in one volume may be a questionable idea, but in this case it worksGrant has produced an enjoyable collection. David Morrell, best known for creating the character Rambo in his novel First Blood, contributes three stories, of which the best, “Mumbo Jumbo,” depicts a football player whose team’s success seems to depend on the coach’s voodoo worship. Joseph Payne Brennan is represented by five tales, including “Starlock Street,” in which an antiquarian learns how unpleasant retreat into a more genteel time and place can be. Karl Edward Wagner has three stories; “Shrapnel” is a deft chiller with a vision of Hell as an auto graveyard.

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman:

The three Hempstock women (maiden, mother, and crone) would tell you they’re not witches, nor do they cast spells. But that’s just talk. Sure, these women are kind enough to shelter a scared little boy, but they can also bottle wormholes and summon inter-dimensional demon vultures.

Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert:

In James Herbert’s disturbing 2006 novel, after the tragic disappearance of one of their three children, a couple decides to leave London for Crickley Hall, on the English coast. Once there, however, the family finds that the house holds many secrets and has a dark history dating back to World War II, when it was a home for children evacuees. In 2012, The Secret of Crickley Hall was adapted into a BBC miniseries starring Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams.

Shining by Stephen King:

In one episode of Friends, Joey hides his copy of The Shining in the freezer whenever he gets too scared reading it. It’s an appropriate depository for King’s 1977 novel, which takes place at the claustrophobic and inhospitable — not to mention haunted — Overlook Hotel, where main character Jack Torrance is the winter caretaker. While Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 adaptation is classic Halloween viewing, the book (from which the film deviates significantly) is certainly worth reading if you’re looking for a good scare. You can always stick it in the freezer if it gets too disturbing.

Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena:

When Tom Krupp comes home from work, his wife’s car is gone, but the front door is unlocked and it’s clear that Karen has been preparing dinner in the kitchen. Most troubling of all, her purse and cell phone are still in the house. As he tries to understand what’s happening, the police arrive to announce that Karen has been in an accident. He rushes to his wife’s side in the hospital, but she can’t remember the accident, nor why she left the house or where she went. The police are suspicious, Tom struggles with his own doubts, and Karen’s best friend seems to be the only one who really believes her. Tension builds and relationships threaten to fall apart as Karen and Tom try to piece together what happened that night and what it means for their future, if they even have one. VERDICT The author of the acclaimed The Couple Next Door has written another fast-paced, engrossing psychological thriller that will have readers guessing until the very end. Cynthia Price, Francis Marion Univ. Lib., Florence, SC – Library Journal Review

Terror by Dan Simmons:

Dan Simmons’ 2007 novel takes readers through a fictionalized version of Sir John Franklin’s 1840s trip to the Arctic, and things go dark as Franklin and his crew travel further and further into the hostile climate. There’s rebellion, cannibalism, and one lingering polar bear-like monster. A non-linear narrative told from diary entries and third person exposition, The Terror shows the Northwest Passage may be more dangerous than we ever expected.

Turn of the Screw by Henry James:

James was a master of psychological complexity, and his famous 1898 novella engages the skewed perspective of a young woman, a governess to two small children at an estate in the English countryside. When she moves into the house, she begins seeing two phantom figures, a man and a woman, everywhere she goes, haunting her, going unaddressed by anyone else. Are the ghosts real or is the governess mad? Critics have debated the question since the book’s publication; decide for yourself after reading the story to its chilling, ambiguous conclusion.
Until, of course, more important question arose, at which time everyone promptly forgot that a thousand birds fell on the town of Mount Oanoke at all.”

Wicked the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire:

This re-creation of the land of Oz, tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn’t so wicked after all. Past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature

Witches of Eastwick by John Updike:

Throughout history, “witch” has often been deployed as a derogatory stereotype meant to demonize powerful women. Here, Updike’s trio of divorcees reclaim female strength by injecting some magic into a place that badly needs it: the postwar American suburbs.

Witching Hour by Anne Rice:

Well known for her vampire trilogy, Rice now turns to witches. Here she tells the story of the prominent and wealthy Mayfair family who, for five centuries, has cavorted with a supernatural entity that has brought them both great bounty as well as abject misery. Neurosurgeon Rowan Mayfair inherits the family fortune, along with the sinister attentions of this entity. When Rowan saves the life of Michael Curry their fates become entwined, and together they seek to understand and destroy the terrible force that holds her family in its power. Helping them in this dangerous task is occult investigator Aaron Lightner, introduced to readers in Rice’s The Queen of the Damned ( LJ 10/1/88). Although a bit long-winded at times, this is still a compelling novel. The author’s powerful writing and strong imagery keep the reader enthralled. — Patricia Altner, Dept. of Defense Lib., Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C – Library Journal Review

Have a great October!

Linda, SSCL

Suggested Reading Week of October 1, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

The Common Good by Robert Reich (Format: Downloadable audiobook):

 

From the best-selling author of Saving Capitalism and The Work of Nations, a passionate, clear-eyed manifesto on why we must restore the idea of the common good to the center of our economics and politics.

With the warmth and lucidity that have made him one of our most important public voices, Robert B. Reich makes the case for a generous, inclusive understanding of the American project, centering on the moral obligations of citizenship. Rooting his argument in everyday reality and common sense, Reich demonstrates the existence of a common good, and argues that it is this that defines a society or a nation. Societies and nations undergo virtuous cycles that reinforce and build the common good, as well as vicious cycles that undermine it. Over the course of the past five decades, Reich contends, America has been in a slowly accelerating vicious cycle—one that can and must be reversed. But first we need to weigh what really matters, and how we as a country should relate to honor, shame, patriotism, truth, and the meaning of leadership.

Powerful, urgent, and utterly vital, this is a heartfelt missive from one of our foremost political thinkers: a fundamental statement about the purpose of society and a cri de coeur to save America’s soul.

The Girl With The Red Balloon by Katherine Locke (Format: eBook):

This book is the current Big Read title. And what that means it that it is available on demand for your reading pleasure. So check it out!

Here’s a summary of the plot: When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process.

Halloween (1978) (Format: Streaming Video):

The classic John Carpenter horror film starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

It was “The Night HE Came Home,” warned the posters for John Carpenter’s career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, IL, on Halloween night 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can’t penetrate Michael’s psyche after years of institutionalization, but he knows that, when Myers escapes before Halloween in 1978, there is going to be hell to pay in Haddonfield. While Loomis heads to Haddonfield to alert police, Myers spots bookish teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and follows her, constantly appearing and vanishing as Laurie and her looser friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Loomis) make their Halloween plans. By nightfall, the responsible Laurie is doing her own and Annie’s babysitting jobs, while Annie and Lynda frolic in the parent-free house across the street. But Annie and Lynda are not answering the phone, and suspicious Laurie heads across the street to the darkened house to see what is going on….

No Place Like Home: A Small Town Romance Collection by Debbie Macomber (16 Lighthouse Road\Welcome to Moonlight Harbor\No One but You\The 10-Year Reunion\Cedar Cove) (Format: eBook):

Four heartwarming stories of finding love in friendly small towns, from bestselling and favorite authors, together for the first time in one value-packed box set!

16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber

Welcome to Cedar Cove, Washington, where the news of the day is that family court Judge Olivia Lockhart has denied the divorce petition of a young local couple. Olivia is trusting her instincts that the two need to try again. Newspaper editor Jack Griffin admires Olivia’s choice, and the woman herself. Now Olivia has her hands full between her work and her tricky relationships with her daughter and her mother—and now Jack’s courtship. Everyone in Cedar Cove is talking!

The 10-Year Reunion by Susan Wiggs

Beautician Twyla McCabe was voted most likely to succeed in her high school graduating class, but a run of bad luck forced her to give up her dreams of college and a career. Now a widow with a six-year-old and essentially Dear Abby with a blow-dryer, she longs to show up at her ten-year school reunion with a date she can show off. But when her well-meaning customers arrange for her to attend the Hell Creek High School Reunion with Rob Carter, M.D., Twyla knows they’ve gone too far. Who would believe a woman who dyes hair for a living could be engaged to such a hunk?

No One But You by Brenda Novak

Silver Springs, a picturesque small town in Southern California where even the hardest hearts can learn to love again… Sadie Harris is out of options, and desperately determined not to lose the custody battle for her son, so she takes position assisting Dawson Reed—who recently stood trial for murder. Dawson just wants to leave his painful past behind and fix up the family farm. As their professional relationship grows into something else, Sadie realizes that Dawson has a good heart, one that might be worth fighting for.

Welcome to Moonlight Harbor by Sheila Roberts

For her fortieth birthday, Jenna Jones is getting a divorce. She’s barely able to support herself and her teenage daughter, and now her deadbeat ex is demanding spousal support! The unexpected gift of being asked to manage the Driftwood Inn for her aging Aunt Edie might be the rainbow at the end of the storm. Or not. The coastal town is a little more run-down that Jenna remembered, and the inn is worse. But with the help of her new friends and a couple of handsome citizens, perhaps the sunshine is on the horizon after all. Because, no matter what, life is always good at the beach.

Things Fall Apart: A Novel by Chinua Achebe:

“A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe’s critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.

With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

Beethoven’s Tenth: A Novel by Richard Kluger:

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ashes to Ashes

When the assistant manager of a hardware store in rural New Jersey shows up at the offices of Cubbage & Wakeham, an elite New York auction house, with a worn musical manuscript he hopes to sell for a small (or perhaps hefty) fortune, he is greeted with subdued snickers—and not surprisingly. The title page of the document reads, “William Tell: A Dramatic Symphony” and is signed “Ludwig van Beethoven.” The bearer of the composition claims he recently came upon it in an old attic trunk while cleaning out his lately deceased grandfather’s home in Zurich; several accompanying documents suggest the work was written there during the summer of 1814.

Since virtually all lovers of classical music—and many others who can’t tell Stravinsky from Springsteen—know that Beethoven wrote nine sublime symphonies, and so evidence of a new-found tenth one by the supreme master of that musical form sets off an instant international uproar. Is the seemingly miraculous discovery the genuine article or an ingenious hoax?

To solve the tantalizing puzzle before placing the manuscript on the auction block at risk of becoming a global laughingstock, Cubbage & Wakeham’s management organizes a team of intensely skeptical investigators, among them the world’s top Beethoven scholars and forensic experts, all of them out to prove the find a fraud. But as evidence to the contrary begins to pile up, tensions rise among the corps of authenticators, the financial stakes soar as would-be exploiters of the symphony gather, the governments of five nations seek to claim the work as a national treasure, and the mystery artfully spun by novelist Richard Kluger deepens by the day.

Among the beguiling questions that demand answers:

The mountain of archival documentation on Beethoven’s life and works is silent about his activities and whereabouts in the summer of 1814, but why would he have gone to Zurich then and written a symphony in tribute to, of all people, Swizterland’s great folk hero?

Why are the form and structure of the Tell symphony—each movement contains a number of vocal interludes seamlessly blended with the instrumental passages—so different from all the other Beethoven symphonies?

And why, if he had produced such a monumental work, would Beethoven have abandoned it? Did he think it below his incomparably high standard of artistry? Was it stolen from him? Or did he fear pressing political considerations back in Vienna, where he had long resided, that could have endangered his career if the new work were to be publicly performed?

The answers—and a cast of feisty characters with conflicting stakes in the quest—make Beethoven’s Tenth a deftly twisty and challenging detective novel, enriched by the prodigious research of author Kluger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning social historian.

Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe by Marshall Ryan Maresca:

Mixing high fantasy and urban fantasy, the second novel of the Streets of Maradaine series follows the Rynax brothers’ crew of outlaws as they attempt their biggest heist yet and restore justice to the common people.

The neighborhood of North Seleth has suffered—and not just the Holver Alley Fire. Poverty and marginalization are forcing people out of the neighborhood, and violence on the streets is getting worse. Only the Rynax brothers—Asti and Verci—and their Holver Alley Crew are fighting for the common people. They’ve taken care of the people who actually burned down Holver Alley, but they’re still looking for the moneyed interests behind the fire.

The trail of breadcrumbs leads the crew to Lord Henterman, and they plan to infiltrate the noble’s house on the other side of the city. While the crew tries to penetrate the heart of the house, the worst elements of North Seleth seem to be uniting under a mysterious new leader. With the crew’s attention divided, Asti discovers that the secrets behind the fire, including ones from his past, might be found in Lady Henterman’s wardrobe.

The books in the Streets of Maradaine series:
1. The Holver Alley Crew
2. Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe

Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart:

“Spectacular.”—NPR • “Uproariously funny.”—The Boston Globe • “An artistic triumph.”—San Francisco Chronicle • “A novel in which comedy and pathos are exquisitely balanced.”—The Washington Post • “Shteyngart’s best book.”—The Seattle Times
The bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story returns with a biting, brilliant, emotionally resonant novel very much of our times.

Narcissistic, hilariously self-deluded, and divorced from the real world as most of us know it, hedge-fund manager Barry Cohen oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Deeply stressed by an SEC investigation and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism, he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. Meanwhile, his super-smart wife, Seema—a driven first-generation American who craved the picture-perfect life that comes with wealth—has her own demons to face. How these two flawed characters navigate the Shteyngartian chaos of their own making is at the heart of this piercing exploration of the 0.1 Percent, a poignant tale of familial longing and an unsentimental ode to what really makes America great.

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths:

In a nail-biting hunt for a missing loved one, DI Edgar Stephens and the magician Max Mephisto discover once again that the line between art, life, and death is all too easily blurred.

It’s the holiday season and Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby have landed a headlining gig at the Brighton Hippodrome, the biggest theater in the city, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savory supporting act: a tableau show of naked “living statues.” But when one of the girls goes missing and turns up dead not long after, Max and Ruby realize there’s something far more sinister than obscenity afoot in the theater.

DI Edgar Stephens is on the case. As he searches for the killer, he begins to suspect that her fatal vanishing act may very well be related to another case, the death of a quiet local florist. But just as he’s narrowing in on the missing link, Ruby goes missing, and he and Max must team up once again to find her.

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean:

When Wicked Comes Calling . . .

When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees—on one condition. She’s seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won’t accept a marriage without it.

The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain . . .

Bastard son of a duke and king of London’s dark streets, Devil has spent a lifetime wielding power and seizing opportunity, and the spinster wallflower is everything he needs to exact a revenge years in the making. All he must do is turn the plain little mouse into an irresistible temptress, set his trap, and destroy his enemy.

For the Promise of Passion . . .

But there’s nothing plain about Felicity Faircloth, who quickly decides she’d rather have Devil than another. Soon, Devil’s carefully laid plans are in chaos and he must choose between everything he’s ever wanted . . . and the only thing he’s ever desired.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc.

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos.

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:

RBDigital

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.

About Library 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.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.