Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, and while the library is closed the weekly recommendations will all be digital – eBooks & downloadable audiobooks.
DIGITAL CATALOG RECOMMENDATIONS:
The African Trilogy by Chinua Achebe (Format: eBook):
Chinua Achebe is considered the father of modern African literature, the writer who “opened the magic casements of African fiction.” The African Trilogy—comprised of Things Fall Apart, Arrow of God, and No Longer at Ease—is his magnum opus. In these masterly novels, Achebe brilliantly imagines the lives of three generations of an African community as their world is upended by the forces of colonialism from the first arrival of the British to the waning days of empire.
The trilogy opens with the groundbreaking Things Fall Apart, the tale of Okonkwo, a hero in his village, whose clashes with missionaries—coupled with his own tragic pride—lead to his fall from grace. Arrow of God takes up the ongoing conflict between continuity and change as Ezeulu, the headstrong chief priest, finds his authority is under threat from rivals and colonial functionaries. But he believes himself to be untouchable and is determined to lead his people, even if it is towards their own destruction. Finally, in No Longer at Ease, Okonkwo’s grandson, educated in England, returns to a civil-service job in Lagos, only to see his morality erode as he clings to his membership in the ruling elite.
Drawing on the traditional Igbo tales of Achebe’s youth, The African Trilogy is a literary landmark, a mythic and universal tale of modern Africa. As Toni Morrison wrote, “African literature is incomplete and unthinkable without the works of Chinua Achebe. For passion, intellect and crystalline prose, he is unsurpassed.”
–
Angels of Mercy by Alice Duncan (Mercy Allcutt Mystery Series, Book 4) (Format: eBook):
Named Director and Producer, Milton Halsey Gosset, Shot Dead in Angels of Mercy, a Cozy Historical Mystery from Alice Duncan
—1926, Los Angeles, CA—
Former Boston Brahmin Mercy Allcutt is excited to be renting suites of rooms to deserving working women in her new Bunker Hill home. She considers it an an act of good-heartedness, no matter how skeptical her boss, private investigator Ernie Templeton, is about her endeavor.
When her housekeeper’s son is arrested for the murder of a Hollywood big-wig, Mercy presses Ernie to solve the case. She’s positive Calvin Buck is innocent. Ernie tells her he’ll do his best but she’s not entirely convinced he means it, so she does some snooping on her own.
In the meantime, Mercy not only takes driving lessons from Ernie, she discovers there’s more to being a landlady than meets the eye. One of her “Angels of Mercy” may not be what she appears. Only time, and Mercy and Ernie, will tell.
Publisher Note: Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries in historical settings are sure to appreciate the Mercy Allcutt series set in 1920s Los Angeles, California. No vulgarity or explicit sex for those who appreciate a clean and wholesome read.
Two-time RT KISS Award Winner
New Mexico/Arizona Book of the Year finalist
New Mexico/Arizona Book of the Year Award winner
Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice Nominee
“Mercy Allcutt is a delight.” ~Carola Dunn
The Mercy Allcutt Mystery Series
Lost Among the Angels
Angels Flight
Fallen Angels
Thanksgiving Angels
Angels of Mercy
–
Heart of Darkness by Kira Brady (Format: eBook):
In the first of a dazzling new romantic trilogy, one woman’s courageous search plunges her into a millennia-old supernatural war—and an irresistible passion. . .
Nurse Kayla Friday has dedicated her life to science and reason. But for her, Seattle is a place of eerie loss and fragmented, frightening memories. And now the only clue to her sister’s murder reveals a secret battle between two ancient mythologies. . .and puts Kayla in the sights of lethally-sexy werewolf mercenary Hart. He’ll do whatever it takes to obtain the key to the Gate of the Land of the Dead and free what’s left of his soul. But seducing the determined Kayla is putting them at the mercy of powerful desires neither can control. And as the clock ticks down to hellish catastrophe, the untested bond between Kayla and Hart may lead to the ultimate sacrifice.
–
Herzog written by Saul Bellow and read by Malcolm Hillgartner (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):
Herzog is a man seeking balance, trying to regain a foothold on his life. Thrown out of his ex-wife’s house, Herzog retreats to his abandoned home in a remote village in the Berkshire Mountains. Amid the dust of the disused house, he begins scribbling letters to family, friends, lovers, colleagues, enemies, dead philosophers, ex-presidents—anyone with whom he feels compelled to set the record straight. The letters—which are never sent—are a means to cure himself of the psychic strain of the failures of his life: that of being a bad husband, a loving but poor father, an ungrateful child, a distant brother, an egoist to friends, and an apathetic citizen.
Herzog is primarily a novel of redemption. For all of its innovative techniques and brilliant comedy, it tells one of the oldest of stories. Like The Divine Comedy, it progresses from darkness to light, from ignorance to enlightenment. Today it is still considered one of the greatest literary expressions of postwar America.
–
The Immigrants by Howard Fast (Lavette Family Series, Book 1) (Format: eBook):
A love story of tremendous beauty…a tale of passion, adventure, and ambition set against the streets of San Francisco, America’s most romantic city.
Dav Lavette, the son of an Italian fisherman, battles from the rubble of the San Francisco earthquake to build a fortune in the shipping industry. Rising to success through hard work and a loveless marriage to the daughter of the city’s wealthiest family, he risks it all for the exotic beauty of a woman who shares his secret and scandalous passion.
From Nob Hill to the harbor, San Francisco comes alive through three immigrant families—Italian, Irish, and Chinese—whose intertwining dreams are propelled by the emotional events of America’s coming of age…
–
Inspector Ghote Caught in Meshes by H. R. F. Keating (Format: eBook):
Inspector Ghote, ‘one of the great creations of detective fiction’ (Alexander McCall Smith), investigates a highway robbery – and finds himself unexpectedly enmeshed in a world of espionage and intrigue.
When an American visitor to India is killed on the lonely, dusty road between Poona and Bombay, it seems like a classic case of highway robbery. But what Inspector Ghote of the Bombay CID learns from the victim’s brother – the distinguished hydrology professor, Gregory Strongbow – soon makes him suspect that everything is not as it first appeared.
Professor Strongbow is convinced that his brother, a prominent member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, was assassinated – and Inspector Ghote is inclined to agree. But convincing his boss, the irritable Deputy Superintendent Samant, is only his first challenge, in a case that quickly enmeshes the good detective in a world of espionage and intrigue. Soon, Ghote finds his own life in danger, as he is faced with a conspiracy that reaches to the very highest level of Indian politics . . .
–
Let The People Pick The President (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):
People have been arguing against the Electoral College from the beginning. But no one, at least in recent years, has laid out the case as comprehensively and as readably as Jesse Wegman does in ‘Let the People Pick the President.'” — The New York Times Book Review
This program is read by the author
The framers of the Constitution battled over it. Lawmakers have tried to amend or abolish it more than 700 times. To this day, millions of voters, and even members of Congress, misunderstand how it works. It deepens our national divide and distorts the core democratic principles of political equality and majority rule. How can we tolerate the Electoral College when every vote does not count the same, and the candidate who gets the most votes can lose?
Twice in the last five elections, the Electoral College has overridden the popular vote, calling the integrity of the entire system into question—and creating a false picture of a country divided into bright red and blue blocks when in fact we are purple from coast to coast. Even when the popular-vote winner becomes president, tens of millions of Americans—Republicans and Democrats alike—find that their votes didn’t matter. And, with statewide winner-take-all rules, only a handful of battleground states ultimately decide who will become president.
Now, as political passions reach a boiling point at the dawn of the 2020 race, the message from the American people is clear: The way we vote for the only official whose job it is to represent all Americans is neither fair nor just. Major reform is needed—now. Isn’t it time to let the people pick the president?
In this thoroughly researched and engaging call to arms, Supreme Court journalist and New York Times editorial board member Jesse Wegman draws upon the history of the founding era, as well as information gleaned from campaign managers, field directors, and other officials from twenty-first-century Democratic and Republican presidential campaigns, to make a powerful case for abolishing the antiquated and antidemocratic Electoral College. In Let the People Pick the President he shows how we can at long last make every vote in the United States count—and restore belief in our democratic system.
“Wegman combines in-depth historical analysis and insight into contemporary politics to present a cogent argument that the Electoral College violates America’s ‘core democratic principles’ and should be done away with…” —Publishers Weekly
–
The Passage by Justin Cronin (Format: eBook):
It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”
An epic and gripping tale of catastrophe and survival, The Passage is the story of Amy—abandoned by her mother at the age of six, pursued and then imprisoned by the shadowy figures behind a government experiment of apocalyptic proportions. But Special Agent Brad Wolgast, the lawman sent to track her down, is disarmed by the curiously quiet girl and risks everything to save her. As the experiment goes nightmarishly wrong, Wolgast secures her escape—but he can’t stop society’s collapse. And as Amy walks alone, across miles and decades, into a future dark with violence and despair, she is filled with the mysterious and terrifying knowledge that only she has the power to save the ruined world.
Look for the entire Passage trilogy:
THE PASSAGE | THE TWELVE | THE CITY OF MIRRORS
–
Wonderful by Jill Barnett (Format: eBook):
War weary knight Merrick de Beaucourt wants nothing more than a simple life, a peaceful wife, and to oversee his new earldom. What he gets are orders from his king, Camrose Castle, an unbiddable wife, and the wild Welsh borders. For six long years, Lady Clio has waited for her betrothed. Once the news arrives that he is returning, Clio returns to Camrose and awaits her husband, determined to make him pay for the years she languished in a convent. Clio leads Merrick a merry chase as she takes on the role of alewife to discover the lost recipe for ancient “heather ale,” a magical beer first made by the Picts. Surrounded by the enchanted mists that circle Camrose Castle, these head-strong adversaries embark on a sometimes hilarious battle of wills and passion in this 13th Century tale of a brave knight who seeks to claim, and tame, his bride, or so he thinks….
–
The Wounded Shadow by Patrick W. Carr (Format: eBook):
The kings and queens of the northern continent lay siege to the Darkwater Forest, desperate to contain its evil. But rumors of gold and aurium have lured deserters and the desperate into its shadow, creating a growing army held in its sway. Desperate after the death and dissolution of their greatest ally, Willet and the Vigil seek the truth of what lies at the heart of the evil they face. They delve the mind of an old enemy and find an answer far worse than they could have imagined.
Danger stalks the cities of the north, striking at the rulers of the kingdoms. As Willet and the rest of the Vigil seek to find answers, the group is scattered with an ever-growing darkness around them. Will they discover a path to keep their land safe, or will an ancient evil reclaim the world it once called its own?
–
Stay safe and happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
–
Note: Book summaries are from the publisher unless otherwise specified.
–
StarCat
The catalog of physical library materials, i.e. print books, audiobooks on CD, DVDs etc.
ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:
You can access digital library content, i.e. eBooks & downloadable audiobooks, on PCs, Macs and mobile devices.
For mobile devices simply download the Libby (eBooks & downloadable audiobooks) or the RB Digital app (on-demand magazines), from your app store to get started. And if you’re using a PC or Mac simply click on the following link: https://stls.overdrive.com/
If you have questions call the library at 607-936-3713 and one of our tech coaches will be happy to assist you.
Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 