Hi everyone, here are our recommended reads for the week.
Format Note: Under each book title you’ll find a list of all the different formats that specific title is available in; including: Print Books, Large Print Books, CD Audiobooks, eBooks & Downloadable Audiobooks from the Digital Catalog (Libby app) and Hoopla eBooks & Hoopla Downloadable Audiobooks (Hoopla app).
*More information on the three catalogs is found at the end of the list of recommended reads*
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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are published on Tuesdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Tuesday, September 28, 2021.
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Be My Ghost by Carol J. Perry
(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla instant checkout eBook & audiobook)
Maureen Doherty and her golden retriever Finn have taken possession of a charming old inn–only to discover that it’s already possessed by tenants whose lease on life already ran out . . .
Maureen’s career as a sportswear buyer hits a snag just before Halloween, when the department store declares bankruptcy. Meanwhile, Finn’s lost his way as a guide dog after flunking his test for being too friendly and easily distracted. Sadly, only one of them can earn unemployment, so Maureen’s facing a winter of discontent in Boston–when she realizes she can’t afford her apartment.
Salvation comes when she receives a mysterious inheritance: an inn in Haven, Florida. A quaint, scenic town on the Gulf of Mexico hidden away from the theme parks, Maureen believes it’s a good place to make a fresh start with a new business venture. But she gets more than she bargained for when she finds a dead body on her property–and meets some of the inn’s everlasting tenants in the form of ghosts who offer their otherworldly talents in order to help her solve the mystery…
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The Café Between Pumpkin & Pie written by Kate Angell, Marina Adair & Stacy Finz
(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla instant checkout eBook)
In Moonbright, Maine, there’s a pumpkin on every porch, fresh brewed apple cider in every cup—and the sweetest sorcery in the air . . .
Before, after, and even during the excitement of the annual Halloween parade, gathering at the Corner Café is a beloved Moonbright tradition. Costumed revelers of all kinds come for the famous whoopie pies, the heartfelt hospitality, and the chance to hear the town’s spookiest stories and local legends whispered to the younger generation . . .
The most magically romantic legend of all promises that a Moonbright woman will marry the man she sees reflected in a mirror on Halloween. For three such singles, the crunch of fall leaves and the fragrance of fresh-baked pie sets the perfect stage for this most tantalizing trick—and most delightful treat—the genuine enchantment of true love.
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Everything I Know About Love: A Memoir by Dolly Alderton
(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook , Hoopla instant checkout eBook & audiobook)
Journalist Alderton (cohost, podcast The High Low) shares her coming-of-age story with wit and grace. As a teenager, Alderton was fascinated with boys and longed for adulthood. When she reached her 20s, the fantasies of her youth didn’t quite pan out, as she shares in stories of dates gone badly, nights of drinking and partying, and failed relationships. Rather than get into the sordid details, Alderton’s portrayal of this time is assuredly self-aware and reflective. She deftly balances more humorous anecdotes with an exploration of difficult experiences, including her struggle with disordered eating and the death of her best friend’s sister. Everything that Alderton has learned about love is because of strong friendships with the women in her life, especially best friend Farly–and it is these friendships that provided the strength and support needed for Alderton to make it to her 30th birthday. VERDICT This relatable reflection on love and the importance of friendship is an international best seller, so expect demand from readers interested in modern life as well as intimate, confessional memoirs.
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A Glimmer of Death by Valery Wilson Wesley
(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla instant checkout eBook & audiobook)
Award-winning author Valerie Wilson Wesley launches a thrilling new mystery series set in New Jersey, featuring a multicultural cast, and starring a caterer-turned-realtor with the gift of second sight…
In the first of a thrilling new series, one woman’s extraordinary psychic gift plunges her already-troubled present into chaos–and puts her future in someone’s deadly sights…
Until now, Odessa Jones’ inherited ability to read emotions and foretell danger has protected her. But second sight didn’t warn her she would soon be a widow–and about to lose her home and the catering business she’s worked so hard to build. The only things keeping Dessa going are her love for baking and her sometimes-mellow cat, Juniper. Unfortunately, putting her life back together means taking a gig at an all-kinds-of-shady real estate firm run by volatile owner Charlie Risko…
Until Charlie is brutally killed–and Dessa’s bullied co-worker is arrested for murder. Dessa can’t be sure who’s guilty. But it doesn’t take a psychic to discover that everyone from Charlie’s much-abused staff to his long-suffering younger wife had multiple reasons to want him dead. And as Dessa follows a trail of lies through blackmail, dead-end clues, and corruption, she needs to see the truth fast–or a killer will bury her deep down with it.
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The Night Singer by Johanna Mo
The Island Murders Series, Book 1 (Series launch!)
Police detective Hanna Duncker, the heroine of Swedish author Mo’s welcome English-language debut and series launch, has just moved from Stockholm to Kalmar on the island of Öland, near where she grew up. Hanna’s first case on the local force is the murder of the 15-year-old son of one of her childhood friends. Flashbacks to the victim’s last day illuminate the troubled teen’s life, and Mo does a good job portraying a host of people with long memories, resentments, and a penchant for gossip. Hanna’s fraught personal history adds depth: her father was found guilty of a particularly violent crime when she was a girl, and the story may be deeper than the facts suggest. The plot moves slowly at times, lingering, for example, on minor characters like Duncker’s insipid new partner, Erik Lindgren, but readers will readily engage with Hanna, a no-nonsense, dogged, and thoughtful investigator. Mo is off to a strong start. Publisher Weekly Review
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Secrets of the Dead by Simon Clark
(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla instant checkout eBook)
Egyptian tombs are sealed for a reason—and opening them is a nightmare in this novel of archaeological horror by the British Fantasy Award–winning author.
Archaeology photographer John Tolworth is thrilled to be returning to Devon where he’d spent his youth. He’s been hired to help decode the ancient papyri excavated a century ago with Egypt’s Gold Tomb mummies, now entombed in Baverstock Castle. These four summer weeks should also be a unique vacation for his family. But once John steps into the shadow of the imposing fortress, memories of a horrific past are rekindled. He can still hear the screams of his childhood friend, Philip, inheritor of Baverstock. Philip remembers everything. It’s cost him his sanity. Certainly, his warnings for John to leave must be the ravings of a madman. Either that or the local legend is true: When people sleep, that’s when the mummies wake up.
Soon, for John and his family, the quiet of the castle’s chamber towers will begin to stir, and as night falls, all its secrets—and dangers—will be unearthed.
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She Wouldn’t Change A Thing by Sarah Adlakha
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Sliding Doors meets Life After Life in Sarah Adlakha’s story about a wife and mother who is given the chance to start over at the risk of losing everything she loves.
A second chance is the last thing she wants.
When thirty-nine year old Maria Forssmann wakes up in her seventeen-year-old body, she doesn’t know how she got there. All she does know is she has to get back: to her home in Bienville, Mississippi, to her job as a successful psychiatrist and, most importantly, to her husband, daughters, and unborn son.
But she also knows that, in only a few weeks, a devastating tragedy will strike her husband, a tragedy that will lead to their meeting each other.
Can she change time and still keep what it’s given her?
Exploring the responsibilities love lays on us, the complicated burdens of motherhood, and the rippling impact of our choices,She Wouldn’t Change a Thing is a dazzling debut from a bright new voice.
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Sirgrus Blackmane, Demihuman Gumshoe, & The Dark-Elf: A Novel by William Schlichter
(Available Formats: Print Book)
This surprising, dexterous mashup of high fantasy and hardboiled thriller from Schlicter (SKA: Serial Killers Anonymous) begins with G-man and mage Agent Edgeangel summoning the eponymous narrator, a dwarf PI, to a bootlegger’s warehouse where his partner, Craig Mason, has just been found murdered. Before Sirgrus and Craig started their detective agency, they were buddies in the Great War, fighting orcs and vampires side by side, so Sirgrus feels obliged to avenge the dead human. To do so he must navigate a city uneasily divided between humans and other species—fairies, for example, have just won the right to vote. As his investigation leads him to the Dark-Elf, a popular speakeasy where all kinds of perversions are offered by dragonborn mobster Medrash, Sirgrus must balance the demands of rival gang bosses, Agent Edgeanagel’s nagging, and the realization that Mason was really a rotten jerk. He also struggles with recurring dreams from his time in the War—experiences that may be more connected to the present day mystery than they seem. Tolkien would be aghast at what Schlicter does with mythic lore, but the detailed worldbuilding and genuine feeling make everything work against the odds. Readers are in for some fun. Publishers Weekly Review
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Write My Name Across The Sky: A Novel by Barbara O’Neal
(Available Formats: Print Book)
The USA Today bestselling author of When We Believed in Mermaids returns with a tale of two generations of women reconciling family secrets and past regrets.
Life’s beautiful for seventysomething influencer Gloria Rose, in her Upper West Side loft with rooftop garden and scores of Instagram followers–until she gets word that her old flame has been arrested for art theft and forgery, and, knowing her own involvement in his misdeeds decades earlier, decides to flee. But that plan is complicated when the nieces she raised are thrown into crises of their own.
Willow, overshadowed by her notorious singer-songwriter mother, has come home to lick her wounds on the heels of a failed album and yet another disastrous relationship. Sam, prickly and fiercely independent, is on the verge of losing not only her beloved video game company but the man she loves, thanks to her inability to keep her always-simmering anger in check.
With the FBI closing in, Willow’s career in shambles, and Sam’s tribulations reaching a peak, each of the three woman will have to reckon with and reconcile their interwoven traumas, past loves, and the looming consequences that could either destroy their futures or bring them closer than ever.
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Have a great week!
Linda Reimer
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*Information on the Three Catalogs*
Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/
The Digital Catalog, a catalog containing eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, Digital Magazines and a handful of streaming videos, has two companion apps, Libby & OverDrive. Libby is the app for newer devices and the OverDrive app should be used for older devices and Amazon tablets.
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/
The Hoopla Catalog features instant checkouts of eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV series. Patron check out limit is 6 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla App is available for Android or Apple devices and most smart TVs & media streaming players.
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StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
The StarCat app is called Bookmyne and is available for Apple and Android devices.
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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
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Have questions or want to request a book?
Feel free to call the library! Our telephone number is 607-936-3713.
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