Month: March 2023

Hi everyone, welcome to our Suggested Listening posting for this week!

Suggested Listening postings are published on Fridays; and our next Suggested Listening posting will be out on Friday, March 17, 2023.

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Dupree Shake Dance by Champion Jack Dupree (Genre: Blues, Piano Blues)

From The Album: At His Very Best (2019)

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Experiment In Terror: Soundtrack Suite by Henry Mancini & His Orchestra (Genre: Easy Listening, Soundtrack/Score)

From The Album: Experiment in Terror [Music from the Motion Picture]

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I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch) by The Four Tops (Genre: R&B)

From The Album: The Definitive Collection (2008)

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I Don’t Want To Walk Without You by Jay Wilbur and The Ambassadors Twelve (Genre: Jazz, Dance Band)

From The Album: The Dance Band Days by Various Artists (2014)

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I’m Into Something Good by Hermans Hermits (Genre: Classic Pop/Rock)

From The Album: Herman’s Hermits: Their Greatest Hits (1987)

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Let Me Down Easy by Aurora (Genre: Classic Pop/Rock, Soundtrack)

From The Album: Daisy Jones & The Six (2023)

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Round And Round by Perry Como with Mitchell Ayres & His Orchestra and The Ray Charles Singers (Genre: Pop, Vocal)

From The Album: The Very Best of Perry Como (2000)

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Silly Love Songs by Wings (Genre: Rock)

From The Album: Wings At The Speed Of Sound (1976)

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Strike Up The Band by The Canadian Brass (Genre: Band Music, Classical, Brass)

From the Album: Strike Up The Band: The Canadian Brass Plays George Gershwin (1987)

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Welcome Back by John Sebastian (Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Pop-Rock, Soundtrack)

From The Album: Welcome Back (1976)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

And from the album the song:

Sleep Song by David Arkenstone

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Have a great weekend,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

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The Digital Catalog, web version of Libby

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

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The Libby App

Libby is the companion app to the Digital Catalog and may be found in the Apple & Google app.

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Hoopla

A catalog of instant check out items, including eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, comic books, TV shows and movies for patrons of the Southeast Steuben County Library.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.

Each title is followed by a listing of which formats it is available in for check out within the three catalogs: StarCat (Print, Large Print & CD Audiobook), The Digital Catalog (eBook & Downloadable Audiobook) and the Hoopla Catalog (Hoopla instant checkout eBook & Hoopla Audiobook).

For more information on the three catalogs skip to the section below the bestselling titles*

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New York Times Bestseller blog posts are published on Sundays.And the next New York Times blog post will be published Sunday, March 19, 2023.

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FICTION

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ADVENTURES OF AMINA AL-SIRAFI by Shannon Chakraborty

(Available Formats: Print Book)

A former pirate on the Indian Ocean is asked to retrieve her comrade’s kidnapped daughter.

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THE BOYS FROM BILOXI by John Grisham

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook & eBook)

Two childhood friends follow in their fathers’ footsteps, which puts them on opposite sides of the law.

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DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & CD Audiobook)

A fictional oral history charting the rise and fall of a ’70s rock ’n’ roll band.

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DAY OF FALLEN NIGHT by Samantha Shannon

(Available Formats: Print Book)

A prequel to “The Priory of the Orange Tree.” When the Dreadmount erupts, several women must protect humankind.

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DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook & eBook)

A reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in the mountains of southern Appalachia.

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FAIRY TALE by Stephen King

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A high school kid inherits a shed that is a portal to another world where good and evil are at war.

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HEART BONES by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

After an unexpected death prevents her from going to Penn State and and forces her to move in with her absent father, Beyah Grim has a summer fling with the rich guy next door.

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HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes

(Available Formats: eBook)

Seven years after witnessing her best friend drop dead, May returns to her Berkshires hometown to piece together what happened.

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I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU by Rebecca Makkai

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

A film professor and podcaster is invited back to teach a course at the boarding school where her roommate was murdered.

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IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & Downloadable Audiobook)

A battered wife raised in a violent home attempts to halt the cycle of abuse.

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IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book)

In the sequel to “It Ends With Us,” Lily deals with her jealous ex-husband as she reconnects with her first boyfriend.

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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A scientist and single mother living in California in the 1960s becomes a star on a TV cooking show.

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MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

After returning to her hometown, Olivia McAfee’s son gets accused of killing his crush.

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THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Nora Seed finds a library beyond the edge of the universe that contains books with multiple possibilities of the lives one could have lived.

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MURDER YOUR EMPLOYER by Rupert Holmes

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

At the McMasters Conservatory for the Applied Arts, students learn how to “delete” someone.

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NEVER NEVER by Colleen Hoover and Tarryn Fisher

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Questions arise when a pair of lovers try to uncover why they suddenly became strangers.

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PARIS APARTMENT by Lucy Foley

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla instant checkout eBook)

Jess has suspicions about her half-brother’s neighbors when he goes missing.

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REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A widow working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is aided in solving a mystery by a giant Pacific octopus living there.

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THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A movie icon recounts stories of her loves and career to a struggling magazine writer.

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SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES by Jojo Moyes

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook)

Drastic changes and a pair of six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes shake up the lives of two women.

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STORM WATCH by C.J. Box

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook & eBooks)

The 23rd book in the Joe Pickett series. Joe and Nate might be on opposite sides for the first time.

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THINGS WE HIDE FROM THE LIGHT by Lucy Score

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The second book in the Knockemout series. A woman with some secrets and the chief of police have different ideas about where things are headed.

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TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Two friends find their partnership challenged in the world of video game design.

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UGLY LOVE by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla instant checkout Audiobook)

Tate Collins and Miles Archer, an airline pilot, think they can handle a no strings attached arrangement. But they can’t.

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VERITY by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Lowen Ashleigh is hired by the husband of an injured writer to complete her popular series and uncovers a horrifying truth.

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NON-FICTION:

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1619 PROJECT edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman and Jake Silverstein

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Viewing America’s entanglement with slavery and its legacy, in essays adapted and expanded from The New York Times Magazine

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ALL ABOUT LOVE by bell hooks

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook)

The late feminist icon explores the causes of a polarized society and the meaning of love.

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ALL MY KNOTTED-UP LIFE by Beth Moore

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla instant checkout Audiobook)

The founder of Living Proof Ministries details key moments from her life and her 2018 break with the Southern Baptist movement.

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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.

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BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook, Hoopla instant check out eBook & Audiobook)

A botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation espouses having an understanding and appreciation of plants and animals.

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CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

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COURAGE TO BE FREE by Ron DeSantis

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The Florida governor gives his account of his achievements and shares his opinions about the political left.

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ENCHANTMENT by Katherine May

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The author of “Wintering” shares her journey to reconnect with her sense of wonder and awe.

FINDING ME by Viola Davis

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The multiple award-winning actress describes the difficulties she encountered before claiming her sense of self and achieving professional success

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HUMANITY ARCHIVE by Jermaine Fowler

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Overlooked stories in Black history.

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I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The actress and filmmaker describes her eating disorders and difficult relationship with her mother.

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IT’S OK TO BE ANGRY ABOUT CAPITALISM by Bernie Sanders with John Nichols

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The Vermont senator depicts the impact capitalism has on key areas of our lives and ways to address this.

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THE LIGHT WE CARRY by Michelle Obama

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print & eBook)

The former first lady shares personal stories and the tools she uses to deal with difficult situations.

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LOVE, PAMELA by Pamela Anderson

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The actress and activist details her childhood, rise to fame and the ways she is reclaiming the narrative of her life.

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MYTH OF NORMAL by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté 

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The potential ways in which trauma and stress from modern-day living can affect our physical health.

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NAZI CONSPIRACY by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

(Available Formats: Print Book & CD Audiobook)

The story of a Nazi plot to kill President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill.

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NEVER GIVE AN INCH by Mike Pompeo

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The former secretary of state gives his account of his time serving under President Trump, with a focus on an America First approach.

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SPARE  by Prince Harry

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The Duke of Sussex details his struggles with the royal family, loss of his mother, service in the British Army and marriage to Meghan Markle.

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WAKE UP WITH PURPOSE! by Sister Jean Dolores

(Available Formats: Downloadable Audiobook)

Schmidt with Seth Davis The team chaplain for Loyola’s men’s basketball team recounts experiences from her more than 100 years of existence.

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WALK THE BLUE LINE by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney

(Available Formats: Print Book & CD Audiobook)

A collection of stories about police officers.

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSL

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*Information on the Three Catalogs*

Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog 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 check outs of eBooks, downloadable audiobook, comic books, albums and streaming videos. Patron check out limit is 4 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.

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Also of Note: If a New York Times Bestseller isn’t yet available in any of the three catalogs; you can contact the library and request to be notified when it becomes available.

Southeast Steuben County Library Tel: 607-936-3713

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the latest edition of Library Connections, our weekly readers’ and listeners’ advisory videocast.

The next Library Connections video will be posted on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

Library Connections videos may also be accessed via the Southeast Steuben County Library’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SESTEUBENCOLIBRARY

Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL

 

Hi everyone, here are our recommended reads for the week!

*More information on the three catalogs and available formats is found at the end of the list of recommended reads*

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are now published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, March 15, 2023.

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All That I Carry With Me Is Mine by William Landay

(Available Formats: Print Book)

An author weighed down with writer’s block seeks something real to write about and finds it in a longtime friend’s harrowing account of his mother’s sudden disappearance decades earlier. The title refers to a quote (“Omnia mea mecum porto”) ascribed to a Greek sage meaning that knowledge is the one true valuable. The saying appears on the friend’s sister’s arm in the form of a tattoo. Landay focuses on the shadow the mother’s disappearance has cast over the siblings’ lives since childhood, and on the murky suspicion that hangs over their father. The writing itself seems almost deliberately murky here, switching gears often, at one point even including a “Gone Girl” letter from the mother to her children. The discovery of the woman’s body, two decades after her disappearance, brings tensions to a boiling point. This is a toboggan ride of a novel, sometimes veering wildly, but its overall effect is exhilarating. Landay’s Defending Jacob (2013) won the Strand Critics Award for best novel. – Booklist Review

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Empress of the Nile: The Daredevil Archaeologist Who Saved Egypt’s Ancient Temples from Destruction by Lynne Olson

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Bestseller Olson follows up Madame Fourcade’s Secret War with another scintillating biography of a woman who worked in the French Resistance against the Nazis. But Christiane Desroches-Noblecourt (1913–2011) had an even more impressive second act, according to Olson: as an Egyptologist, she spearheaded “the greatest single example of international cultural cooperation the world has ever known,” a campaign in the 1950s and ’60s to save Nubian temples and other antiquities from flooding caused by the construction of the Aswan High Dam in Egypt. Throughout, Olson details the misogyny Desroches-Noblecourt dealt with from her male colleagues at the Louvre and the French Institute of Oriental Archaeology in Cairo, even as she reached the top of her field. Beginning in 1958, she helped raised money from dozens of nations to dismantle the temples block-by-block, transport them up the Nile, and rebuild them on higher ground. Olson also credits first lady Jackie Kennedy with helping persuade her husband’s administration to support the campaign, and documents Desroches-Noblecourt’s involvement in a 1967 Paris exhibition of King Tutankhamun’s treasures. Enriched by fascinating digressions into Egyptian history, museum rivalries, the plundering of archaeological sites, the 1956 Suez Crisis, and more, this is a captivating portrait of a pathbreaking woman. Readers will be enthralled. Photos. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review

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Enchantment: Reawakening Wonder in an Anxious Age by Katherine May

(Available Formats: Print Book)

After two years of COVID-19 restrictions, May, author of the best-selling Wintering (2020), seeks a return of enchantment and meaning. She finds she’s unable to concentrate. She feels adrift and disconnected from those around her. Turning to the traditional four elements–earth, water, fire and air–May looks for ways to reconnect with the natural world and find a sense of community in her daily life. Holding smooth stones in her hand, she draws the feeling of solidity and heft from the earth. While swimming in the ocean, she feels at one with the water and her fellow swimmers. Burned out and unable to focus long enough to read after months of stress and caution, May ponders the power of fire to spark renewal. And finally the author looks to the air and sky to find meaning in the stars. It’s by returning to her roots in England’s countryside and searching for enchantment in the everyday that May finally finds healing. Beautifully written and profoundly reasoned, this introspective search for meaning will appeal to readers seeking wholeness and community. – Booklist Review

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The Exceptions: Nancy Hopkins, MIT, and the Fight for Women in Science by Kate Zernike

(Available Formats: Print Book)

This engaging account details the professional lives of women scientists and their struggles for equality during the last decades of the twentieth century, specifically at the world-renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 1999, Boston Sunday Globe reporter Zernike broke a story in which MIT acknowledged the university’s long-standing discrimination against women faculty. Zernike, a wonderful storyteller, seamlessly weaves together contemporary events, facts and statistics, and telling anecdotes from women who were working in the sciences at that time, recreating for readers an almost unbelievable culture of never-ending microaggressions, sexual harassment, and professional disdain. Zernike spends considerable time introducing molecular biologist Nancy Hopkins, who became chair of the MIT Committee on Women Faculty. She details Hopkins’ horrific experiences, from being ignored to fielding threats of plagiarism lawsuits and enduring attempts to discredit her work. Zernike also covers what happened when the 1999 story broke, describing the overwhelming response from the press, the White House, and women scientists worldwide. The book ends with brief bios of the 16 women who were on the MIT faculty during the late 1990s, along with exhortations to encourage young women to consider careers in science. Zernike’s profile of Nancy Hopkins provides brilliant inspiration. –

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The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

This stunning fantasy from Whitten (For the Wolf) opens 500 years after Godsfall, when death goddess Nyxara died and all other gods followed, leaving Apollius, god of life, as the singular deity worshipped in Auverraine. The city of Dellaire sits atop Nyxara’s corpse, and a force known as Mortem, “the essence of death, the power born of entropy,” seeps from her body into the city. Those who have had near-death experiences can sense and channel this power, leading people to use poison like a drug to get close enough to death that they too can experience Mortem. Dellaire local Lore, 23, can’t quite remember the first 13 years of her life. All she knows is that she has the ability to channel Mortem, a power she puts to use spying for her adoptive poison-runner mothers. When a job goes wrong, Lore is caught and brought before Priest Exalted Anton Arceneaux and the Sainted King August Arceneaux, who give her a choice: die, or spy on the Sun Prince Bastian to find out why entire towns have been dying off. This task puts Lore in the orbit of both Bastian and Presque Mort Gabriel, both of whom feel oddly familiar. Romance is less central to this outing than in Whitten’s previous works, but there are still plenty of swoony moments to please fans. Meanwhile the fascinating magic system and ever-present danger keep the pages flying. Readers won’t want to miss this. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review

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The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook & eBook)

After a break to write a novel about UNESCO investigator Nicholas Lee (The Omega Factor, 2022), Berry returns to his moneymaker, former U.S. Justice Department operative Cotton Malone. The seventeenth book in the series delivers–this should come as no great surprise to Berry’s fans–a thrilling adventure. An obscure document from the nineteenth century is the central element in a battle between superpowers over control of a parcel of land in the German state of Bavaria; Malone winds up in the middle of things and has to call on his abundant cleverness to find a way out. When readers crack open a new Malone adventure, it’s like reuniting with an old friend. You know the guy: how he thinks, what really ticks him off, what he might do in a certain type of situation. At the same time, he has an unpredictable streak that keeps readers on their toes; there’s always an element of surprise in a Cotton Malone novel, always something we don’t see coming. Another strong entry in a consistently fine series. – Booklist Review

Reader’s Note: The Last Kingdom is the seventeenth book in the Cotton Malone series. If you’d like to start reading the series from the beginning check out book one: The Templar Legacy.

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The London Séance Society: A Novel by Sarah Penner

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)

Penner (The Lost Apothecary, 2021) returns to a historical setting–this time 1873–to tell the story of a young woman seeking to solve her sister’s mysterious death by any means necessary. Lenna Wickes is a logical skeptic devastated by grief after her sister Evie’s death. She apprentices herself to famous Parisian medium Vaudeline D’Allaire, who contacts the spirits of recent murder victims to find their killers. Evie studied with the alluring Vaudeline before taking an independent interest in the doings of the London Séance Society, where she discovered fraudulent practices. When Vaudeline is called to London to pursue contact with a recent murder victim on behalf of the society, Lenna travels with her hoping to find answers. The reader learns more problematic details about the society by alternating between Lenna and society member Mr. Morley’s points of view. Retracing her sister’s steps, Lenna discovers that the corruption goes much deeper than simply faking contact with the recently deceased, and it’s probable that Evie’s investigations led to her death–which also places Lenna and Vaudeline in peril. A great choice for fans of historical European settings, the power of women, and the fringes of the paranormal. – Booklist Review

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Pineapple Street: A Novel by Jenny Jackson

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

This family drama gives readers a look inside the lives of the affluent Stockton family, who reside in a historic brownstone in Brooklyn. Sasha has recently married into the family and just can’t seem to navigate the upper-class waters of her new in-laws. Loving Cord has always been easy, but loving his tight-knit family is another story. Cord and his two sisters, Darley and Georgina, have grown up and lived around the fruit-named streets of Brooklyn most of their lives. The family’s wealth and status have sheltered the Stocktons for generations and informed many of their habits and perceptions of life; letting an outsider in will prove to be tricky. Each family member’s first-person narration offers a glimpse into their thoughts, unique perspectives, and experiences, allowing the reader to examine the same situation through many eyes. Filled with humor, love, the ups and downs of marriage, and tennis whites, this family’s story is both endearing and exasperating. Readers will enjoy the author’s exploration of both the perks and downsides of generational wealth.

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The Sunshine Girls: A Novel by Molly Fader

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)

Told through alternating viewpoints and flashbacks, Fader’s latest (after The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season, 2020) opens with estranged sisters Abbie and Carla burying their mother, BettyKay. They are dumbfounded when famous movie star Kitty Devereaux tells them she and BettyKay were friends. In 1967 in Iowa, BettyKay and Kitty were roommates in nursing school. While Kitty dreamed of the big city, BettyKay was studious but found out she was pregnant shortly after her fiancé died in the Vietnam War. Kitty used all her resources to help BettyKay get an abortion so she wouldn’t get kicked out of the program. Shortly after the procedure, BettyKay helped Kitty make it to Hollywood, where she quickly became a star. Despite their distance, they found themselves leaning on each other in times of uncertainty and need. The Sunshine Girls will have readers sitting on the edge of their seats while learning all about BettyKay’s life alongside that of her daughters. Jane Green and Jennifer Weiner fans will enjoy this novel about two unlikely friends and the secrets that united them. – Booklist Review

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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, is an online catalog containing eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, digital magazines and a handful of streaming videos. The catalog, which allows one to download content to a PC, also has a companion app, Libby, which you can download to your mobile device; so you can enjoy eBooks and downloadable audiobooks on the go!

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.

–

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).

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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.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.

Each title is followed by a listing of which formats it is available in for check out within the three catalogs: StarCat (Print, Large Print & CD Audiobook), The Digital Catalog (eBook & Downloadable Audiobook) and the Hoopla Catalog (Hoopla instant checkout eBook & Hoopla Audiobook).

For more information on the three catalogs skip to the section below the bestselling titles*

–

New York Times Bestseller blog posts are published on Sundays.And the next New York Times blog post will be published Sunday, March 12, 2023.

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FICTION

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THE BOYS FROM BILOXI by John Grisham

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook & eBook)

Two childhood friends follow in their fathers’ footsteps, which puts them on opposite sides of the law.

–

DAISY JONES & THE SIX by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & CD Audiobook)

A fictional oral history charting the rise and fall of a ’70s rock ’n’ roll band.

–

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook & eBook)

A reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in the mountains of southern Appalachia.

–

FAIRY TALE by Stephen King

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A high school kid inherits a shed that is a portal to another world where good and evil are at war.

–

HEART BONES by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

After an unexpected death prevents her from going to Penn State and and forces her to move in with her absent father, Beyah Grim has a summer fling with the rich guy next door.

–

HOUSE IN THE PINES by Ana Reyes

(Available Formats: eBook)

Seven years after witnessing her best friend drop dead, May returns to her Berkshires hometown to piece together what happened.

–

I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU by Rebecca Makkai

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

A film professor and podcaster is invited back to teach a course at the boarding school where her roommate was murdered.

–

IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & Downloadable Audiobook)

A battered wife raised in a violent home attempts to halt the cycle of abuse.

–

IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book)

In the sequel to “It Ends With Us,” Lily deals with her jealous ex-husband as she reconnects with her first boyfriend.

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LAST KINGDOM by Steve Berry

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The 17th book in the Cotton Malone series. Malone and Daniels battle adversaries in Bavaria.

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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A scientist and single mother living in California in the 1960s becomes a star on a TV cooking show.

–

MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

After returning to her hometown, Olivia McAfee’s son gets accused of killing his crush.

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THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Nora Seed finds a library beyond the edge of the universe that contains books with multiple possibilities of the lives one could have lived.

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PARIS APARTMENT by Lucy Foley

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla instant checkout eBook)

Jess has suspicions about her half-brother’s neighbors when he goes missing.

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REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A widow working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is aided in solving a mystery by a giant Pacific octopus living there.

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THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A movie icon recounts stories of her loves and career to a struggling magazine writer.

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SOMEONE ELSE’S SHOES by Jojo Moyes

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook)

Drastic changes and a pair of six-inch high Christian Louboutin red crocodile shoes shake up the lives of two women.

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THINGS WE NEVER GOT OVER by Lucy Score

(Available Formats: Print Book)

A runaway bride becomes the guardian of her evil twin’s daughter and gets some help from a bad-boy barber.

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TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Two friends find their partnership challenged in the world of video game design.

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UGLY LOVE by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla instant checkout audiobook)

Tate Collins and Miles Archer, an airline pilot, think they can handle a no strings attached arrangement. But they can’t.

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VERITY by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Lowen Ashleigh is hired by the husband of an injured writer to complete her popular series and uncovers a horrifying truth.

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WRITING RETREAT by Julia Bartz

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

An aspiring writer goes on a writing retreat that might have life-changing or life-ending outcomes.

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NON-FICTION:

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1619 PROJECT edited by Nikole Hannah-Jones, Caitlin Roper, Ilena Silverman and Jake Silverstein

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Viewing America’s entanglement with slavery and its legacy, in essays adapted and expanded from The New York Times Magazine

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ALL ABOUT LOVE by bell hooks

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook)

The late feminist icon explores the causes of a polarized society and the meaning of love.

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ALL MY KNOTTED-UP LIFE by Beth Moore

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla instant checkout audiobook)

The founder of Living Proof Ministries details key moments from her life and her 2018 break with the Southern Baptist movement.

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BITTERSWEET by Susan Cain

(Available Formats: Print, Large Print, CD Audiobook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The author of “Quiet” suggests ways to embrace loss and suffering within ourselves and others.

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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.

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BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook, Hoopla instant check out eBook & audiobook)

A botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation espouses having an understanding and appreciation of plants and animals.

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CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

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THE CLIMATE BOOK by Greta Thunberg

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The activist exposes greenwashing efforts and shares insights from leaders in various fields about climate challenges.

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FINDING ME by Viola Davis

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The multiple award-winning actress describes the difficulties she encountered before claiming her sense of self and achieving professional success

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I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The actress and filmmaker describes her eating disorders and difficult relationship with her mother.

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IT’S OK TO BE ANGRY ABOUT CAPITALISM by Bernie Sanders with John Nichols

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The Vermont senator depicts the impact capitalism has on key areas of our lives and ways to address this.

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THE LIGHT WE CARRY by Michelle Obama

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print & eBook)

The former first lady shares personal stories and the tools she uses to deal with difficult situations.

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LOVE, PAMELA by Pamela Anderson

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The actress and activist details her childhood, rise to fame and the ways she is reclaiming the narrative of her life.

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MYTH OF NORMAL by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté 

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The potential ways in which trauma and stress from modern-day living can affect our physical health.

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NAZI CONSPIRACY by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch

(Available Formats: Print Book & CD Audiobook)

The story of a Nazi plot to kill President Roosevelt, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill.

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NEVER GIVE AN INCH by Mike Pompeo

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The former secretary of state gives his account of his time serving under President Trump, with a focus on an America First approach.

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SPARE  by Prince Harry

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The Duke of Sussex details his struggles with the royal family, loss of his mother, service in the British Army and marriage to Meghan Markle.

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UNSCRIPTED by James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams

(Available Formats: Not yet available in any library catalog)

Two New York Times journalists portray power struggles within Paramount Global, the multibillion-dollar entertainment empire controlled by the Redstone family.

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WALK THE BLUE LINE by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney

(Available Formats: Print Book & CD Audiobook)

A collection of stories about police officers.

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSL

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*Information on the Three Catalogs*

Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog 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 check outs of eBooks, downloadable audiobook, comic books, albums and streaming videos. Patron check out limit is 4 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.

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Also of Note: If a New York Times Bestseller isn’t yet available in any of the three catalogs; you can contact the library and request to be notified when it becomes available.

Southeast Steuben County Library Tel: 607-936-3713

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our streaming
recommendations for the month ahead of us!

The next streaming recommendation post will be
out the first Saturday, April 1, 2023.

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12 Angry Men (1957) (Amazon Prime Video) (Available March 1)

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The Mandalorian,  Season 3 (2023) (Disney +) (Available March 1)

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True Lies (2023) (Paramount+) (Available March 1)

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Daisy Jones & The Six (Amazon Prime Video) (Available March 3)

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Shadow and Bone Season 2 (2023) (Netflix) (Available March 16)

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Boston Strangler (2023) (Hulu) (Available March 17)

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Extrapolations (2023) (Apple TV+) (Available March 17)

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Nope (2022) (Amazon Prime Video) (Available March 21)

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The Night Agent (2023) (Netflix) (Available March 23)

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The Power (2023) (Amazon Prime Video) (Available March 31)

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Hoopla Streaming Pick of the Month

Fanny: The Right To Rock (2021)

Fanny: The Right To Rock Trailer

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Hi everyone, welcome to our Suggested Listening posting for this week!

Suggested Listening postings are published on Fridays; and our next Suggested Listening posting will be out on Friday, March 10, 2023.

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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99 Year Blues by Hot Tuna (Genre: Classic Rock, Americana)

From The Album: Burgers (1972)
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C’est si bon by Eartha Kitt (Genre: Vocal)

From The Album: The Essential Eartha Kitt (2011)

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Day Tripper by Sergio Mendes & Brasil ’66 (Genre: Easy Listening, Piano)

From The Album: Equinox (1967)

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Handel: Suite in B-Flat Major, HWV 434 – IV. Minuet (Arr. Kempff for Piano) performed by Seong-Jin Cho (Genre: Classical, Piano)

From The Album: The Handel Project – Handel: 3 Suites – Brahms: Handel Variations (2023)

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Here’s That Rainy Day by Wes Montgomery (Genre: Jazz)

From The Album: Bumpin’ (1965)

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Little Rabbit Blues by Johnny Hodges & The Ellington Men (Genre: Jazz)

From The Album: The Big Sound (1957)

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The Potter Waltz, composed by Patrick Doyle & performed by the London Symphony Orchestra, Conducted by James Shearman (Genre: Soundtrack)

From The Album: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (score) (2005)

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Soul Kitchen by The Doors (Genre: Classic Rock)

From The Album: The Doors (1967)

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Sun Come Up, It’s Tuesday Morning by Cowboy Junkies (Genre: Rock, Vocal, Folk)

From The Album: The Caution Horses (1990)

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Wooden Ships by Crosby, Stills & Nash (Genre: Vocal, Classic Rock)

From The Album: Crosby, Stills & Nash (1969)

And as a bonus, another great version of the song:

Wooden Ships by Jefferson Airplane

From The Album: Volunteers (1969)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

Everyone Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? by The Cranberries

And from the album the song:

Sunday by The Cranberries

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Have a great weekend,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

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The Digital Catalog, web version of Libby

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

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The Libby App

Libby is the companion app to the Digital Catalog and may be found in the Apple & Google app.

–

Hoopla

A catalog of instant check out items, including eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, comic books, TV shows and movies for patrons of the Southeast Steuben County Library.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our recommended reads for the week!

*More information on the three catalogs and available formats is found at the end of the list of recommended reads*

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are now published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

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100 Trails, 5,000 Ideas Where to Go, When to Go, What to See, What to Do by Joe Yogerst

(Available Formats: Print Book)

From the waterfalls of Kauai’s Napali coast to the tests of the Appalachian Trail, 100 Trails, 5,000 Ideas highlights the preeminent hiking treks across the United States and Canada, including the best scenic overlooks, camping sites, and off-trail activities. This authoritative travel guide—the next in National Geographic’s best-selling 5,000 Ideas series—takes you from the coast of Florida to the peaks of Wyoming on a series of epic hiking and walking adventures. So grab your hiking boots and get ready to explore 100 trails around all 50 states and Canada. In these informative pages, you’ll find National Geographic’s recommendations for superlative hikes, as well as tips for wildlife spotting, scenic picnic locales, routes with a view, camp sites, and off-trail activities nearby. Plus, you’ll discover alternative routes to extend your trek or tackle shorter lengths of some of the country’s most iconic journeys, like the Appalachian Trail. With each itinerary you’ll find practical planning advice for when to go and what to expect when you arrive.

Inspiring and comprehensive, this book offers something for everyone, from beginners looking for an easy day-hike (the tow path along the C&O Canal in Maryland) to advanced trekkers seeking multi-week excursions (the famed multi-state Continental Divide Trail). You’ll also discover: Tips for exploring Washington’s Elliott Bay Trail along the Seattle Waterfront Routes for hiking the Grand Canyon, rim to rim, in Arizona Advice for conquering Wisconsin’s “Ice Age” Trail The fascinating history behind Georgia’s Kennesaw Mountain Battlefield Trail The best way to see the falls along New York’s Niagara Falls Gorge Trails How to trek the Plain of the Six Glaciers in Banff National Park And so much more!Both inspiring and practical, here is the ultimate keepsake for any hiker.

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Africatown: America’s Last Slave Ship and the Community It Created by Nick Tabor

(Available Formats: Print Book)

An evocative and epic story, Nick Tabor’s Africatown charts the fraught history of America from those who were brought here as slaves but nevertheless established a home for themselves and their descendants, a community which often thrived despite persistent racism and environmental pollution.

In 1860, a ship called the Clotilda was smuggled through the Alabama Gulf Coast, carrying the last group of enslaved people ever brought to the U.S. from West Africa. Five years later, the shipmates were emancipated, but they had no way of getting back home. Instead they created their own community outside the city of Mobile, where they spoke Yoruba and appointed their own leaders, a story chronicled in Zora Neale Hurston’s Barracoon.

That community, Africatown, has endured to the present day, and many of the community residents are the shipmates’ direct descendants. After many decades of neglect and a Jim Crow legal system that targeted the area for industrialization, the community is struggling to survive. Many community members believe the pollution from the heavy industry surrounding their homes has caused a cancer epidemic among residents, and companies are eyeing even more land for development.

At the same time, after the discovery of the remains of the Clotilda in the riverbed nearby, a renewed effort is underway to create a living memorial to the community and the lives of the slaves who founded it.

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All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me by Patrick Bringley

(Available Formats: Print Book)

When Bringley’s beloved brother died while they were in their twenties in 2008, he needed a place of solitude and solace and found it at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His warmly contemplative memoir, lustrous with nuanced and affecting musings on beauty and meaning and different ways of seeing, maps his transformative 10-year sojourn as a museum guard. Bringley delves ardently into the history and aesthetics of the paintings and sculptures he spends long days studying, sharing striking insights into the art and aesthetics of ancient Egypt, China, the Congo, the then new Islamic wing, and European old masters. He tells amusing and touching stories about museum visitors and his co-workers, weaves in fascinating behind-the-scenes information about the Met’s massive operations, and asserts that the museum isn’t only a place to learn “about” art but also to learn “from” art. Graced with a list of all the artworks he was enraptured by and an excellent bibliography, this is a profound homage to the marvels of a world-class museum and a radiant chronicle of grief, perception, and a renewed embrace of life.

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The Backup Plan: A Novel by Jill Shalvis

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Bestseller Shalvis shines in her endearing third Sunrise Cove series (after The Friendship Pact). Alice Moore; her brother, Will; her best friend (and Will’s girlfriend), Lauren Scott; and Alice’s crush, Knox Rawlings, grew up together in Sunrise Cove, Calif., looked after by feisty local matriarch and “pseudo-grandmother” Eleanor Graham. Four years before the book starts, Will died, as did Knox’s alcoholic mother, and Alice and Knox separately fled town. Lauren, the only one who stays behind, is also the only blood relative to Eleanor, but they were long estranged due to the lies of Lauren’s selfish father. All three 20-something former friends are surprised when Eleanor dies and leaves the trio co-ownership of the Wild West Last Chance Inn in Sunrise Cove, with the stipulation that all must come to the inn for the necessary renovations or forfeit their share. As restoring the inn helps to heal old wounds, the friends slowly find their way back to each other—and true love blossoms between both Alice and Knox and Lauren and local widower Ben, whose five-year-old daughter is a scene-stealer. Readers will easily fall for Shalvis’s well-shaded characters and heart-filled plot. This is the literary equivalent of comfort food. – Publishers Weekly Review

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The Destroyer of Worlds: A Return to Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Ruff’s sequel to 2016’s Lovecraft Country delivers another virtuoso blend of horror, action, and humor. It’s now 1957 and Ruff’s African American protagonists are still trying to survive and build meaningful lives in a racist country, a challenge complicated by their discovery of the existence of other worlds and people with magic powers. Atticus Turner and his father, Montrose, must flee for their lives once again after a risky trip to North Carolina, to trace the escape route taken by an enslaved ancestor, turns deadly. Meanwhile, to rid himself of cancer, Montrose’s half brother, George, contemplates making a deal with the ghost of Hiram Winthrop, the former head of the Chicago branch of the Order of the Ancient Dawn, a white sorcerer’s cabal. Ruff makes the most of his inventive concept and his care in crafting memorable characters means that the fates of even minor cast members make an impact. Fans will find this a worthy sequel. – Publishers Weekly Review

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Matrix by Lauren Groff

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Groff (Florida) fashions a boldly original narrative based on the life and legend of 12th-century poet Marie de France. After Marie is banished to a poverty-stricken British abbey by Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine at age 17 in 1158, she transforms from a reluctant prioress into an avid abbess. With the rhythm of days and nights regulated by the canonical hours from Lauds to Prime, from Compline to bed, Marie reshapes the claustrophobic community into a “self-sufficient… island of women,” where “a woman’s power exists only as far as she is allowed.” To that end, she confesses a series of 19 beatific visions that guide her in designing an impenetrable underground labyrinth as a secret passageway to the convent, building separate abbess quarters, establishing a scriptorium, and constructing a woman-made lake and dam to insure a constant water supply. Groff fills the novel with friendships among the nuns, inspirational apparitions, and writings empowered by divine inspiration. Transcendent prose and vividly described settings bring to life historic events, from the Crusades to the papal interdict of 1208. Groff has outdone herself with an accomplishment as radiant as Marie’s visions. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review

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River Woman, River Demon: A Novel by Jennifer Givhan

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Eva Santos Moon, the narrator of this captivating whodunit from Givhan (Jubilee), is haunted by the drowning of her childhood best friend, Karma Marquez, when they were both 15. Years later, Eva still can’t remember whether she tried to save Karma or pushed her under the water. Consequently, Eva suffers from PTSD, marked by severe nightmares and blackouts. One night, Eva hears her husband, Jericho, screaming from the direction of the river near their New Mexico home. When she runs to help him, she finds him holding the bloody body of a close family friend, Cecilia Trujillo, who was apparently left to drown in the river by an attacker who smashed Cecilia’s face. Jericho is promptly accused of murder. When Eva later discovers texts between Cecilia and Jericho that suggest they were intimate, she feels betrayed. The coincidence of two friends dying by drowning doesn’t escape Eva. She again wonders whether she was somehow involved. In her effort to uncover the truth, Eva relies on the bruja spirit, an ancient spiritual art that she inherited from her late mother. But who can she trust? Givhan keeps the surprises coming. Psychological thriller fans will be well satisfied.- Publishers Weekly Review

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Time’s Undoing: A Novel by Cheryl A. Head

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Head, the award-winning author of the Charlie Mack Motown mystery featuring a Black, female, queer PI, brings her gift for strong women protagonists and suspense to this tale about a young, Black, female journalist from Detroit on a dangerous quest. In 1929, a Black master carpenter, Robert Lee Harrington, is killed in Birmingham, Alabama. In 2019, his great-granddaughter, Meghan McKenzie, decides to go to Birmingham to hunt down the hidden truth about Harrington’s life and unsolved murder. Head charts every step in Meghan’s Birmingham investigation, from her gutsy, seemingly fated research to her finding friends and allies, including a Black woman activist, a white librarian destined to make painful discoveries about her family, and a distractingly sexy Black man working in the mayor’s social justice office. Harrington’s harrowing story of Jim Crow racism and violence is equally vivid and affecting.

After being forced to leave Florida, he has finally brought his beautiful pregnant wife and their young daughter to Birmingham only to have trouble hunt him down one final time. As threats intensify against Meghan, Head dramatizes the ongoing horrors of white supremacy, police brutality, and the “conspiracy of hate,” but she also spotlights the way people come together to fight for justice. This heart-seizing tale even has a touch of the supernatural as it celebrates Black lives.

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Thanks to strong prepub buzz and its deeply resonant subject, Head’s commanding novel will be on many “”must read”” lists. – Booklist Review

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Veil of Lies by Jeri Westerson

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Hoopla instant checkout eBook & Audiobook)

Crispin Guest, a former knight who was stripped of his rank after being implicated in a plot against Richard II, now makes his living as a “tracker,” the medieval equivalent of a PI, in Westerson’s promising debut, set in 1384 London. Nicholas Walcote, a wealthy cloth merchant, hires Guest to investigate his younger and attractive wife, Philippa, whom he suspects of infidelity. Guest’s cursory probe is derailed after his client is found stabbed to death in a locked room. Philippa retains Guest’s services to find her husband’s killer, who may have been motivated by Walcote’s possessing a legendary relic reputed to force those in its proximity to tell the truth. While featuring a hard-boiled medieval sleuth instead of a monk or a nun may not be quite as groundbreaking as the author suggests in her afterword (e.g., Susanna Gregory’s 14th-century Cambridge physician Matthew Bartholomew), this is nonetheless an entertaining read that makes the prospect of sequels welcome.

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The World and All That It Holds by Aleksandar Hemon

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Three-time NBCC finalist Hemon (The Lazarus Project) returns with a potent story of love, war, and displacement in the early 20th century. Rafael Pinto, a Bosnian Jew, returns from schooling in Vienna and takes over his recently deceased father’s apothecary in Sarajevo. After Pinto witnesses Franz Ferdinand’s assassination, he’s drafted into the army and falls in love with Osman Karišik, a fellow soldier, Muslim orphan, and prodigious storyteller. Soon, the two are captured by the Russians and imprisoned in Tashkent. There, Pinto is tormented by disease, starvation, and the random executions of inmates, especially after Osman is pulled from their cell. But as the war ends, Osman frees Pinto, and they’re helped in Tashkent by a Jewish doctor and his daughter, Klara. After a period of relative peace and happiness, the two friends’ lives become deeply entwined with Klara’s family. Then Bolsheviks sweep the country, and Pinto flees across central Asia during the early 1920s, making his way toward China while yearning for Osman and grappling with opium addiction. Hemon easily immerses readers in the characters’ various languages, particularly the Sarajevo “Spanjol” dialect, and brings home via vivid daydreams Pinto’s anguish while separated from Osman. Readers will delight in this sweeping epic. – Publishers Weekly Review

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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, is an online catalog containing eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, digital magazines and a handful of streaming videos. The catalog, which allows one to download content to a PC, also has a companion app, Libby, which you can download to your mobile device; so you can enjoy eBooks and downloadable audiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

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.

–

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.

–

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).

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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.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the latest edition of Library Connections, our weekly readers’ and listeners’ advisory videocast:

Hi everyone, here is the latest edition of Library Connections, our weekly readers’ and listeners’ advisory videocast:

The next Library Connections video will be posted on Wednesday, March 8, 2023.

Library Connections videos may also be accessed via the Southeast Steuben County Library’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SESTEUBENCOLIBRARY

Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL

 

The next Library Connections video will be posted on Wednesday,

Library Connections videos may also be accessed via the Southeast Steuben County Library’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SESTEUBENCOLIBRARY

Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL