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, July 5, 2023.
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Death Knells And Wedding Bells by Eva Gates
(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & Audiobook)
The wedding of a North Carolina librarian and a dentist who’s been elected mayor would be perfect if not for the dead body. Nothing worse than some family squabbles mars the ceremony, held at a Nags Head hotel, until a corpse pops up in a utility closet the next morning. The dead man, Wayne Fortunada, had accompanied bride Lucy Richardson McNeil’s Aunt Joyce to the wedding, and he’d seemed pleasant enough until the reception, where he drank heavily and was reduced to monosyllabic conversation. Lucy’s already had an unfortunate amount of experience with murder, and her friendship with Det. Sam Watson has enabled her to give him information without risking snarky comebacks. This doesn’t apply to the newly hired Det. North, who’s helping Sam with the case; he’s suspicious of Lucy’s friendship with Sam and thinks he should be running the investigation himself. In addition to the murder, Lucy’s concerned about the tension between her brother Kevin and his estranged wife, Kristen, who came to the wedding with a date of her own. Lucy’s motivation to meddle is redoubled when absent-minded professor Eddie McClanahan, library director Bertie James’ date, vanishes on the night of the wedding and becomes the chief suspect. When she and her groom, Connor, track Eddie down at a friend’s beach cottage, he seems unaware of the murder but admits to having known the dead man years ago in New York and being blackmailed by him. Kristen’s date was an actor who also had a past with Fortunada. Blackmailers are obvious targets for murder, but which of the suspects was willing to go that far? Quirky characters enliven a mystery with a twisty payoff. – Kirkus Review
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East Indian: A Novel by Brinda Charry
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Shakespeare scholar Charry marks her U.S. fiction debut with a marvelous picaresque of a boy’s journey from 17th-century India to colonial Virginia. Tony, the narrator, lives on India’s east coast with his courtesan mother and her patron, Francis Day. After Tony’s mother dies when he is 11, Day arranges for him to travel to England as a servant. After his new employer dies on the voyage, Tony finds work in London as a dockworker and shelter in a boardinghouse run by a compassionate Bengali man. Watching a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tony is fascinated by the “Indian boy” over whom Oberon and Titania compete, wondering if the nameless character is valued “as a child, as a servant, or simply as a rare thing?” Tony lives in England for eight months before being abducted and illegally shipped to the colonies to supply Virginia tobacco growers with labor. He reaches Jamestown in 1635, where he’s indentured for seven years to a wealthy landowner, then transferred to an even crueler master, but he manages to survive due to his bonds with fellow workers, both Black and white. Richly imagined characters and keen explorations of identity, place, and the power of imagination drive this luminous achievement. Readers of Esi Edugyan and Yaa Gyasi will be enthralled. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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If We’re Being Honest: A Novel by Cat Shook
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Gathered for a funeral in small-town Georgia, a close-knit family gets the surprise of their lives. When Ellen Williams asks Fred Clark to give the eulogy at her husband Gerry’s funeral, she has no doubt he’s the man for the job: Fred was Gerry’s best friend, a second father to the three now-middle-aged Williams children, and beloved by Ellen as well. Oops, bad call. After weaving his way to the pulpit, “white hair sticking up in odd places like a toddler just waking from a nap,” Fred delivers a drunken tribute that ends with a stunning assertion about who Gerry really was–and leaves the Williams family reeling. If the patriarch they adored was living a lie, what does that say about his marriage, his love for his family, and whether anyone is who they seem? Debut novelist Shook is juggling a lot of balls here, and in a tight space. The action takes place over one week in Eulalia, Georgia, between Gerry’s funeral and a wedding the four grown grandkids are sticking around for, and in that time nine Williamses grapple with their shock while probing their own emotional lives. Will Delia get back with her ex? Will Alice, who has her own secret, follow her heart? Can Red reveal his true identity; will his parents mend their marriage; can Ellen ever forgive? It’s hard to keep the characters straight at first, but by the time they’ve finished the neighbor-donated casseroles and talked it all out, you’re engaged and rooting for them. Also occasionally irritated, but that’s what relatives are for. “Families are crazy–I mean, look at mine,” granddaughter Alice finally tells the man she loves. “But it’s what I want.” An appealing, astutely observed debut about familial love and the secrets we keep. – Kirkus Review
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The Last Sinner by Lisa Jackson
(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook)
The #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Survived delivers a gripping novel of suspense featuring two veteran homicide detectives matching wits with a twisted serial killer lurking in the shadows of New Orleans.
There are killers so savage, so twisted, that they leave a mark not just on their victims, but on everyone who crosses their path. For Detectives Bentz and Montoya, Father John, a fake priest who used the sharpened beads of a rosary to strangle prostitutes, is one such monster.
Bentz thought he’d ended that horror years ago when he killed Father John deep in the swamp. But now there are chilling signs he may have been wrong. A new victim has surfaced, her ruined body staged in deliberate, unmistakable detail. Either it’s a terrifying copycat, or Father John, the detective’s own recurring nightmare, has come back to haunt New Orleans.
Another death, and another. Bentz is growing convinced that Father John isn’t just back.
He’s circling closer, targeting those Bentz loves most.
And this time, he won’t be stopped until the last sinner has paid the ultimate price..
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Night Flowers by Sara Herchenroether
(Available Formats: Print Book)
In Herchenroether’s poignant debut, research librarian Laura MacDonald is perusing a crime website while awaiting a double mastectomy in a Connecticut hospital when a post catches her eye: in 1983, hikers lost in Sierra County, N.Mex., found barrels containing the skeletons of a woman and two girls. Thirty years later, the victims remain unidentified, so Laura decides to use her professional skills to investigate. Meanwhile, despite pressure from her husband to retire and help the couple’s single daughter raise her child, Det. Sgt. Jean Martinez has reopened the Sierra County Sheriff’s Department’s case file on the same hikers, hoping recent media coverage triggered by the discovery’s anniversary will turn up a lead. As the women’s investigations converge, Jane Doe’s ghost worries that if her killer is caught, she’ll only be remembered for how she died. Nuanced characters and artful prose complement the intricately crafted mystery, but what distinguishes Herchenroether’s tale is her visceral, resonant recounting of Laura’s cancer experience: Laura “had no voice. No identity outside her diagnosis.” This author is off to a strong start. – Publishers Weekly Review
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The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Multiple Hugo and Nebula Award winner Willis (Blackout/All Clear) returns with a delightful, intergalactic twist on the romantic comedy. Francie only agrees to show up for her college roommate’s doomed wedding in Roswell, N.Mex., because she hopes her presence will make the bride-to-be realize she’s making a mistake. That, and she’s the maid of honor. The wedding and the town’s annual UFO Festival are not falling on the same weekend by coincidence; the groom is a true believer. Meanwhile, skeptical Francie can barely stand every moment she has to spend hearing about sightings, theories, and abductions. Then she herself is abducted by an alien who needs her help navigating the New Mexican desert. Her abductor, nicknamed Indy, is described as looking like a “animate tumbleweed,” with dozens of quick, strong tentacles that it has no issue using to keep Francie acting as its chauffeur. A chance encounter with a friendly and handsome hitchhiker, Wade, a con man, adds one more to the madcap road trip, and each subsequent stop continues to grow the wacky crew. For Francie, terror turns to acceptance that turns to curiosity that turns to care as she comes to believe that Indy is just trying to get home. Willis makes Francie’s journey to, from, and around Roswell an absolute blast with abundant humor, copious references to old westerns, and sweet budding love between Francie and Wade. Readers will not be disappointed. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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A Spell Of Good Things: A Novel by Ayobami Adebayo
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Adébáyọ̀ follows up Stay with Me with this bright and distinctive tragedy set in modern Nigeria. Ẹniọlá, a teenager whose father has lost his job, can no longer pay the tuition at the private school that he’d hoped would enable him to rise from poverty. Wúràọlá is a doctor from a wealthy and politically connected family. She’s overworked in an underfunded hospital, and courted by well-bred Kúnlé, whose mood shifts and possessiveness unnerve her. Ẹniọlá takes an apprenticeship with a tailor, but after he is beaten at school for the unpaid fees, his mother insists Ẹniọlá and his little sister accompany her to beg for money. Things spiral out of control when Ẹniọlá’s parents decide to pay his sister’s tuition with the proceeds but not his. He takes his revenge by joining a gang working for the vengeful politician Fẹ̀sọ̀jaiyé. Wúràọlá, meanwhile, becomes engaged to Kúnlé despite her misgivings, and though her parents are ecstatic, he slaps her at a party. Kúnlé’s father is running against Fẹ̀sọ̀jaiyé, and the story’s violent denouement is as devastating as it is inevitable. Pitch-perfect details provide a sense of the characters’ lives—the red dust caked on Ẹniọlá’s white socks from long walks to school, the soft headscarf worn by Wúràọlá’s mother that “barely whispered”—and as the characters are pushed to the brink, Adébáyọ̀ delivers a searing indictment of the country’s corruption and gender inequalities. This packs a powerful punch. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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Welcome To Beach Town by Susan Wiggs
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Beloved New York Times bestselling author Susan Wiggs returns with a compulsively readable tale of an idyllic California beach town forced to reckon with scandal when a high school valedictorian’s speech reveals secrets that shake the town to its core.
“Readers will savor sunny skies and perfect surf in this stunning new novel, but one thing is for sure: In this Beach Town, there is always more happening than meets the eye. Don’t miss this expansive beauty of a summer book!” —Kristy Woodson Harvey, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Summer of Songbirds
Every town has its secrets…
In idyllic Alara Cove, a California beach town known for its sunny charm and chill surfer vibe, it’s graduation day at the elite Thornton Academy. At Thornton, the students are the worldly and overindulged children who live in gated enclaves with spectacular views. But the class valedictorian is Nikki Graziola, a surfer’s daughter who is there on scholarship. To the shock of everyone in the audience, Nikki veers off script while giving her commencement address and reveals a secret that breaks open the whole community.
As her truth explodes into the light, Alara Cove will face a reckoning.
Nikki Graziola’s accusation shakes the foundation of Alara Cove, pitting her against the wealthy family whose money runs the town. Her new notoriety sends Nikki into exile for years, where she finds fame—but not fortune—overseas as a competition surfer…until a personal tragedy compels her to return to Alara Cove.
As Nikki struggles to rebuild her future, she finds that the people of the town have not forgotten her. But time has changed Alara Cove, and old friendships, rivalries, and an unexpected romance draw her back into the life of the beach town she’s never quite forgotten, and where joy and redemption may be possible after all.
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You Are Here: A Novel by Karin Lin-Greenberg
(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)
Lin-Greenberg’s masterful and understated debut novel is an engrossing, character-driven story that will delight fans of Liane Moriarty and Celeste Ng. The story unfolds in a mall that is on the brink of closing. Readers meet a hairdresser with unfulfilled dreams, her precocious yet shy son, a kind and driven teenage girl working in the food court, a bookstore manager in a slump, and a seemingly grumpy elderly woman. These divergent characters don’t appear to share any connections, but their lives are intertwined in unexpected ways that are slowly revealed as the story progresses. As the mall quite literally decays around them, they must grapple with what the future holds while also dealing with the effects of a tragic event in their community. At its heart, this is a story about our ties to and interactions with others and how our communities impact our actions, influence our aspirations, and shape our identities. Lin-Greenberg beautifully translates the lives of an ordinary group of people into an extraordinary, even triumphant novel. You Are Here is sure to be a book club favorite. – Booklist Review
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You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight
(Available Formats: Print Book)
At Camp Mirror Lake, terror is the name of the game . . . but can you survive the night?
This heart-pounding slasher by New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron is perfect for fans of Fear Street.
Charity has the summer job of her dreams, playing the “final girl” at Camp Mirror Lake. Guests pay to be scared in this full-contact terror game, as Charity and her summer crew recreate scenes from a classic slasher film, The Curse of Camp Mirror Lake. The more realistic the fear, the better for business.
But the last weekend of the season, Charity’s co-workers begin disappearing. And when one ends up dead, Charity’s role as the final girl suddenly becomes all too real. If Charity and her girlfriend Bezi hope to survive the night, they’ll need figure out what this killer is after. As they unravel the bloody history of the real Mirror Lake, Charity discovers that there may be more to the story than she ever suspected . . .
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Have a great day!
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.
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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.
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