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*
–
Weekly Suggested Reading postings are published on Thursdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Thursday, August 17, 2023.
–
American Ramble: A Walk of Memory and Renewal by Neil King
(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)
“American Ramble is a dazzling mixture of travelogue, memoir, and history. At times profound, funny, and heartbreaking, this is the story of a traveler intoxicated by life. I couldn’t put it down.” — Nathaniel Philbrick
A stunning, revelatory memoir about a 330-mile walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City—an unforgettable pilgrimage to the heart of America across some of our oldest common ground.
Neil King Jr.’s desire to walk from Washington, D.C., to New York City began as a whim and soon became an obsession. By the spring of 2021, events had intervened that gave his desire greater urgency. His neighborhood still reeled from the January 6th insurrection. Covid lockdowns and a rancorous election had deepened America’s divides. Neil himself bore the imprints of a long battle with cancer.
Determined to rediscover what matters in life and to see our national story with new eyes, Neil turned north with a small satchel on his back and one mission in mind: To pay close attention to the land he crossed and the people he met.
What followed is an extraordinary 26-day journey through historic battlefields and cemeteries, over the Mason-Dixon line, past Quaker and Amish farms, along Valley Forge stream beds, atop a New Jersey trash mound, across New York Harbor, and finally, to his ultimate destination: the Ramble, where a tangle of pathways converges in Central Park. The journey travels deep into America’s past and present, uncovering forgotten pockets and overlooked people. At a time of mounting disunity, the trip reveals the profound power of our shared ground.
By turns amusing, inspiring, and sublime, American Ramble offers an exquisite account of personal and national renewal—an indelible study of our country as we’ve never seen it before.
–
Broken by Karin Slaughter
(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)
Slaughter brings her Grant County and Atlanta characters together for a second time (after Undone) in this superb thriller. When Dr. Sara Linton returns home to Grant County, Ga., for Thanksgiving, she hopes to steer clear of the police, especially Det. Lena Adams, whom she blames for the murder of her husband, police chief Jeffrey Tolliver. Yet when college student Allison Spooner is found dead in a lake and a local boy, Tommy Braham, is arrested for the murder, Sara reluctantly agrees to consult. The investigation soon spirals out of control after Tommy dies in custody. When Sara calls in Georgia Bureau of Investigation special agent Will Trent from Atlanta to take over the case, the local police greet Will’s arrival with suspicion. Will must weigh Sara’s personal vendetta against Detective Adams with the facts of the case, which grow more confusing the deeper he digs into the small county’s secrets. Slaughter keeps the emotional tension high throughout. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
Reader’s Note: Broken is the fourth book in the 11 book Will Trent Mystery series. If you’d like to binge read, from the beginning, check out book one: Triptych.
–
Everything She Feared by Rick Mofina
(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)
“Rick Mofina has penned a creepy, heart-pounding page-turner…. A gripping, chilling thriller from beginning to end.”
—Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author of The Overnight Guest
Every mother worries about their child. But Sara Harmon fears hers…
When a teen falls while taking a selfie at the edge of a cliff, the last thing she sees before plummeting to her death is Katie Harmon, the nine-year-old girl she was babysitting, looking down at her.
Investigators gather at the scene, and Katie’s mother, Sara, rushes to comfort her daughter. Yet there’s a small, secret ping of alarm in Sara’s heart that she cannot share—though rookie detective Kim Pierce senses it.
For years, others have tried to unravel this secret. From true-crime podcasters to a haunted journalist searching for a killer who vanished after being released from prison several years ago. And now, with detectives tightening the focus of their investigation, Sara is consumed by her darkest fear—that the babysitter’s death was not an accident.
–
The Forgotten Bookshop in Paris by Daisy Wood
(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)
From an exciting new voice in WWII historical fiction comes a tale of love, loss and a betrayal that echoes through generations… Paris, 1940: War is closing in on the city of love. With his wife forced into hiding, Jacques must stand by and watch as the Nazis take away everything he holds dear. Everything except his last beacon of hope: his beloved bookshop, La Page Cachée. But when a young woman and her child knock on his door one night and beg for refuge, he knows his only option is to risk it all once more to save a life… Modern day: Juliette and her husband have finally made it to France on the romantic getaway of her dreams – but as the days pass, all she discovers is quite how far they’ve grown apart. She’s craving a new adventure, so when she happens across a tiny, abandoned shop with a for-sale sign in the window, it feels fated. And she’s about to learn that the forgotten bookshop hides a lot more than meets the eye… A heartbreaking tale of love and loss in war, perfect for fans of Kate Quinn and Jennifer Chiaverini.
–
The Housekeepers by Alex Hay
(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)
Hay’s debut features an Ocean’s 11-style heist set in London in the early 1900s, carried out by an all-female gang of thieves. The women have all been servants for the uber-wealthy Wilhelm de Vries in his very large, very vulgar mansion on Park Lane. Now he’s dead, and, though she’s officially still in mourning, his headstrong daughter has decided to hold a lavish ball to impress Lord Ashley, the man she’s determined to marry. The intrepid Mrs. King sees the night of the ball as a perfect opportunity to steal everything from the de Vries mansion–priceless artwork, carpets, curtains, furniture, books–and sell it for a fortune. Enlisting the help of a ragtag band of de Vries’ former servants, Mrs. King plans the robbery down to the tiniest detail. But of course, things don’t go completely according to plan. This wonderfully inventive story paints an authentic portrait of London society in the early 1900s and is full of shocking secrets, suspense, hidden identities, flamboyant characters, and subtle humor; there’s even an unexpectedly satisfying ending. Fans of historical fiction, strong female characters, and twisty, pacy thrillers will love it. – Booklist Review
–
The Paris Agent by Kelly Rimmer
(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)
Twenty-five years after the end of the war, Noah Ainsworth is still preoccupied with those perilous, exhilarating years as a British SOE operative in France. A head injury sustained on his final operation has caused frustrating gaps in his memory—in particular about the agent who saved his life during that mission gone wrong, whose real name he never knew, nor whether she even survived the war.
Moved by her father’s frustration, Noah’s daughter Charlotte begins a search for answers that resurrects the stories of Chloe and Fleur, the code names for two otherwise ordinary women whose lives intersect in 1943 when they’re called up by the SOE for deployment in France. Taking enormous risks to support the allied troops with very little information or resources, the women have no idea they’re at the mercy of a double agent among them who’s causing chaos within the French circuits, whose efforts will affect the outcome of their lives…and the war.
But as Charlotte’s search for answers bears fruit, overlooked clues come to light about the identity of the double agent—with unsettling hints pointing close to home—and more shocking events are unearthed from the dangerous, dramatic last days of the war that lead to Chloe and Fleur’s eventual fates.
–
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross
(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Downloadable Audiobook, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & Audiobook)
–
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).
–
Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
–
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.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 