Hi everyone, here are our five 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 published on Wednesday.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, October 18, 2023.
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The Beast You Are: Stories by Paul Tremblay
(Available Formats: Print Book)
These 15 invigorating horror shorts from Tremblay (The Pallbearer’s Club) showcase the author’s imagination and versatility. Two are radically different ghost stories: in “ Ice Cold Lemonade 25¢ Haunted House Tour: 1 Per Person,” the narrator reflects on the youthful experiences that haunt his adult self, while “I Know You’re There” explores the ways in which grief repeatedly reshapes a character’s perceptions of reality. There are also two prescient pandemic stories, both originally published before the Covid-19 outbreak: “The Blog at the End of the World” works backward chronologically through online posts about a mysterious epidemic to form an incisive critique of the dissemination of disinformation on social media; “The Last Conversation” delivers a poignant sci-fi riff on the difficulty of letting a loved one go. The brilliant title novella takes the form of an animal fable, laced with references to fear-mongering authorities and cultish believers that resonate deeply with the contemporary zeitgeist. Whether he’s writing a subtly disarming tale in the manner of Shirley Jackson (“The Party”) or a grisly monster story (“The Large Man”), Tremblay draws well-developed characters whose recognizable humanity makes it easy for readers to accept the weird events happening around them. This will be a smash with horror fans. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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A Chateau Under Siege by Martin Walker
(Available Formats: Print Book)
When an actor in a local play is attacked during a performance, Bruno must learn whether it was an accident, a crime of passion, or an assassination attempt with implications far beyond the small French village.
The town of Sarlat is staging a reenactment of its liberation from the British in the Hundred Years War when the play’s French hero, Brice Kerquelin, is stabbed and feared fatally wounded. Is it an unfortunate prop malfunction—or something more sinister? The stricken man happens to be number two in the French intelligence service, in line for the top job. Bruno is tasked with the safety of the victim’s daughters, Claire and Nadia, as well as their father’s old Silicon Valley buddies, ostensibly in town for a reunion. One friend from Taiwan, a tycoon in chip fabrication, soon goes missing, and Bruno suspects there may be a link to the French government’s efforts to build a chip industry in Europe—something powerful forces in Russia and China are determined to scuttle. Wading through a tangle of rivalries and secrets, Bruno begins to parse fact from fiction—while also becoming embroiled in some romantic complications, and, of course, finding time to put together some splendid meals.
Reader’s Note: A Chateau Under Siege is the sixteenth book in the Bruno series. If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out book one Bruno, Chief of Police (2008).
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The Golden Gate by Amy Chua
(Available Formats: Print Book)
DEBUT In 1930, seven-year-old Iris Stafford died in the Claremont Hotel, which she is now said to haunt. In 1931, Al Sullivan’s Mexican father was “repatriated” to Mexico after the stock market crash, allegedly to free up jobs for Americans. By 1944, Iris’s sister Izzy and her two Bainbridge cousins have grown into beauties, and Al has taken his mother’s last name and risen to be a homicide detective with the Berkeley Police Department. They all come together at the Claremont when a presidential candidate is killed, and witnesses identify a woman who resembles one of the three Bainbridge cousins. The D.A. warns Mrs. Genevieve Bainbridge that he can charge all three of her granddaughters as co-conspirators if she doesn’t identify the killer. But Al has his doubts. Everyone has suggestions for his case, including Madame Chiang Kai-Shek, who purportedly was involved with the murder victim. Al is warned of Communists, Japanese spies, and the Chinese, but, as the son of a Mexican father and an Okie mother, he has himself experienced prejudice and is determined to find the truth.
VERDICT The historical mystery debut by Yale Law School professor Chua (Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother) is a successful, compelling mash-up of California history, ghost story, family tale, and social commentary. – Starred Library Journal Review
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Mother-Daughter Murder Night by Nina Simon
(Available Formats: Print Book)
Three women bond while investigating a homicide in Simon’s spirited debut. Lana Rubicon and her 17-year-old daughter, Beth, become estranged when Beth gets pregnant and relocates five hours north of Los Angeles to raise her baby alone. Fifteen years later, Lana is a high-powered L.A. real estate developer, and Beth is a nurse who shares a humble cottage in Elkhorn Slough with her now-teenage daughter, Jack. Though Lana has always refused to visit Beth and Jack’s “shack about to fall into a mud pit,” she moves in while undergoing treatment for cancer. Four months of cohabitation do nothing to curb her feelings of uselessness and alienation from her daughter and granddaughter, however. Then, a kayak tour led by Jack comes across naturalist Ricardo Cruz’s floating corpse. Racist local police target Jack—who’s half Filipino on her father’s side—based on the flimsy testimony of one of her clients, and Lana resolves to exonerate her granddaughter and reconnect with Beth in the process. Simon stocks her layered plot with plausibly motivated suspects and convincing red herrings, but it’s her indomitable female characters and their nuanced relationships that give this mystery its spark. Readers will be delighted. Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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Murder At The Merton Library by Andrea Penrose
(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Check Out eBook & eAudio)
A scientific innovation stokes deadly rivalries in Penrose’s engrossing seventh Regency-era whodunit featuring the Earl of Wrexford and cartoonist Charlotte Sloane (following 2022’s Murder at the Serpentine Bridge). Distraught librarian Neville Greeley summons his family friend Wrexford to Oxford with a cryptic letter. Shortly before Wrexford arrives, however, a mysterious stranger stabs Greeley to death at his desk. After Wrexford discovers Greeley’s body, he launches an investigation in London, where his wife, Charlotte, is looking into a mystery of her own: a suspicious fire has destroyed the laboratory of inventor Henry Maudslay, who was on the cusp of building a ship that could cross the ocean powered by steam rather than sails. British naval operatives, German researchers, and Russian spies were all keenly interested in Maudslay’s research, but who would want to stop it? And might that same perpetrator be involved in Greeley’s murder? Penrose’s sprawling cast can be difficult to keep straight, but she rewards diligent readers with a pulse-pounding climax, and her deep dive into early 18th-century technology is a treat. In the crowded field of Regency mysteries, this series stands out. – Publishers Weekly Review
Reader’s Note: Murder At The Merton Library is the seventh book in the Wrexford & Sloane Mystery series. If you’d like to start reading the series from the beginning check out book one Murder on Black Swan Lane (2017).
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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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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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
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Information on the three library 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, 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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Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
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