StarCat is the catalog of physical materials including print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. StarCat is available to all patrons of all public libraries in the Southern Tier Library System*
The Digital Catalog (and its companion app Libby) offers all Southern Tier Library System member library patrons access to eBooks, eAudiobooks & digital magazines via a lending model known in Library-ese as “one copy/one user;” that library speak means that eBooks & eAudiobooks found in The Digital Catalog/Libby are like print books found on library shelves, only one patron can check out a copy of a title at a time.
Exception: Magazines found in the digital catalog are available via a different lending model known as simultaneous access. And that fancy library speak means that magazines are available for all patrons to check out at the same time, i.e. if you and all your family and friends wish to read the latest digital edition of Newsweek, all those people could check out the magazine and read it at the same time.
The Digital Catalog/Libby Formats: eBooks can be accessed on mobile devices (AKA smartphone or tablet), computers and eReaders; eAudiobooks can be listen to on mobile devices and computers; and magazines can be accessed on mobile devices and computers.
The Hoopla Digital Catalog (and its companion app, also called Hoopla) offers Southeast Steuben County Library patrons access to a second digital catalog with an on-demand lending model. In library speak, this lending model, like The Digital Catalog/Libby’s magazine lending model, is known as “simultaneous access.” The difference is, the Hoopla catalog offers access to more formats: eBooks, eAudiobooks, eComics, digital albums, TV shows & movies – and all items, in all those formats, are available for patrons to checkout immediately.
Hoopla Formats: All Hoopla content can be accessed on a computer or mobile device, and TV shows and movies can be accessed on computers, mobile devices, smart TVs and media streaming players, i.e. Roku or Apple TV.
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 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 published on Wednesdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, April 3, 2024.
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Age of Revolutions by Fareed Zakaria
Of revolutions good and bad, born of intentions good and evil. In this wide-ranging historical survey, political commentator Zakaria, author of The Post-American World, considers the present era to be “revolutionary in the commonly used sense of the word,” involving fundamental changes marked not necessarily by advances but instead retreats into ideologies once overcome. Donald Trump, in this regard, is “part of a global trend,” the proponent of a politics of resentment against the other, whether nonwhite newcomers or members of the so-called urban elite. Some revolutions have had better angels at their hearts. The establishment of the Dutch Republic, for example, brought with it a “celebration of individual rights…[and] toleration of religious minorities,” along with an entrepreneurial spirit that made Holland the wealthiest nation on the planet. Similarly, the British government supported inventors and technological innovation after the Glorious Revolution, which introduced “parliamentary rule and market capitalism,” giving the nation a decided leg up on more hidebound neighbors. Throughout this intellectually stimulating book, Zakaria asks and answers large questions, such as why the U.S., alone among industrial nations, never developed a socialist movement. (One part of the answer is that the U.S. never experienced feudalism as such, and its ruling class “obscured the strict lines of class conflict that fed socialism.”) Absent socialism, the country instead developed a liberal democracy along the lines of the old Dutch Republic, for better and worse. Zakaria writes, “Liberalism’s great strength throughout history has been to free people from arbitrary constraints. Its great weakness has been the inability to fill the void when the old structures crumble.” That’s about where we are today, with old structures collapsing on every side and no fresh solutions in view–certainly, the author concludes, not from the right wing. A thought-provoking tour of recent history and its considerable discontents. – Kirkus Review
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The Ancient Art of Thinking for Yourself: The Power of Rhetoric in Polarized Time: The Power of Rhetoric in Polarized Times by Robin Reames
A scholar of rhetoric makes the case that reviving the teaching of rhetoric and language can help bridge our destructive political and social divide. Reames, a professor of English at the University of Illinois-Chicago, breathes life into the study and technique of rhetoric, specifically why words are selected and how they can be used to change one’s thinking about delving below the surface of ideology in order to yield more civil and productive interaction. The author aptly demonstrates her expertise about the development of rhetoric in Athenian democracy, especially how the Sophists cleverly exploited language to manipulate public opinion, and she compares and contrasts the rhetorical strategies of Greek demagogues such as Gorgias and Alcibiades to modern-day use and abuse of language by politicians and public figures. Reames also poignantly leans on her own difficult and frustrating rhetorical relationship with her late father to illustrate how ideological assumptions and an unwillingness or inability to break free from our own “hermeneutic circles” can establish and deepen division and misunderstanding, a story that’s painfully relatable. The history of rhetoric that the author presents is fascinating, and the parallels she draws to the modern world are sharp and sprinkled with both bluntness and wit. Reames concludes the book with several practical and useful tips for thinking rhetorically in such a contentious era. Unfortunately, the people who most need to read this book–political and media demagogues, fearmongers, and keyboard warriors who amplify our polarized society–probably won’t. Even if they did, it’s difficult to say if they would heed the author’s advice or double down on their sophistry. Nonetheless, the rest of us should seriously consider the wisdom Reames offers, eschew the comfort of ideological reinforcement that she outlines, and, most importantly, think for ourselves by holding our beliefs to rigorous questioning. Required reading for any thinking person. – Starred Kirkus Review
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Boundary Waters by William Kent Krueger
Krueger follows up his sure-handed debut novel, Iron Lake (1998), with an equally effective second thriller featuring former Chicago cop, now former local sheriff Cork O’Connor and his adventures in the warm-spirited little town of Aurora, Minn., and the harsh wilderness that surrounds it. The durable O’Connor, who used to watch over the territory as sheriff until he was voted out of office in a personal and professional meltdown, now tends a burger stand but still has a reputation as a go-to guy when trouble arises. It does so in the form of William Raye, an aging country singer who’s looking for his daughter, Shiloh, a famous rock musician who disappeared several months earlier into the Boundary Waters, the thickly forested, lake-dotted area to the north. O’Connor isn’t looking for work, but he takes the case because Shiloh is an Aurora native, and O’Connor hopes someone would do the same for him if any of his three kids were lost. Before he can even head into the woods, FBI agents show up, as well as an old casino gangster from Las Vegas. They, too, all want Shiloh found, but none will say exactly why. O’Connor, accompanied by two agents plus Raye, and a father and son from the local Anishinaabe tribe, packs up and heads out by canoe in what becomes a gritty, bloody adventure of considerable emotional depth. The action is deftly interspersed with glimpses of the terror Shiloh is enduring in the wilderness–at the hands of those who would bury an old crime–and with tense scenes back in Aurora, where O’Connor’s family and other townsfolk worry about the operation’s success. Krueger’s writing, strong and bold yet with the mature mark of restraint, pulls this exciting search-and-rescue mission through with a hard yank. – Publishers Weekly Review
Reader’s Note: Boundary Waters is the second book in the Cork O’Conner series. If you’d like to start reading the series from the beginning checkout book one: Iron Lake (1998).
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Bury The Lead by Elizabeth Renzetti & Kate Hilton
A big-city journalist joins the staff of a small-town paper in cottage country and finds a community full of secrets … and murder. Cat Conway has recently returned to Port Ellis to work as a reporter at the Quill & Packet. She’s fled the tattered remains of her high-profile career and bad divorce for the holiday town of her childhood, famous for its butter tarts, theatre, and a century-old feud. One of Cat’s first assignments is to interview legendary actor Eliot Fraser, the lead in the theatre’s season opener of Inherit the Wind. When Eliot ends up dead onstage on opening night, the curtain rises on the sleepy town’s secrets. The suspects include the actor whose career Eliot ruined, the ex-wife he betrayed, the women he abused, and even the baker he wronged. With the attention of the world on Port Ellis, this story could be Cat’s chance to restore her reputation. But the police think she’s a suspect, and the murderer wants to kill the story—and her too. Can Cat solve the mystery before she loses her job or becomes the next victim of a killer with a theatrical bent for vengeance? – The Girls We Sent Away by Meagan Church It’s the mid-1960s, and Lorraine Delford has just turned 17. Not one to sit back and let life happen, Lorraine is a go-getter who likes to be first. She’s first in her class and hopes to become the first woman valedictorian at her high school. She’s also the first woman to lifeguard at the local pool. But it’s a different first that will forever change her life, after a pregnant Lorraine is rejected by her boyfriend and scorned by her parents, who pull her out of school and send her to a maternity home. The residence is not the salvation she’s expecting, and its promise to provide residents with the opportunity to get back to their normal lives rings hollow. As her stomach grows, so does Lorraine’s determination to keep the baby she’s come to love, and she decides to fight for what is rightfully hers.
VERDICT In this engaging, shocking, heart-wrenching story, readers are pulled along with Lorraine through the ups and downs of her pregnancy, optimistic for her future but saddened by its likely outcome. Fans of Church’s The Last Carolina Girl will be clamoring to read this one. –Library Journal
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If The Boot Fits by Karen Witemeyer
Witemeyer continues her Texas Ever After series (after Fairest of Heart) with a spunky, Cinderella-inspired tale of unexpected love and intrigue set in the late 19th century. Samantha Dearing, the daughter of Palo Pinto County’s “cattle king,” is unamused by her father’s efforts to marry her off, trusting God to bring her the perfect man. So when a mysterious stranger breaks into the Dearing household and, while being chased off the premises, saves Samantha’s younger brother from drowning, she’s intrigued. The only clue to the intruder’s identity is the boot he left behind; unbeknownst to Samantha, it belongs to Asher Ellis, who seeks revenge on Mr. Dearing for evicting his family from their land. As Samantha, who’s eager to make a difference in the community, begins to tutor Asher’s younger brother in their rundown new home, an attraction blooms and Asher fights to keep from falling for her. Bigger problems arise, however, as mysterious threats are made on Samantha’s life, including an attempted arson. To help keep her safe, Asher and Mr. Dearing must find a way to work together. With a plot full of masked cowboys, family intrigue, and ranch politics, there’s ample suspense to keep readers turning pages, and the romance between Asher and Samantha offers just enough sweetness to balance things out. Witemeyer’s fans will be on the edge of their seats all the way through to the satisfying conclusion.
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One Puzzling Afternoon by Emily Critchley
Edie Green was a plain, friendless, working-class girl living in a small town in England. Her father died, and her mother had to work as a shop clerk and–embarrassingly for Edie–hold seances to make ends meet. One fateful afternoon, Edie sees Lucy Theddle, the mayor’s daughter, kissing a teacher, and Lucy begs Edie not to reveal her secret. But things take a tragic turn, and Lucy disappears. Despite an extensive search, no trace of Lucy is ever found. Edie is now an octogenarian with dementia, but she still remembers Lucy as clearly as if she were standing in front of her. Edie’s dementia is worsening, but when she is sure she sees Lucy outside the town post office one afternoon, she decides she must find out what happened to her friend. Critchley’s U.S. debut is a clever, keep-’em-guessing murder mystery, an empathetic yet realistic portrayal of the toll dementia takes, and a meditation on how the brain can bury the most tragic memories. Despite shocking, painful, sad moments, this is also an uplifting, sometimes humorous portrait of a feisty, admirable octogenarian who’s determined to do the right thing. An outstanding must-read. – Starred Booklist Review
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When the Jessamine Grows by Donna Everhart
For readers of Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier and Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles, an evocative, morally complex novel set in rural 19th century North Carolina, as one woman fights to keep her family united, her farm running, and her convictions whole during the most devastating and divisive period in American history. Talk of impending war is a steady drumbeat throughout North Carolina, though Joetta McBride pays it little heed. She and her husband, Ennis, have built a modest but happy life for themselves, raising two sons, fifteen-year-old Henry, and eleven-year-old Robert, on their small subsistence farm. They do not support the Confederacy’s position on slavery, but Joetta considers her family to be neutral, believing this is simply not their fight. Her opinion is not favored by many in their community, including Joetta’s own father-in-law, Rudean. A staunch Confederate supporter, he fills his grandsons’ heads with stories about the glory of battle and the Southern cause until one night Henry runs off to join the war. At Joetta’s frantic insistence, Ennis leaves to find their son and bring him home. But soon weeks pass with no word from father or son and Joetta is battered by the strain of running a farm with so little help. As the country becomes further entangled in the ramifications of war, Joetta finds herself increasingly at odds with those around her – until one act of kindness brings her family to the edge of even greater disaster. Though shunned and struggling to survive, Joetta remains committed to her principles, and to her belief that her family will survive. But the greatest tests are still to come – for a fractured nation, for Joetta, and for those she loves . . .
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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.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout/download content to a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features instant checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 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 mobile devices, PCs, Macs*, smart TVs & media streaming players.
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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*You must have an active Internet connection to access Hoopla content on a Mac.
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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, Combined Print & E-Book Fiction & Non-Fiction.
New York Times Bestsellers can be requested through StarCat (for print books) & The Digital Catalog/Libby for eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks. Select titles may also be checked out, on demand, through the Hoopla Catalog.
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 Bestseller blog post will be out on Sunday, March 31, 2024.
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FICTION
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BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood
Issues of trust arise when an alliance is made between a Vampyre named Misery Lark and a Were named Lowe Moreland.
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A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES by Sarah J. Maas
The fifth book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. Nesta Archeron is forced into close quarters with a warrior named Cassian.
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FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston
A woman who works for a mysterious boss takes on a new identity to dig up information on someone.
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FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros
Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
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HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry
A former couple pretend to be together for the sake of their friends during their annual getaway in Maine.
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THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride
Secrets held by the residents of a dilapidated neighborhood come to life when a skeleton is found at the bottom of a well.
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THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden
Troubles surface when a woman looking to make a fresh start takes a job in the home of the Winchesters.
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THE HUNTER by Tana French
The life that a Chicago P.D. retiree has built in Ireland with a local woman and her daughter comes under threat.
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ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace
Anastasia might need the help of the captain of a college hockey team to get on the Olympic figure skating team.
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THE INMATE by Freida McFadden
A nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison gave testimony against her former boyfriend that put him behind bars.
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IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros
The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training might require her to betray the man she loves.
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STILL SEE YOU EVERYWHERE by Lisa Gardner
The third book in the Frankie Elkin series. Frankie must find the sister, who was kidnapped over a decade ago, of a serial killer on death row.
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THE TEACHER by Frieda McFadden
A math teacher at Caseham High suspects there is more going on behind a scandal involving a teacher and a student.
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TOUCH OF CHAOS by Scarlett St. Clair
The seventh book in the Hades X Persephone series. The Goddess of Spring must come to terms with her new identity as the Queen of the Underworld.
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THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
In 1965, a nursing student follows her brother to serve during the Vietnam War and returns to a divided America.
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NON-FICTION
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AMERICAN PROMETHEUS by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin
A biography of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2006 and an inspiration for the film “Oppenheimer.
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BAD THERAPY by Abigail Shrier
Shrier makes her case that the mental health industry has a negative impact on American children.
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BLOOD MONEY by Peter Schweizer
The author of “Red-Handed” depicts a scheme involving the Chinese Communist Party’s covert operations in America.
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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk
How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
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THE BOYS IN THE BOAT by Daniel James Brown
The story of the American rowers who pursued gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games; the basis of the film.
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BURN BOOK by Kara Swisher
The tech journalist and podcast host gives an overview of the tech industry and the foibles of its founders.
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THE HOUSE OF HIDDEN MEANINGS by RuPaul
The multiple Emmy Award-winning producer of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” traces his journey from his childhood in San Diego to becoming a pop culture icon.
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KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann
The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose lands contained oil.
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MASTERS OF THE AIR by Donald L. Miller
An account of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II; the basis of the TV series.
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OATH AND HONOR by Liz Cheney
The former congresswoman from Wyoming recounts how she helped lead the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6. Attack on the United States Capitol.
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OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford
A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
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READING GENESIS by Marilynne Robinson
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Gilead” illuminates the literary aspects of the Bible’s first book.
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RETURN OF GREAT POWERS by Jim Sciutto
The CNN anchor and chief national security analyst examines shifts in the global order, including how they impact technology and the web.
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TRUMP INDICTMENTS with an introduction, annotations and supporting materials by Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissmann
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THE WAGER by David Grann
The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.
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Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Search for and request books online!
eBooks & Audiobooks Through The Digital Catalog & Libby
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access
StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries throughout 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 Telephone Number: 607-936-3713.
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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
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 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 published on Wednesdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, March 27, 2024.
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The Best Way To Bury Your Husband: A Novel by Alexia Casale
After spending twenty years enduring her husband’s abuse, Sally snaps and kills him with a skillet during the COVID-19 lockdown. She’s got plenty of ideas for how to handle the body, but there are two potential issues–how to explain Jim’s disappearance to their adult children, and how to conceal the body from her nosy neighbor Edwina. A few blocks away, Ruth’s husband attacks her, then falls when she rushes away to escape his grasp. Sally discovers Ruth trying to burn his body, and they bond over their shared predicament. They are soon joined by Samira and Janey, who also have abusive husbands to bury. The quartet hatches a plan to conceal the men’s deaths and dispose of their bodies. Casale’s adult debut is a sharp, entertaining, and fast-paced story that’s as much about revenge as it is about sisterhood and liberation. While there are plenty of darkly comic moments and surprising plot twists, domestic violence is presented with frank realism that can be difficult to read. This intoxicating blend of revenge thriller and black comedy will appeal to fans of C. J. Skuse and Helene Tursten. –Booklist Review
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Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy
Douaihy follows up Scorched Grace with another deliriously enjoyable, relentlessly plotted adventure for chain-smoking “punk nun” Sister Holiday Walsh. Sister Holiday spends her days teaching music at Saint Sebastian’s School in New Orleans, and her nights operating the newly established Redemption Detective Agency alongside former fire inspector Magnolia Riveaux. After a potential client stands the women up for a consultation, they stumble on a priest’s corpse floating in the Mississippi River. They go straight to the police, who hire the Redemption detectives to aid with the investigation. Over a rain-soaked three-day Easter weekend, Magnolia and Sister Holiday uncover a trail of secrets that may be linked to both the murder and the disappearance of the parish’s other priest—and that could mean danger for more clergy members if they don’t act fast. Douaihy is more concerned with Sister Holiday’s faith in this entry (a key subplot involves her preparing to take her final vows), but there’s still plenty of local color and high-stakes action to keep fans of the first book on board, and the mystery itself is even more gripping this time out. This series continues to impress. — Publishers Weekly Review
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Enchanted To Meet You by Meg Cabot
With this adorable paranormal rom-com, bestseller Cabot (the Princess Diaries series) launches a fun and spooky series set on Connecticut’s Long Island Sound. A few incantation mistakes as a teenager resulted in Jessica Gold’s exclusion from the World Council of Witches (WCW). Now the self-trained witch limits her use of magic to making positive fashion alterations in her retail store in historic West Harbor. That small coastal town is on the brink of celebrating its tricentennial—but handsome newcomer Derrick Winters arrives with a dire warning, claiming West Harbor may not make it to 300. He points out recent flooding, wolf sightings, and other unexplained phenomena as harbingers of what is to come, but also offers some hope, naming Jessica as the “Chosen One” who can identify the “Bringer of Light,” a young girl who will save the town. Game to save her little corner of the world, Jessica must face down her old high school nemesis, a WCW snob, while trying to find her new mentee and get her ready for whatever lies ahead. The townful of quirky characters charms, while mysterious Derrick, who may or may not be sanctioned by the WCW but who is undeniably awesome at pub trivia, makes for a swoony love interest. Readers will be eager for more. –Publishers Weekly
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The Girls Who Fought Crime: The Untold True Story of the Country’s First Female Investigator and Her Crime-Fighting Squads by Mari Eder
Retired Army major general Eder (The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line) profiles in this colorful account the “tough, intrepid” Mae Foley (1886-1952), who became one of New York City’s first policewomen in 1923. Originally assigned to the so-called “masher squad,” which policed crimes committed by men against women (from pocket-picking to murder), in 1925 Foley was promoted to detective and attached to Manhattan’s 19th Precinct. In 1930 she transferred to the 108th Precinct in Queens, where she investigated the 3X Murders, a still unsolved series of shootings by a killer who signed eerie letters to the press as “3X.” (On one occasion, Foley acted as bait for the killer, but caught a garden-variety mugger instead.) At various points in her career, she raided bootleggers’ stills as part of the squad that enforced the Volstead Act during Prohibition; fought Nazis on Long Island; and kept safe the sex-worker witnesses testifying against gangster Charles “Lucky” Luciano. Eder also describes how Foley stood up for herself and her sister officers against the patriarchy of the police force, where women were held to higher standards than men. Eder’s vivid and raucous narrative brings to life the cops-and-robbers jousting of Prohibition-era New York. Aficionados of the city’s underground history should take a look. — Publishers Weekly Review
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Misunderstood Vegetables: How to Fall in Love with Sunchokes, Rutabaga, Eggplant and More by Becky Selengut & Clare Barboza
Selengut, a chef, culinary instructor, food journalist, and author of cookbooks, including IACP Book Award finalist Good Fish, believes there is no such thing as a bad vegetable; there are just misunderstood ones. Writing with a dry sense of humor and a zesty enthusiasm, she plays matchmaker between 25 different wallflower vegetables–fava beans, nettles, fennel, beets–and shy cooks who have yet to discover their gastronomic potential. The cookbook is arranged seasonally, with each vegetable receiving an overview providing historic, scientific, and nutritional information, along with tips on purchasing, storing, cooking, and substitutions, followed by a small selection of clearly written recipes featuring the misunderstood vegetable. Gorgeous color photographs and bonuses such as a recipe for homemade ricotta (for the fava bean, sweet pea, and ricotta dip) round out this stellar cookbook. VERDICT Even with the bounty of excellent vegetable-focused cookbooks that are available (such as Deborah Madison’s brilliant Vegetable Literacy and Abra Berens’s thoughtful Ruffage), this effortlessly entertaining and endlessly empowering book deserves its own spot in every kitchen. –Starred Library Journal Review
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Sisters with a Side of Greens by Michelle Stimpson
Two strong-willed sisters fight their way to forgiveness in this feel-good Southern fiction, for fans of Terry McMillan and KJ Dell’Antonia’s The Chicken Sisters. Rose Tillman and her sister Marvina Nash haven’t spoken in decades—not since Rose sent Marvina $40 to register their business, and Marvina used that money for her own personal purposes. Now retired, Rose wants to open the restaurant they’d once dreamed of. But, to her horror, Rose realizes she’s forgotten their mother’s secret spice mix recipe, known to only one other person in the world. With no other option, Rose embarks on a two-hour drive to Marvina’s house back in Fork City, TX. Marvina has her own version of what caused their falling out, and it’s a far cry from what Rose recalls. Marvina, skeptical and still indignant, but incurably polite, figures she’ll give Rose a chance to speak her piece, before closing the door in her face. As the sisters fight their way to forgiveness, they unpack their complicated past, form an unexpected alliance with a young mother-to-be, and reconnect through the tantalizing aroma of chicken dinners that hold the power to heal—or divide—a community. In a tale rich with Southern charm, Rose and Marvina discover, through fussing, laughter, and tears, that the secret ingredient to a bright future might just be found in facing who they are today—and in forgiving the past to embrace a second chance at sisterhood.
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A Step Past Darkness: A Novel by Vera Kurian
In 1995, Wesley Falls, Pennsylvania, is controlled by the megachurch Golden Praise, led by charismatic pastor Jim Priess. Local teen Jia Kwon is hiding her psychic visions, unwilling to give the pious townspeople ammunition against her. Then Jia, best friend Padma, top jock Casey, Queen Bee Maddy, bad boy James, and loyal Kelly are assigned to a team history project about the local mine. While exploring, they witness Golden Praise elders tossing six teens into the mine’s virtually bottomless Heart. With that, their focus shifts to discovering the connection between the murders, Golden Praise, and the disturbing aura Jia senses around Priess. After unearthing reality-shaking secrets, they take action and believe that they’ve freed Wesley Falls from evil. But when Jia returns 20 years later to help find a missing person, she finds Maddy’s body and a new minister at Golden Praise who bears an unsettling resemblance to Priess. Jia summons the gang back to Wesley Falls to avenge Maddy and finish what they started as kids. Through flashbacks and the gang’s emotionally powerful reunion, Kurian draws readers in, invoking strong Goonies vibes. Here, as in her debut, Never Saw Me Coming (2023), Kurian creates unforgettable characters, breathless suspense, and original plotting. A must-read for fans of C. J. Tudor and Jennifer McMahon. — Booklist Review
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Sun Of Blood And Ruin: A Novel by Mariely Lares
Lares makes a triumphant debut with a vivid epic set in an alternate 16th-century colonial Mexico. It stars a mestiza woman known variously by her Spanish name, Leonora; her Nahua name, Tecuani; and her alter ego, Pantera, a defender of Indigenous people who is magically able to transform into a panther and draw superhuman strength from the sun. As she joins forces with an alliance of Indigenous groups calling themselves La Justicia and aiming to fight back against Spanish control, the kinetic fight scenes and deep, complex interpersonal relationships will swiftly draw readers into her world. With the Spaniards persecuting magic and dismissing “the old ways,” it’s up to Pantera to fulfill an ancient prophecy and thereby protect her people. Lares has a talent for historic detail and though there are dozens of Spanish and Nahuatl words that will likely be unfamiliar to many readers, she excels at weaving in enough context to make comprehension easy, including a helpful note on language at the beginning and a glossary at the end. The vast supporting cast is equally well integrated and easy to keep track of despite its size. Interweaving history, mythology, romance, and swashbuckling action, this is a surefire hit. –Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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Terrace Story by Hilary Leichter
The delightful sophomore effort from Leichter (Temporary) expands on her National Magazine Award–winning story about a magic closet by adding multiple timelines that stretch into the future. When Annie, Edward, and their baby daughter, Rose, are visited by their friend Stephanie in their cramped new apartment, having been forced to move by a rent hike, Stephanie reveals a sprawling terrace behind their closet door, which wasn’t there before. Leichter then switches to the story of George and Lydia, another married couple with a small child, and describes the couple’s unhappiness in novel terms (“They argued about why they were arguing, until every argument collapsed on itself and fit precariously in the bad kitchen cabinet where the miscellany of their marriage languished in obscurity”). In another timeline, Rose, who comes of age in a future on the brink of human extinction, lives on a space station described as a “suburb,” and longs for a lover who’s left on a mission to another suburb. Connecting these threads is Stephanie’s act of manifesting Annie and Edward’s terrace and the reverberations it causes, the details of which Leichter gradually teases out, setting the stage for a deeply satisfying ending. Along the way, there are plenty of wry observations on time and memory (“Then again—most beginnings, apocryphal. Almost always unobserved. Who can remember with any accuracy life’s initial drift toward its final shape?”). Leichter soars with this cogent yet dreamlike tale. –Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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The Underground Library by Jennifer Ryan
Ryan’s latest WWII novel showcases the bravery and tenacity of everyday women during the Blitz. In her trademark fashion, Ryan weaves together the stories of three very different women: Sofie, a Jewish refugee from Germany; Juliet, an empathetic and motivated new deputy librarian; and Katie, a young woman about to start university. Each woman faces a unique hardship, but their stories converge at the Bethnal Green Library, where they find solace in books. As the Blitz forces their community to take shelter in the underground station, the written word brings people together, and Juliet begins lending books from the station. But a string of tragedies threatens to break the fragile hope that the underground library has forged. This is not only a testament to the strength of women during WWII; it is also a love letter to libraries and the boundless knowledge and pleasure they provide. While the individual women’s stories are works of fiction, the story is based on true events that happened in Bethnal Green and around London, adding to the emotional impact of Ryan’s well-researched tale. –Booklist Review
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
–
Have questions or want to request a book?
Feel free to call the library! Our telephone number is 607-936-3713.
–
Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout/download content to a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features instant checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 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 mobile devices, PCs, Macs*, smart TVs & media streaming players.
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.
–
*You must have an active Internet connection to access Hoopla content on a Mac.
–
Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.
New York Times Bestsellers can be requested through StarCat (for print books) & The Digital Catalog/Libby for eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks. Select titles may also be checked out, on demand, through the Hoopla Catalog.
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 due to vacation leave in Library Land, the next New York Times Bestseller blog post will be out on Friday, March 24, 2024.
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FICTION
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BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood
Issues of trust arise when an alliance is made between a Vampyre named Misery Lark and a Were named Lowe Moreland.
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A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES by Sarah J. Maas
The fifth book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. Nesta Archeron is forced into close quarters with a warrior named Cassian.
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THE EMPIRE OF THE DAMNED by Jay Kristoff The second book of the Empire of the Vampire series. Gabriel de León is tasked with taking the Holy Grail to the ancients of the Blood Esani.
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A FATE INKED IN BLOOD by Danielle L. Jensen
After the secret of her magic to repel attacks is revealed, Freya encounters dangerous tests by the gods.
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FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston
A woman who works for a mysterious boss takes on a new identity to dig up information on someone.
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FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros
Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
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HAPPY PLACE by Emily Henry
A former couple pretend to be together for the sake of their friends during their annual getaway in Maine.
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THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride
Secrets held by the residents of a dilapidated neighborhood come to life when a skeleton is found at the bottom of a well.
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HOUSE OF FLAME AND SHADOW by Sarah J. Maas
The third book in the Crescent City series. Bryce wants to return home while Hunt is trapped in Asteri’s dungeons.
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THE HUNTER by Tana French
The life that a Chicago P.D. retiree has built in Ireland with a local woman and her daughter comes under threat.
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ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace
Anastasia might need the help of the captain of a college hockey team to get on the Olympic figure skating team.
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THE INMATE by Fredia McFadden
A nurse practitioner at a maximum-security prison gave testimony against her former boyfriend that put him behind bars.
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IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros
The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training might require her to betray the man she loves.
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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus
A scientist and single mother living in California in the 1960s becomes a star on a TV cooking show.
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NEVER TOO LATE by Danielle Steel
A widow makes a fresh start in New York City and connects with her movie-star neighbor as they help others after a crisis.
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REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt
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 TEACHER by Frieda McFadden
A math teacher at Caseham High suspects there is more going on behind a scandal involving a teacher and a student.
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THREE-INCH TEETH by C.J. Box
The 24th book in the Joe Pickett series. A man released from prison uses grizzly bear attacks to cover his acts of revenge.
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TOUCH OF CHAOS by Scarlett St. Clair
The seventh book in the Hades X Persephone series. The Goddess of Spring must come to terms with her new identity as the Queen of the Underworld.
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UNTIL AUGUST by Gabriel García Márquez
Every August, Ana Magdalena Bach travels to the island where her mother is buried and takes a lover for one night. Translated by Anne McLean.
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THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
In 1965, a nursing student follows her brother to serve during the Vietnam War and returns to a divided America.
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NON-FICTION
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ATTACK FROM WITHIN by Barbara McQuade
A legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC looks at the effects of disinformation on law and politics.
–
BLOOD MONEY by Peter Schweizer
The author of “Red-Handed” depicts a scheme involving the Chinese Communist Party’s covert operations in America.
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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk
How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
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THE BOYS IN THE BOAT by Daniel James Brown
The story of the American rowers who pursued gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games; the basis of the film.
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BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation espouses having an understanding and appreciation of plants and animals.
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BURN BOOK by Kara Swisher
The tech journalist and podcast host gives an overview of the tech industry and the foibles of its founders.
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ELON MUSK by Walter Isaacson
The author of “The Code Breaker” traces Musk’s life and summarizes his work on electric vehicles, private space exploration and artificial intelligence.
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EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE by Dolly Alderton
The British journalist shares stories and observations; the basis of the TV series.
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GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE by Sloane Crosley
After her apartment is broken into and someone close to her dies by suicide, Crosley contends with her past.
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I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy
The actress and filmmaker describes her eating disorders and difficult relationship with her mother.
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IT’S HARD FOR ME TO LIVE WITH ME by Rex Chapman with Seth Davis
The former NBA player details his gambling and opioid addictions.
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KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann
The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose lands contained oil.
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THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY by Tim Alberta
The author of “American Carnage” looks at divisions within the American evangelical movement.
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MANY LIVES OF MAMA LOVE by Lara Love Hardin
The ghostwriter describes being convicted of thirty-two felonies and the life she built after her release from jail.
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MASTERS OF THE AIR by Donald L. Miller
An account of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II; the basis of the TV series.
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OATH AND HONOR by Liz Cheney
The former congresswoman from Wyoming recounts how she helped lead the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6. Attack on the United States Capitol.
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OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford
A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
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TRUMP INDICTMENTS with an introduction, annotations and supporting materials by Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissmann
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THE WAGER by David Grann
The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.
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WHITE RURAL RAGE by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman
A look at the factors that exacerbate the difficulties and grievances of white rural voters.
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WHY WE REMEMBER by Charan Ranganath
A neuroscientist elucidates the role memory plays in our lives.
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THE WOMAN IN ME by Britney Spears
The Grammy Award-winning pop star details her personal and professional experiences, including the years she spent under a conservatorship overseen by her father.
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Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Search for and request books online!
eBooks & Audiobooks Through The Digital Catalog & Libby
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access
StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries throughout the Southern Tier Library System.
–
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 Telephone Number: 607-936-3713.
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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
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 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 published on Wednesdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, March 20, 2024.
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Becoming Madam Secretary by Stephanie Dray
Frances Perkins, born to well-off parents, arrives at the turn of the 20th century in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood with a fellowship to investigate childhood malnutrition. Enraged at the deplorable living and working conditions she encounters, she is soon ensconced with other powerful women, such as Eleanor Roosevelt, who are equally socially conscious. Shortly after she witnesses women falling to their deaths during the Triangle Shirtwaist factory fire, Frances is recommended by former president Theodore Roosevelt to a committee on safety in New York State seeking to prevent future workplace tragedies. As she begins to find success in her professional life, she is romantically pursued by fellow reformer Paul Wilson. They marry and face personal tragedies as Frances continues to work for the betterment of those who have less. She fights for workers’ rights, meets and becomes enthralled with a young lawyer named Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and forms a partnership with him that will carry them all the way to the White House. VERDICT Dray (The Women of Chateau Lafayette) introduces readers to this real-life trailblazing woman who is the mother of Social Security and became the first woman appointed to a United States presidential cabinet. A fictionalized portrayal of a phenomenal woman who has largely been lost to history. – Library Journal
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A Grave Robbery by Deanna Raybourn
The Earl of Rosemorran, patron and employer for Veronica Speedwell and Stoker, brings Stoker a new project. The earl has purchased a crystal casket containing a life-size waxwork sleeping beauty, and he wants Stoker to install a clockwork mechanism to make the figure appear to breathe. When Stoker makes the first cut, he discovers that the sleeping beauty is an actual human body disguised as an anatomical waxwork. He wants to identify her and provide a proper burial, while Veronica wants to find out if the woman died by suicide or was murdered. Their misadventures take them from a Victorian circus to a mortuary and underground railroad. In order to catch a villain, the couple recruit allies, including a woman reporter, a Scotland Yard detective, a hermit, and an undertaker. The entire team is needed to launch Veronica’s audacious scheme to substitute herself for the waxen beauty. But Veronica makes a costly mistake when she underestimates her opponent.
VERDICT The ninth Veronica Speedwell book, following A Sinister Revenge, spins off Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. It’s possibly the best in the series, with Raybourn’s trademark banter, innuendo, and outstanding lead characters, along with a fascinating plot and supporting cast. – Starred Library Journal Review
Reader’s Note: A Grave Robbery is the ninth book in the Veronica Speedwell Mystery series. If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out book one: A Curious Beginning.
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The Great Divide: A Novel by Cristina Henriquez
The enthralling latest from Henríquez (The Book of Unknown Americans) tells the stories of migrant laborers, locals, and others affected by the Panama Canal project in 1907. Born and bred in Panama City, Francisco Aquino is a proud fisherman. His headstrong teenage son Omar yearns for more than his father’s predictable life at sea, however, and gets hired at Culebra Cut, a notoriously difficult labor site, where he works to dig the canal alongside Barbadians, Jamaicans, and Haitians. Francisco, who calls the Americans “enemy invaders” for building the canal and harbors resentment over U.S. intervention in Panama’s 1903 separatist movement, disapproves. There’s also 16-year-old Ada Bunting, who arrives from Barbados to work as a washer woman so she can send money to help her sister, who has pneumonia. Her story is linked with that of Tennessee scientist John Oswald, who comes to Panama to study tropical diseases with his wife Marian, who contracts pneumonia and is cared for by Ada. Meanwhile, the residents of the southern town of Gatun learn that their community has been earmarked as the site of the canal’s dam. The author delves deeply into themes of colonialism and labor exploitation, showing how the men take quinine daily to ward off tropical diseases while an American foreman rules over their worksite with an iron fist. Henríquez’s pitch-perfect novel has the feel of a classic. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman
At a big-box retailer in upstate New York, a team of workers is energized by a secret plan. “‘Roaches’ was what other employees called the people who worked Movement, because they descended on the store in the dark of night, then scattered in the morning, when the customers arrived.” Waldman’s long-awaited follow-up to The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (2013) is set in a totally different world–bye-bye, literary Brooklyn; hello, blue-collar Potterstown, a forlorn small town with a view of the Catskills, stuck in a downward spiral ever since the local IBM plant closed. What remains the same is the author’s emotional intelligence, wry humor, and sensitivity to matters of money and class. Meanwhile, the details of daily operation and workplace culture at Town Square Store #1512 are evoked in fine and fascinating detail. The members of Team Movement (formerly “Logistics”) are introduced in the org chart that opens the book, and that org chart is the heart of the plot. Currently the nine “roaches” are managed by a guy they call Little Will. Everybody loves Little Will, but his self-absorbed boss, Meredith, a Fashion Institute of Technology dropout, is a nightmare. Now the top dog, Big Will, whose “nonthreatening air of diversity, combined with his good looks and his youth,” make him a corporate dreamboat, is getting his hoped-for transfer to his home state of Connecticut. Does that mean the hated Meredith will get his job? But if so, would Little Will move up and leave a management slot free for one of the roaches, who get no benefits whatsoever? This situation inspires a smart lesbian mom named Val to cook up a plot in which each of her sympathetically imagined Movement compadres plays a role. Even the coffeepot in the break room during a team meeting is a character: “hissing and sputtering wildly, like a small animal trying to scare off a larger predator.” The workplace dramedy of the year. – Starred Kirkus Review
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Listen for the Lie: A Novel by Amy Tintera
YA author Tintera (The Q, 2022) makes her adult debut with a twisty thriller featuring an appealingly unlikable narrator. Lucy Chase can’t remember the night her best friend, Savvy, was murdered. Though Lucy was never charged, most of the residents of Plumpton, Texas, think she did it. Lucy moves to L.A., where her alleged crimes are mostly forgotten until a true-crime podcast picks up the case. Then Lucy’s beloved grandmother calls her back to Plumpton; little does she know that her grandmother promised Ben, the podcast host, an interview with Lucy, who has never publicly spoken about Savvy’s murder. Oh, and Lucy is having severe murderous ideation, led by a mysterious voice in her head. As Lucy reluctantly works with Ben to piece together the night of Savvy’s murder, the case is complicated by Lucy’s picture-perfect ex-husband, who is just one of the people keeping secrets. The true-crime podcast hook will draw readers in, but it is Lucy’s unique voice that will keep them turning the pages. An excellent takedown of small-town life and toxic masculinity. – Booklist
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Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way by Rachel Slade
Journalist Slade (Into the Raging Sea) offers an incisive look at the history and current state of American manufacturing. Using as a lens the story of Ben and Whitney Waxman—a young couple with backgrounds in union organizing and working low-paid jobs who set out in 2015 to found an entirely American-made hoodie company in Portland, Maine—she charts the once stalwart American garment industry’s slow death, from billionaire attacks on the early unions in the 1930s, through international trade agreements such as NAFTA. She shows how the latter have allowed multinational corporations to move production to countries with fewer rights and protections for workers or the environment, thereby lowering their costs and undercutting American-based manufacturing with cheap imports. Tracking the Waxmans’ difficulties sourcing American-made cotton fleece, drawstrings, zippers, and grommets in this depleted manufacturing landscape, Slade delves into the histories of the companies they eventually find to supply them, some of which have been family owned for over 100 years. The Waxmans’ company, American Roots, has transformed their community, according to Slade, who writes that every hoodie made “supports one-hundred-plus Maine workers.” This galvanizing call for Americans “to start making things for themselves” serves as both a sweeping report on a globalized industry and a practical road map for aspiring small-scale manufacturers. Readers will feel invigorated. – Publishers Weekly Review
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Never Too Late by Danielle Steel
From #1 New York Times bestselling author Danielle Steel, a stirring novel about a woman striking out on her own after loss as her adult daughters try to find their own independent paths in life.
Kezia Cooper Hobson, recently widowed, arrives in New York from San Francisco. Determined to make a fresh start, she has just completed the sale of her Pacific Heights home, not to mention her husband’s venture capital firm, and in doing so, is also freed from her responsibility as a board member of the company. Bringing with her only a few personal treasures, she is excited to move into the blank slate of a beautiful midtown penthouse, in the city that she has always loved. It is also where her two adult daughters now live.
As Kezia settles into her new apartment, she meets her movie-star next-door neighbor, Sam Stewart, whose terrace borders hers. Just a couple of weeks after she arrives, however, a devastating crisis strikes New York City. Kezia and Sam find themselves connecting over their strong impulse to help those in need. As they share a life-changing experience of volunteering, a bond is sparked and a friendship is formed.
Kezia’s daughters, Kate and Felicity, are taken aback by their mother’s new friendship, both more focused on their own love lives than hers. But Kezia is learning that the changes she’s making are just what she needs to open new horizons.
In this powerful and moving new novel, Danielle Steel illuminates the importance of human connection and embracing brave change, proving it’s never too late for a brand-new start.
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Parasol Against the Axe: A Novel by Helen Oyeyemi
The bold, lucid, and experimental latest from Oyeyemi (Peaces) portrays Prague as a city of dreams and mysteries. The writer Hero Tojosoa, who publishes under the pen name Dorothea Gilman, accepts a last-minute invitation to a bachelorette party in Czechia hosted by two frenemies. She brings with her a copy of Paradoxical Undressing, a novel by mysterious Australian author Merlin Mwenda, which provides a different narrative each time it’s opened (Hero’s copy shifts overnight from a story of a love triangle in the court of King Rudolf III to one of a dyspeptic judge hoping to frame his own son for crimes against the Communist Party). Also in Prague is the real Dorothea Gilman, who has an axe to grind with Hero for using her name. Dorothea winds up with her own copy of Paradoxical Undressing, one that’s set in 1943 and concerns the perilous adventures of a dancer hoping to subvert the Nazi Protectorate from within. By the time Dorothea loses her copy of the Mwenda and tracks down a new one in a bookshop, the novel has changed into a madcap farce about rogue hairdresser Ataraxia “the Uglifier” Pham, who terrorized 2016 Prague by giving clients terrible hairdos. Bizarre doublings and subplots abound as Oyeyemi delightfully channels a Borgesian literary lunacy, revealing the connections between Hero and Dorothea and introducing the real Merlin Mwenda (now working as, of all things, an ersatz ice cream vendor). This is a metatextual masterpiece. Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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This Is The Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets, edited by Kwame Alexander
Poet Alexander’s (Why Fathers Cry at Night) anthology gathers an astonishing abundance of voices, introducing new poets and also offering a rich gathering of celebrated and familiar voices, beginning with Nikki Giovanni’s exhilarating and deliciously wild revelry about travelling to Mars. Readers will also find poems by Rita Dove, Elizabeth Alexander, Nikki Grimes, Ross Gay, Marilyn Nelson, Yusef Komunyakaa, Jason Reynolds, and Natasha Tretheway, among others. The poems are organized thematically (joy, love, origin, race, resistance, praise) and make for rich browsing. Alexander’s introduction to the volume makes it clear he doesn’t want to pigeonhole Black writers but instead to celebrate the scope and individuality of their work. He refers to this book as an “unbridled selfie,” and here that term seems not self-indulgent or ridiculous but necessary and even thrilling.
VERDICT This amazing anthology may be the most important poetry collection of this decade. It is a book for poetry lovers, a book for the curious, a book of comfort, a book of prayer, a book of passion and a book of joy, a book of sorrow and a book of desire, but in the end, it is simply and wondrously a grand and glorious book. -Starred Library Journal Review
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The Year Of Second Chances: A Novel by Lara Avery
Avery debuts with a tender novel full of heart and healing. A year after her husband’s death, Robin Lindstrom wants to honor him with lasagna. It was Gabe’s recipe, special to both of them, and it’s all she needs to commemorate the anniversary. Yet Robin is thrown for a loop when she receives an email that night–from Gabe. He’d scheduled it to be sent a year after his death, and he’s even created a dating profile for her on the Fluttr app. In the message, he says he wants her to be happy. She’s had the time to grieve, so she should get herself out there. Robin begrudgingly follows his wishes and ends up on a few tragically bad dates. But as she continues to say yes to as many opportunities as she can, Robin makes connections she’d never dreamed possible. While there are love interests–Gabe’s best friend, plus a determined suitor from the app–this story is ultimately about Robin. After folding in on herself for a year, her new efforts result in a transformed life. Avery’s funny and engaging writing, plus Robin’s strong voice, will keep readers turning pages. Suggest to those who enjoyed Catherine Newman’s We All Want Impossible Things (2022). – Booklist Review
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
–
Have questions or want to request a book?
Feel free to call the library! Our telephone number is 607-936-3713.
–
Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout/download content to a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features instant checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 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 mobile devices, PCs, Macs*, smart TVs & media streaming players.
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.
–
*You must have an active Internet connection to access Hoopla content on a Mac.
–
Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.
New York Times Bestsellers can be requested through StarCat (for print books) & The Digital Catalog/Libby for eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks. Select titles may also be checked out, on demand, through the Hoopla Catalog.
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 due to vacation leave in Library Land, the next New York Times Bestseller blog post will be out on Friday, March 17, 2024.
–
FICTION
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AFTER ANNIE by Anna Quindlen
When Annie Brown suddenly dies, her family and closest friend piece their lives back together and carry her memory forward.
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BRIDE by Ali Hazelwood
Issues of trust arise when an alliance is made between a Vampyre named Misery Lark and a Were named Lowe Moreland.
–
A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES by Sarah J. Maas
The fifth book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. Nesta Archeron is forced into close quarters with a warrior named Cassian.
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CROSSHAIRS by James Patterson and James O. Born
The 16th book in the Michael Bennett series. Bennett teams up with a sniper.
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DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver
Winner of a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. A reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in the mountains of southern Appalachia.
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FATE INKED IN BLOOD by Danielle L. Jensen
After the secret of her magic to repel attacks is revealed, Freya encounters dangerous tests by the gods.
–
FIRST LIE WINS by Ashley Elston
A woman who works for a mysterious boss takes on a new identity to dig up information on someone.
–
FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros
Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
–
GOTHIKANA by RuNyx
A century-old mystery brings Corvina Clemm and Vad Deverell together at a university based in a castle at the top of a mountain with a dark history.
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THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride
Secrets held by the residents of a dilapidated neighborhood come to life when a skeleton is found at the bottom of a well.
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THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden
Troubles surface when a woman looking to make a fresh start takes a job in the home of the Winchesters.
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HOUSE OF EARTH AND BLOOD by Sarah J. Maas
Passion arises between Bryce Quinlan and Hunt Athalar as they seek to avenge the deaths of Bryce’s friends.
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HOUSE OF FLAME AND SHADOW by Sarah J. Maas
The third book in the Crescent City series. Bryce wants to return home while Hunt is trapped in Asteri’s dungeons.
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ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace
Anastasia might need the help of the captain of a college hockey team to get on the Olympic figure skating team.
–
IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros
The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training might require her to betray the man she loves.
–
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus
A scientist and single mother living in California in the 1960s becomes a star on a TV cooking show.
–
REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt
A widow working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is aided in solving a mystery by a giant Pacific octopus living there.
–
THE TEACHER by Frieda McFadden
A math teacher at Caseham High suspects there is more going on behind a scandal involving a teacher and a student.
–
THREE-INCH TEETH by C.J. Box
The 24th book in the Joe Pickett series. A man released from prison uses grizzly bear attacks to cover his acts of revenge.
–
THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah
In 1965, a nursing student follows her brother to serve during the Vietnam War and returns to a divided America.
–
NON-FICTION
–
ATTACK FROM WITHIN by Barbara McQuade
A legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC looks at the effects of disinformation on law and politics.
–
BLOOD MONEY by Peter Schweizer
The author of “Red-Handed” depicts a scheme involving the Chinese Communist Party’s covert operations in America.
–
THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk
How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
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THE BOYS IN THE BOAT by Daniel James Brown
The story of the American rowers who pursued gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games; the basis of the film.
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BRAIDING SWEETGRASS by Robin Wall Kimmerer
A botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation espouses having an understanding and appreciation of plants and animals.
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BURN BOOK by Kara Swisher
The tech journalist and podcast host gives an overview of the tech industry and the foibles of its founders.
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ELON MUSK by Walter Isaacson
The author of “The Code Breaker” traces Musk’s life and summarizes his work on electric vehicles, private space exploration and artificial intelligence.
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EVERYTHING I KNOW ABOUT LOVE by Dolly Alderton
The British journalist shares stories and observations; the basis of the TV series.
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GRIEF IS FOR PEOPLE by Sloane Crosley
After her apartment is broken into and someone close to her dies by suicide, Crosley contends with her past.
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I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy
The actress and filmmaker describes her eating disorders and difficult relationship with her mother.
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IT’S HARD FOR ME TO LIVE WITH ME by Rex Chapman with Seth Davis
The former NBA player details his gambling and opioid addictions.
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KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann
The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose lands contained oil.
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THE KINGDOM, THE POWER, AND THE GLORY by Tim Alberta
The author of “American Carnage” looks at divisions within the American evangelical movement.
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MANY LIVES OF MAMA LOVE by Lara Love Hardin
The ghostwriter describes being convicted of thirty-two felonies and the life she built after her release from jail.
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MASTERS OF THE AIR by Donald L. Miller
An account of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II; the basis of the TV series.
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OATH AND HONOR by Liz Cheney
The former congresswoman from Wyoming recounts how she helped lead the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6. Attack on the United States Capitol.
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OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford
A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
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TRUMP INDICTMENTS with an introduction, annotations and supporting materials by Melissa Murray and Andrew Weissmann
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THE WAGER by David Grann
The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.
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WHITE RURAL RAGE by Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman
A look at the factors that exacerbate the difficulties and grievances of white rural voters.
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WHY WE REMEMBER by Charan Ranganath
A neuroscientist elucidates the role memory plays in our lives.
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THE WOMAN IN ME by Britney Spears
The Grammy Award-winning pop star details her personal and professional experiences, including the years she spent under a conservatorship overseen by her father.
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Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Search for and request books online!
eBooks & Audiobooks Through The Digital Catalog & Libby
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access
StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries throughout 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 Telephone Number: 607-936-3713.
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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 