Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are published on Wednesdays.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
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The Guncle Abroad by Stephen Rowley
Five years after the events in Rowley’s crowd-pleasing The Guncle (2021), actor Patrick O’Hara’s waning career has been revitalized thanks to a part in a movie set in London. This puts him on the right side of the pond to attend his brother’s upcoming Lake Como wedding to Livia, a wealthy, minor Italian noble, and provides the perfect opportunity for his niece and nephew to visit him in advance of the ceremony. Maisie and Grant have an agenda for the trip, but it’s not seeing the crown jewels or Big Ben. The tweens are vehemently against their father’s marriage and want GUP (Gay Uncle Patrick) to talk him out of it. It’s not that long since their mother, and Patrick’s BFF, Sara, died, and Maisie and Grant aren’t ready for her replacement. As Patrick and his charges make their way from England to Italy, via France and Austria, GUP extends and receives lessons in love and second chances. Rowley’s cunning sequel is as much travelogue as uplifting love story, with happy endings all around. – Booklist Review
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I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
Sue debuts with a delightfully quirky office comedy about a 33-year-old administrative assistant’s interpersonal battles in a Canadian supermarket chain’s regional office. Jolene’s days consist of eight hours of mind-numbing work, followed by drinking to forget about the accidental death of her best friend, Ellie, when they were in high school. At the office, she adds cathartic notes in white font at the bottom of emails (after thanking “morale club” leader Rhonda for a reminder about a meeting, she invisibly adds, “Deep in my core, I find you insufferable”). When Jolene forgets to white out a nasty note to her nemesis Caitlin, who subsequently complains, she’s forced to complete an antiharassment course and have her emails monitored. Instead of adding the restrictions to her computer, however, the HR guy accidentally gives Jolene access to all her fellow employees’ inboxes and direct messages. Among the funny discoveries is a thread between a coworker and his parents in which he sends photos of Jolene and claims she’s his girlfriend. The workplace hijinks produce steady laughs, and Sue adds depth through the backstory of Ellie, with whom Jolene found solace as a fellow misfit. This is a must-read for fans of Joshua Ferris’s Then We Came to the End. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware
One Perfect Couple is a fresh, adrenaline-fueled take on Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None, set on a current-day tropical island where five couples are competing on a reality show to prove they are the best match. However, nothing seems to go right for Lyla and Nico; after a whirlwind audition and being promised a free luxury vacation in paradise, doubts surface when they sail to “Ever After Island.” As they ride on a cramped boat and meet their fellow participants, an unusual lot, the entire production suddenly seems somewhat shady. After experiencing a disconcerting first contest, the contestants find themselves alone somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean when the director and film crew depart. Once a devastating storm turns their situation into a survival show, the stakes are life and death rather than a cash prize. One of the contestants dies during the storm, and then, one by one, their number decreases. In this absolutely ingenious thriller by a best-selling and highly praised author, the suspense gradually builds, and although the contestants’ ordeal seems to last forever, the pages fly by in a tense but engaging narrative interspersed with someone’s frantic SOS mayday calls. Bound to be a top summer 2024 beach read. – Booklist Review
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A Seat At The Table: The Life and Times of Shirley Chisholm by Glenn L. Starks, F. Erik Brooks
Pioneering politician Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005), the first Black U.S. congresswoman, takes center stage in this penetrating biography by historians Starks and Brooks (coauthors of African Americans and the Presidents). The authors take a granular look at early influences on Chisholm’s personal and political development. Born in Brooklyn to Caribbean immigrants, she was sent in 1928 to live in Barbados, where she witnessed the island’s struggle for independence. This experience set the stage for her lifelong battle for fairness and equality, according to the authors. Moving back to New York City in 1934, Chisholm earned a master’s degree from Columbia University’s Teachers College, which she put to use overseeing daycare centers for the city’s Bureau of Child Welfare. In 1953, she joined a local Democrat club, eventually rising to lead a rebellious Brooklyn faction of Black Democrats who opposed party bosses and fought for Black residents. Her reputation for honesty and integrity propelled her to the state assembly in 1964—a stepping-stone toward her landmark 1968 U.S. Congressional victory. She launched a White House bid in 1972, returning to Congress after her defeat in the Democratic primary, but ultimately resigning in protest over President Ronald Reagan’s policies. The narrative captivates with its detailed descriptions of Chisholm’s repeated confrontations with elites. It’s a fascinating outline of an influential lawmaker’s grassroots path to power. – Publishers Weekly Review
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Sipsworth by Simon Van Booy
Van Booy’s enchanting latest (after The Presence of Absence) depicts the surprisingly touching relationship between an elderly widow and a mouse. After building a life in Australia with her late husband, retired physician Helen Cartwright returns to the English village where she grew up. There, her existence is uneventful, and she’s at a loss over what to live for (“Each day was an impersonation of the one before with only a slight shuffle—as though even for death there is a queue”). Then one night she discovers a mouse in her home and offers it a sip of water from an upturned bottle cap. After the mouse takes a drink, she dubs it Sipsworth. Helen’s quiet world expands thanks to Sipsworth’s companionship as they watch TV and listen to the radio together. Then the mouse shows signs of breathing distress, and Helen, once a renowned pediatric cardiologist, goes into action to save its life. Material that could easily feel saccharine or twee is fresh and often funny, thanks to the author’s artful prose and unsparing characterization of the cantankerous Helen, who at one point calls an animal shelter worker an “idiot” for not accepting mice. Van Booy takes the familiar trope of an aging person’s unexpected renewal and makes it feel new.
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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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
The Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices and eReaders; 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.
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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand 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 companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile 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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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
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Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 