Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.
And the next Suggested Reading Five post will be published on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
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And on a quick FYI note, the library is closed today, Wednesday, June 19, 2024, in observance of Juneteenth. We’ll re-open tomorrow morning at our usual weekday opening time of 9:00 a.m.
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But of course, the digital world never sleeps! And you can check out and enjoy content from the library at any time of the day or night, including eBooks, eAudiobooks, TV shows, movies and music ; just check out the Libby and Hoopla apps!
You can also access a great variety of credible research databases for free through the library, including ones on Health, Business, Academic Research, Opposing Viewpoints and more through our library system’s Novel NY databases. For more information go to –> ssclibrary.org, –> Click on the Resources Menu seen at the top right-hand corner of the page, –> Click on the Research & Learning option and scroll to the bottom of the page that displays, then –>Click on the link that says Find the complete list of STLS databases & research resources here.
Or you can just click on the following link which will take you directly to that page: https://stls.libguides.com/databases#s-lg-page-section-9247572
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And here are our Five Suggested Reads for the Week!
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Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen
Aaliyah’s family is pressing her to find a boyfriend and settle down before she turns 30, and she does have a big birthday celebration planned. The family is still recovering from the death of her pregnant, engaged sister five years before, but now they’re saying hurtful things, and they’ve gone too far. Her uncle says she is fat, and he won’t give her the family yacht as promised if she doesn’t lose weight and get a boyfriend. She tries a dating app at her favorite bar, and the results are hilarious for readers but awful and painful for Aaliyah. But the kind bartender, Ahmed, offers comfort and advice as Aaliyah dismisses each disappointing candidate. She and Ahmed grow close as friends, then as more. Meanwhile, Aaliyah decides to set some boundaries with her critical family and contentedly goes to her party by herself. But she is in for a very happy birthday surprise. Readers will love the ending in this engaging, sensitive, and steamy book about feeling good and confident about yourself before looking for and finding love. – Booklist Review
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Daughter Of Calamity by Rosalie M. Lin
In 1930s Shanghai, Jingwen is a dancer at a club. But there is a bit more to her life than the nights of dancing and flirting with important and wealthy men–she is also the granddaughter of Liqing, a surgeon with ties to the gang that runs the city. Liqing replaces limbs with metal, giving gang members an advantage. She is able to do this because of something she stole from a god. However, this is not the only trade that Liqing engages in: when Jingwen discovers that her grandmother is attaching pieces of dancers to wealthy individuals, she decides to help end her grandmother’s reign. However, there are forces at work that Jingwen doesn’t believe in or understand. Her new-to-town ally, Zikai, who represents an outside gang, talks about the need to bring the gods back to Shanghai. Jingwen is only focused on what she needs to get help for the dancers, but she is in over her head. This debut is a genre blend of mystery and fantasy with some amazing world building. Readers will enjoy being transported to a new world. Fans of fantasy will want to know Lin’s name. – Booklist Review
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Death in the Air: A Novel by Ram Murali
Murali’s debut novel introduces us to Ro Krishna, a wealthy Indian man raised in America currently living in London. Ro has just been forced to leave his high-profile job due to racism and is unsure about his future. Through a new friend, Ro is guided to stay at Samsara, a lavish spa in India, for Christmas. However, “10 days to a new you” turns into “10 days of whodunit.” The murder of a prominent guest compels Ro, who was previously a lawyer, to help solve the case but also question himself. The beginning of the story is a bit disorienting, perhaps purposefully, as we abruptly transition between scenes of Ro’s life and his convoluting thoughts. However, once at the spa, the pace eases and the plot is easier to follow. The multiple mysteries will keep readers interested and acting as amateur investigators until all is revealed with a few shocking conclusions. This novel includes a diverse group, discusses the effects of money and class, and also highlights India’s history and spirituality.
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Sandwich: A Novel by Catherine Newman
Newman returns with a story about a woman coming to terms with life over 50. As her family gathers for the annual vacation on Cape Cod, Rocky is worn out by menopause and nostalgia. The family has been coming to the same house for 20 years, and Rocky’s memories immediately fall back to when her grown children were little. Although she remembers how “touched out” she was and how stressful life with babies was, she misses Jamie and Willa’s innocent sweetness. At the same time, Rocky cherishes the time with them, especially since their banter is laugh-out-loud funny. She laments about how dried out and saggy her body is now, not to mention the hot flashes. When Rocky’s parents arrive, all of them squeezed into their tiny rental, she realizes that to her parents, she’s still a child herself–and she is within the sandwich generation, torn between past and present. Readers in this age group will relate to Rocky’s woes, and as the novel’s tone becomes more serious, they may identify with Rocky’s history as well. This is a quick yet moving read that will stay with readers long after the last page. – Booklist Review
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They Came for the Schools: One Town’s Fight Over Race and Identity, and the New War for America’s…by Mike Hixenbaugh
In a meticulous debut exposé adapted from the Peabody Award–winning podcast Southlake, Hixenbaugh recaps how the recent conservative war on the teaching of material concerning race, sexuality, and gender kicked off in Southlake, Tex. He begins in 2018, when the “high-end suburban utopia” was propelled into the national spotlight over acrimony surrounding the school district’s proposed diversity plan. Meant to address repeated incidents of harassment directed at LGBTQ students and students of color, the plan faced opposition from conservative parents and local activists, who eventually reinvigorated a defunct political action committee, or PAC, to fund a takeover of the school board. The new board scrapped the diversity plan, relaxed the anti-bullying disciplinary code, banned books, and sanctioned teachers. Southlake became a national model for the right, as local groups across the country took similar steps to win school board seats. Hixenbaugh traces the web of conservative media figures and think tanks who promoted this activism, and he tracks how it developed hand in hand with a new wave of right-wing Christian radicalization that echoes the 1970s and ’80s campaign against “secular humanism” in schools spearheaded by evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. What emerges is an extraordinarily detailed analysis of current conservative thought and political activity. It’s a vital work of reportage. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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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; 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 