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 posting will be published on Wednesday, July 10, 2045.
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Blood In The Cut: A Novel by Alejandro Nodarse
A Cuban American ex-con fights to hold his family together in Nodarse’s standout debut. After being released from prison following a three-year drug sentence, Iggy Guerra returns to Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood with hopes of reconnecting with his family and putting the past behind him. With his mother’s recent death in an auto accident, however, plus his father’s mounting debt, his younger brother’s intentions of quitting high school, and the family butcher shop on the brink of closing under pressure from an arrogant competitor, Iggy finds his family in shambles. All responsibility falls on him, it seems, to fix the mess. Things become even more complicated when Iggy’s father is arrested for butchering illegally killed game for an unscrupulous Everglades rancher. Then Iggy discovers that his mother’s death may not have been an accident, and he’s compelled to seek street justice against her killer without ending up back behind bars. Nodarse draws taut suspense from intermingling the fate of the butcher shop, Iggy’s father’s shady dealings, and the mystery of his mother’s death, tying everything together with a stirring conclusion. He enhances the action with indelible descriptions of the Florida setting that underline the state’s intoxicating blend of beauty and danger. S.A. Cosby fans, take note: this jagged Southern neo-noir is not to be missed. – Starred Publisher’s Weekly Review
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The Cottage Fairy Companion: A Cottagecore Guide To Slow Living, Connecting To Nature, And Becoming Enchanted by Paola Merrill
Merrill (Cottage Fairy YouTube channel) discusses what she has learned about her cottage and herself as the seasons change. She discusses her transition from city to country living, and while the book focuses on country life, solutions for connecting to the seasons and nature are offered for city dwellers as well. The book embraces the cottagecore trend, and while the word “hygge” is never used, it is embodied in the text. Merrill’s subscribers–more than a million–will embrace this work, and readers unfamiliar with her YouTube channel may also find it enjoyable. Readers will find recipes, crafts, guided activities, and a meditation for each season. The sections also include questions to guide readers on their path to mindfulness.
VERDICT This book presents an easy entry point for readers interested in exploring mindfulness and the cottagecore lifestyle. – Library Journal
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A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston
Stranger Than Fiction meets Virgin River in this incandescently clever meta rom-com from Poston (The Seven Year Slip). English professor Eileen “Elsy” Merriweather feels frozen in place after her fiancé breaks up with her a week before their wedding. Thankfully, there’s the promise of a “week of wine and happily ever afters” when her Super Smutty Book Club vacations together in a cabin in the Catskills. When Elsy gets lost in a storm on the way there, however, she winds up in Eloraton, the fictional small-town setting of bestseller Rachel Flowers’s hit Quixotic Falls series, the romances that brought the Super Smutty Book Club together in the first place. Flowers died before she could finish the series and Eloraton is stuck at the point where she stopped writing. The owner of the local bookstore, Anderson Sinclair, is the only person aware there’s anything odd about the town. He warns Elsy not to make ripples or change things, but she feels compelled to help her favorite characters find the happy endings their author planned for them. Poston gracefully walks the line between women’s fiction and romance—with just a hint of magic—providing an inspirational story of personal growth and second-chance romance alongside a fascinating exploration of transformative fiction, how readers and writers cocreate and share stories, and the value and purpose of escaping into one’s favorite novels. Readers will want to escape into this one again and again. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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Tangled Up In You by Christina Lauren
In the latest entry into the Mean to Be series, the romance duo writing as Christina Lauren reimagine Disney’s Tangled as a grumpy/sunshine road trip romance. Raised on a homestead by overprotective parents, 22-year-old Ren is eager to start her education at Corona College and experience the real world. Edward “Fitz” Fitzsimmon has a plan: graduate, go to law school, and keep anyone from getting too close. Naïve, friendly Ren is not part of his plan. But when a class DNA test reveals secrets about Ren’s parents, she convinces Fitz to let her tag along on his trip to Nashville. As they drive towards their destination, Ren and Fitz find themselves opening up to the world and to each other. But are they able to maintain their relationship in spite of major revelations, or will it all fall apart?
Christina Lauren smartly updates the Rapunzel story for a modern audience. Ren and Fitz both feel like real people in the real world with real problems who also have fairy-tale chemistry. Even Rapunzel skeptics will find themselves rooting for Ren and Fitz’s relationship to have a happily ever after. – Booklist Review
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Two Sides To Every Murder by Danielle Valentine
From the author of How to Survive Your Murder comes a propulsive thriller about two teens who return to Camp Lost Lake, site of the cold case that sealed their fates.
“A must-read for fans of true crime, dark family secrets, and intricate mysteries.” —Ryan La Sala, bestselling author of The Honeys
Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report—but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect . . . until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers about her bloodline, and the only place she knows to look is Camp Lost Lake.
Most people don’t spend their formative years on the run with an alleged murderer—but Reagan did. In the court of public opinion, her mom was found guilty of the deaths at Camp Lost Lake, and both of them have been in hiding ever since. But Reagan believes in her mother’s innocence and is determined to clear her name.
Luckily for Olivia and Reagan, Camp Lost Lake is finally reopening, providing the perfect opportunity to find answers. But someone else is dead set on keeping the past hidden, even if it means committing murder.
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Bonus Fourth of July Weekend Suggestions:
A DVD/Streaming Video
1776 (1972) starring William Daniels, Howard Da Silva & Ken Howard and an ensemble cast
Adapted from the Sherman Edwards/Peter Stone Broadway show, 1776 recounts events in Congress during the hot and stormy Philadelphia month leading up to the July 4th signing of the Declaration of Independence. A versatile cast — led by William Daniels as the fiery John Adams and Howard Da Silva as the cagey Ben Franklin — breathes life and humanity into the nation’s defining moment. The film deftly mingles a variety of tones. The spellbinding political debates over the Declaration’s text, for instance, remain mostly true to the historical record while benefiting from sharpened dialogue and dollops of wit. There is also whimsy and even romance, as the yearning, long-distance romance between John and Abigail Adams (Virginia Vestoff) is dramatized in split screens, as they act out their daily letters back and forth. Interspersed into the narrative are rousing refrains such as “But, Mr. Adams” and “The Egg,” and tender tunes like “Till Then.” For fans of the original film, or anyone interested in a playful interpretation of American history, this DVD release marks the triumphant return of a true musical classic. – Barnes & Noble Review
(Linda has seen this movie many times and concurs with the B&N Review!)
And if you’re looking for more movies to watch this weekend, check out this Fourth of July list from Country Living:
https://www.countryliving.com/life/g32437790/4th-of-july-movies/
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And a few books:
American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence by Pauline Maier
Maier sets the stage for her fascinating history of the Declaration of Independence with a concise and well-written introduction into the political background of the American Revolution. She provides the context for the document within the British tradition of declarations, addresses, and petitions and relates it to the many local and state declarations that aimed to mobilize support for independence. The thrust of her work is a careful examination of the drafting of the document by Jefferson and the Congressional committee; she then describes how Congress edited it into its final form. The latter third of the book is dedicated to the ways in which the Declaration has been redefined and used by different groups of Americans. Combining meticulous scholarship with clear prose, Maier tells a compelling story that will succeed in winning her a general audience. Highly recommended. – Library Journal Review
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The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For by David McCullough
Historian McCullough (Truman; John Adams), a Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author, presents this collection of 15 inspiring speeches in which he celebrates America’s talent for curiosity, intelligence, goodwill, and humanity. McCullough is an eloquent writer, and the speeches are designed to be uplifting and celebratory. Amid all of the dissimulation and discourtesy that demands our attention, these brief essays celebrating national aspirations are intended to remind readers that, regardless of shortcomings, Americans have largely strived to better themselves and their country. Whether discussing the building of the U.S. capitol or the storied career of physician Benjamin Rush, McCullough manages to celebrate the people who have helped improve or build upon the nation’s founding.
VERDICT A concise read that will be well-received in public and academic history collections. – Starred Library Journal Review
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Power and Liberty: Constitutionalism in the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood
New York Times bestseller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gordon S. Wood elucidates the debates over the founding documents of the United States.
The half century extending from the imperial crisis between Britain and its colonies in the 1760s to the early decades of the new republic of the United States was the greatest and most creative era of constitutionalism in American history, and perhaps in the world. During these decades, Americans explored and debated all aspects of politics and constitutionalism—the nature of power, liberty, representation, rights, the division of authority between different spheres of government, sovereignty, judicial authority, and written constitutions. The results of these issues produced institutions that have lasted for over two centuries.
In this new book, eminent historian Gordon S. Wood distills a lifetime of work on constitutional innovations during the Revolutionary era. In concise form, he illuminates critical events in the nation’s founding, ranging from the imperial debate that led to the Declaration of Independence to the revolutionary state constitution making in 1776 and the creation of the Federal Constitution in 1787. Among other topics, he discusses slavery and constitutionalism, the emergence of the judiciary as one of the major tripartite institutions of government, the demarcation between public and private, and the formation of states’ rights.
Here is an immensely readable synthesis of the key era in the making of the history of the United States, presenting timely insights on the Constitution and the nation’s foundational legal and political documents.
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The Quartet: Orchestrating The Second American Revolution by Joseph J. Ellis
Few can tell a historical tale as well as Ellis, as many readers will be aware from his eight previous studies of the Revolutionary War era (Revolutionary Summer, etc.). True to form, here he reviews this short but important time in America’s history through the eyes of its major figures—George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison—rather than offering an analysis of the weighty interval between the nation’s failed first constitution, the Articles of Confederation, and the ratification of the second (and successful) constitution and its first 10 amendments, which we now know as the Bill of Rights. Ellis’s approach employs deft characterizations and insights into these politicians and philosophers, who bested their opponents by “imposing their more expansive definition of the American Revolution” on the American people. With his usual skill, Ellis brings alive what otherwise might seem dry constitutional debates, with apt quotations and bright style. There may be equally solid surveys of “the second American Revolution,” a term Ellis borrows from other historians, but this one will be considered the standard work on its subject for years to come. It lacks the fresh interpretations and almost lyrical prose of Ellis’s previous books, but it’s a readable, authoritative work. – Publishers Weekly Review
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What Unites Us: Reflections On Patriotism by Dan Rather
There is no question that America has become deeply divided over race, religion, economics, and, of course, politics. The polarization has become so extreme it has led Rather to wonder what it means to love one’s country in this time of relentlessly bleak rhetoric and flash-point violence. The essential values that have long formed our national character seem to have been misplaced, and Rather, with journalist Kirschner, undertakes the search for those bedrock rallying points by reminding readers how they came to be in the first place. From his vantage point as one of this country’s most revered broadcasters, Rather analyzes the current state of disconnected discourse in a series of reflective essays that go to the heart of what it means to be an American. From empathy to immigration, education to the environment, politics to the press, institutions and attitudes that once were unassailable are now endangered. Rather views them as a child of the Great Depression and as a chronicler of the definitive events of the past 60 years. While he spares no disdain for the forces that currently threaten the best America has to offer, he extols those who continue to cherish and protect its abiding foundations. Honest and heartfelt, Rather’s is a reliably reassuring voice in times of turmoil. – Starred Booklist 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 