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 17, 2024.
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Breaking The Dark by Lisa Jewell
Bestseller Jewell (None of This Is True) inaugurates a multi-author series of thrillers set in the Marvel universe with this surprisingly sturdy supernatural noir. Retired superhero Jessica Jones now runs a private detective agency from her Hell’s Kitchen apartment, which has descended into disrepair as her drinking has worsened. In walks wealthy divorcée Amber Randall, who’s concerned because her 16-year-old twins, Lark and Fox, have returned from a summer in England with their father sporting porcelain-perfect skin, flawless manners, and an eerie Stepford vibe. Moved by Amber’s desperation, Jessica sets off for Barton Wallop, the village where Lark and Fox spent their summer. There, she meets a young woman named Belle, whom the twins claimed to know, and who appears to be the ward of an old witch whose influence over the locals makes Jessica uneasy. Things fly off the rails by the climax, with one too many sinister supernatural forces in the mix, but Jewell’s knack for pacing and atmosphere makes this feel more like a juicy campfire story than a corporate cash grab. Jewell’s fans will enjoy seeing her flex some unfamiliar muscles. – Publishers Weekly Review
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The Cliffs by J. Coutney Sullivan
This highly anticipated novel from Sullivan (Friends and Strangers) was worth the wait. Protagonist Jane is a Harvard archivist who, like her mother and sister, is addicted to alcohol. After getting blackout drunk at a work event, she finds her job, as well as her marriage, in jeopardy, making this the perfect time to escape from all her troubles. She heads up to Maine to settle her late mother’s estate, which is complicated by the fact that her mother was a hoarder. As a teenager, Jane found an old abandoned Victorian house up high on a cliff nearby, which became her refuge. As an adult, she is surprised to learn that a wealthy young family has bought the house and turned it into a typical beach McMansion. The owner, who fears that the house is haunted, possibly due to some unsavory work she had done, hires Jane to research the house’s history. That research is at the heart of this novel that spans generations and covers colonialism, Indigenous history, spiritualism, the Shakers, and so much more.
VERDICT A beautifully written, expansive novel, sure to please fans of Daniel Mason’s North Woods or the work of Kate Morton and Susanna Kearsley. -Library Journal Review
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Confessions of the Dead by James Patterson and J. D. Barker
In this chilling mystery from a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a small New England town is hit with a wave of crimes after the arrival of a mysterious stranger who brings more questions than answers.
Hollows Bend, New Hampshire, is a picture-perfect New England town where weekend tourists flock to see fall leaves and eat breakfast at the Stairway Diner. The crime rate—zero—is a point of pride for Sheriff Ellie Pritchett.
The day the stranger shows up is when the trouble starts. The sheriff and her deputy investigate the mysterious teenage girl. None of the locals can place her. She can’t—or won’t answer any questions. She won’t even tell them her name.
While the girl is in protective custody, the officers are called to multiple crime scenes leading them closer and closer to a lake outside of town that doesn’t appear on any map…
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Dog Day Afternoon by David Rosenfelt
A favor for his friend and associate Marcus Clark lands Paterson, New Jersey, attorney Andy Carpenter back in the courtroom for another impossible defense. A man shows up at the offices of Moore Law and uses six bullets to kill six people, leaving only attorney Sally Montrose and paralegal Laura Schauble alive to identify him from his tattoo and distinctive footgear as handyman Nick Williams. Even a tyro would realize that the murders are the work of a professional hit man, but lead prosecutor Richard Wallace is no tyro, and when the cops find the murder weapon in a trash bin a few blocks from Nick’s home with Nick’s fingerprint on it, he seems done for. Along the way, though, Marcus, who’s served as an informal mentor to Nick and his friend Rafe Duran, asks Andy to defend him. Much as he hates the practice of law, Andy can’t say no to Marcus, and he’s soon gathering evidence that will link the six killings–more will follow, since Andy has a habit of warning suspicious characters that they have only a day or so to fess up before he turns them in–to a complex series of insurance frauds whose basis turns out to be beautifully simple. Andy jokes less than usual (a definite minus), presumably because the evidence against his client is overwhelming, but the international intrigue behind so many of his recent cases is mercifully absent here (a definite plus). Solid legal thrills from a master of the light touch. And the dog you’d forgotten about turns up to brighten the final scene. – Kirkus Review
Reader’s Note: Dog Day Afternoon is the twenty-ninth book in the Andy Carpenter Series, if you’d like to binge read from the beginning, check out book one: Open And Shut (2002).
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Just Add Water: My Swimming Life by Katie Ledecky
New York Times Bestseller
A candid and inspiring memoir from Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and one of the best swimmers ever to compete: Katie Ledecky.
Katie Ledecky has won more individual Olympic races than any female swimmer in history. She is a three-time Olympian, a seven-time gold medalist, a twenty-one-time world champion, eight-time NCAA Champion, and a world record-holder in individual swimming events. Time and again, the question is posed to her family, her coaches, and to her—what makes her a champion? Now, for the first time, she shares what it takes to compete at an elite level.
Again and again, Ledecky has broken records: those of others and, increasingly, her own. She is both consistent and innovative—consistent at setting goals and shattering them, and innovative in the way she approaches her training. A true competitor, she sets her goals by choosing the ones that feel the scariest. But, crucially, she never sacrifices the joy of competition, even in the face of adversity. Her positive mental outlook and a great support system provides the springboard to her success.
Just Add Water charts Ledecky’s life in swimming. It details her start in Bethesda, Maryland, where she played sharks and minnows and first discovered the joy of the pool; her early foray into the Olympics at the tender age of fifteen where, as the youngest member of the American team, she stunned everyone by winning her first gold medal; her time balancing competition and her education at Stanford University; how she developed a champion’s mindset that has allowed her to persevere through so many meets, even under intense pressure; and how she has maintained her dominance in a sport where success depends on milliseconds. You learn how every element of her life—from the support of her family to the tutelage of her coaches, from her childhood spent in summer league swimming to the bright lights of Olympic pools in London, Rio, and Tokyo—set her up to become the champion she is.
In the end, Katie’s story is about testing yourself against the difficult, and seeing who you become on the other side.
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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 