Month: January 2025

Hi everyone, Happy New Year!

And 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, January 8, 2025.

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The Champagne Letters by Kate Macintosh  

Goaded by the insulting presumptions of her unfaithful ex-husband, Natalie leaves the final details of the sale of their house to him and hops a plane to Paris. Last-minute plans leave her in a posh boutique hotel, with a verbal misstep giving the impression that she’s a widow, not divorced. At a bouquiniste along the Seine, she finds a copy of a book with letters in both French and English from the widowed Barbe-Nicole Clicquot (of Veuve Clicquot champagne fame) to her great-granddaughter. Though their lives are not parallel, the widow inspires Natalie to expand her conservative life, accepting the flirtatious companionship of a handsome wine merchant and the friendship of one of the hotel employees. The letters tell the story of a woman defying convention during the Napoleonic era, coping and plotting to ensure the success of her champagne venture. Readers will see danger for Natalie long before she does, but both women succeed in the end. The combination of history and contemporary narrative makes for a compelling read worthy of relationship-fiction collections. – Booklist Review  

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How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis  

Picking up where Full Speed to a Crash Landing left off, this rollicking second installment of Revis’s intergalactic trilogy will keep readers glued to the page. Space looter Ada Lamarr infiltrates a Met Gala–esque fundraising event on a secret mission assigned to her by a mysterious rebel group—while also pursuing a hidden agenda of her own. There to intercept her is handsome bureaucrat Rian White, who readers will be delighted to see return. As before, Ada and Rian disagree over effective methods of enacting change while Rian works to stop Ada from putting into motion her secret plot, the details of which remain hidden from both Rian and the reader for much of the novel. The result is an un-put-downable page-turner helmed by a lovable heroine who is clever and passionate beneath her armor of sarcastic quips. Readers will need to come back for the concluding volume to fully understand all of Ada’s behind-the-scenes machinations—and to witness the culmination of Ada and Rian’s roller-coaster, cat-and-mouse romance. Revis makes the anticipation delicious. – Publishers Weekly Review  

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Inheriting Magic: My Journey Through Grief, Joy, Celebration, and Making Every Day Magical by Jennifer Love Hewitt  

When she lost her mother to cancer, everything changed for Jennifer Love Hewitt. 

In the pages of Inheriting Magic, she recounts her journey, sharing memories, photographs, recipes, and the magic-making ethos of a self-proclaimed “Holiday Junkie.” 

A heartfelt, candid chronicle that charts a course from sorrow to celebration, this unique memoir includes:  

• Never-seen-before family photos and vintage snapshots  

• Jennifer’s favorite recipes, from her grandmother’s chicken and dumplings to her husband’s holiday cocktail  

• An explosion of festive plans, including images, sure to inspire your decorating plans for Halloween, Christmas, Easter, birthdays, and a whole year’s worth of holidays  

• Foolproof strategies for adding magic to your family’s everyday routine, such as moon water, baskets of joy, glowing dinners, and more 

Inheriting Magic is about how grief, being a mom of three, having a deep love for party planning, and being passionate about the holidays turned what could have been an ordinary life into something enchanting. Through it, Jennifer inspires all readers to add more love, light, and the making of core memories into their everyday lives. 

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Sisters in Science: How Four Women Physicists Escaped Nazi Germany and Made Scientific History by Olivia Campbell  

Campbell has crafted an enthralling narrative about four female scientists who managed to escape the Nazis but were never truly recognized for their work. Hedwig Kohn, Lise Meitner, Hertha Sponer, and Hildegard Stücklen were all distinguished researchers in Germany, yet their sex often hindered their progress in a male-dominated field. Once the Nazis came to power, being Jewish or anti-Nazi posed even greater obstacles. Kohn, Sponer, and Stücklen managed to make their way to the United States, where they continued their academic careers and made significant contributions to the field of physics through research and teaching. Meitner moved to Sweden, where she played a crucial role in the discovery of nuclear fission, a discovery that eventually led to the development of the atomic bomb. Despite her groundbreaking work, the Nobel Prize was instead awarded to her male colleague. The gripping story of the women’s experiences in Germany and their escape from the Nazis is remarkable. It’s unfortunate that their significant role in science was not widely recognized, but through this book, they finally receive their deserved acclaim. – Booklist Review  

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Where the Library Hides by Isabel Ibañez  

A young woman pursues a dangerous quest in late-1800s Egypt in this sequel to What the River Knows (2023). After Inez Olivera was nearly murdered while assisting with her uncle’s archaeological expedition in Egypt, Tío Ricardo is eager to ship her home to safety in Argentina. But Inez burns with the need to stay and make sure that those who committed crimes against her family are held responsible. Unfortunately, the law precludes Inez, as a young unmarried woman, from accessing her inheritance (needed to fund her quest for justice) without her guardian uncle’s permission. Whitford Hayes, a former British soldier and her tio’s aide-de-camp, proposes marriage, which could solve her problems. But can Inez trust the secretive Whit? More danger and intrigue lurk at every turn in this exciting duology closer, which fully addresses the first entry’s jaw-dropping cliffhanger. The well-paced plot encompasses many fresh, new adventures and betrayals in this reimagined historical setting in which ancient magic abounds and not everyone or everything is what it seems. Even more captivating, however, is the complicated, nuanced love story between Whit and Inez. Their chemistry sizzles, but their relationship is achingly layered with both profound loyalty and deep deception. As their journey unearths new enemies and priceless archaeological finds, the duo must try to trust each other enough to survive. A thrilling, beautifully written page-turner. – Starred Kirkus Review 

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.