Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
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Divine Ruin by Margot Douaihy
Douaihy delivers a crackling third installment of her series featuring tattooed queer New Orleans nun Holiday Walsh (after Blessed Water). As Holiday prepares to take her final vows while trying to keep her music classes running smoothly at Saint Sebastian’s School, the academy is shaken by the death of one of its star students from an apparent fentanyl overdose. Distressed and desperate for answers, Holiday launches her own inquiry into the school’s students and teachers with the help of her PI friend Magnolia Riveaux, and agrees to assist the police investigation by going undercover into the drug-fueled nightlife scene she used to haunt. Holiday remains a messy yet lovable heroine whose rough edges belie her unflagging moral compass, and Douaihy traps her in a series of pulse-pounding scenarios. When Holiday’s faith and strength of character carry her through, it feels fully earned rather than trite or expected. Though Douaihy brilliantly ties up this entry’s loose ends, there’s more than enough juice left in the setting and characters to fuel Sister Holiday’s future adventures. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
Readers’ Note: As mentioned, Divine Ruin is the third book in the Sister Holiday Mystery Series. If you’d like to start reading from the beginning, check out book one: Scorched Grace (2023).
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Hadacol Boogie by James Lee Burke
The short version: there’s a new Dave Robicheaux novel coming out! The long version: Burke’s beloved Louisiana cop is irked, to put it mildly, when a mysterious individual dumps the body of a murdered woman on his property. Was it a personal message or simply a convenient spot to dump a body? Robicheaux’s investigation takes him down a dark road and puts his own daughter, Alafair, at risk. If there’s one thing we know with absolute certainty about Mr. Robicheaux, it’s this: he will not back down from a fight, no matter how dirty it gets. (The title refers to a highly alcoholic “vitamin supplement” from the 1950s and a Bill Nettles song; that’ll make more sense when you read the book.) Some series have their highs and lows, but not so the Robicheaux series, which launched with The Neon Rain (1987). For two dozen novels, it’s been one slice of brilliance after another, and this one is, like the ones that came before it, a work of art. – Booklist Review
Readers’ Note: Hadacol Boogie is the twenty-fifth book in the Dave Robicheaux Series. If you’d like to binge read from the beginning, check out book one: The Neon Rain (1987).
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Hot Chocolate on Thursday: A Novel by Michiko Aoyama
Across a bridge in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, a seasonal cherry blossom sits on the river. Nearby is the Marble Cafe, where a woman writes in a notebook and a young waiter prepares her favorite hot drink. Both wonder about each other and about the other lives of the clientele who frequent this charming little cafe behind the trees…
Without even realizing it, we may touch and change someone else’s life.
Taking a walk along the river, cooking the best tamagoyaki, ordering hot chocolate, forgetting to remove our nail polish… The small, everyday acts that we do can lead to unexpected encounters and reverberate far beyond your own circle and ultimately make a difference in the world.
Hot Chocolate on Thursday is a tapestry of slice-of-life moments that each open and close with a woman ordering her regular hot chocolate at the mysterious Marble Cafe. What happens in between will touch and swell your heart, as we connect with a community of untold unfolding lives.
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The Murder At The World’s End: A Novel by Ross Montgomery
Children’s bestseller Montgomery (I Am Rebel) pivots to adult fiction with this entertaining locked-room whodunit set in 1910 England. After ex-convict Stephen Pike is hired as a footman at Tithe Hall, a grand estate on a tidal island near Cornwall, he discovers that the estate’s eccentric owner, Viscount Stockingham-Welt, believes the world is coming to an end with the arrival of Halley’s Comet. In preparation, he insists on boarding up the house and sequestering everyone in their rooms. However, the viscount’s tough, scientific-minded great aunt Decima demands that Stephen defy his new boss and escort her outside to view the comet. The next morning, the viscount is found dead with an arrow through his eye. A humorously inept Scotland Yard inspector arrives to investigate and, without proof, immediately assumes Stephen is guilty. Police scrutiny on Stephen escalates when the inspector is found bludgeoned to death with a marble bust. Fortunately, Stephen has the loyalty and brains of Aunt Decima on his side, and the two join forces to clear his name. With an unorthodox detective duo, lively prose, and a plot full of invigorating twists, this strong series opener will leave readers eager for more. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review
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Where The Wildflowers Grow: A Novel by Terah Shelton Harris
When a prison transport bus crashes, nearly everyone on board dies, except for inmate Leandra Wilde, who walks away from the crash. Using a driver’s license and cash from one of the guards and going by the name Leigh, she lands in a tiny town in Alabama. Though she tries to keep to herself and plans to move on in a few weeks, the townspeople extend her kindness and welcome her to their community. She feels an immediate connection to the intriguing Jackson, the owner of a nearby flower farm, but she withdraws, protecting her secrets and her emotions. However, when she visits his farm, she finds solace in cultivating the land. Embraced by Jackson and the two men who live and work on the farm, Leigh tentatively opens herself to the vulnerability of being loved and accepted. Shelton Harris (Long After We Are Gone, 2024) delicately unfurls Leigh’s story, threading in details from the past to help the reader understand Leigh’s reluctance to be seen, making every moment she opens up all the more rewarding to witness. Book clubs and readers who love stories of found family and women triumphing over hardship won’t want to miss this one. – 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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Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.
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Information on the four library catalogs
The Digital Catalog aka Libby: 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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Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
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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 