Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
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The Anniversary by Alex Finlay
May 1, 1992, is a day that forever changes the lives of Jules Delaney and Quinn Riley in Finlay’s latest (after Parents Weekend). That day, Quinn intervenes in a fight and is arrested for assault, while Jules survives an attack by the May Day Killer, who strikes on May 1 every year. The novel then checks in with Jules and Quinn every subsequent May 1. Jules becomes a fashion model and starts a nonprofit, but memories of that night in 1992 will not fade. Quinn’s mother is murdered by her jealous boyfriend. Quinn later lands a job working for a private investigation company, which gives him the opportunity to dig for clues in his mom’s case. As more women disappear, Jules’s and Quinn’s lives intertwine. Neither can escape the past, and any hope of a future together is clouded in that history.
VERDICT Somehow, Finlay manages to improve with each amazing book, and he has crafted another terrific suspense novel that demands to be read in one sitting. Jules and Quinn fly off the page, and readers will be emotionally engrossed in their journey to see where they are in their lives each May 1. – Library Journal Review
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Echoes of the Lost by Cindy Brown
One retired detective. One frightened boy. One daring librarian. The case that will unravel everything. A tense, emotional mystery perfect for fans of Michael Connelly and Liz Moore.
He usually had something to go on: a body, a name, a weapon . . . What did he have now?
Retired detective Ster McCaffrey has lived in isolation since the death of his beloved wife. Recently disabled from a traumatic brain injury, his quiet life is interrupted when he wakes in the dead of night to find a child sobbing on his doorstep—leaving him with more questions than answers.
After learning that the boy and his missing mother are unhoused with no official investigation underway, Ster decides to solve the mystery himself. To do so, he’ll need to interview a community whose voice is rarely heard: the houseless of Portland, Oregon. Diving deeper into their tight-knit circle, Ster realizes trust is hard-won, and answers even more so. The further he goes, the more difficult it is to tell where the case ends, and his past begins.
With threats to his home, new evidence found in the river, and signs pointing to murder—friends and enemies are closer than Ster realizes. Only one thing is clear: the boy is in grave danger.
For fans of Cindy Brown’s Macdeath, now comes a fresh take on classic crime thrillers.: A Mystery
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The Franchise by Thomas Elrod
DEBUT To keep profiting off the popular Malicarn fantasy movie franchise, producers transform an island into a permanent set and fill it with memory-altered actors who don’t realize their lives are fiction. Their goal is to generate new, organic stories, guided by a few real actors, including Glenn, who plays the wise wizard Gregorian. Some younger residents have never known anything else, but when outsiders intrude and unrest sweeps the Malicarn, everyone involved in the project ends up with a bigger story than they can handle. This book evokes both Westworld and The Truman Show, but in a medieval fantasy setting. Elrod’s concept offers sharp commentary on mainstream media’s endless obsession with sequels and spin-offs, along with the hazards of fans treating real people like beloved characters. The book’s own characters are sometimes harder to root for, with Glenn’s hand-wringing over the ethics of his job often taking center stage, but the finale lands its themes of art, performance, and reality. VERDICT Readers interested in high concept sci-fi stories will find much to think about here as Elrod explores the other side of storytelling and fandom in his debut novel – Library Journal
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A Harlem Wedding: A Novel by Tiffany L. Warren
Yolande has always followed the guidance of her famous father, the Black activist W. E. B. Du Bois, who expects her to achieve excellence in all things. She also enjoys the pampered lifestyle his success has provided. When she falls for struggling jazz musician Jimmie Lunceford, her father makes it clear that he will never accept Jimmie as a suitable match for her, and Yolande allows herself to be pressured into a marriage with Harlem Renaissance poet Countee Cullen instead. After their incredibly glamorous and star-studded wedding, it doesn’t take long for Yolande to realize that she’s made a huge mistake and she needs more from life than just her father’s approval. Warren (The Unexpected Diva) provides a richly drawn historical backdrop to her story, including appearances by many famous personages of the period.
VERDICT The title may lead readers to expect a more straightforwardly romantic plot (the wedding is actually a relatively small part of Yolande’s story), but Warren ultimately delivers a well-researched and compelling coming-of-age tale of an imperfect but strong-willed woman who must overcome both the crushing weight of parental expectations and her own immaturity to seize the future she truly wants. – Library Journal Review
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I Am Not A Robot by Joanna Stern
A field report from the front lines of everyday AI reveals a revolution already unfolding in our hospitals, classrooms, kitchens, cars, and inboxes. In this slyly tongue-in-cheek, often unsettling account, technology journalist Stern chronicles her AI-enhanced life. She tried out self-driving cars, chatbot companions, digital fitness coaches, AI-written emails, robot masseuses, mechanical pets–even AI-generated music, literature, and life advice. The result is a highly personal portrait of what it feels like to stand on the edge of technological transformation. Her concise timeline maps the territory, starting with the 1955 Dartmouth College conference at which John McCarthy, an assistant professor of mathematics, coined the term “artificial intelligence.” Stern describes an “AI Zoo” of machine learning, neural networks, deep learning, and generative AI, as Artificial General Intelligence and Artificial Super Intelligence loom on the horizon. The book centers on Stern’s experiences, and the reader learns of AI’s impacts on her mammogram and dental imaging. The first incorporates AI as a superhuman pattern recognizer, augmenting human expertise, while in dentistry, upselling is an unfortunate byproduct. Stern interviews influential thinkers, including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, who foresees therapeutic AI-enabled mobile devices extending medical care to underserved populations. He notes, “Most people in Africa never meet–ever during their life, when they’re born, when they die–what the US would call a doctor.” AI is also reconfiguring education and employment. Daniela Amodei, the president of Anthropic, argues that Generative AI has already entered our classrooms. Amodei says, “Learning should be different because a lot of their life is going to be different because of AI.” Self-driving cars terrify and amaze Stern’s family, while robots in her home provoke laughter. Of her trial intimacy with chatbots, the author concludes, “A connection with a machine isn’t a substitute for messy, inconvenient, irreplaceable human intimacy. AI is a mirror. Don’t mistake it for more. And please do not have sex with your smartphone. Or laptop. Or desktop. Or expensive monitor.” A tech journalist tries life shaped by AI in an amusing, semi-scientific, thought-provoking experiment. – Kirkus Review
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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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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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
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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 