Month: September 2026

Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!

–

Agrippa by Robert Harris

A dying Roman recalls his lifelong friendship with the man who became Emperor Augustus. A few short years before the Common Era, Agrippa writes his memoir. In his waning days at age 50, the old Roman general remembers his eventful life, which has been so tightly tied to his friend Octavius’. He began life as Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a plebeian, a nobody who was taunted as a “mother-killer” because his mother died in childbirth. Octavius, on the other hand, is a great-nephew of Julius Caesar, whom they both admire. As they enter manhood, they fight bravely in Rome’s savage wars, both civil and foreign. Agrippa promises Caesar that he will always protect Octavius, who can be sickly, and he lives up to that commitment. That loyalty becomes his destiny. And when Caesar puts him in command of an army, he knows that is what he was born to do. Put briefly, Agrippa develops into the Roman Republic’s most renowned general and oversees great feats of engineering such as the aqueducts, while Octavius eventually becomes Emperor Augustus. The former ascends by merit, the latter by blood. This is no ordinary friendship, nor is it an equal one. When the emperor wants to adopt one of Agrippa’s sons, for example, Agrippa has no choice but to agree. When he is asked to divorce his wife and marry someone else, what’s a good soldier to do? “You are part of my family,” Augustus tells him. “I want you by my side for eternity. Besides, I shall need you to guard my back in the Underworld.” Agrippa comments: “He punched my arm. A joke.” Much is impossible to know after two millennia, and author Harris weaves a strong story that honors history and imagines vivid details. There are great naval battles, disastrous storms at sea, and the threat posed by Antony and Cleopatra. Women are often interchangeable–who can produce a son? And through it all, Rome descends into dictatorship. A compelling mix of history and imagination.–Kirkus Review

–

A Past Without Pictures by Jonathan Ames

When Maria Cole, an LAPD detective, learns that her long-estranged father has been murdered, she heads off to Alabama to sort out his estate. She doesn’t exactly expect to be welcomed by the insular rural community with open arms, but she’s equally unprepared for the unconcealed hatred and distrust she’s met with. Soon she discovers why: her father’s death was not what the local cops are saying it was, and there are people who are determined to keep the real circumstances of his murder a closely guarded secret. The new book by the author of Wake Up, Sir! (2004) and You Were Never Really Here (2013)–two very different but equally splendid novels–is perfect for fans of S. A. Cosby and other writers of Southern noir: it has beautifully drawn characters, a real-feeling setting, pitch-perfect dialogue, and a story that keeps the reader in a constant state of apprehension.– Booklist Review

–

Taipei Story by R. F. Kuang

A Yale freshman travels to Taipei for an immersive Chinese language course in hopes of connecting with her roots in this pensive outing from bestseller Kuang (Yellowface). Lily, the narrator, was born in China and raised in the U.S., where she steadily lost her ability to speak Mandarin amid her determination to assimilate. Though her grandparents still live on the mainland in Guangzhou, where she was born, the narrator chose to study in Taiwan for the summer because the “place had nothing to do with me,” leaving her free to make mistakes. Some of her missteps are unexpected, as when JC, a classmate and internet-famous polyglot, invites her to skip class and visit a hot spring with him. After an awkward sexual encounter, which she’s prepared to brush off as a “funny story between friends,” JC tells others in the program, embellishing the details, and the rumor damages Lily’s relationships with her classmates and teachers. Making matters worse, she learns her grandfather has just passed away, and that she’s lost the chance to talk with both grandparents in their native tongue. Lily’s earnestness is heartfelt and poignant, especially as she reels from grief. The result is a touching story of fading heritage.– Publishers Weekly

–

Those Who Are Gone by Laurie R. King

King’s solid sequel to Back to the Garden follows San Francisco detective Raquel Laing as she investigates a cold case that links back to her childhood. After being placed on leave, Laing has returned to the SFPD’s cold case unit as a consultant. She resumes investigating the execution-style murder of Gilbert Gallegos, a small-time drug dealer, with special intensity after learning that the fatal bullet matches one removed from her leg when she was shot while she was on the force. The motive for Gallegos’s murder seems obvious—he’d stolen a kilo of cocaine, likely from a narcotics trafficker, before his death. Laing’s digging, however, leads her to suspect that Gallegos’s death was connected to a decades-long string of killings in Northern California, including a 1980s hit on Dolores Ortega, a journalist probing the Sinaloa cartel. That murder has personal resonance for Laing: Ortega was the birth mother of her adopted sister, Dee, who lives with Laing and has since become a PI. As the investigation unfolds, the siblings unearth dark family secrets. King has the mechanics of a police procedural down pat, and she heightens suspense with chapters from the perspective of an unnamed killer. This goes down smooth.– Publishers Weekly Review

–

Training for Your Old Lady Body: A Guide to Building Muscle and Mobility at Any Age by Elizabeth Davies

Training for a bikini body? No, thank you. We’re training for dense bones, a healthy heart, good balance, and to maintain physical independence in our senior years. To carry our groceries up a flight of stairs. To play with our children and our grandchildren after them. We’re training for our old lady bodies.

Whether you are starting from scratch or a seasoned pro in the gym, these pages contain everything you need to know to strength train safely and effectively. This essential guide offers practical instruction and powerful motivation to build strength for life, including:

Sections highlighting pelvic floor health, mobility, and bone density

A training jargon dictionary

Modifications for bodyweight exercises

Tips on sleep health and protein intake

Creating a routine that fits within busy schedules

And much more.

Filled with expert guidance and 50 illustrations showcasing various exercises, this empowering companion will provide you with the tools and confidence to establish a healthy, consistent fitness practice, enabling you to feel your best and strongest at any age.

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

–

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.

–

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.

–

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).

–

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.

–

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.

–

Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.