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Did You Know…Halloween!

Linda Reimer

This month our Did You Know posting has an obvious subject!

Did You Know…

The library has spooky books that offer perfect reading for the Halloween season?

And I’m sure everyone will have thought “Yes, I did know that,”  in advance.

However, since Halloween is fun…

Here is a selection of neat and spooky titles for your perusal:

American Ghost by Hannah Nordhaus:

It’s one thing to hunt for a ghost that’s an absolute stranger, but it’s another when the ghost is actually connected to you: When Nordhaus finds out that her great-great-grandmother famously haunts a Santa Fe hotel, she embarks on a quest with psychics and diviners to meet her spectral relative, find out why she died — and why she’s been sticking around.

Amityville Horror by Jay Anson:

You’ve seen the movie: Now read the book! While the veracity of some of the events in the book has been called into question, Anson’s telling still terrifies. The Lutz family moves into a steal of a home in 1975, in which a year earlier, Ronald DeFeo had murdered his family: parents, brothers, and sisters. The haunting that follows the Lutz family’s arrival is so vicious, they stay in the house less than a month.

Best Ghost Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Ghost Anthology edited by Andrew Barger:

Ghost stories became very popular in the first half of the nineteenth century and this collection by Andrew Barger contains the very scariest of them all. Some stories thought too horrific were published anonymously like “A Night in a Haunted House” and “The Deaf and Dumb Girl.” The later story is collected for the first time in any anthology since its original publication in 1839.

The other ghost stories in this fine collection are by famous authors. “The Mask of the Red Death,” by Edgar Allan Poe; “A Chapter in the History of a Tyrone Family,” by Joseph Sheridan le Fanu; “The Spectral Ship,” by Wilhelm Hauff ; “The Old Maid in the Winding Sheet,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne; “The Adventure of the German Student,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” by Washington Irving; as well as “The Tapestried Chamber,” by Sir Walter Scott.

Big Book of New York Ghost Stories edited by Cheri Farnsworth:

More than 100 stories from each region of the Empire State gathered by New York’s celebrated Ghost Author, Cheri Revai (Farnsworth).

Blackbird Season by Kate Moretti:

When hundreds of starlings inexplicably fall from the sky during a high school baseball game coached by Nate Winters, things start to go wrong for the popular Mt. Oanoke, Pa., math teacher, in this intricately plotted thriller from bestseller Moretti (The Vanishing). Nate’s marriage to Alecia, already strained by the need to care for the couple’s autistic son, is further tested when a reporter for the local paper accuses him of taking advantage of a student, Lucia Hamm, during the chaos caused by the falling birds. Nate denies acting inappropriately, but the school principal puts Nate on temporary suspension until the police complete their investigation. Nate later makes a series of bad decisions that make him look guilty, such as misleading Alecia about time he spent with Lucia, purportedly to spare his wife’s feelings. His position deteriorates further after Lucia goes missing. Fortunately, a fellow teacher and friend, Bridget Peterson, may hold the key to proving Nate’s innocence. This cautionary tale keeps the reader guessing to the end. – Library Journal Review.

Burntown by Jennifer McMahon:

Fans of McMahon’s eight earlier novels (The Winter People, etc) will be intrigued by this complex and quirky mystery set in a rundown Vermont mill town, where orphaned teenage Eva (street name Necco) lives in an abandoned car with her boyfriend, Hermes. Her grandparents have been murdered, her parents also died suspiciously, and her brother is missing. Necco recalls a mysterious machine, built by her father from plans stolen from Thomas Edison, that can talk with the dead; a killer now wants those plans and thinks Necco has them. Through a series of strange events, Necco is befriended by the Fire Eaters, a group of outcast nomadic women; Theo, a female student drug dealer; and Pru, the school cafeteria worker. There might be two killers after Necco and the plans, and as her memory of earlier family deaths returns, she realizes she does know enough about her father’s strange machine to be in danger. This is a well-crafted story with plenty of suspense to keep readers engrossed. Publisher’s Weekly Review

Come Closer by Sara Gran:

Sara Gran’s 2011 novel is a haunted story for the modern age. Protagonist Amanda burns her husband with cigarettes, dreams of affairs, and insults her boss after a demon named Naamah takes over her brain, behavior, and life. The pace quickens as Amanda’s happy marriage takes dark, dark plunge.

Diviners by Libba Bray:

An occultish murder mystery will keep you up long after dark. Evie O’Neill has been exiled from her boring old hometown and shipped off to the bustling streets of New York City—and she is pos-i-tute-ly ecstatic. It’s 1926, and New York is filled with speakeasies, Ziegfeld girls, and rakish pickpockets. The only catch is that she has to live with her uncle Will and his unhealthy obsession with the occult.

Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker:

From the bestselling author of All Is Not Forgotten, a thriller about two missing sisters, a twisted family, and what happens when one girl comes back…

One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn’t add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister’s return might just be the beginning of the crime.

Bestselling author Wendy Walker returns with another winning psychological thriller, Emma in the Night.

Exorcist by William Peter Blatty:

Sure, the film version is scary, but imagine reading the actual narrative without the pea soup vomit image in your head. For the uninitiated, 12-year-old Regan MacNeil is possessed by a demon spirit, and her famous mother enlists a priest to perform an exorcism. Inspired by rumors and partially true events, The Exorcist is a classic portrayal of the demonic possession.
Far from a place of rest, the house is a place of judgment, and Mr. Morningside and his unusual staff are meant to execute their own justice on those who are past being saved.

Get In Trouble by Kelly Link:

The short story collection Get In Trouble took Kelly Link 10 years to produce, and tells tales of fairy-like “summer people,” superhero boyfriends, and wealthy families who put microchips in their children. It’s absurdist, surrealist fantasy fiction made to creep you out.

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land:

INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER AND THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW’S EDITORS’ CHOICE

HOW FAR DOES THE APPLE REALLY FALL FROM THE TREE?

Good Me Bad Me is dark, compelling, voice-driven psychological suspense by debut author Ali Land: “Could not be more unputdownable if it was slathered with superglue.” —Sunday Express

Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school.

But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all.

When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother’s daughter.

Grave Keepers by Elizabeth Byrne:

If you inherited your eventual grave now, would you decorate it? If you thought the cemetary might be haunted, what would you do? Lately, Athena Windham has been spending all her spare time in her grave. Her parents—owners of a cemetery in Upstate New York—are proud of her devoutness, but her younger sister, Laurel, would rather spend her time exploring the forest that surrounds the Windham’s’ property than in her own grave.

Haunted: One Family’s Nightmare by Robert Curran:

Written by a priest, The Haunted details the chilling haunting of the devoutly religious Smurf family’s home from all sides: They hear phantom pigs squealing in the night, smell foul odors, feel they’re being watched while in the bathroom, and see floating people. Don’t read this one at night, folks.

Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson:

Shirley Jackson’s 1959 novel is one of the most celebrated haunted house fiction books of all time, and provided the basis for Robert Wise’s 1963 film The Haunting. When a paranormal investigator invites a small group of people, including a psychic and a troubled young woman, to the potentially haunted Hill House, they end up wishing they had never sought out the supernatural in the first place. You may find yourself going to sleep with the lights on after reading this one.

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill:

The first novel from Stephen King’s son Joe Hill, Heart-Shaped Box follows former rock star Judas Coyne after he buys the funeral suit of a dead man to add to his collection of relics of dark magic. The suit, which arrives in a heart-shaped box, is still inhabited by its former wearer’s spirit, and it haunts Judas in this creepy tale of ghosts, black magic, and rock n roll.

House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons:

It’s not ghosts that terrorize the inhabitants of The House Next Door, but the house itself. Anne Rivers Siddons’ 1978 novel, which counts Stephen King among its devoted fans, is written from the perspective of a wealthy Atlanta suburbanite, who observes that every new resident that moves in to the big house next to her own suffers terrible tragedy. She and her husband vow to destroy the house just as its evil influence starts to spread to the rest of the neighborhood — but the house next door fights back.

House of Furies by Madeline Roux:

This gothic horror tale will have you screaming. After escaping a harsh school where punishment was the lesson of the day, seventeen-year-old Louisa Ditton is thrilled to find employment as a maid at a boarding house. But soon after her arrival at Coldthistle House, Louisa begins to realize that the house’s mysterious owner, Mr. Morningside, is providing much more than lodging for his guests.

Killer Harvest by Paul Cleave:

A new thriller from the Edgar-nominated author of Trust No One and Joe Victim about a blind teenager who receives a corneal donation and begins to see and feel memories from their previous owner—a homicide detective who was also his father.

Joshua is convinced there is a family curse. It’s taken loved ones from him, it’s robbed him of his eyesight, and it’s the reason why his father is killed while investigating the homicide of a young woman.

Joshua is handed an opportunity he can’t refuse: an operation that will allow him to see the world through his father’s eyes. As Joshua navigates a world of sight, he gets glimpses of what these eyes might have witnessed in their previous life. What exactly was his dad up to in his role as a police officer?

There are consequences to the secret life his father was living, including the wrath of a man hell bent on killing, a man who is drawing closer and closer to Joshua.

Joshua soon discovers a world darker than the one he has emerged from…

Thriller connoisseur Paul Cleave is back with another riveting story of hidden secrets and unspeakable horrors that will keep you guessing until the very last page.

Little Stranger by Sarah Waters:

Sarah Waters’ 2009 gothic novel takes place in post-WWII England, where a country doctor strikes up a friendship with the family at nearby Hundreds Hall. As he becomes more intimately acquainted with them, however, the historic estate experiences more and more strange happenings, and the family begins to unravel faster than the doctor can save them.

Mammoth Book of Vampires edited by Stephen Jones:

The masters of the macabre bring the dead to life in these never-before-collected stories and short novels of the vampire in all its frightening forms. Authors include Clive Barker, Robert Bloch, Ramsey Campbell, and David J. Schow. Includes the first publication of Red Reign, by Kim Newman, author of Bad Dreams and The Night Mayor.

Memory Trees by Kali Wallace:

Eight years after her sister Patience’s tragic death on her family’s remote apple orchard, Sorrow returns to the land, determined to find out what really happened the night Patience died and what other secrets may be waiting for her there. The apple orchard in Vermont was Sorrow Lovegood’s whole world– until her sister Patience’s tragic death. Sorrow was sent to Miami to live with her father, away from the only home she’d ever known. Now, eight years later, Sorrow’s memories of her life in Vermont are hazy. She returns to the orchard for the summer, determined to learn more about her childhood and the family she left behind. But it soon becomes clear that some of her questions have difficult– even dangerous– answers. And there may be a price to pay for asking.

Night Visions 2 Edited by Charles L. Grant:

This is the second in a series devoted to showcasing the work of fantasy and horror writers. The almost arbitrary bringing together of three disparate talents in one volume may be a questionable idea, but in this case it worksGrant has produced an enjoyable collection. David Morrell, best known for creating the character Rambo in his novel First Blood, contributes three stories, of which the best, “Mumbo Jumbo,” depicts a football player whose team’s success seems to depend on the coach’s voodoo worship. Joseph Payne Brennan is represented by five tales, including “Starlock Street,” in which an antiquarian learns how unpleasant retreat into a more genteel time and place can be. Karl Edward Wagner has three stories; “Shrapnel” is a deft chiller with a vision of Hell as an auto graveyard.

Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman:

The three Hempstock women (maiden, mother, and crone) would tell you they’re not witches, nor do they cast spells. But that’s just talk. Sure, these women are kind enough to shelter a scared little boy, but they can also bottle wormholes and summon inter-dimensional demon vultures.

Secret of Crickley Hall by James Herbert:

In James Herbert’s disturbing 2006 novel, after the tragic disappearance of one of their three children, a couple decides to leave London for Crickley Hall, on the English coast. Once there, however, the family finds that the house holds many secrets and has a dark history dating back to World War II, when it was a home for children evacuees. In 2012, The Secret of Crickley Hall was adapted into a BBC miniseries starring Game of Thrones’ Maisie Williams.

Shining by Stephen King:

In one episode of Friends, Joey hides his copy of The Shining in the freezer whenever he gets too scared reading it. It’s an appropriate depository for King’s 1977 novel, which takes place at the claustrophobic and inhospitable — not to mention haunted — Overlook Hotel, where main character Jack Torrance is the winter caretaker. While Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 1980 adaptation is classic Halloween viewing, the book (from which the film deviates significantly) is certainly worth reading if you’re looking for a good scare. You can always stick it in the freezer if it gets too disturbing.

Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena:

When Tom Krupp comes home from work, his wife’s car is gone, but the front door is unlocked and it’s clear that Karen has been preparing dinner in the kitchen. Most troubling of all, her purse and cell phone are still in the house. As he tries to understand what’s happening, the police arrive to announce that Karen has been in an accident. He rushes to his wife’s side in the hospital, but she can’t remember the accident, nor why she left the house or where she went. The police are suspicious, Tom struggles with his own doubts, and Karen’s best friend seems to be the only one who really believes her. Tension builds and relationships threaten to fall apart as Karen and Tom try to piece together what happened that night and what it means for their future, if they even have one. VERDICT The author of the acclaimed The Couple Next Door has written another fast-paced, engrossing psychological thriller that will have readers guessing until the very end. Cynthia Price, Francis Marion Univ. Lib., Florence, SC – Library Journal Review

Terror by Dan Simmons:

Dan Simmons’ 2007 novel takes readers through a fictionalized version of Sir John Franklin’s 1840s trip to the Arctic, and things go dark as Franklin and his crew travel further and further into the hostile climate. There’s rebellion, cannibalism, and one lingering polar bear-like monster. A non-linear narrative told from diary entries and third person exposition, The Terror shows the Northwest Passage may be more dangerous than we ever expected.

Turn of the Screw by Henry James:

James was a master of psychological complexity, and his famous 1898 novella engages the skewed perspective of a young woman, a governess to two small children at an estate in the English countryside. When she moves into the house, she begins seeing two phantom figures, a man and a woman, everywhere she goes, haunting her, going unaddressed by anyone else. Are the ghosts real or is the governess mad? Critics have debated the question since the book’s publication; decide for yourself after reading the story to its chilling, ambiguous conclusion.
Until, of course, more important question arose, at which time everyone promptly forgot that a thousand birds fell on the town of Mount Oanoke at all.”

Wicked the life and times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire:

This re-creation of the land of Oz, tells the story of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, who wasn’t so wicked after all. Past the yellow brick road and into a phantasmagoric world rich with imagination and allegory, Wicked just might change the reputation of one of the most sinister characters in literature

Witches of Eastwick by John Updike:

Throughout history, “witch” has often been deployed as a derogatory stereotype meant to demonize powerful women. Here, Updike’s trio of divorcees reclaim female strength by injecting some magic into a place that badly needs it: the postwar American suburbs.

Witching Hour by Anne Rice:

Well known for her vampire trilogy, Rice now turns to witches. Here she tells the story of the prominent and wealthy Mayfair family who, for five centuries, has cavorted with a supernatural entity that has brought them both great bounty as well as abject misery. Neurosurgeon Rowan Mayfair inherits the family fortune, along with the sinister attentions of this entity. When Rowan saves the life of Michael Curry their fates become entwined, and together they seek to understand and destroy the terrible force that holds her family in its power. Helping them in this dangerous task is occult investigator Aaron Lightner, introduced to readers in Rice’s The Queen of the Damned ( LJ 10/1/88). Although a bit long-winded at times, this is still a compelling novel. The author’s powerful writing and strong imagery keep the reader enthralled. — Patricia Altner, Dept. of Defense Lib., Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C – Library Journal Review

Have a great October!

Linda, SSCL

Suggested Reading Week of October 1, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

The Common Good by Robert Reich (Format: Downloadable audiobook):

 

From the best-selling author of Saving Capitalism and The Work of Nations, a passionate, clear-eyed manifesto on why we must restore the idea of the common good to the center of our economics and politics.

With the warmth and lucidity that have made him one of our most important public voices, Robert B. Reich makes the case for a generous, inclusive understanding of the American project, centering on the moral obligations of citizenship. Rooting his argument in everyday reality and common sense, Reich demonstrates the existence of a common good, and argues that it is this that defines a society or a nation. Societies and nations undergo virtuous cycles that reinforce and build the common good, as well as vicious cycles that undermine it. Over the course of the past five decades, Reich contends, America has been in a slowly accelerating vicious cycle—one that can and must be reversed. But first we need to weigh what really matters, and how we as a country should relate to honor, shame, patriotism, truth, and the meaning of leadership.

Powerful, urgent, and utterly vital, this is a heartfelt missive from one of our foremost political thinkers: a fundamental statement about the purpose of society and a cri de coeur to save America’s soul.

The Girl With The Red Balloon by Katherine Locke (Format: eBook):

This book is the current Big Read title. And what that means it that it is available on demand for your reading pleasure. So check it out!

Here’s a summary of the plot: When sixteen-year-old Ellie Baum accidentally time-travels via red balloon to 1988 East Berlin, she’s caught up in a conspiracy of history and magic. She meets members of an underground guild in East Berlin who use balloons and magic to help people escape over the Wall—but even to the balloon makers, Ellie’s time travel is a mystery. When it becomes clear that someone is using dark magic to change history, Ellie must risk everything—including her only way home—to stop the process.

Halloween (1978) (Format: Streaming Video):

The classic John Carpenter horror film starring Jamie Lee Curtis.

It was “The Night HE Came Home,” warned the posters for John Carpenter’s career-making horror smash. In Haddonfield, IL, on Halloween night 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers inexplicably slaughters his teenage sister. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) can’t penetrate Michael’s psyche after years of institutionalization, but he knows that, when Myers escapes before Halloween in 1978, there is going to be hell to pay in Haddonfield. While Loomis heads to Haddonfield to alert police, Myers spots bookish teenager Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and follows her, constantly appearing and vanishing as Laurie and her looser friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Loomis) make their Halloween plans. By nightfall, the responsible Laurie is doing her own and Annie’s babysitting jobs, while Annie and Lynda frolic in the parent-free house across the street. But Annie and Lynda are not answering the phone, and suspicious Laurie heads across the street to the darkened house to see what is going on….

No Place Like Home: A Small Town Romance Collection by Debbie Macomber (16 Lighthouse Road\Welcome to Moonlight Harbor\No One but You\The 10-Year Reunion\Cedar Cove) (Format: eBook):

Four heartwarming stories of finding love in friendly small towns, from bestselling and favorite authors, together for the first time in one value-packed box set!

16 Lighthouse Road by Debbie Macomber

Welcome to Cedar Cove, Washington, where the news of the day is that family court Judge Olivia Lockhart has denied the divorce petition of a young local couple. Olivia is trusting her instincts that the two need to try again. Newspaper editor Jack Griffin admires Olivia’s choice, and the woman herself. Now Olivia has her hands full between her work and her tricky relationships with her daughter and her mother—and now Jack’s courtship. Everyone in Cedar Cove is talking!

The 10-Year Reunion by Susan Wiggs

Beautician Twyla McCabe was voted most likely to succeed in her high school graduating class, but a run of bad luck forced her to give up her dreams of college and a career. Now a widow with a six-year-old and essentially Dear Abby with a blow-dryer, she longs to show up at her ten-year school reunion with a date she can show off. But when her well-meaning customers arrange for her to attend the Hell Creek High School Reunion with Rob Carter, M.D., Twyla knows they’ve gone too far. Who would believe a woman who dyes hair for a living could be engaged to such a hunk?

No One But You by Brenda Novak

Silver Springs, a picturesque small town in Southern California where even the hardest hearts can learn to love again… Sadie Harris is out of options, and desperately determined not to lose the custody battle for her son, so she takes position assisting Dawson Reed—who recently stood trial for murder. Dawson just wants to leave his painful past behind and fix up the family farm. As their professional relationship grows into something else, Sadie realizes that Dawson has a good heart, one that might be worth fighting for.

Welcome to Moonlight Harbor by Sheila Roberts

For her fortieth birthday, Jenna Jones is getting a divorce. She’s barely able to support herself and her teenage daughter, and now her deadbeat ex is demanding spousal support! The unexpected gift of being asked to manage the Driftwood Inn for her aging Aunt Edie might be the rainbow at the end of the storm. Or not. The coastal town is a little more run-down that Jenna remembered, and the inn is worse. But with the help of her new friends and a couple of handsome citizens, perhaps the sunshine is on the horizon after all. Because, no matter what, life is always good at the beach.

Things Fall Apart: A Novel by Chinua Achebe:

“A true classic of world literature . . . A masterpiece that has inspired generations of writers in Nigeria, across Africa, and around the world.” —Barack Obama

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Things Fall Apart is the first of three novels in Chinua Achebe’s critically acclaimed African Trilogy. It is a classic narrative about Africa’s cataclysmic encounter with Europe as it establishes a colonial presence on the continent. Told through the fictional experiences of Okonkwo, a wealthy and fearless Igbo warrior of Umuofia in the late 1800s, Things Fall Apart explores one man’s futile resistance to the devaluing of his Igbo traditions by British political andreligious forces and his despair as his community capitulates to the powerful new order.

With more than 20 million copies sold and translated into fifty-seven languages, Things Fall Apart provides one of the most illuminating and permanent monuments to African experience. Achebe does not only capture life in a pre-colonial African village, he conveys the tragedy of the loss of that world while broadening our understanding of our contemporary realities.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

Beethoven’s Tenth: A Novel by Richard Kluger:

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ashes to Ashes

When the assistant manager of a hardware store in rural New Jersey shows up at the offices of Cubbage & Wakeham, an elite New York auction house, with a worn musical manuscript he hopes to sell for a small (or perhaps hefty) fortune, he is greeted with subdued snickers—and not surprisingly. The title page of the document reads, “William Tell: A Dramatic Symphony” and is signed “Ludwig van Beethoven.” The bearer of the composition claims he recently came upon it in an old attic trunk while cleaning out his lately deceased grandfather’s home in Zurich; several accompanying documents suggest the work was written there during the summer of 1814.

Since virtually all lovers of classical music—and many others who can’t tell Stravinsky from Springsteen—know that Beethoven wrote nine sublime symphonies, and so evidence of a new-found tenth one by the supreme master of that musical form sets off an instant international uproar. Is the seemingly miraculous discovery the genuine article or an ingenious hoax?

To solve the tantalizing puzzle before placing the manuscript on the auction block at risk of becoming a global laughingstock, Cubbage & Wakeham’s management organizes a team of intensely skeptical investigators, among them the world’s top Beethoven scholars and forensic experts, all of them out to prove the find a fraud. But as evidence to the contrary begins to pile up, tensions rise among the corps of authenticators, the financial stakes soar as would-be exploiters of the symphony gather, the governments of five nations seek to claim the work as a national treasure, and the mystery artfully spun by novelist Richard Kluger deepens by the day.

Among the beguiling questions that demand answers:

The mountain of archival documentation on Beethoven’s life and works is silent about his activities and whereabouts in the summer of 1814, but why would he have gone to Zurich then and written a symphony in tribute to, of all people, Swizterland’s great folk hero?

Why are the form and structure of the Tell symphony—each movement contains a number of vocal interludes seamlessly blended with the instrumental passages—so different from all the other Beethoven symphonies?

And why, if he had produced such a monumental work, would Beethoven have abandoned it? Did he think it below his incomparably high standard of artistry? Was it stolen from him? Or did he fear pressing political considerations back in Vienna, where he had long resided, that could have endangered his career if the new work were to be publicly performed?

The answers—and a cast of feisty characters with conflicting stakes in the quest—make Beethoven’s Tenth a deftly twisty and challenging detective novel, enriched by the prodigious research of author Kluger, a Pulitzer Prize-winning social historian.

Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe by Marshall Ryan Maresca:

Mixing high fantasy and urban fantasy, the second novel of the Streets of Maradaine series follows the Rynax brothers’ crew of outlaws as they attempt their biggest heist yet and restore justice to the common people.

The neighborhood of North Seleth has suffered—and not just the Holver Alley Fire. Poverty and marginalization are forcing people out of the neighborhood, and violence on the streets is getting worse. Only the Rynax brothers—Asti and Verci—and their Holver Alley Crew are fighting for the common people. They’ve taken care of the people who actually burned down Holver Alley, but they’re still looking for the moneyed interests behind the fire.

The trail of breadcrumbs leads the crew to Lord Henterman, and they plan to infiltrate the noble’s house on the other side of the city. While the crew tries to penetrate the heart of the house, the worst elements of North Seleth seem to be uniting under a mysterious new leader. With the crew’s attention divided, Asti discovers that the secrets behind the fire, including ones from his past, might be found in Lady Henterman’s wardrobe.

The books in the Streets of Maradaine series:
1. The Holver Alley Crew
2. Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe

Lake Success by Gary Shteyngart:

“Spectacular.”—NPR • “Uproariously funny.”—The Boston Globe • “An artistic triumph.”—San Francisco Chronicle • “A novel in which comedy and pathos are exquisitely balanced.”—The Washington Post • “Shteyngart’s best book.”—The Seattle Times
The bestselling author of Super Sad True Love Story returns with a biting, brilliant, emotionally resonant novel very much of our times.

Narcissistic, hilariously self-deluded, and divorced from the real world as most of us know it, hedge-fund manager Barry Cohen oversees $2.4 billion in assets. Deeply stressed by an SEC investigation and by his three-year-old son’s diagnosis of autism, he flees New York on a Greyhound bus in search of a simpler, more romantic life with his old college sweetheart. Meanwhile, his super-smart wife, Seema—a driven first-generation American who craved the picture-perfect life that comes with wealth—has her own demons to face. How these two flawed characters navigate the Shteyngartian chaos of their own making is at the heart of this piercing exploration of the 0.1 Percent, a poignant tale of familial longing and an unsentimental ode to what really makes America great.

The Vanishing Box by Elly Griffiths:

In a nail-biting hunt for a missing loved one, DI Edgar Stephens and the magician Max Mephisto discover once again that the line between art, life, and death is all too easily blurred.

It’s the holiday season and Max Mephisto and his daughter Ruby have landed a headlining gig at the Brighton Hippodrome, the biggest theater in the city, an achievement only slightly marred by the less-than-savory supporting act: a tableau show of naked “living statues.” But when one of the girls goes missing and turns up dead not long after, Max and Ruby realize there’s something far more sinister than obscenity afoot in the theater.

DI Edgar Stephens is on the case. As he searches for the killer, he begins to suspect that her fatal vanishing act may very well be related to another case, the death of a quiet local florist. But just as he’s narrowing in on the missing link, Ruby goes missing, and he and Max must team up once again to find her.

Wicked and the Wallflower by Sarah MacLean:

When Wicked Comes Calling . . .

When a mysterious stranger finds his way into her bedchamber and offers his help in landing a duke, Lady Felicity Faircloth agrees—on one condition. She’s seen enough of the world to believe in passion, and won’t accept a marriage without it.

The Wallflower Makes a Dangerous Bargain . . .

Bastard son of a duke and king of London’s dark streets, Devil has spent a lifetime wielding power and seizing opportunity, and the spinster wallflower is everything he needs to exact a revenge years in the making. All he must do is turn the plain little mouse into an irresistible temptress, set his trap, and destroy his enemy.

For the Promise of Passion . . .

But there’s nothing plain about Felicity Faircloth, who quickly decides she’d rather have Devil than another. Soon, Devil’s carefully laid plans are in chaos and he must choose between everything he’s ever wanted . . . and the only thing he’s ever desired.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc.

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Listening September 28, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our five musical recommendations for the week; four streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

The Famous Hokum Boys by Georgia Tom (Genre: Blues):

‘Hokum’ was a raucous, rowdy music that nevertheless demanded good musicianship. All these sides were cut in 1930 – a testament to the popularity of Big Bill and Georgia Tom, both as single artists and as the Famous Hokum Boys. An added joy, on the session of February 5th, is Scrapper Blackwell taking time out from his partnership with Leroy Carr. As it turned out both the principals were to have successful but widely divergent musical careers. Big Bill Broonzy’s career lasted well into the 1950s. He was, according to the diktats of the time, a folk singer, bluesman or jazzman. By the time he died in 1958 (of throat cancer, maybe aged 55) he was relatively prosperous and (through the folk world) well connected. Georgia Tom was Thomas Dorsey, whose professional start was playing piano at rent parties. In the mid-1920s he wrote and performed religious material alongside his secular output. In 1928 his recording of the self-composed ‘It’s Tight Like That’ (it’s as bawdy as it sounds) was a multi-million seller. In 1932, a crisis – the death of both his wife and newborn son – moved him to confine himself to the religious. When he died, aged 92, he was a leading – and revered – member of the Gospel movement.

Songs on the album include: Come On In, Come On Mama, Pat That Bread, That Stuff, You Do It, Barrel House Rag and Ain’t Going There No More.

The Buckinghams: The Hit Collection by The Buckinghams (Genre: Pop, Classic Rock):

A greatest hits collection by the popular mid-sixties rock band.
Songs include: Kind of a Drag, Hey Baby, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy, Don’t You Care, Inside Looking Out and I’ll Never Say Goodbye.

Blaze by Various Artists (Genre: Soundtrack, Country):

“Country singer-songwriter Blaze Foley gets the biopic treatment from director Ethan Hawke in Blaze, which arrives accompanied by a soundtrack featuring reinterpretations of Foley’s material by the film’s stars, including Ben Dickey, Alia Shawkat, and Charlie Sexton. A contemporary of Townes Van Zandt and a fixture of the Austin music scene in the 70s and 80s, Foley’s songs were adopted by Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard, and his saga was memorialized by Lucinda Williams on her song “Drunken Angel,” which closes the Blaze soundtrack, performed by Hurray for the Riff Raff mastermind Alynda Segarra.” AllMusic – Chris Steffen

Songs on the album include: Let Me Ride In Your Big Cadillac, Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries, Clay Pigeons, Sittin’ by the Road and Pearly Gates.

1965-67 Cambridge St/ation (2017) by Pink Floyd (Genre: Rock):

Originally released as part of the mammoth 2016 rarities clearinghouse The Early Years 1965-1972, 1965-1967 Cambridge St/Ation collects all of the group’s unreleased music and film from Pink Floyd’s early years with Syd Barrett. Crucially, this contains several legendary rarities that have never seen the light of day, including a set of improvised recordings the Floyd recorded for a film by artist John Latham. Other highlights include the first release of “Vegetable Man” and “Scream Thy Last Scream,” but everything on this set is fascinating, whether it’s the exploratory live set from Stockholm in 1967 or the stilted blues the band played in 1965 under the name the Tea Set. The visual material — which is presented as both a DVD and a Blu-ray — is highlighted by promo clips for “The Scarecrow” and “Jugband Blues,” a Top of the Pops performance of “See Emily Play,” and the Floyd playing “Apples and Oranges” on American Bandstand with Barrett and Roger Waters being interviewed by Dick Clark afterward. Of all of the Early Years volumes, Cambridge St/Ation is among the best because it fills out portions of their beginnings in a way no other Floyd album does.

Songs on the LP include: Lucy Leave, Double O Bo, Remember Me, I’m a King Bee, Butterfly, Apples and Oranges and See Emily Play.

Recommended CD of the Week:

Cloud Corner (2018) by Marisa Anderson (Genre: Soundtrack, Guitar, Americana):

“Spilling out over the landscape in a horizontal yawn of sleepy slide guitar, ambling fingerstyle patterns, buzzing Wurlitzer, and sun-baked requinto jarocho, Marisa Anderson’s Cloud Corner feels like an old photograph come to life or a languorous, unhurried midday meal. As a guitarist and composer, Anderson has wandered in and out of projects since the ’90s, applying her intuition to the improvisatory Evolutionary Jass Band, nimbly ornamenting records by Sharon Van Etten and the Dolly Ranchers, and exploring a wide range of folk, jazz, blues, avant-garde, and classical traditions on her own excellent solo records. Her first outing for the Thrill Jockey label, Cloud Corner, follows 2016’s expansive Into the Light, which was themed as an imaginary soundtrack to an imaginary sci-fi western film. While it shares some of same dusty characteristics of its predecessor, this unthemed ten-song set moves with its own insouciant gait. Written, performed, and engineered entirely by Anderson, these tracks were born of her preferred method of capturing lengthy improvisations and slowly revising and reshaping them into the more concise portraits heard here. Seeming to just begin without much preamble, tracks like “Pulse,” “Sant Feliu de Guixols,” and the cascading title cut arrive like chapters already in progress. Tones of American folk and blues mingle with West African Tuareg and Latin in the global village of Anderson’s fingertips, suggesting travels past, present, and future. Thanks to its wandering nature, Cloud Corner is the kind of album that benefits from repeat listens, unspooling, shifting, and then settling a little more with each meditative revolution.” AllMusic – Timothy Monger

Songs on the LP include: Pulse, Slow Ascent, Cloud Corner, Sun Song, Lament, Lift and Surfacing.

Videos of the Week:

Barrel House Rag by Georgia Tom

Hey Baby by the Buckinghams

Clay Pigeons by Ben Dickey from the Blaze Soundtrack

Lucy Leave by Pink Floyd

Marisa Anderson: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!

Suggested Reading Week of September 24, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing: A Novel written by Hank Green (Format: eBook):

In his much-anticipated debut novel, Hank Green—cocreator of Crash Course, Vlogbrothers, and SciShow—spins a sweeping, cinematic tale about a young woman who becomes an overnight celebrity before realizing she’s part of something bigger, and stranger, than anyone could have possibly imagined.

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship—like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armor—April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world—everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires—and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the center of an intense international media spotlight.

Now April has to deal with the pressure on her relationships, her identity, and her safety that this new position brings, all while being on the front lines of the quest to find out not just what the Carls are, but what they want from us.

Compulsively entertaining and powerfully relevant, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing grapples with big themes, including how the social internet is changing fame, rhetoric, and radicalization; how our culture deals with fear and uncertainty; and how vilification and adoration spring from the same dehumanization that follows a life in the public eye.

Dead Man Running: An Alex McKnight Thriller Series, Book 11 by Steve Hamilton (Format: eBook):

Alex McKnight—hero of Steve Hamilton’s bestselling, award-winning, and beloved private eye series—is back in a high-stakes, nail-biting thriller, facing the most dangerous enemy he’s ever encountered.

On the Mediterranean Sea, a vacationer logs onto the security camera feed from his home in Scottsdale, Arizona. Something about his living room seems not quite right—the room is bright, when he’s certain he’d left the curtains closed. Rewinding through the feed, he sees an intruder. When he shifts to the bedroom camera, he sees the dead body.

Martin T. Livermore is the key suspect in the abduction and murder of at least five women, but he’s never been this sloppy before. When the FBI finally catches him in Scottsdale, he declares he’ll only talk to one person: a retired police officer from Detroit, now a private investigator living in the tiny town of Paradise, Michigan. A man named Alex McKnight.

Livermore means nothing to McKnight, but it soon becomes clear McKnight means something to Livermore. . . and that Livermore’s capture was only the beginning of an elaborate, twisted plot with McKnight at the center. In a hunt that will take him across the country and to the edge of his limits, McKnight fights to stop a vicious killer before he can exact his ultimate revenge. And his grand finale will cut closer to home than he ever could have imagined.

Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson (Format: eBook):

The new novel in Craig Johnson’s beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series.

Welcome to Walt Longmire’s worst nightmare. In Craig Johnson’s latest mystery, Depth of Winter, an international hit man and the head of one of the most vicious drug cartels in Mexico has kidnapped Walt’s beloved daughter, Cady, to auction her off to his worst enemies, of which there are many. The American government is of limited help and the Mexican one even less. Walt heads into the one-hundred-and-ten degree heat of the Northern Mexican desert alone, one man against an army.

Hippie by Paulo Coelho (Format: eBook):

If you want to learn about yourself, start by exploring the world around you.

Drawing on the rich experience of his own life, best-selling author Paulo Coelho takes us back in time to relive the dreams of a generation that longed for peace and dared to challenge the established social order. In Hippie, he tells the story of Paulo, a young, skinny Brazilian man with a goatee and long, flowing hair, who wants to become a writer and sets off on a journey in search of a deeper meaning for his life: first on the famous “Death Train” to Bolivia, then on to Peru, later hitchhiking through Chile and Argentina.

Paulo’s travels take him farther to the famous Dam Square in Amsterdam filled with young people wearing vibrant clothes and burning incense, meditating and playing music, while discussing sexual liberation, the expansion of consciousness, and the search for an inner truth.

There he meets Karla, a Dutch woman in her twenties who has been waiting to find the ideal companion to accompany her on the fabled hippie trail to Nepal. She convinces Paulo to join her on a trip aboard the Magic Bus that travels across Europe and Central Asia to Kathmandu. They embark on the journey in the company of fascinating fellow travelers, each of whom has a story to tell, and each of whom will undergo a personal transformation, changing their priorities and values along the way. As they travel together, Paulo and Karla explore their own relationship: a life-defining love story that awakens them on every level and leads to choices and decisions that will set the course for their lives thereafter.

The Road to Serfdom, the Definitive Edition Text and Documents written by F. A. Hayek, Edited by Bruce Caldwell & Read by William Hughes (Format: Audiobook):

An unimpeachable classic work in political philosophy, intellectual and cultural history, and economics, The Road to Serfdom has inspired and infuriated politicians, scholars, and general readers for half a century. Originally published in 1944-when Eleanor Roosevelt supported the efforts of Stalin, and Albert Einstein subscribed lock, stock, and barrel to the socialist program-The Road to Serfdom was seen as heretical for its passionate warning against the dangers of state control over the means of production. For F. A. Hayek, the collectivist idea of empowering government with increasing economic control would lead not to a utopia but to the horrors of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy.

First published by the University of Chicago Press on September 18, 1944, The Road to Serfdom garnered immediate, widespread attention. The first printing of 2,000 copies was exhausted instantly, and within six months more than 30,000 books were sold. In April 1945, Reader’s Digest published a condensed version of the book, and soon thereafter the Book-of-the-Month Club distributed this edition to more than 600,000 readers. A perennial bestseller, the book has sold 400,000 copies in the United States alone and has been translated into more than twenty languages, along the way becoming one of the most important and influential books of the century.

With this new edition, The Road to Serfdom takes its place in the series The Collected Works of F. A. Hayek. The volume includes a foreword by series editor and leading Hayek scholar Bruce Caldwell explaining the book’s origins and publishing history and assessing common misinterpretations of Hayek’s thought. Caldwell has also standardized and corrected Hayek’s references and added helpful new explanatory notes. Supplemented with an appendix of related materials ranging from pre-publication reports on the initial manuscript to forewords to earlier editions by John Chamberlain, Milton Friedman, and Hayek himself, this new edition of The Road to Serfdom is the definitive version of Hayek’s enduring masterwork.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

Bury The Lead by Archer Mayor:

Joe Gunther and the VBI team are investigating a murder and an arson case―both potentially related to an outbreak of ebola.

When the body of a young woman is found near a trail at a popular ski mountain, the case falls to Joe Gunther and his team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation (VBI). They quickly have a suspect, Mick Durocher, and a confession, but not everyone on the team is convinced. Despite Mick’s ready admission, investigators quickly sense there might be more going on than is immediately apparent.

At the same time, a large local business is being targeted with escalating acts of vandalism―a warehouse fire, a vandalized truck, a massive cooling system destroyed―resulting in loss of life. And either by coincidence, or not, Mick Durocher, the self-confessed murderer, was once employed by this very company.

These two puzzling cases―now possibly connected―are further complicated by the sidelining of a key member of VBI, Willy Kunkle, who undergoes surgery at a hospital that appears to be having an unlikely―and suspiciously timed―outbreak of Ebola.

Joe and his team pursue these cases, uncovering motives that might link them, while proving that trust betrayed can be a toxic virus, turning love into murderous loathing. Indeed, behind the mayhem and murder, Joe must uncover a tragic history before another victim dies.

A Forgotten Place by Charles Todd:

Though the Great War has ended, Bess Crawford finds herself caught in deadly circumstances on a remote Welsh headland in this tenth entry from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author.

The fighting has ended, the Armistice signed, but the war has left wounds that are still agonizingly raw. Battlefield Nurse Bess Crawford has been assigned to a clinic for amputees, and the Welsh patients worry her. She does her best to help them, but it’s clear that they have nothing to go home to, in a valley where only the fit can work in the coal pits. When they are released, she fears that peace will do what war couldn’t—take their lives.

Their officer, Captain Williams, writes to describe their despair, and his own at trying to save his men. Bess feels compelled to look into their situation, but the Army and the clinic can do nothing. Requesting leave, she quietly travels to Wales, and that bleak coal mining village, but she is too late.

Captain Williams’ sister tells Bess he has left the valley. Bess is afraid he intends to kill himself. She follows him to an isolated, storm-battered peninsula—a harsh and forgotten place where secrets and death go hand in hand. Deserted by her frightened driver, Bess is stranded among strangers suspicious of outsiders. She quickly discovers these villagers are hiding something, and she’s learned too much to be allowed to leave. What’s more, no one in England knows where she is.

Why is there no Constable out here? And who is the mysterious Ellen? Captain Williams and his brother’s widow are her only allies, and Bess must take care not to put them at risk as she tries to find answers. But there is a murderer here who is driven to kill again and again. And the next person in his sights is Simon Brandon, searching for Bess and unaware of his danger. . . .

Leadership: In Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin:

In this culmination of five decades of acclaimed studies in presidential history, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Doris Kearns Goodwin offers an illuminating exploration of the early development, growth, and exercise of leadership.

Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership?

Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader?

In Leadership, Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely—Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights)—to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope.

Leadership tells the story of how they all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times.

No common pattern describes the trajectory of leadership. Although set apart in background, abilities, and temperament, these men shared a fierce ambition and a deep-seated resilience that enabled them to surmount uncommon hardships. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose. At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others.

This seminal work provides an accessible and essential road map for aspiring and established leaders in every field. In today’s polarized world, these stories of authentic leadership in times of apprehension and fracture take on a singular urgency.

Night And Silence by Seanan McGuire:

Things are not okay.

In the aftermath of Amandine’s latest betrayal, October “Toby” Daye’s fragile self-made family is on the verge of coming apart at the seams. Jazz can’t sleep, Sylvester doesn’t want to see her, and worst of all, Tybalt has withdrawn from her entirely, retreating into the Court of Cats as he tries to recover from his abduction. Toby is floundering, unable to help the people she loves most heal. She needs a distraction. She needs a quest.

What she doesn’t need is the abduction of her estranged human daughter, Gillian. What she doesn’t need is to be accused of kidnapping her own child by her ex-boyfriend and his new wife, who seems to be harboring secrets of her own. There’s no question of whether she’ll take the case. The only question is whether she’s emotionally prepared to survive it.

Signs of Faerie’s involvement are everywhere, and it’s going to take all Toby’s nerve and all her allies to get her through this web of old secrets, older hatreds, and new deceits. If she can’t find Gillian before time runs out, her own child will pay the price.

Two questions remain: Who in Faerie remembered Gillian existed? And what do they stand to gain?

No matter how this ends, Toby’s life will never be the same.

Sea Prayer by Khaled Hosseini:

A short, powerful, illustrated book written by beloved novelist Khaled Hosseini in response to the current refugee crisis, Sea Prayer is composed in the form of a letter, from a father to his son, on the eve of their journey. Watching over his sleeping son, the father reflects on the dangerous sea-crossing that lies before them. It is also a vivid portrait of their life in Homs, Syria, before the war, and of that city’s swift transformation from a home into a deadly war zone.
Impelled to write this story by the haunting image of young Alan Kurdi, the three-year-old Syrian boy whose body washed upon the beach in Turkey in September 2015, Hosseini hopes to pay tribute to the millions of families, like Kurdi’s, who have been splintered and forced from home by war and persecution, and he will donate author proceeds from this book to the UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) and The Khaled Hosseini Foundation to help fund lifesaving relief efforts to help refugees around the globe.

Khaled Hosseini is one of the most widely read writers in the world, with more than fifty-five million copies of his novels sold worldwide in more than seventy countries. Hosseini is also a Goodwill Envoy to the UNHCR, and the founder of The Khaled Hosseini Foundation, a nonprofit that provides humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc.

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of tech coaches will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Listening September 21, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our five musical recommendations for the week; four streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

The 1961 Summer Sessions (2016) by Grant Green (Genre: Jazz):

Grant Green was one of the greatest Jazz guitarist of the sixties and might be much better known today if he hadn’t died so young – in 1979 at age 43. This collection, obviously recorded in the summer of 1961 and includes the songs: Blues in Maude’s Flat, Sunday Morning’, If I Had You, Come Sunshine, So What and I Remember You.

The Essential Donovan by Donovan (Genre: Folk, Pop):

A solid greatest hits collection by the singer-songwriter who made it big in the sixties with hits including Sunshine Superman, Season of the Witch and Mellow Yellow; this collection contains those songs and others including: There Is A Mountain, Sunny Goodge Street, Ile of Islay, Hurdy Gurdy Man, Get They Bearings, Lalena and Atlantis.

Johnnie and Joe (2014) by Johnnie and Joe: 

I had never heard of Johnnie and Joe before I stumbled across this four song mini-LP on Freegal.
According to AllMusic Johnnie and Joe, whose full names were Johnnylouise Richardson and Joe Rivers, were a vocal duo that cut a couple of singles for Chess Records in the 1950s. And there most popular of their songs was “Over the Mountain, Across the Sea.”

Having said that, this recording, which was released by Resnick Records in 2014, sounds as if it was recorded in the 1970s but the four songs are very upbeat and definitely worth a listen.
The songs are: Help Me Brother, I Wish That Someone Was Me, Right for the Part & You Can Always Count On Me.

The One And Only Lefty Frizzell (1959) (Bonus Track Version) by Lefty Frizzell:

A classic album by a classic country artist!

Songs in the set include: If You’ve Got The Money, I’ve Go The Time, Mom and Dad Waltz, Nobody Knows But Me, Release Me and Why Should I Be Lonely.

Recommended CD of the Week:

The Who Sing My Generation (1965) by The Who (Genre: Rock, Mod-Rock):

The debut album by The Who!

This album features a great mix of mod and Beatlesque music.

Songs on the LP include: Out in the Street, I Don’t Mind, My Generation, The Kids Are Alright, A Legal Matter and The Ox.

Videos of the Week:

Freedom March by Grant Green

Catch The Wind by Donovan

Over The Mountain, Across The Sea by Johnnie & Joe

No One To Talk To by Lefty Frizzell

My Generation by The Who

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!

Suggested Listening September 14, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our five musical recommendations for the week; four streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

13 Avenue South (2018) by Travellin´ Brothers (Genre: Blues, Swing, Jazz, Funk, Rock):

The Travellin’ Brothers are just breaking into a wider audience with their new LP 13 Avenue South.

They have a great horn section and their sound hearkens back to the days of Stax; despite that fact – they are actually from Bizkaia which is located in northern Spain – although the vocals on the album are all in English. This is a fun LP!

Songs on the record include: Peggy Sue Got Divorced, Sweet Corrine, As Good as It Gets, I Believe and Last Fair Deal Going Down.

Depacla 2 (2009) by Depapepe (Genre: Classical, Easy Listening, Acoustic):

Depapepe is a duo consisting of acoustic guitarists Takuya Miura and Yoshinari Tokuoka. And this album features a nice collection of light classical songs.

Songs on the album include: Pomp and Circumstance, Wedding March, Fantasia on Greensleeves, Turkish Rondo and Orpheus in the Underworld Overture.

Dream Attic (2010) by Richard Thompson (Genre: Guitar, Folk, Rock):

2010 release by the talented singer-songwriter guitarist, and former member of the British Folk group Fairport Convention.

Songs on the LP include: The Money Shuffle, Haul Me Up, Burning Man, Stumble On and Demons in Her Dancing Shoes.

In The Blue Light (2018) by Paul Simon (Genre: Rock, Pop, Singer-Songwriter):

The just released LP by the great Paul Simon!

Songs on the album include: One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor, Love, Pigs, Sheep and Wolves, The Teacher, Some Folks’ Lives Roll Easy

Recommended CD of the Week:

Gaucho (1980) by Steely Dan (Genre: Jazz-Pop Fusion):

The eighth album by the mellow jazz-pop duo comprised of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Donald Fagen and his song-writing partner bassist and guitarist Walter Becker.

Songs on the album include: Babylon Sisters, Hey Nineteen, Time out of Mind, Gaucho and Glamour Profession.

Videos of the Week:

A Better Day by Travellin’ Brothers

Symphony 9 by Depapepe

The Money Shuffle by Richard Thompson

One Man’s Ceiling Is Another Man’s Floor by Paul Simon

Hey Nineteen by Steely Dan

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!

Suggested Reading Week of September 10, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos by Jordan B. Peterson (Format: eBook):

What does everyone in the modern world need to know? Renowned psychologist Jordan B. Peterson’s answer to this most difficult of questions uniquely combines the hard-won truths of ancient tradition with the stunning revelations of cutting-edge scientific research.

Humorous, surprising and informative, Dr. Peterson tells us why skateboarding boys and girls must be left alone, what terrible fate awaits those who criticize too easily, and why you should always pet a cat when you meet one on the street.

What does the nervous system of the lowly lobster have to tell us about standing up straight (with our shoulders back) and about success in life? Why did ancient Egyptians worship the capacity to pay careful attention as the highest of gods? What dreadful paths do people tread when they become resentful, arrogant and vengeful? Dr. Peterson journeys broadly, discussing discipline, freedom, adventure and responsibility, distilling the world’s wisdom into 12 practical and profound rules for life. 12 Rules for Life shatters the modern commonplaces of science, faith and human nature, while transforming and ennobling the mind and spirit of its readers.

Character is Destiny: Inspiring Stories Every Young Person Should Know and Every Adult Should Remember written by John McCain with Mark Salter and read by John McCain (Format: Audiobook):

In Character is Destiny, McCain tells the stories of celebrated historical figures and lesser-known heroes whose values exemplify the best of the human spirit. He illustrates these qualities with moving stories of triumph against the odds, righteousness in the face of iniquity, hope in adversity, and sacrifices for a cause greater than self-interest. The tributes he pays here to men and women who have lived truthfully will stir the hearts of young and old alike, and help prepare us for the hard work of choosing our destiny.

Cottage by the Sea by Debbie Macomber (Format: eBook):

“Romantic, warm, and a breeze to read—one of Macomber’s best.”—Kirkus Reviews

Annie Marlow has been through the worst. Rocked by tragedy, she heads to the one place that makes her happy: Oceanside in the Pacific Northwest, the destination of many family vacations when Annie was a teenager.

Once there, Annie begins to restore her broken spirit, thanks in part to the folks she meets: a local painter, Keaton, whose large frame is equal to his big heart—and who helps Annie fix up her rental cottage by the sea; Mellie, the reclusive, prickly landlord Annie is determined to befriend; and Britt, a teenager with a terrible secret. But it is Keaton to whom Annie feels most drawn. His quiet, peaceful nature offers her both comfort and reprieve from her grief, and the two begin to grow closer.

Then events threaten to undo the idyll Annie has come to enjoy. And when the opportunity of a lifetime lands in her lap, she is torn between the excitement of a new journey toward success and the safe and secure arms of the haven—and the man—she’s come to call home.

In this heartwarming tale, Annie finds that the surest way to fix what is damaged within is to help others rise above their pain and find a way to heal.

Field of Bones by J. A. Jance (Format: eBook):

Sheriff Joanna Brady’s best intentions to stay on maternity leave take a hit when a serial homicide case rocks Cochise County, dragging her into a far-reaching investigation to bring down a relentless killer in this chilling tale of suspense from New York Times bestselling author J. A. Jance.

This time Sheriff Joanna Brady may expect to see her maternity leave through to completion, but the world has other plans when a serial homicide case surfaces in her beloved Cochise County. Rather than staying home with her newborn and losing herself in the cold cases to be found in her father’s long unread diaries, Joanna instead finds herself overseeing a complex investigation involving multiple jurisdictions.

Filled with the beloved characters, small town charm, vivid history, intriguing mystery, and the scenic Arizona desert backdrop that have made the Joanna Brady series perennial bestsellers, this latest entry featuring the popular sheriff is sure to please J. A. Jance’s legion of fans.

Lonesome Dove written by Larry McMurtry & read by Lee Horsley (Format: Audiobook):

Lonesome Dove is a dusty little Texas town where heroes and outlaws, whores and ladies, Native Americans and settlers embody the spirit and defiance of the last wilderness. Larry McMurtry’s American epic, set in the late 19th century, tells the story of a cattle drive from Texas to Montana, a drive that represents not only a daring foolhardy adventure, but a part of the American Dream for everyone involved. Lee Horsley, one of TV’s most popular leading men and star of the Old West series Paradise, narrates this compelling saga.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

The Breakers by Marcia Muller:

On a foggy summer morning, private investigator Sharon McCone receives a call from her former neighbors, the Curleys. Their usually dependable daughter Chelle hasn’t been answering their calls for weeks. Would Sharon check on her? Sharon arranges to visit the building Chelle had been living in and rehabbing in southwest San Francisco. Once it was a nightclub and bar, she learns, and a favorite destination for the city’s elite during Prohibition. But there’s something sinister about the space, and Sharon quickly discovers why. Lurking behind a divider screen is a ghastly art gallery: portraits and caricatures of mass murderers, long ago and recent. Jack the Ripper. The Zodiac and Zebra killers of the 1970s. Charles Manson and his girls. Scott Peterson, who killed his pregnant wife, Laci, and dumped her body into the Bay on Christmas Eve. What, an alarmed Sharon wonders, was Chelle doing in this chamber of horrors? And where is she now?

The Butterfly Conspiracy by Vivian Conroy:

Miss Merula Merriweather is not like other women her age: instead of hunting for a husband at balls and soirees she spends her time in a conservatory hatching exotic creatures. As the Royal Zoological Society won’t accept a woman’s accomplishments, she has her uncle Rupert take credit for her achievements. But at a zoological lecture, the guest of honor dies after contact with one of Merula’s butterflies, and Merula’s uncle is arrested for murder. In an attempt to safeguard evidence to prove his innocence, Merula almost gets killed but for the timely interference of enigmatic Lord Raven Royston.

Viewing natural history as a last resort to regain respectability lost by too many dubious business investments, Raven didn’t expect his first lecture to take a murderous turn. Feeling partially responsible because he encouraged Merula to release the gigantic butterfly from the glass case in which it was kept, Raven suggests they solve the puzzle of Lady Sophia’s sudden death together by looking closer at her relations with estranged friends, long suffering staff and the man groomed to be her heir, so close to her money and yet unable to touch any of it.

Juror #3 by James Patterson & Nancy Allen:

Ruby Bozarth, a newcomer to Rosedale, Mississippi, is also fresh to the Mississippi Bar — and to the docket of Circuit Judge Baylor, who taps Ruby as defense counsel in a racially charged felony. The murder of a woman from one of the town’s oldest families has Rosedale’s upper crust howling for blood, and the prosecutor is counting on Ruby’s inexperience to help him deliver a swift conviction. Ruby’s client is a college football star who has returned home after a career-ending injury, and she is determined to build a defense that will stick. She finds help in unexpected quarters from Suzanne, a hard-charging attorney armed to the teeth, and Shorty, a diner cook who knows more than he lets on. Ruby never belonged to the country-club set, but once she nearly married into it. As news breaks of a second murder, Ruby’s ex-fiancé, Lee Greene, shows up on her doorstep — a Southern gentleman in need of a savior. As lurid, intertwining investigations unfold, no one in Rosedale can be trusted, especially the twelve men and women impaneled on the jury. They may be hiding the most incendiary secret of all.

Leverage in Death by J. D. Robb:

For the airline executives finalizing a merger that would make news in the business world, the nine a.m. meeting would be a major milestone. But after marketing VP Paul Rogan walked into the plush conference room, strapped with explosives, the headlines told of death and destruction instead. The NYPSD’s Eve Dallas confirms that Rogan was cruelly coerced by two masked men holding his family hostage. His motive was saving his wife and daughter, but what was the motive of the masked men? Despite the chaos and bad publicity, blowing up one meeting isn’t going to put the brakes on the merger. All it’s accomplished is shattering a lot of innocent lives. Now, with the help of her billionaire husband Roarke, Eve must untangle the reason for an inexplicable act of terror, look at suspects inside and outside both corporations, and determine whether the root of this crime lies in simple sabotage, or something far more complex and twisted.

Shadow Tyrants by Clive Cussler:

Nearly two thousand years ago, an Eastern emperor charged a small group with safeguarding a body of knowledge and secrets powerful enough to change the history of mankind. They went down in legend as the Nine Unknown Men–and now two rival factions of the descendants are fighting a mighty battle. Both sides think they are saving the world, but one of them is willing to use horrifying means to accomplish its goals. Now is up to Cabrillo and his team of expert operatives to stop both of them from the destructive path they’re on, and save the earth from a dynasty of terror.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc.

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Listening September 7, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our five musical recommendations for the week; four streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

Pretty Bird (2018) by Kathy Mattea (Genre: Folk, Country):

The brand new album by the talented singer-songwriter is her first in six years.

Songs on the LP include: Chocolate on My Tongue, Ode to Billie Joe, Little Glass of Wine, He Moves Through The Fair and October song.

Hard Rocking Woman! (2015) by Linda Gail Lewis (Genre: Classic Rock, Country):

A great traditional rock album by the talented singer and musician who is the sister of Rock N’ Roll great Jerry Lee Lewis. Musical talent seems to run in the family!

Songs on the LP include: Love Makes the Difference, I’d Rather Stay Home and Rock n’ Roll, After Tonight and Saving The Best for Last.

Live At The Electric Ballroom (1974) by Freddie King (Genre: Blues):

A mid-seventies live album by one of the all-time greatest blues guitarists Freddie King!

Songs in the collection include: Dust My Broom, Woman Across The River, Key To THe Highway, Sweet Home Chicago and Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do.

Coverage (2003) by Mandy Moore (Genre: Pop, Modern Pop):

A fun collection of covers by the modern pop singer and actress.

Songs in the set include: Sense Working Overtime, Moonshadow, I Feel The Earth Move, Help Me and One Way or Another.

Recommended CD of the Week:

The Rebel Years: 1962-1977 by John Duffey (Genre: Bluegrass, Country, Classic Country, Folk):

A collection of tunes from the peak of mandolinist and vocalist Duffey’s career – including his time playing with The Country Gentlemen and Seldom Scene.

Songs in the set include: Girl From The North Country, The Young Fisherwoman, Falling Leaves, The School House Fire and This Morning At Nine.

Videos of the Week:

I Can’t Stand Up Alone by Kathy Mattea

Rockin’ My Life Away by Linda Gail Lewis

Sweet Home Chicago – Let The Good Times Roll Medley by Freddie King

Sense Working Overtime by Mandy Moore

Lay Down Sally by Seldom Scene featuring John Duffey

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Suggested Reading Week of September 3, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

Brave New World written by Aldous Huxley & read by Michael York (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):

Now more than ever: Aldous Huxley’s enduring “masterpiece … one of the most prophetic dystopian works of the 20th century” (Wall Street Journal) must be read and understood by anyone concerned with preserving the human spirit in the face of our “brave new world”

Aldous Huxley’s profoundly important classic of world literature, Brave New World is a searching vision of an unequal, technologically-advanced future where humans are genetically bred, socially indoctrinated, and pharmaceutically anesthetized to passively uphold an authoritarian ruling order—all at the cost of our freedom, full humanity, and perhaps also our souls. “A genius [who] who spent his life decrying the onward march of the Machine” (The New Yorker), Huxley was a man of incomparable talents: equally an artist, a spiritual seeker, and one of history’s keenest observers of human nature and civilization. Brave New World, his masterpiece, has enthralled and terrified millions of readers, and retains its urgent relevance to this day as both a warning to be heeded as we head into tomorrow and as thought-provoking, satisfying work of literature. Written in the shadow of the rise of fascism during the 1930s, Brave New World likewise speaks to a 21st-century world dominated by mass-entertainment, technology, medicine and pharmaceuticals, the arts of persuasion, and the hidden influence of elites.

“Aldous Huxley is the greatest 20th century writer in English.” —Chicago Tribune

Desolation Mountain by William Kent Krueger (Format: eBook):

New York Times bestselling author William Kent Krueger delivers yet another “punch-to-the-gut blend of detective story and investigative fiction” (Booklist, starred review) as Cork O’Connor and his son Stephen work together to uncover the truth behind the tragic plane crash of a senator on Desolation Mountain and the mysterious disappearances of several first responders. This is a heart-pounding and devastating mystery the scope and consequences of which go far beyond what father or son could ever have imagined.

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
To Stephen O’Connor, Hamlet’s dour observation is more than just words. All his life, he has had visions of tragedies to come. When he experiences the vision of a great bird shot from the sky, he knows something terrible is about to happen. The crash of a private plane on Desolation Mountain in a remote part of the Iron Lake Reservation, which kills a United States senator and most of her family, confirms Stephen’s worst fears.

Stephen joins his father, Cork O’Connor and a few Ojibwe men from the nearby Iron Lake reservation to sift through the smoldering wreckage when the FBI arrives and quickly assumes control of the situation. What seems like the end of the O’Connors’ involvement is, however, only the beginning of a harrowing journey to understand the truth behind the Senator’s death. As he initiates his own probe, Cork O’Connor stumbles upon a familiar face in Bo Thorson, a private security consultant whose unnamed clients have hired him to look quietly into the cause of the crash. The men agree to join forces in their investigation, but soon Cork begins to wonder if Thorson’s loyalties lie elsewhere.

In that far north Minnesota County, which is overrun with agents of the FBI, NTSB, DoD, and even members of a rightwing militia, all of whom have their own agendas, Cork, Stephen, and Bo attempt to navigate a perilous course. Roadblocked by lies from the highest levels of government, uncertain who to trust, and facing growing threats the deeper they dig for answers, the three men finally understand that to get to the truth, they will have to face the great menace, a beast of true evil lurking in the woods—a beast with a murderous intent of unimaginable scale.

The Fall of Gondolin by J.R.R. Tolkien (Format: eBook):

In the Tale of The Fall of Gondolin are two of the greatest powers in the world. There is Morgoth of the uttermost evil, unseen in this story but ruling over a vast military power from his fortress of Angband. Deeply opposed to Morgoth is Ulmo, second in might only to Manwë, chief of the Valar: he is called the Lord of Waters, of all seas, lakes, and rivers under the sky. But he works in secret in Middle-earth to support the Noldor, the kindred of the Elves among whom were numbered Húrin and Túrin Turambar.

Central to this enmity of the gods is the city of Gondolin, beautiful but undiscoverable. It was built and peopled by Noldorin Elves who, when they dwelt in Valinor, the land of the gods, rebelled against their rule and fled to Middle-earth. Turgon King of Gondolin is hated and feared above all his enemies by Morgoth, who seeks in vain to discover the marvellously hidden city, while the gods in Valinor in heated debate largely refuse to intervene in support of Ulmo’s desires and designs.

Into this world comes Tuor, cousin of Túrin, the instrument of Ulmo’s designs. Guided unseen by him Tuor sets out from the land of his birth on the fearful journey to Gondolin, and in one of the most arresting moments in the history of Middle-earth the sea-god himself appears to him, rising out of the ocean in the midst of a storm. In Gondolin he becomes great; he is wedded to Idril, Turgon’s daughter, and their son is Eärendel, whose birth and profound importance in days to come is foreseen by Ulmo.

At last comes the terrible ending. Morgoth learns through an act of supreme treachery all that he needs to mount a devastating attack on the city, with Balrogs and dragons and numberless Orcs. After a minutely observed account of the fall of Gondolin, the tale ends with the escape of Túrin and Idril, with the child Eärendel, looking back from a cleft in the mountains as they flee southward, at the blazing wreckage of their city. They were journeying into a new story, the Tale of Eärendel, which Tolkien never wrote, but which is sketched out in this book from other sources.

Following his presentation of Beren and Lúthien Christopher Tolkien has used the same ‘history in sequence’ mode in the writing of this edition of The Fall of Gondolin. In the words of J.R.R. Tolkien, it was ‘the first real story of this imaginary world’ and, together with Beren and Lúthien and The Children of Húrin, he regarded it as one of the three ‘Great Tales’ of the Elder Days.

Lost Connections: Uncovering the Real Causes of Depression – and the Unexpected Solutions by Johann Hari (Format: eBook):

From the New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Scream: The First and Last Days of the War on Drugs, a radical new way of thinking about depression and anxiety.

What really causes depression and anxiety – and how can we really solve them? Award-winning journalist Johann Hari suffered from depression since he was a child and started taking anti-depressants when he was a teenager. He was told that his problems were caused by a chemical imbalance in his brain. As an adult, trained in the social sciences, he began to investigate whether this was true – and he learned that almost everything we have been told about depression and anxiety is wrong.

Across the world, Hari found social scientists who were uncovering evidence that depression and anxiety are not caused by a chemical imbalance in our brains. In fact, they are largely caused by key problems with the way we live today. Hari´s journey took him from a mind-blowing series of experiments in Baltimore, to an Amish community in Indiana, to an uprising in Berlin. Once he had uncovered nine real causes of depression and anxiety, they led him to scientists who are discovering seven very different solutions – ones that work.

It is an epic journey that will change how we think about one of the biggest crises in our culture today. His TED talk – ‘Everything You Think You Know About Addiction Is Wrong’ – has been viewed more than 8 million times and revolutionized the global debate. This book will do the same.

Turnip Greens & Tortillas: A Mexican Chef Spices Up the Southern Kitchen by Eddie Hernande & Susan Puckett (Format: eBook):

Southern fare with a Mexican flair, by the chef/co-owner of the restaurant empire that Bon Appétit called a “Top American Restaurant”

USA Today called Taqueria del Sol “a runaway success.” Bon Appétit wrote: “Move over, Chipotle!” The fast-casual food of Eddie Hernandez, the James Beard-nominated chef/co-owner of the restaurant, lands on the commonalities of Southern and Mexican food, with dishes like Memphis barbecue pork tacos, chicken pot pie served in a “bowl” of a puffed tortilla, turnip greens in “pot likker” spiked with chiles, or the “Eddie Palmer,” sweet tea with a jab of tequila. Eddie never hesitates to break with purists to make food taste better, adding sugar to creamy grits to balance the jalapeños, or substituting tomatillos in fried green tomatoes for a more delicate texture. Throughout, “Eddie’s Way” sidebars show how to make each dish even more special.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

Depth of Winter by Craig Johnson:

The new novel in Craig Johnson’s beloved New York Times bestselling Longmire series. Welcome to Walt Longmire’s worst nightmare. In Craig Johnson’s latest mystery, Depth of Winter, an international hit man and the head of one of the most vicious drug cartels in Mexico has kidnapped Walt’s beloved daughter, Cady, to auction her off to his worst enemies, of which there are many. The American government is of limited help and the Mexican one even less. Walt heads into the one-hundred-and-ten degree heat of the Northern Mexican desert alone, one man against an army.

Foundryside: A Novel by Robert Jackson Bennett:

In a city that runs on industrialized magic, a secret war will be fought to overwrite reality itself–the first in a dazzling new series from City of Stairs author Robert Jackson Bennett.

Sancia Grado is a thief, and a damn good one. And her latest target, a heavily guarded warehouse on Tevanne’s docks, is nothing her unique abilities can’t handle.

But unbeknownst to her, Sancia’s been sent to steal an artifact of unimaginable power, an object that could revolutionize the magical technology known as scriving. The Merchant Houses who control this magic–the art of using coded commands to imbue everyday objects with sentience–have already used it to transform Tevanne into a vast, remorseless capitalist machine. But if they can unlock the artifact’s secrets, they will rewrite the world itself to suit their aims.

Now someone in those Houses wants Sancia dead, and the artifact for themselves. And in the city of Tevanne, there’s nobody with the power to stop them.

To have a chance at surviving—and at stopping the deadly transformation that’s under way—Sancia will have to marshal unlikely allies, learn to harness the artifact’s power for herself, and undergo her own transformation, one that will turn her into something she could never have imagined.

The Mystery of Three Quarters: The New Hercule Poirot Mystery by Sophie Hannah:

Hercule Poirot returns home after an agreeable luncheon to find an angry woman waiting to berate him outside his front door. Her name is Sylvia Rule, and she demands to know why Poirot has accused her of the murder of Barnabas Pandy, a man she has neither heard of nor ever met. She is furious to be so accused, and deeply shocked. Poirot is equally shocked, because he too has never heard of any Barnabas Pandy, and he certainly did not send the letter in question. He cannot convince Sylvia Rule of his innocence, however, and she marches away in a rage.
Shaken, Poirot goes inside, only to find that he has a visitor waiting for him — a man called John McCrodden who also claims also to have received a letter from Poirot that morning, accusing him of the murder of Barnabas Pandy…

Poirot wonders how many more letters of this sort have been sent in his name. Who sent them, and why? More importantly, who is Barnabas Pandy, is he dead, and, if so, was he murdered? And can Poirot find out the answers without putting more lives in danger?

Walking Shadows: A Decker/Lazarus Novel by Faye Kellerman:

Detective Peter Decker and his wife, Rina Lazarus, risk life and limb to solve a pair of brutal murders that may be tied to a crime from more than twenty years ago in this intense and addictive mystery from New York Times bestselling author Faye Kellerman.

On a quiet suburban street in upstate Greenbury, New York, the brutally beaten body of a young man is discovered in the woods adjacent to an empty vacation home. Twenty-six-year-old Brady Neil a resident of the neighboring town of Hamilton, had no criminal record, few friends, worked full-time, and attended community college. But as Detective Peter Decker learns, the clean-cut kid is linked to the criminal world. When Brady was a baby, his father, Brandon Gratz, was convicted of robbing and killing the owners of a local jewelry store. While Gratz and his partner, Kyle Masterson, admitted to the robbery, they swore they left the owners, Glen and Lydia Levine, very much alive.

The experienced detective knows there’s more to this homicide case than the records show. As he digs into Gratz’s past, Decker begins to suspect that the son’s murder may be connected to the father’s sins. Before he can put together the pieces, Decker finds out that one of Brady Neil’s friends, Joseph Boch—aka Boxer—has gone missing. Heading to Boch’s house with his temporary new partner, Hamilton PD cop Lenora Baccus, they discover a bloodbath.

Who would savagely kill two innocent men—and why? Finding the answers will require all of Decker’s skill and knowledge, the help of his fellow Greenbury detectives, Tyler McAdams and Kevin Butterfield, and information gleaned from his wife Rina’s behind the scenes investigation to put all the pieces of this deadly puzzle together . . . and see justice done.

Wild Fire by Ann Cleeves:

Hoping for a fresh start, an English family moves to the remote Shetland islands, eager to give their autistic son a better life. But when a young nanny’s body is found hanging in the barn beside their home, rumors of her affair with the husband spread like wildfire. As suspicion and resentment of the family blazes in the community, Detective Inspector Jimmy Perez is called in to investigate. He knows it will mean his boss, Willow Reeves, returning to run the investigation, and confronting their complex relationship. With families fracturing and long-hidden lies emerging, Jimmy faces the most disturbing case of his career.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc.

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

The catalog of e-books, downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.