Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Hi everyone, here in Library Land we’ve been discussing the fact that the Freegal Music Service we’ve offered for the last several years isn’t widely used. With that in mind, I’m going to mix up the format of the weekly music posting and suggest five library materials, a mix of books, music CDs and DVDs, that focus on music and musicians.

And I will continue to include a weekly section of suggested videos as those seem to be quite popular!

Also of note, if you’d like to request a title, book, CD or DVD, be held for you at the library simply click on the photo of the item and you’ll be re-directed to online catalog, StarCat, where you can enter your library card and PIN to request desired item.

This week our five music recommendation are:

Dust & Grooves Adventures In Record Collection by Elion Paz (Format: Print Book):

A photographic look into the world of vinyl record collectors—including Questlove—in the most intimate of environments—their record rooms.

Compelling photographic essays from photographer Eilon Paz are paired with in-depth and insightful interviews to illustrate what motivates these collectors to keep digging for more records. The reader gets an up close and personal look at a variety of well-known vinyl champions, including Gilles Peterson and King Britt, as well as a glimpse into the collections of known and unknown DJs, producers, record dealers, and everyday enthusiasts. Driven by his love for vinyl records, Paz takes us on a five-year journey unearthing the very soul of the vinyl community. – From The Publisher

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Folk Jazz Trio (2011) by David Grisman (Format: Music CD):

David Grisman’s musical interests have been so varied that he is impossible to categorize stylistically, one of the reasons he has long described his playing everywhere as “Dawg Music.” This is a bit of an unusual outing, as it consists of a trio with bluegrass/folk guitarist/vocalist Jim Hurst, Grisman (mostly on mandolin), and his son Samson on bass. Hurst has previously covered Roger Rasnake’s “Cold Hard Business” and this version features his strong vocal and potent solos all around. The deliberate Latin-flavored “Vaya con Dios” was a hit for Les Paul & Mary Ford and also covered by Mel Tormé, Nat King Cole, and numerous vocalists, though the trio tackles it as an intimate instrumental. “Sally Ann” is a decades-old traditional favorite of bluegrass pickers; the trio’s interpretation seems effortless and Samson Grisman does a splendid job playing with the two veterans. Hurst and Grisman share the vocals in the traditional sorrowful country ballad “Mary of the Wild Moor,” while Samson take the lead vocal in a potent version of the late John Hartford’s “I Wish We Had Our Time Again.” Stephen Foster’s “Beautiful Dreamer” is one of his best-loved songs; Grisman’s shimmering mandolin lead stands out in this performance. The rest of the CD is equally strong, and the only shortcoming of the album is the omission of composer credits, as both musicians and fans may want to seek out earlier recordings of tunes unfamiliar to them for comparison. Highly recommended. Ken Dryden, AllMusic

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From Dust To Dreams (Format: DVD):

The opening-night gala at the Smith Center for Performing Arts in Las Vegas features Joshua Bell, John Fogerty, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Jennifer Hudson, Carole King, Martina McBride, Pat Monahan, Willie Nelson, Arturo Sandoval, and Mavis Staples. Hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, the lineup includes “A Song for You” by McBride and Monahan, “You’ve Got a Friend” by King and Staples, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” by Hudson, McBride, and King, and “Pancho & Lefty” by Nelson and Haggard. Jeff Gemmill Synopsis for AllMusic

Complete List of Musical Guests: Jennifer Hudson, John Fogerty, Pat Monahan, Carole King, Martina McBride, Mavis Staples, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Emmylou Harris, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Montego Glower, Cheyenne Jackson, Larua Osnes, Sherrie Rene Scott, Benjamin Walker, Marcelo Gomes, Luciana Paris, Joshua Bell & Arturo Sandoval.

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The Rolling Stones Edited by Reuel Golden (Format: Print Book):

This is what we used to call a coffee table book! It is about a third larger than an album cover and somewhat weighty and it features more than 500 pages of beautiful photos of the Rolling Stones. The first half of the book shows the Stones in the sixties and the second half offers photos from 1978 to 2015. The sixties photos not only show the Stones but offer glimpses of that dramatic place in time that was the 1960s. As this is a heft book, weighing in at about 14 pounds – you might want to request it so you can pick it up at the Circulation Desk!

Here is the official description of the book: The kind of fame and success The Rolling Stones have achieved in their 50-years and counting career is without parallel; their most famous riffs and catchiest lyrics are indelibly engraved in our collective memory. With their bluesy rock ‘n’ roll and mesmerizing off and onstage presence, the Stones redefined the music of the 1960s and 1970s and paved the way for rock as we know it today. They also set the standard for how a rock band should look and behave. Produced in close collaboration with the band, this book charts the Stones’ remarkable history and outrageously cool lifestyle in over 500 pages of photographs and illustrations, many previously unseen, and gathered from archives all over the world. Unprecedented access to the Rolling Stones’ own archives in New York and London adds an equally extraordinary, more private side to their story. For Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie this is their official photographic record.

Features: Over 500 pages of incredible images from some of the world’s greatest photographers, including David Bailey, Peter Beard, Cecil Beaton, Bob Bonis, Anton Corbijn, Annie Leibovitz, Gered Mankowitz, Helmut Newton, Bent Rej, and Norman Parkinson.

A foreword written by President Bill Clinton

Three new essays from award-winning writers David Dalton, Waldemar Januszczak, and Luc Sante
Appendix including Stones in the media, a Stones timeline, a discography, and photographers’ biographies

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Whistle Down The Wind (2018) by Joan Baez (Music CD):

Joan Baez has as estimable a legacy as anyone who emerged in American folk music from 1960 onward, but sometimes a powerful legacy can be as much a burden as an asset. While she’s enjoyed a long and eclectic career that’s spanned six decades, to many Baez will always be the earnest, crystal-voiced activist she was in the early to mid-’60s, and much of her career since has been devoted to honoring what was good about her formative years without being chained to her past. Whistle Down the Wind, released in 2018 as Baez was beginning what she pledged would be her last major concert tour, is the work of an autumnal Joan Baez, but also one who hasn’t turned her back on her music or her principles. The glorious soprano notes of Baez’s glory days are clearly out of reach for her here, but her phrasing remains thoughtful and emotionally strong, and if her voice isn’t quite what it once was, it’s still lovely and full of authority. The mood of these ten songs (which include compositions by Tom Waits, Josh Ritter, Anohni, and Mary Chapin Carpenter) is generally downbeat and sometimes doleful, but Baez fills her performances with strength and commitment that are impressive in their quiet defiance. In songs like “The President Sang Amazing Grace” and “I Wish the Wars Were All Over,” Baez makes clear she’s still committed to a better world without attaching herself to polemics that will be dated in ten years. And the production by Joe Henry is superb, matching Baez’s vocals with subtle but simpatico accompaniment from a studio band that knows how to shine while making room for the protagonist. Whistle Down the Wind is a portrait of an artist who, at the age of 77, has not given up on her muse or her ideals, and while it’s subtle, it’s also a deeply moving piece of work that demands attention. Mark Deming, AllMusic

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Videos of the Week:

Cross Road Blues by Robert Johnson

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Elves Revolt from the Six Million Dollar Man Christmas Adventures LP

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It’s The Real Thing by The Raymonde Orchestra

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Piano Cocktails by Buddy Cole

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Needle In A Haystack by The Velvelettes

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East Tennessee Blues by The Dave Grisman Folk Jazz Trio

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Swang Thing by The Dave Grisman Folk Jazz Trio

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Our Time – Cheyenne Jackson, Sherie Rene Scott, Ben Walker, Laura Osnes, & Montego Glover

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The Smith Center for the Performing Arts – Opening Night Gala – March 10, 2012 Preview

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The Last Time by The Rolling Stones

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Not Fade Away by The Rolling Stones

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Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones

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Another World by Joan Baez

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Whistle Down The Wind by Joan Baez

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Gone Gone Gone by Carl Perkins

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This Train by Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash & Jerry Lee Lewis

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You Never Can Tell by Bruce Springsteen

Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

REFERENCES:

Print References

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Online References

AllMusic: https://www.allmusic.com/

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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.

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS: OverDrive & RBDigital:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive and/or the RBDigital app, to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and on-demand magazines, from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at 607-936-3713 and one of our tech coaches will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, by request, here is the first monthly post listing the new media items, audiobooks on CD, DVDs and music CDs, that have been added to the library’s collection in the last month.

New items may be requested in person at the library, by calling the library at 607-936-3713 or via the online catalog – StarCat:

New Audiobooks on CD:

CHANCES ARE written by Richard Russo & read by Fred Sanders:
One beautiful September day, three sixty-six-year old men convene on Martha’s Vineyard, friends ever since meeting in college circa the sixties. They couldn’t have been more different then, or even today, Lincoln’s a commercial real estate broker, Teddy a tiny-press publisher, and Mickey, a musician beyond his rockin’ age. But each man holds his own secrets, in addition to the monumental mystery that none of them has ever stopped puzzling over since a Memorial Day weekend right here on the Vineyard in 1971. Now, forty-four years later, as this new weekend unfolds, three lives and that of a significant other are displayed in their entirety while the distant past confounds the present like a relentless squall of surprise and discovery.

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THE LAGER QUEEN OF MINNESOTA Written by J. Ryan Stradal & read by Judith Ivey:
Edith Magnusson’s rhubarb pies are famous in the Twin Cities, they were named the third-best in the state, and St. Anthony-Waterside Nursing Home has quickly becomes the hottest dinner ticket in town. Still, she lays awake wondering how her life might have been different if her father hadn’t left their family farm to her sister Helen, a decision that split their family in two.

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THE NICKEL BOYS written by Colson Whitehead & read by JD Jackson:
As the Civil Rights movement begins to reach the black enclave of Frenchtown in segregated Tallahassee, Elwood Curtis takes the words of Dr. Martin Luther King to heart: He is ‘as good as anyone’, Abandoned by his parents, but kept on the straight and narrow by his grandmother, Elwood is about to enroll in the local black college. But for a black boy in the Jim Crow South in the early 1960s, one innocent mistake is enough to destroy the future. Elwood is sentenced to a juvenile reformatory whose mission statement says it provides ‘physical, intellectual and moral training’ so the delinquent boys in their charge can become ‘honorable and honest men’. In reality, The Nickel Academy is a grotesque chamber of horrors, where the sadistic staff beats and sexually abuses the students, corrupt officials and locals steal food and supplies, and any boy who resists is likely to disappear ‘out back’.

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ONE GOOD DEED
Written by David Baldacci & read by Edoardo Ballerini:
It’s 1949. When war veteran Aloysius Archer is released from Carderock Prison, he is sent to Poca City on parole with a short list of do’s and a much longer list of don’ts: do report regularly to his parole officer, don’t go to bars, certainly don’t drink alcohol, do get a job–and don’t ever associate with loose women.

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SOMEONE WE KNOW
Written by Shari Lapena & read by Kirsten Potter:
In a quiet, leafy suburb in upstate New York, a teenager has been sneaking into houses, and into the owners’ computers as well, learning their secrets, and maybe sharing some of them, too. Who is he, and what might he have uncovered? As whispers start to circulate, suspicion mounts. And when a woman down the street is found murdered, the tension reaches the breaking point. Who killed her? Who knows more than they’re telling? And how far will all these very nice people go to protect their little secrets? In this neighborhood, it’s not just the husbands and wives who play games. Here, everyone in the family has something to hide.

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SOPHIA, PRINCESS AMONG BEASTS
Written by James Patterson & Emily Raymond and read by Gemma Dawson:
A princess who has lost her mother and father finds herself in a terrifying world that urgently needs a queen. She is smart, beautiful, and accomplished, a beloved princess devoted to the people and to reading books. The kingdom is hers, until she is plunged into a nightmarish realm populated by the awful beasts she read about as a child. The beasts are real. And so is the great army marching on her castle. The people look to Sophia for protection. They will all perish unless she can unlock an ancient secret as profound as life and death itself.

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UNDER CURRENTS written by Nora Roberts and read by January LaVoy:
Within the walls of a tasteful, perfectly kept house in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains, young Zane Bigelow feels like a prisoner of war. Strangers-and even Zane’s own aunt across the lake-see his parents as a successful surgeon and his stylish wife, making appearances at their children’s ballet recitals and baseball games. Zane and his sister know the truth: There is something terribly wrong. As his father’s violent, controlling rages-and his mother’s complicity-become more and more oppressive, Zane counts the years, months, days until he can escape. He looks out for little Britt. In fear for his very life, he plays along with the insidious lie that everything is fine, while scribbling his real thoughts in a secret journal he must carefully hide away.

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NEW DOWNLOADABLE AUDIOBOOKS:
(Available through the Digital Catalog & via the Libby App)
Backlash: A by Brad Thor
The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin,
Heartbeat by Sharon Creech
Lady in the Lake: A Novel by Laura Lippman
Little Women: Little Women Series, Book 1 by Louisa May Alcott
A Nearly Normal Family: A Novel by M.T. Edvardsson
The New Girl: A Novel by Daniel Silva
The Nickel Boys: A Novel by Colson Whitehea
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous: A Novel by Ocean Vuon
Paris, 7 A.M.by Liza Wieland
Sarum: The Novel of England by Edward Rutherfurd
Say No to the Duke: The Wildes of Lindow Castle by Eloisa James
Shamed: Kate Burkholder Series, Book 11 by Linda Castillo
Sophia, Princess among Beasts by James Patterson
Tangled by Emma Chase
Temper by Layne Fargo
To Live and Die in Dixie by Mary Kay Andrews
Under Currents: A Novel by Nora Roberts
The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

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New CDs:

BLUE ROSES by Runaway June
HOTEL LAST RESORT by Violent Femmes
LORD HELP ME FIND MY WAY by The Clinch Mountain Boys & Ralph Stanley II
MADAME X by Madonna
THE TRAVELER by Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
WEATHER by Tycho
WOODSTOCK: BACK TO THE GARDEN by Various Artists

New DVDs:

3 FACES (2019): Director Panahi begins with a smartphone video shot by a young woman who announces to the camera that her parents haveforbidden her from realizing her dream of acting and then, by all appearances, takes her own life. The recipient of the video, Behnaz Jafari, as herself, asks Panahi, as himself, to drive her to the woman’s tiny home village near the Turkish border to investigate. Dialouge in Persian and Azerbaijani.

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ADAM-12: SEASON 1 (1968): Still mourning the death of his former partner, Officer Pete Malloy is teamed with rookie Officer Jim Reed. Together they serve and protect the City of Angels as Adam-12, their unit’s radio call number. Includes all 26 episodes.

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AFTER (2019): The story follows Tessa, a dedicated student, dutiful daughter, and loyal girlfriend to her high school sweetheart, as she enters her first semester in college. Armed with grand ambitions for her future, her guarded world opens up when she meets the dark and mysterious Hardin Scott, a magnetic, brooding rebel who makes her question all she thought she knew about herself and what she wants out of life.

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ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL (2019): When Alita awakens with no memory in a future world she does not recognize, she is taken in by Ido, a compassionate doctor who realizes that somewhere in this abandoned cyborg shell is the heart and soul of a young woman. And the doctor Ido also tries to shield Alita from her mysterious history while her street-smart new friend Hugo offers instead to help trigger her memories. But it is when the deadly and corrupt forces that run the city come after Alita that she discovers a clue to her past.

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THE APOLLO CHRONICLES (2019): Participants, family members, historians, and experts paint a rich portrait of one of the most fascinating achievements in history. It is a story about the people, the events, and the obstacles that comprised one of humanities’ greatest triumphs.

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THE BEST OF ENEMIES (2019): Based on a true story, the film centers on the unlikely relationship between Ann Atwater, an outspoken civil rights activist, and C.P. Ellis, a local Ku Klux Klan leader, who reluctantly co-chaired a community summit, battling over the desegregation of schools in Durham, North Carolina, during the racially charged summer of 1971. The incredible events that unfolded would change Durham and the lives of Atwater and Ellis forever.

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BOJACK HORSEMAN SEASONS 1 & 2 (2019): The title character was the star of the hit TV show Horsin’ Around in the 1990s. Now he’s a has-been, living in Hollywood, grousing about everything, and wearing multicolored sweaters. Animated.

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BREAKTHROUGH (2019): Based on the inspirational true story of one mother’s unfaltering love in the face of impossible odds. When Joyce Smith’s adopted son John falls through an icy Missouri lake, all hope seems lost. But as John lies lifeless, Joyce refuses to give up. Her steadfast belief inspires those around her to continue to pray for John’s recovery, even in the face of every case history and scientific prediction. A reminder that faith and love can create a mountain of hope, and sometimes even a miracle.

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HELLBOY (2019): The legendary half-demon superhero is called to the countryside to battle a trio of rampaging giants. There he discovers the Blood Queen, Nimue, a resurrected ancient sorceress thirsting to avenge a past betrayal. Suddenly caught in a clash between the supernatural and the human, Hellboy is now hellbent on stopping Nimue without triggering the end of the world.

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HIGH LIFE (2019): Monte and his baby daughter are the last survivors of a damned and dangerous mission to deep space. The crew, death row inmates led by a doctor with sinister motives, has vanished. As the mystery of what happened onboard the ship is unraveled, father and daughter must rely on each other to survive as they hurtle toward the oblivion of a black hole.

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INNOCENT(2018): After David Collins serves seven years of a life sentence for murdering his wife, the court decides he was wrongfully convicted. That’s the good news. The bad news is, his life is shattered. Everyone in his small, seaside village thinks he’s guilty, including his children. How can he win them back from their guardian, his dead wife’s sister who loves the children as much as she detests David? And who killed his wife?

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THE INTRUDER (2019): When a young married couple buys their dream house in the Napa Valley, they think they have found the perfect home to take their next steps as a family. But when the strangely attached seller continues to infiltrate their lives, they begin to suspect that he has hidden motivations beyond a quick sale.

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LITTLE (2019): Jordan is a take-no-prisoners tech mogul who torments her long-suffering assistant and employees daily. She soon faces an unexpected threat to her personal life and career when she magically transforms into a thirteen-year-old version of herself.

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LITTLE WOODS (2019): Ollie is barely getting by in an economically depressed fracking boomtown in North Dakota. She has left her days of illegally running prescription pills over the Canadian border behind, eyeing a potential new job that would finally break her out of the small town. But when her mother dies, she is reunited with her estranged sister Deb, who faces a mounting crisis: the combined effect of an unplanned pregnancy and a deadbeat ex.

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LONG SHOT (2019): When Fred Flarsky reunites with his first crush, one of the most influential women in the world, Charlotte Field, he charms her. As she prepares to make a run for presidency, Charlotte hires Fred as her speechwriter and sparks fly.

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LOST TREASURES OF THE MAYA (2019): Explorer Albert Lin ventures into the Guatemalan jungle to explore how a new high-tech treasure map is revealing tens of thousands of ancient ruins. Dozens of archaeologists head out on a voyage of discovery, exploring lost ruins for the first time in 1,500 years. What they’re finding is rewriting the history of one of the world’s most mysterious ancient civilizations.

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MISSING LINK (2019): Mr. Link recruits explorer Sir Lionel Frost to help find his long-lost relatives in the fabled valley of Shangri-La. Along with adventurer Adelina Fortnight, this trio of explorers travels the world to help their new friend.

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PET SEMATARY (2019): Louis Creed and his wife Rachel relocate with their two young children from Boston to rural Maine. The couple soon discovers a mysterious burial ground hidden deep in the woods near their new home. When tragedy strikes, Louis turns to his neighbor Jud Crandall, setting off a perilous of events that unleashes an unspeakable evil with horrific consequences.

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THE PROFESSOR (2019): Johnny Depp delivers a wickedly funny performance as Richard, a buttoned-down college lecturer who, after learning he has six months to live, transforms into a rebellious party animal. To the shock of his wife and school chancellor, and the delight of his students, Richard leads a hilarious crusade against authority and hypocrisy in this dark comedy costarring Zoey Deutch.

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SCARY STORIES: THE STORY OF BOOKS THAT FRIGHTENED A GENERATION (2019): Explore the history of one of the most controversial works of modern children’s literature: the bestselling teen classic Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, which scared a generation of readers and became one of the most banned books of modern times. Includes the author’s family, scholars, folklorists, artists, fans, and children’s book authors such as R.L. Stine, Q.L. Pearce, and more.

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SHAZAM! (2019): Everybody has a superhero inside of them; it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s case, by shouting out one word, this streetwise fourteen-year-old foster kid can turn into an adult superhero, courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart, inside a ripped, godlike body, he revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! But he’ll need to master these powers quickly to fight the deadly forces of evil.

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THE WAVE (2015/2019): The experienced geologist Kristian Eikfjord has accepted a job offer out of town. He is getting ready to move from the city of Geiranger with his family, when he and his colleagues measure small geological changes in the underground. Kristian gets worried and his worst nightmare is about to come true, when the alarm goes off and the disaster is inevitable. With less than 10 minutes to react, it becomes a race against time in order to save as many as possible including his own family.

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WILDLAND (2019): Filmed over one fire season, this is a sweeping yet deeply personal account of a single wildland firefighting crew as they struggle with fear, loyalty, dreams, and demons. What emerges is a rich story of working-class men; their exterior world, their interior lives and the fire that lies between.

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Have a great day!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

DIGITAL CATALOG SUGGESTIONS:

Killing with Confetti by Peter Lovesey (Format: eBook):

Peter Lovesey, MWA Grand Master and titan of the English detective novel, returns readers to Bath with the eighteenth mystery in his critically acclaimed Peter Diamond series.

As a New Year begins in Bath, Ben Brace proposes to his long-term girlfriend, Caroline, the daughter of notorious crime baron Joe Irving, who is coming to the end of a prison sentence. The problem is that Ben’s father, George, is the Deputy Chief Constable. A more uncomfortable set of in-laws would be hard to imagine. But mothers and sons are a formidable force: a wedding in the Abbey and reception in the Roman Baths are arranged before the career-obsessed DCC can step in.

Peter Diamond, Bath’s head of CID, is appalled to be put in charge of security on the day. Ordered to be discreet, he packs a gun and a guest list in his best suit and must somehow cope with potential killers, gang rivals, warring parents, bossy photographers and straying bridesmaids. The laid-back Joe Irving seems oblivious to the danger he is in from rival gang leaders, while Brace can’t wait for the day to end. Will the photo session be a literal shoot? Will Joe Irving’s speech as father of the bride be his last words? Can Diamond pull off a miracle, avert a tragedy and send the happy couple on their honeymoon?

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The Memory of Love by Aminatta Forna (Format: eBook):

“[A] luminous tale of passion and betrayal” set in the post-colonial and civil war eras of Sierra Leone (The New York Times).

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book

As a decade of civil war and political unrest comes to a devastating close, three men must reconcile themselves to their own fate and the fate of their broken nation. For Elias Cole, this means reflecting on his time as a young scholar in 1969 and the affair that defined his life. For Adrian Lockheart, it means listening to Elias’s tale and following his own heart into a heated romance. For Elias’s doctor, Kai Mansaray, it’s desperately battling his nightmares by trying to heal his patients.

As each man’s story becomes inexorably bound with the others’, they discover that they are connected not only by their shared heritage, pain, and shame, but also by one remarkable woman.

The Memory of Love is a beautiful and ambitious exploration of the influence history can have on generations, and the shared cultural burdens that each of us inevitably face.

“A soft-spoken story of brutality and endurance set in postwar Sierra Leone . . . Tragedy and its aftermath are affectingly, memorably evoked in this multistranded narrative from a significant talent.” —Kirkus Reviews

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One Good Deed read by David Baldacci and read by Edoardo Ballerini (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):

The #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci introduces an unforgettable new character: Archer, a straight-talking former World War II soldier fresh out of prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

It’s 1949. When war veteran Aloysius Archer is released from Carderock Prison, he is sent to Poca City on parole with a short list of do’s and a much longer list of don’ts: do report regularly to his parole officer, don’t go to bars, certainly don’t drink alcohol, do get a job-and don’t ever associate with loose women.

The small town quickly proves more complicated and dangerous than Archer’s years serving in the war or his time in jail. Within a single night, his search for gainful employment-and a stiff drink-leads him to a local bar, where he is hired for what seems like a simple job: to collect a debt owed to a powerful local businessman, Hank Pittleman.

Soon Archer discovers that recovering the debt won’t be so easy. The indebted man has a furious grudge against Hank and refuses to pay; Hank’s clever mistress has her own designs on Archer; and both Hank and Archer’s stern parole officer, Miss Crabtree, are keeping a sharp eye on him.

When a murder takes place right under Archer’s nose, police suspicions rise against the ex-convict, and Archer realizes that the crime could send him right back to prison . . . if he doesn’t use every skill in his arsenal to track down the real killer.

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Seeing Red by Dana Dratch (Format: eBook):

If it wasn’t for art thieves, spies and killers, Alex Vlodnachek’s life would be bliss.

Her freelance career is catching fire. Her relationship with B&B owner Ian Sterling is flirty and fun. She’s even attending a glittering cocktail party at his sprawling Victorian inn.

But, to this ex-reporter, something seems “off.” And it’s not the canapés. When Ian’s father vanishes, the enigmatic innkeeper asks for her discretion. And her assistance.

Meanwhile, Alex is having the opposite problem at her tiny bungalow: People keep piling in uninvited. Including a mysterious intruder found sleeping in her kitchen. Her grandmother, Baba, who shows up “to help”—with Alex’s own mother hot on her heels.

When the intrepid redhead discovers a body in the B&B’s basement and a “reproduction” Renoir in the library, she begins to suspect that Ian is more than just a simple hotel owner.

With editor pal Trip, brother Nick, and rescue-pup Lucy riding shotgun, Alex scrambles to stay one step ahead of disaster—and some very nasty characters.

Can she find the missing man before it’s too late? Or will Alex be the next one to disappear?

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The Summer of Ellen by Agnete Friis (Format: eBook):

Agnete Friis’s lyrical, evocative work of psychological suspense weaves together two periods in one man’s life to explore obsession, toxic masculinity, and the tricks we play on our own memory.

Jacob, a middle-aged architect living in Copenhagen, is in the alcohol-soaked throes of a bitter divorce when he receives an unexpected call from his great-uncle Anton. In his nineties and still living with his brother on their rural Jutland farm—a place Jacob hasn’t visited since the summer of 1978—Anton remains haunted by a single question: What happened to Ellen?

To find out, Jacob must return to the farm and confront what took place that summer—one defined by his teenage obsession with Ellen, a beautiful young hippie from the local commune, and the unsolved disappearance of a local girl. In revisiting old friends and rivals, Jacob discovers the tragedies that have haunted him for over forty years were not what they seemed.
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PRINT BOOK SUGGESTIONS:

1919 by Eve L. Ewing:

O Magazine Best Books by Women of Summer 2019
Chicago Tribune 25 hot books of summer 2019
The Millions Must-Read Poetry of June 2019
LitHub Most Anticipated Reads of Summer 2019
Buzzfeed 29 Summer Books To Get Excited About
Chicago Review of Books Best New Books of June 2019

The Chicago Race Riot of 1919, the most intense of the riots comprising the nation’s Red Summer, has shaped the last century but is not widely discussed. In 1919, award-winning poet Eve L. Ewing explores the story of this event—which lasted eight days and resulted in thirty-eight deaths and almost 500 injuries—through poems recounting the stories of everyday people trying to survive and thrive in the city. Ewing uses speculative and Afrofuturist lenses to recast history, and illuminates the thin line between the past and the present.

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Death In A Budapest Butterfly by Julia Buckley:

Hana Keller serves up European-style cakes and teas in her family-owned tea house, but when a customer keels over from a poisoned cuppa, Hana and her tea-leaf reading grandmother will have to help catch a killer in the first Hungarian Tea House Mystery from Julia Buckley.

Hana Keller and her family run Maggie’s Tea House, an establishment heavily influenced by the family’s Hungarian heritage and specializing in a European-style traditional tea service. But one of the shop’s largest draws is Hana’s eccentric grandmother, Juliana, renowned for her ability to read the future in the leaves at the bottom of customers’ cups. Lately, however, her readings have become alarmingly ominous and seemingly related to old Hungarian legends…

When a guest is poisoned at a tea event, Juliana’s dire predictions appear to have come true. Things are brought to a boil when Hana’s beloved Anna Weatherley butterfly teacup becomes the center of the murder investigation as it carried the poisoned tea. The cup is claimed as evidence by a handsome police detective, and the pretty Tea House is suddenly endangered. Hana and her family must catch the killer to save their business and bring the beautiful Budapest Butterfly back home where it belongs.

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Inland: A Novel by Téa Obreht:

The New York Times bestselling author of The Tiger’s Wife returns with “a bracingly epic and imaginatively mythic journey across the American West” (Entertainment Weekly).

In the lawless, drought-ridden lands of the Arizona Territory in 1893, two extraordinary lives unfold. Nora is an unflinching frontierswoman awaiting the return of the men in her life—her husband, who has gone in search of water for the parched household, and her elder sons, who have vanished after an explosive argument. Nora is biding her time with her youngest son, who is convinced that a mysterious beast is stalking the land around their home.

Meanwhile, Lurie is a former outlaw and a man haunted by ghosts. He sees lost souls who want something from him, and he finds reprieve from their longing in an unexpected relationship that inspires a momentous expedition across the West. The way in which Lurie’s death-defying trek at last intersects with Nora’s plight is the surprise and suspense of this brilliant novel.

Mythical, lyrical, and sweeping in scope, Inland is grounded in true but little-known history. It showcases all of Téa Obreht’s talents as a writer, as she subverts and reimagines the myths of the American West, making them entirely—and unforgettably—her own.

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In The Shadows of Spindrift House by Mira Grant:

For Harlowe Upton-Jones, life has never been a straight line. Shipped off to live with her paternal grandparents after a mysterious cult killed her mother and father, she has grown up chasing the question behind the curve, becoming part of a tight-knit teen detective agency. But “teen” is a limited time offer, and when her friends start looking for adult professions, it’s up to Harlowe to find them one last case so that they can go out in a blaze of glory.

Welcome to Spindrift House. The stories and legends surrounding the decrepit property are countless and contradictory, but one thing is clear: there are people willing to pay a great deal to determine the legal ownership of the house. When Harlowe and her friends agree to investigate the mystery behind the manor, they do so on the assumption that they’ll be going down in history as the ones who determined who built Spindrift House – and why.

The house has secrets. They have the skills. They have a plan. They have everything they need to solve the mystery. Everything they need except for time. Because Spindrift House keeps its secrets for a reason, and it has no intention of letting them go. Nature abhors a straight line. Here’s where the story bends.

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Rocket To The Morgue by Anthony Boucher:

Legendary science fiction author Fowler Faulkes may be dead, but his creation, the iconic Dr. Derringer, lives on in popular culture. Or, at least, the character would live on if not for Faulkes’s predatory and greedy heir Hilary, who, during his time as the inflexible guardian of the estate, has created countless enemies in the relatively small community of writers of the genre. So when he is stabbed nearly to death in a room with only one door, which nobody was seen entering or exiting, Foulkes suspects a writer. Fearing that the assailant will return, he asks for police protection, and when more potentially-fatal encounters follow, it becomes clear to Detective Terry Marshall and his assistant, the inquisitive nun, Sister Ursula, that death awaits Mr. Foulkes around every corner. Now, they’ll have to work overtime to thwart the would-be murderer―a task that requires a deep dive into the strange, idiosyncratic world of science fiction in its early days.

With characters based heavily on Anthony Boucher’s friends at the Manana Literary Society, including Robert Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and Jack Parsons, Rocket to the Morgue is both a classic locked room mystery and an enduring portrait of a real-life writing community. Reprinted for the first time in over thirty years, the book is a must-read for fans of mysteries and science fiction alike.

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Book descriptions are provided by the publishers unless otherwise specified.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

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ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

You can access digital library content, i.e. eBooks & downloadable audiobooks, on PCs, Macs and mobile devices.

For mobile devices simply download the Libby app, for eBooks & downloadable audiobooks, or the RB Digital app, for on-demand magazines, from your app store to get started. And if you’re using a PC or Mac simply click on the following links: https://stls.overdrive.com/ or https://www.rbdigital.com/stlschemungcony/service/magazines/landing?

If you have questions call the library at 607-936-3713 and one of our tech coaches will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are the top New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers for the week that ends August 25, 2019.

(Click on the book covers to read a summary of each plot and to request the books of your choice.)

FICTION:

ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein:

An insightful Lab-terrier mix helps his owner, a struggling race car driver.

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ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane:

The lives of neighboring families in a New York City suburb intertwine over four decades.

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BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate:

A South Carolina lawyer learns about the questionable practices of a Tennessee orphanage.

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BELOVED by Toni Morrison:

Winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. A former slave living in Ohio is haunted by events at the Kentucky plantation from which she escaped 18 years ago.

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CHANCES ARE …by Richard Russo:

Three men in their 60s who met in college reunite on Martha’s Vineyard, where mysterious events occurred in 1971.

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CITY OF GIRLS by Elizabeth Gilbert:

An 89-year-old Vivian Morris looks back at the direction her life took when she entered the 1940s New York theater scene.

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DANGEROUS MAN by Robert Crais:

Elvis Cole and Joe Pike get more than they bargained for when they investigate the abduction of a bank teller.

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EVVIE DRAKE STARTS OVER by Linda Holmes:

In a seaside town in Maine, a former Major League pitcher and a grieving widow assess their pasts.

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THE INN by James Patterson and Candice Fox:

A former Boston police detective who is now an innkeeper must shield a seaside town from a crew of criminals.

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LAST HOUSE GUEST by Megan Miranda:

Avery Greer must fight the clock to clear her name and uncover her friend’s real killer.

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LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng:

An artist upends a quiet town outside Cleveland.

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NEW GIRL by Daniel Silva:

Gabriel Allon, the chief of Israeli intelligence, partners with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, whose daughter is kidnapped.

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NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead:

Two boys respond to horrors at a Jim Crow-era reform school in ways that impact them decades later.

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ONE GOOD DEED by David Baldacci:

A World War II veteran on parole must find the real killer in a small town or face going back to jail.

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OUTFOX by Sandra Brown:

F.B.I. Agent Drex Easton has a hunch that the conman Weston Graham is also a serial killer.

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THE RECKONING by John Grisham:

A decorated World War II veteran shoots and kills a pastor inside a Mississippi church.

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SUMMER OF ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand:

The Levin family undergoes dramatic events with a son in Vietnam, a daughter in protests and dark secrets hiding beneath the surface.

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TURN OF THE KEY by Ruth Ware:

A nanny working in a technology-laden house in Scotland goes to jail when one of the children dies.

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UNDER CURRENTS by Nora Roberts:

Echoes of a violent childhood reverberate for Zane Bigelow when he starts a new kind of family in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens:

In a quiet town on the North Carolina coast in 1969, a young woman who survived alone in the marsh becomes a murder suspect.

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NON-FICTION:.

BAD BLOOD by John Carreyrou:

The rise and fall of the biotech startup Theranos.

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BECOMING by Michelle Obama:

The former first lady describes her journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House, and how she balanced work, family and her husband’s political ascent.

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BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates:

A meditation on race in America.

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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk:

How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.

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BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah:

A memoir about growing up biracial in apartheid South Africa by the host of “The Daily Show.”

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CALYPSO by David Sedaris:

A collection of comedic stories on mortality, middle age and a beach house dubbed the Sea Section.

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EDUCATED by Tara Westover:

The daughter of survivalists, who is kept out of school, educates herself enough to leave home for university.

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JUSTICE ON TRIAL by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino:

The conservative authors give their take on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

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JUST MERCY by Bryan Stevenson:

A civil rights lawyer and MacArthur grant recipient’s memoir of his decades of work to free innocent people condemned to death.

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MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE by Lori Gottlieb:

A psychotherapist gains unexpected insights when she becomes another therapist’s patient.

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THE MOMENT OF LIFT by Melinda Gates:

The philanthropist shares stories of empowering women to improve society.

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THE PIONEERS by David McCullough:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian tells the story of the settling of the Northwest Territory through five main characters.

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THE RANGE by David Epstein:

An argument for how generalists excel more than specialists, especially in complex and unpredictable fields.

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SECOND MOUNTAIN by David Brooks:

A New York Times Op-Ed columnist espouses having an outward focus to attain a meaningful life.

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THE SOURCE OF SELF-REGARD by Toni Morrison:

A collection of essays and speeches written over four decades, including a eulogy for James Baldwin and the author’s Nobel lecture.

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THREE WOMEN by Lisa Taddeo:

The inequality of female desire is explored through the sex lives of a homemaker, a high school student and a restaurant owner.

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UNFREEDOM OF THE PRESS by Mark R. Levin:

The conservative commentator and radio host makes his case that the press is aligned with political ideology.

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Have a great day!

Linda Reimer, SSL

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, September is quickly approaching and we are readying a great plate of programs for fall at SSL!

One of our returning programs will be our Free Friday Film series. The first film for this season, If Beale Street Could Talk, will be shown on Friday, September 13 and here is the schedule for the first six months of the fall/winter season – photos followed by a link to a PDF in case anyone wishes to print off the schedule.

Monthly Friday Free Films September 2019 – February 2020

Enjoy your weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSL

Hi everyone, here are our lucky seven musical streaming* suggestions for the week.

Dave Digs Disney (1957) by The Dave Brubeck Quartet (Genre: Jazz, Easy Listening):

In the mid-fifties, Dave Brubeck took his family to visit Disneyland, found the visit inspiring, came home from vacation and recorded an album of Disney classics!

Song List: Alice in Wonderland, Give a Little Whistle, Heigh-Ho! (The Dwarfs’ Marching Song), When You Wish Upon A Star, Some Day My Prince Will Come, One Song, Very Good Advice and So This Is Love.

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Texas (2019) by Rodney Crowell (Genre: Country):

Texas is the brand new album by country great Rodney Crowell, check it out!

Forty-two years after the release of his first album, 1977s’ Ain’t Living Long Like This, he’s still going strong! And for this fun LP he’s joined by some equally cool quests artists including Randy Rodgers, Lee Ann Womack, Ray Kennedy, Vince Gill, Billy Gibbons, Ronnie Dunn, Willie Nelson, Ringo Starr, Lyle Lovett, John Jorgenson & Steve Earle.

Song List: Flatland Hillbillies, Caw Caw Blues, 56 Fury, Deep In The Heart of Uncertain Texas, You’re Only Happy When You’re Miserable, I’ll Show Me, What You Gonna’ Do Now, The Border, Treeptop Slim & Billy Lowgrass, Brown & Root, Brown & Root, Texas Drought, Pt. 1.

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16 Most Requested Songs by Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra (Genres: Easy Listening, Big Band):

Xavier Cugat, a bandleader and violinist, was a member of the first generation of Latin American musicians to record music and in the 1930s and 1940s. He played both mainstream popular music and Latin music, bringing Latin forms of music, including the mambo, rhumba, the tango and the cha-cha to a wider audience by incorporating those musical forms into his band’s repertoire. He parlayed his musical career into a companion film career making appearances in a multitude of films from 1930s’ In Gay Madrid to 1959s’ Desire Diabolique and continued to play professionally into the 1970s.

If you’re not familiar with Xavier Cugat’s music, check out this neat collection!

Song List: Chica, Chica, Boom, Chic, Brazil, Thanks For The Dream, Amor, Tico-Tico, Good, Good, Good, My Shawl, Oye Negra, Walter Winchell Rhumb, You, So It’s You, Jalousie (Jealousy), The Masked One, Rhumba At The Waldorf, Miami Beach Rhumba, Cuanto Le Gusta and South America, Take It Away.

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Four O’clock Blues by Memphis Slim (Genre: Blues, Piano):

A great collection of music by Memphis Slim, barrel-house boogie-woogie pianist extraordinaire!
Song List: Four O’clock Blues, Trouble in Mind, Roll and Tumble, Cow Cow Blues, Crowing Rooster, The Bells, Lord Have Mercy On Me, My Baby Don’t Love Me, Pinetop Boogie, Boogie After Midnight, Slim’s Blues, Mother Earth, Guess I’m A Fool Rockin’ The Pad, Marack, Really Got The Blues, Tijuana and Blues For My Baby.

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Other Girls (2019) by Lillie Mae (Genre: Country):

Other Girls is the brand new album by the multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Lillie Mae who tells like she sees it!

Songs List: You’ve Got Other Girls For That, Crips & Cold, I Came For The Band, Whole Blue Heart, How?, A Golden Year, At Least Three in This Room, Some Gamble, Didn’t!, Terlingua Girl & Love Dilly Love.

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We’ll Meet Again (1990) by Ramsey Lewis & Billy Taylor (Genre: Jazz):

Pianist Ramsey Lewis and vocalist Billy Taylor collaborated on this cool album back in 1990.
Song List: I Guess I’m Just A Lucky So And So, Django, Cookin’ At The Continental, Somewhere Soon, We meet Again, Quiet Storm, Soul Sister, Waltz For Debbie and Nigerian Marketplace.

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Myrtle and Rose: Songs by Clara and Robert Schumann (2019) by Kyle Stegall (Genre: Classical):

Vocalist Kyle Stegall and pianist Eric Zivian present songs composed by famous nineteenth century composers, and wife and husband, Clara and Robert Schumann.

This collection contains twenty-six songs including: I. In der Fremde, II. Intermezzo, III. Waldesgespräch, IV. Die Stille, V. Mondnacht, VI. Schöne Fremde, VII. Auf einer Burg , VII. In der Fremde, IX. Wehmut, X. Zwielicht, XI. Im Walde, XII. Frühlingsnacht all composed by Robert Schuman; and Ich stand in dunklen Träumen, Op. 13, No. 1, Lorelei, Mein Stern, Liebst du um Schönheit and O Lust, o Lust, Op. 23, No. 6 all composed by Clara Schuman.

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Videos of the Week:

Give A Little Whistle by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

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When You Wish Upon A Star by The Dave Brubeck Quartet

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56 Fury by Rodney Crowell

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Flatland Hillbillies by Rodney Crowell

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She’s A Bombshell From Brooklyn by Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra

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Walter Winchell Rhumba by Xavier Cugat & His Orchestra

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Four O’clock Blues by Memphis Slim

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Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie by Memphis Slim

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I Came For The Band by Lillie Mae

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You’ve Got Other Girls For That by Lillie Mae

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The Blues by Ramsey Lewis & Billy Taylor

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I’m Just A Lucky So And So by Ramsey Lewis & Billy Taylor

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Lorelei composed by Clara Schumann and performed by Kyle Stegall and Eric Zivian

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Mien Stern composed by Clara Schumann and performed by Kyle Stegall and Eric Zivian

Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

REFERENCES:

Print References

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Online References

AllMusic: https://www.allmusic.com/

Biographer at Events for Clara Schumann By Roberta Hershenson (May 19, 1996), The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/19/nyregion/biographer-at-events-for-clara-schumann.html

CLARA SCHUMANN AND HER PUPILS By Tim Page(April 26, 1987), The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1987/04/26/arts/clara-schumann-and-her-pupils.html

Dave Brubeck, Whose Distinctive Sound Gave Jazz New Pop, Dies at 91 By BEN RATLIFF (DEC. 5, 2012), The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/06/arts/music/dave-brubeck-jazz-musician-dies-at-91.html

Xavier Cugat, 90, the Bandleader Who Rose on the Rumba’s Tide By John S. Wilson (Oct. 28, 1990), The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1990/10/28/obituaries/xavier-cugat-90-the-bandleader-who-rose-on-the-rumba-s-tide.html

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*Freegal is a free streaming music service available for free to library cardholders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries. STLS member libraries include all the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler, and Allegany counties — including our own Southeast Steuben County Library.

You can download the Freegal music app to your mobile device or access the desktop version of the site by clicking on the following link:

*The Freegal service offers library card holders the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

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

DIGITAL CATALOG SUGGESTIONS

Correspondents by Tim Murphy:

“Murphy artfully connects multiple narratives to produce a sprawling tale of love, family, duty, war, and displacement. It is above all a stinging indictment of the ill-fated war in Iraq and the heavy tolls it continues to exact on its people.”—Khaled Hosseini, author of The Kite Runner
The world is Rita Khoury’s oyster. The bright and driven daughter of a Boston-area Irish-Arab family that has risen over the generations from poor immigrants to part of the coastal elite, Rita grows up in a 1980s cultural mishmash. Corned beef and cabbage sit on the dinner table alongside stuffed grape leaves and tabooleh, all cooked by Rita’s mother, an Irish nurse who met her Lebanese surgeon husband while working at a hospital together. The unconventional yet close-knit family bonds over summers at the beach, wedding line-dances, and a shared obsession with the Red Sox.

Rita charts herself an ambitious path through Harvard to one of the best newspapers in the country. She is posted in cosmopolitan Beirut and dates a handsome Palestinian would-be activist. But when she is assigned to cover the America-led invasion of Baghdad in 2003, she finds herself unprepared for the warzone. Her lifeline is her interpreter and fixer Nabil al-Jumaili, an equally restless young man whose dreams have been restricted by life in a deteriorating dictatorship, not to mention his own seemingly impossible desires. As the war tears Iraq apart, personal betrayal and the horrors of conflict force Rita and Nabil out of the country and into twisting, uncertain fates. What lies in wait will upend their lives forever, shattering their own notions of what they’re entitled to in a grossly unjust world.

Epic in scope, by turns satirical and heartbreaking, and speaking sharply to America’s current moment, Correspondents is a whirlwind story about displacement from one’s own roots, the violence America promotes both abroad and at home, and the resilience that allows families to remake themselves and endure even the most shocking upheavals.

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Forgiving Waters by Kenneth L. Capps:

When the paths of an old cowboy and two young trespassers—-one black and one white—-cross, many lives are changed forever. Beauregard Lee Kelso grew up in a time of racial division and rampant prejudice. Now, at an age that is way past retirement, he struggles with decisions of his past that won’t allow him peace of mind. Kevin and Leonard are looking for some good fishing in one of the pasture watering holes when they cross onto Kelso’s land. This book is the winner of a 2012 Readers’ Favorite Honorable mention and a Gold (first place) Award in the 2013 Indie Next Generation Award for First Novel.

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Out of the Dawn Light by Alys Clare:

“Clare’s captivating first in a new medieval series dramatizes the clash between the old pagan ways and Christianity in 11th-century England. In 1087, with the death of William the Conqueror, the common people are in a rebellious mood. Meanwhile, Lassair, a 14-year-old girl from a Fenland village with special gifts, is learning to be a healer. When two young men ask her to use her skills to locate a hidden treasure, she can’t refuse. Lassair joins the men on an arduous trek across East Anglia to the coast, where they unearth a 500-year-old solid gold relic. This relic, Lassair realizes, has the power to cause immense harm. Clare (The Joys of My Life and 11 other Hawkenlye mysteries) brings the people of the period to vivid life with close attention to such matters as food, clothes and religious belief. Engaging characters, like Lassair’s obnoxious sister and her storytelling grandmother, enhance a well-crafted plot that builds to a chilling climax.” Reed Business Review

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Pond: A Novel by Claire-Louise Bennett:

Immediately upon its publication in Ireland, Claire-Louise Bennett’s debut began to attract attention well beyond the expectations of the tiny Irish press that published it. A deceptively slender volume, it captures with utterly mesmerizing virtuosity the interior reality of its unnamed protagonist, a young woman living a singular and mostly solitary existence on the outskirts of a small coastal village. Sidestepping the usual conventions of narrative, it focuses on the details of her daily experience—from the best way to eat porridge or bananas to an encounter with cows—rendered sometimes in story-length, story-like stretches of narrative, sometimes in fragments no longer than a page, but always suffused with the hypersaturated, almost synesthetic intensity of the physical world that we remember from childhood. The effect is of character refracted and ventriloquized by environment, catching as it bounces her longings, frustrations, and disappointments—the ending of an affair, or the ambivalent beginning with a new lover. As the narrator’s persona emerges in all its eccentricity, sometimes painfully and often hilariously, we cannot help but see mirrored there our own fraught desires and limitations, and our own fugitive desire, despite everything, to be known.

Shimmering and unusual, Pond demands to be devoured in a single sitting that will linger long after the last page.

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River of Darkness by Rennie Airth:

So you thought British detectives had to focus on “the colonel in the drawing room with a candlestick” solutions? Newcomer Airth blasts that stereotype with this tale of serial murder set in post-World War I Britain, featuring the debut of Inspector John Madden, a veteran whose experiences in the trenches give him an edge in tracking and capturing the killer. Meanwhile, Dr. Helen Blackwell entices Madden to employ psychiatric theories shunned at the time by Scotland Yard to explain and predict the killer’s behavior. Airth develops a situation that presages today’s much-touted psychological profiling and serves to build an almost excruciatingly suspenseful plot. In addition, his deft handling of the emotional aftereffects of war gives the work an added sense of purpose. Fans of Thomas Harris will enjoy this book and can take heart in knowing that another Madden tale is already in the works. Nancy McNicol, Hagaman Memorial Lib., East Haven, CT, Library Journal Review.

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PRINT BOOK SUGGESTIONS:

Beijing Payback: A Novel by Daniel Nieh:

“Propulsive. . . . Highly enjoyable. . . . It sets up a sequel, one that I very much look forward to reading.” —The New York Times Book Review

A fresh, smart, and fast-paced revenge thriller about a college basketball player who discovers shocking truths about his family in the wake of his father’s murder

Victor Li is devastated by his father’s murder, and shocked by a confessional letter he finds among his father’s things. In it, his father admits that he was never just a restaurateur—in fact he was part of a vast international crime syndicate that formed during China’s leanest communist years.

Victor travels to Beijing, where he navigates his father’s secret criminal life, confronting decades-old grudges, violent spats, and a shocking new enterprise that the organization wants to undertake. Standing up against it is likely what got his father killed, but Victor remains undeterred. He enlists his growing network of allies and friends to finish what his father started, no matter the costs.

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Beyond Charlottesville: Taking a Stand Against White Nationalism by Terry McAuliffe with a forward by John Lewis:

The former governor of Virginia tells the behind-the-scenes story of the violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville―and shows how we can prevent other Charlottesvilles from happening.

When Governor Terry McAuliffe hung up the phone on the afternoon of the violent “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, he was sure Donald Trump would do the right thing as president: condemn the white supremacists who’d descended on the college town and who’d caused McAuliffe to declare a state of emergency that morning. He didn’t. Instead Trump declared there was “hatred, bigotry and violence on many sides.” Trump was condemned from many sides himself, even by many Republicans, but the damage was done. He’d excused and thus egged on the terrorists at the moment when he could have stopped them in their tracks.

In Beyond Charlottesville, McAuliffe looks at the forces and events that led to the tragedy in Charlottesville, including the vicious murder of Heather Heyer and the death of two state troopers in a helicopter accident. He doesn’t whitewash Virginia history and discusses a KKK protest over the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee. He takes a hard real-time behind-the-scenes look at the actions of everyone on that fateful August 12, including himself, to see what could have been done. He lays out what was done afterwards to prevent future Charlottesvilles―and what still needs to be done as America in general and Virginia in particular continue to grapple with their history of racism.

Beyond Charlottesville will be the definitive account of an infamous chapter in our history, seared indelibly into memory, sure to be cited for years as a crucial reference point in the long struggle to fight racism, extremism and hate.

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Border Son by Samuel Parker

It’s been years since Edward Kazmierski has seen his wayward son. In fact, it’s been years since he has allowed thoughts of Tyler to even enter his mind. The last place he knew Tyler to be was in an El Paso jail six years ago. Then, in one day, he receives a cryptic phone call telling him that his son needs him in Mexico, another from a federal agent searching for Tyler, and a visit from two men he hopes to never meet again.

South of the border, the chain of events set into motion by an impulsive act will almost certainly lead to death–for Tyler and for those who try to help him. But before Ed can recover his son, he will have to tear down the wall that has been built up between them.

With insight and artistry, Samuel Parker brings the dusty and dangerous streets of a Mexican border town into sharp focus in this suspenseful reimagining of the Prodigal Son story.

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The Liberation of Paris: How Eisenhower, De Gaulle, and Von Choltitz Saved the City of Light by Jean Edward Smith:

Prize-winning and bestselling historian Jean Edward Smith tells the dramatic story of the liberation of Paris during World War II—a triumph that was achieved through the remarkable efforts of Americans, French, and Germans, all racing to save the city from destruction.

Following their breakout from Normandy in late June 1944, the Allies swept across northern France in pursuit of the German army. The Allies intended to bypass Paris and cross the Rhine into Germany, ending the war before winter set in. But as they advanced, local forces in Paris began their own liberation, defying the occupying German troops.

Charles de Gaulle, the leading figure of the Free French government, urged General Dwight Eisenhower to divert forces to liberate Paris. Eisenhower’s most senior staff recommended otherwise, but Ike wanted to help position de Gaulle to lead France after the war. And both men were concerned about partisan conflict in Paris that could leave the communists in control of the city and the national government, perhaps even causing a bloodbath like the Paris Commune. Neither man knew that the German commandant, Dietrich von Choltitz, convinced that the war was lost, dissembled and schemed to surrender the city to the Allies intact, defying Hitler’s orders to leave it a burning ruin.

In The Liberation of Paris, Jean Edward Smith puts this dramatic event in context, showing how the decision to free the city came at a heavy price: it slowed the Allied momentum and allowed the Germans to regroup. After the war German generals argued that Eisenhower’s decision to enter Paris prolonged the war for another six months. Was Paris worth this price? Smith answers this question in his superb, dramatic history of one of the great events of World War II—published seventy-five years after the liberation.

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Meet Me In Monaco by Hazel Gaynor:

Set in the 1950s against the backdrop of Grace Kelly’s whirlwind romance and unforgettable wedding to Prince Rainier of Monaco, New York Times bestselling author Hazel Gaynor and Heather Webb take the reader on an evocative sun-drenched journey along the Côte d’Azur in this page-turning novel of passion, fate and second chances…

Movie stars and paparazzi flock to Cannes for the glamorous film festival, but Grace Kelly, the biggest star of all, wants only to escape from the flash-bulbs. When struggling perfumer Sophie Duval shelters Miss Kelly in her boutique to fend off a persistent British press photographer, James Henderson, a bond is forged between the two women and sets in motion a chain of events that stretches across thirty years of friendship, love, and tragedy.

James Henderson cannot forget his brief encounter with Sophie Duval. Despite his guilt at being away from his daughter, he takes an assignment to cover the wedding of the century, sailing with Grace Kelly’s wedding party on the SS Constitution from New York. In Monaco, as wedding fever soars and passions and tempers escalate, James and Sophie—like Princess Grace—must ultimately decide what they are prepared to give up for love.

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Book descriptions are provided by the publishers unless otherwise specified.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

The catalog of physical materials, i.e. print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD, etc., http://starcat.stls.org/client/en_US/default

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

You can access digital library content, i.e. eBooks & downloadable audiobooks, on PCs, Macs and mobile devices.

For mobile devices simply download the Libby app, for eBooks & downloadable audiobooks, or the RB Digital app, for on-demand magazines, from your app store to get started. And if you’re using a PC or Mac simply click on the following links: https://stls.overdrive.com/ or https://www.rbdigital.com/stlschemungcony/service/magazines/landing?

If you have questions call the library at 607-936-3713 and one of our tech coaches will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are the top New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers for the week that ends August 18, 2019.

(Click on the book covers to read a summary of each plot and to request the books of your choice.)

FICTION:

ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN by Garth Stein:

An insightful Lab-terrier mix helps his owner, a struggling race car driver.

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ASK AGAIN, YES by Mary Beth Keane:

The lives of neighboring families in a New York City suburb intertwine over four decades.

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BEFORE WE WERE YOURS by Lisa Wingate:

A South Carolina lawyer learns about the questionable practices of a Tennessee orphanage.

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CHANCES ARE …by Richard Russo:

Three men in their 60s who met in college reunite on Martha’s Vineyard, where mysterious events occurred in 1971.

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CITY OF GIRLS by Elizabeth Gilbert:

An 89-year-old Vivian Morris looks back at the direction her life took when she entered the 1940s New York theater scene.

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DARK AGE by Pierce Brown:

The fifth book in the Red Rising series.

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LABYRINTH by Catherine Coulter:

The 23rd book in the F.B.I. Thriller series. Agents Savich and Sherlock wend their way through a maze of lies to get to the bottom of a secret.

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LADY IN THE LAKE by Laura Lippman:

In 1966, a housewife becomes a reporter and investigates the killing of a black woman in Baltimore.

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LAST HOUSE GUEST by Megan Miranda:

Avery Greer must fight the clock to clear her name and uncover her friend’s real killer.

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LITTLE FIRES EVERYWHERE by Celeste Ng:

An artist upends a quiet town outside Cleveland.

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NEW GIRL by Daniel Silva:

Gabriel Allon, the chief of Israeli intelligence, partners with the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, whose daughter is kidnapped.

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NICKEL BOYS by Colson Whitehead:

Two boys respond to horrors at a Jim Crow-era reform school in ways that impact them decades later.

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ONE GOOD DEED by David Baldacci:

A World War II veteran on parole must find the real killer in a small town or face going back to jail.

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THE RECKONING by John Grisham:

A decorated World War II veteran shoots and kills a pastor inside a Mississippi church.

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SMOKESCREEN by Iris Johansen:

The 25th book in the Eve Duncan series. A forensic sculptor faces dangers when she looks into an attack of African villagers by guerilla soldiers.

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SOMEONE WE KNOW by Shari Lapena:

In a quiet suburb, a teenager has been breaking into homes and hacking into computers, while a woman is found murdered.

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SUMMER OF ’69 by Elin Hilderbrand:

The Levin family undergoes dramatic events with a son in Vietnam, a daughter in protests and dark secrets hiding beneath the surface.

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UNDER CURRENTS by Nora Roberts:

Echoes of a violent childhood reverberate for Zane Bigelow when he starts a new kind of family in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains.

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens:

In a quiet town on the North Carolina coast in 1969, a young woman who survived alone in the marsh becomes a murder suspect.

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WILLING TO DIE by Lisa Jackson:

The eighth book in the Alvarez & Pescoli series. A doctor and his wife are found dead in separate beds.

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WINDOW ON THE BAY by Debbie Macomber:

A single mom’s life takes unexpected turns when her two children go off to college.

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NON-FICTION:.

AMERICAN CARNAGE by Tim Alberta:

Politico Magazine’s chief political correspondent narrates a decade-long civil war inside the GOP and Donald Trump’s concurrent ascension.

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BECOMING by Michelle Obama:

The former first lady describes her journey from the South Side of Chicago to the White House, and how she balanced work, family and her husband’s political ascent.

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BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME by Ta-Nehisi Coates:

A meditation on race in America.

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BEYOND CHARLOTTESVILLE by Terry McAuliffe:

The former governor of Virginia describes the forces and events behind the “Unite the Right” rally and suggests ways to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

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BORN A CRIME by Trevor Noah:

A memoir about growing up biracial in apartheid South Africa by the host of “The Daily Show.”

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EDUCATED by Tara Westover:

The daughter of survivalists, who is kept out of school, educates herself enough to leave home for university.

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JUSTICE ON TRIAL by Mollie Hemingway and Carrie Severino:

The conservative authors give their take on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

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JUST MERCY by Bryan Stevenson:

A civil rights lawyer and MacArthur grant recipient’s memoir of his decades of work to free innocent people condemned to death.

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MAYBE YOU SHOULD TALK TO SOMEONE by Lori Gottlieb:

A psychotherapist gains unexpected insights when she becomes another therapist’s patient.

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THE MOMENT OF LIFT by Melinda Gates:

The philanthropist shares stories of empowering women to improve society.

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THE MUELLER REPORT with related materials by The Washington Post: 

Redacted findings from the special counsel’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and potential obstruction of justice by the president.

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THE PIONEERS by David McCullough:

The Pulitzer Prize-winning historian tells the story of the settling of the Northwest Territory through five main characters.

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THE RANGE by David Epstein:

An argument for how generalists excel more than specialists, especially in complex and unpredictable fields.

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SECOND MOUNTAIN by David Brooks:

A New York Times Op-Ed columnist espouses having an outward focus to attain a meaningful life.

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SIGNS by Laura Lynne Jackson:

A medium details potential ways the deceased may speak to us through everyday events.

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THREE WOMEN by Lisa Taddeo:

The inequality of female desire is explored through the sex lives of a homemaker, a high school student and a restaurant owner.

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UNFREEDOM OF THE PRESS by Mark R. Levin:

The conservative commentator and radio host makes his case that the press is aligned with political ideology.

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Have a great day!

Linda Reimer, SSL

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our lucky seven musical streaming* suggestions for the week.

Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969, Volumes 1 & 2 (2019) by Various Artists (Genre: Blues):

“Considering how important the blues were to the growth of American music, it’s little short of amazing that they flew under the radar of mainstream recognition in their native form for most of the 20th century. Until major country blues artists of the ’20s and ’30s were rediscovered by collectors in the early ’60s, most of them had scarcely been heard outside the Deep South. Modern electric performers fared well on the so-called “Chitlin’ Circuit” of venues in African-American communities, but it wasn’t until late in the decade, after being lionized by British stars, that they had visibility among mainstream listeners. With this in mind, it’s only so surprising that the 1969 Ann Arbor Blues Festival, held on the campus of the University of Michigan, was one of the first times a significant number of major blues artists were booked to play on the same bill, appearing before an audience dominated by young white listeners. The organizers chose their performers wisely, and the stellar lineup included giants of electric blues (Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf), legendary country blues performers (Son House, Mississippi John Hurt), outstanding modern acts (Luther Allison, Magic Sam), venerable elder statespeople (Big Joe Williams, Big Mama Thornton, Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup), and even some notable outliers (Clifton Chenier, appearing at a time when zydeco was little known among Midwestern blues fans).

Considering the importance of the event, it’s a shame that no one had the presence of mind to have professionals record the performances, but thankfully amateurs stepped in, and one of the fans who helped stage the festival brought along a tape recorder and documented most of the artists. These tapes went unheard outside a small circle of fans for nearly 50 years, but Third Man Records has belatedly compiled the highlights into a two-volume set, Ann Arbor Blues Festival 1969.” – Mark Deming, AllMusic Review

Songs include So Glad You’re Mine, Everybody Must Suffer, Help Me, Hard Luck, Long Distance Call & Call It Stormy Monday.

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Country Squire (2019) by Tyler Childers (Genre: Country):

“When it comes to Tyler Childers, it’s tempting to read too much into album titles. Purgatory, his 2017 debut, did tend to hang suspended between the poles separating country and Americana, having its roots inflections feel spectral. Country Squire, on the other hand, is as sharp and stately as its title suggests. Working once again with producer Sturgill Simpson, Childers leans into the lean, twangy aspects of his sound without quite abandoning his cinematic ambition. Witness how the songs segue together, for instance: as the lazy shuffle “Gemini” fades to completion, the haunting roll of “House Fire” comes into focus. It’s a subtle trick, yet it’s one that subtly binds together Country Squire, giving it the illusion of a song cycle. A connective narrative may be elusive to find on Country Squire, but Childers is a sly storyteller, a gift that threatens to be overshadowed by the robust realization of his songs. Unlike Purgatory, there isn’t a spare moment to be found on Country Squire; even its slowest, saddest songs, such as the closing plea “Matthew,” feel vivid and complete. Considering how the album moves as swiftly as an EP, this richness feels like an achievement: with nine short songs, Tyler Childers has deepened and expanded the world he etched in Purgatory.” Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review

Song List: Country Squire, Bus Route, Creeker, Gemini, House Fire, Ever Lovin’ Hand, Peace of Mind, All Your’n and Matthew.

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Finch (2019) by Penny and Sparrow (Folk, Pop/Rock):

“Texas-raised duo Penny & Sparrow had to do some heavy touring to truly search their souls. They explore the resulting range of emotions and deliver it on their sixth album “Finch,” an effort thick with gorgeous tales of personal transformation.

Band members Andy Baxter and Kyle Jahnke were both raised in a conservative climate and sought to break free from the “white Evangelical Christian male” perspective that shaped their early surroundings, the band explains in liner notes.

Sonically, there is a smooth and soaring feel to most of the tracks, yet each has its own distinct energy. “Recuerda” is love song heavy on crooning, while “Don’t Wanna Be Without Ya” gives way to a galloping pace as the concept of reincarnated lovers is explored. “Long Gone” is sexy and sultry and highlights the fact that Baxter can absolutely sing a slow jam.

Ultimately, rich and breathy vocals with a slight choral effect carry the day here. There’s a dependable luster to Penny & Sparrow’s songs. Songs begin dour, but eventually find their footing and reveal hope amid bass lines and light guitar.

Think of this as Americana with a designer shirt. The traditional elements are there, but they’re layered with a modern sheen that sets the songs apart from a tired approach.” ABC News Review.

Song List: Long Gone, Eloise Preamble, Eloise, Don’t Wanna Be Without You, Cult Classically, Bishop, Recuerda, Hannah, Stockholm, It’s Hysterical and Gumshoe.

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It Came From 1999 Playlist by Various Artists:

This 84 song playlist features a great mix of popular songs from 1999. Music of that era is not my vintage; however, one of my co-workers assures me that if you were listening to the radio in 1999 and loving the music you heard – than you will like this playlist!

So let’s time travel over the airwaves back to 1999 and listen to Mariah Carey, Ricky Martin, Macy Gray, Creed, Silverchair, Fiona Apple, Destiny’s Child, Blaque and more as we pretend we’re back in 1999!

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Parlour Game (2019) by Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller (Genre: Jazz):

“In jazz, some bands just happen. One relationship leads to another. Circumstances make for changed personnel. Then, shared moments occur onstage—an exalted passage of music, or just a feeling, that begs for more. Such is the case with Parlour Game, the new quartet led by violinist Jenny Scheinman and drummer Allison Miller.

The ensemble is most clearly an outgrowth of Boom Tic Boom, the sextet with which, during the past decade, Ms. Miller has established a sound that is at once free-wheeling and sturdy, and grounded in a trap-set technique that has made her among New York’s sought-after jazz drummers. That group deepened the bond Ms. Miller and Ms. Scheinman first formed 20 years ago, while working in New York’s downtown scene. Two years ago, when Boom Tic Boom’s pianist, Myra Melford, and bassist, Todd Sickafoose, were unavailable for a tour, Ms. Miller invited a frequent collaborator of hers, pianist Carmen Staaf, into the fold. Ms. Scheinman suggested bassist Tony Scherr, whom she knew from guitarist Bill Frisell’s bands.

Right away, things clicked. “I was in swinging heaven,” Ms. Miller said of playing with Mr. Scherr. “Sometimes a band grows from the rhythm section out,” Ms. Scheinman told me. “You just feel something irresistible. You want more.”

That sense of joyful attraction and shared hunger grounded in rhythmic acuity is nearly palpable on “Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller’s Parlour Game” (Royal Potato Family), the quartet’s debut release. The album begins with the lighthearted and bouncy “Play Money” and ends with “Sleep Rider,” a spacious and meditative piece. In between, the group digs into several grooves: rolling Afrobeats on “116th & Congress”; stride rhythms on “Beans & Rice”; hints of hip-hop within the blues-tinged “Fake Weather”; and a funky groove, drawn from Washington, D.C.’s “go-go” sound, on “Miss Battle’s Cannonball.” Each track swings in its own way yet with a consistent sense of commitment, embodying what musicians call “the pocket”: a rhythmic feel that is firmly locked in but also relaxed to the point of elasticity.” — Larry Blumenfeld,The Wall Street Journal

Song List: Play Money, 116th & Congress, The Right Fit, Michigan, Fake Weather, Lead With Love, Beans & Rice, Meanwhile, Top Shelf, Miss Battle’s Cannonball and Sleep Rider,

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Sommernachtskonzert 2019 / Summer Night Concert 2019 Gustavo Dudamel & Wiener Philharmoniker (Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra) (Genre: Classical, Band):

This is the companion album to the video broadcast of the Summer Night Concert being shown as part of PBS’s Great Performances series on Friday, August 9.

Here’s a synopsis of the concert from the PBS site: “Famed conductor and music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Gustavo Dudamel returns to the gardens of Schönbrunn Palace with the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra for Great Performances: Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2019, premiering Friday, August 9 at 9 p.m. on PBS (check local listings), pbs.org/gperf and the PBS Video app. The program features popular selections from both European and American composers and is dedicated to the musical connection between continents: the old world of Europe and the new world of America.

The program includes Leonard Bernstein’s overture to “Candide” and American classics such as John Philipp Sousa’s “The Stars and Stripes Forever.” Renowned pianist Yuja Wang joins the orchestra for George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue,” and performs Chopin’s Waltz in C Sharp Minor, op. 64 #2 for an encore.

This year marks Dudamel’s second time conducting the annual concert special, having led the orchestra in 2012. Past conductors include Bobby McFerrin (2004), Zubin Mehta (2005 and 2015), Plácido Domingo (2006), Valery Gergiev (2007, 2011 and 2018), Georges Prêtre (2008), Daniel Barenboim (2009), Franz Welser-Möst (2010), Lorin Maazel (2013), Christoph Eschenbach (2014 and 2017) and Semyon Bychkov (2016). The free outdoor concert is broadcast to more than 80 countries worldwide.

Music Selections and Composers:

Overture to “Candide” – Leonard Bernstein
“Rhapsody in Blue” – George Gershwin
Waltz in C sharp minor, op.64 #2 – Frédéric Chopin
“Casablanca Suite” – Max Steiner
“The Stars and Stripes Forever” – John Philipp Sousa
Adagio for Strings – Samuel Barber
“The Star-Spangled Banner March,” op. 460 – Carl Michael Ziehrer
Symphony No. 9 in E minor, op. 95 “From the New World,” 4th movement, allegro con fuoco – Antonín Dvořák

Encores:

“Hoe-Down” from “Rodeo” – Aaron Copland
“Viennese Spirit” waltz – Johann Strauss (Jr.)

Notable Talent:

Gustavo Dudamel, conductor, internationally renowned music and artistic director and conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Yuja Wang, critically acclaimed Beijing-born pianist featured as an artist-in-residence at three world-famous venues: Carnegie Hall, the Wiener Konzerthaus, and the Luxembourg Philharmonie; named Musical America’s Artist of the Year in 2017.” – PBS

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John Williams Plays Bach: The Complete Lute Music on Guitar by John Williams (1975/1986) by John Williams:

The great classical guitarist John Williams, not to be confused with the equally great stage and screen composer John Williams (Star Wars, E.T., Jaws, Saving Private Ryan etc.), offers the complete music J.S. Bach wrote for lute – all four lute suites: Suite for Lute in E minor, BWV 996, Partita for Lute in C Minor, MWV 997, Partita for Lute in E major, BWV 100a and Suite for Lute in G minor, BWV 995.

Videos of the Week:

Call It Stormy Monday by T-Bone Walker & Various Artists

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Hard Luck by Howlin’ Wolf & His Orchestra

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So Glad You’re Mine by Arthur “Big Boy, Crudup & Various Artists

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All Your’n by Tyler Childers

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House Fire by Tyler Childers

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Don’t Wanna Be Without Ya by Penny and Sparrow

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Eliose by Penny and Sparrow

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To Your Love by Fiona Apple

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Large Than Life by Backstreet Boys

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Superman vs. Lloyd by Kissing Book

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Michigan by Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller

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Parlour Game by Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller

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Candide: Overture by Gustavo Dudamel an the Wiener Philharmoniker (Summer Night Concert 2019)

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Sousa: Stars and Stripes Forever (Summer Night Concert 2019) by Vienna Philharmonic

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Teaser trailer for the Summer Night Concert 2019 which will be shown on PBS on Friday, August 9, 2019

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Lute Suite No. 1 composed by J.S Back and performed by John Williams

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Prelude from Lute Suite 4, BWV – 1006 composed by J.S. Bach & performed by John Williams

Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

REFERENCES:

Print References

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Online References

AllMusic: https://www.allmusic.com/

Bach: The Four Lute Suites / John Williams
http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=139564

Great Performances: Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2019: About:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/great-performances-vienna-philharmonic-summer-night-concert-2019-about/9786/

Music Review: ‘Finch’ from Penny & Sparrow is a gem from ABC News
https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/music-review-finch-penny-sparrow-gem-64742994

Music Review ‘Jenny Scheinman & Allison Miller’s Parlour Game’ Review: A Joyful Collaboration by Larry Blumenfeld for The Wall Street Journal
https://www.wsj.com/articles/jenny-scheinman-allison-millers-parlour-game-review-a-joyful-collaboration-11565019651

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*Freegal is a free streaming music service available for free to library cardholders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries. STLS member libraries include all the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler, and Allegany counties — including our own Southeast Steuben County Library.

You can download the Freegal music app to your mobile device or access the desktop version of the site by clicking on the following link:

*The Freegal service offers library card holders the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

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

DIGITAL CATALOG SUGGESTIONS

The City of Shifting Waters by Jean-Claude Mézières & Pierre Christin:

Galaxity, capital of the Terran Empire in the 28th century. Valerian and Laureline are agents who protect mankind from rogue time travellers. Now they are sent to New York in 1986 to intercept Galaxity’s worst megalomaniac, Xombul-except that in 1986, the world is in ruins and New York is about to be swallowed by the ocean. The two agents must navigate the shifting waters of the past to make sure that the future will exist.

Note: This is a graphic novel and must be opened on a device with a color screen, AKA not an eReader)
Book 1 in the Valerian & Laureline Series

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The Ghost and Lady Alice by M.C. Beaton:

A mistreated maid may be transformed into a lady—with the help of a departed duke in this novel from the New York Times–bestselling author.

Alice Lovesey, a poorly treated scullery maid, makes a desperate plea for help—which miraculously summons Wadham Hall’s rakish eighth duke. Summons him from the dead, that is . . .

The duke is delighted to be newly materialized, and promises to return the favor by helping Alice become a lady of quality. But Alice’s heart may not stand a ghost of a chance, now that she’s lost it to a restless spirit . . .

Originally published under the name Marion Chesney, this heartwarming and hilarious story is by the beloved author of the Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series.

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The Heart Specialist: A Novel by Claire Holden Rothman:

“Based on the life of one of Canada’s pioneering female physicians, [this] novel paints an arresting portrait of an indomitable yet vulnerable young woman” (Booklist).

Set in Quebec near the beginning of the twentieth century, The Heart Specialist is the epic story of Agnes White, a lonely orphaned girl fascinated by the “wrong” things—microscopes, dissections, and anatomy instead of more ladylike interests. When Agnes is young, her father, a French-Canadian doctor living in Montreal, is charged with the murder of his handicapped sister. Although he is eventually acquitted, his reputation is ruined, and he flees, abandoning Agnes and her pregnant mother.

Less than a year later, her mother dies of consumption, leaving Agnes and her baby sister, Laure, on their own. From this tumultuous childhood, the story follows Agnes as she grows up yearning to track her father down—and to follow in his footsteps as a doctor, even though medical schools in Canada don’t yet admit women. She eventually finds a niche for herself as the curator of the McGill University pathology museum. But even as her professional star begins to rise, her life is solitary and her happiness remains incomplete. A world-renowned expert on the human heart, she still struggles to understand her own.

Inspired by the career of Maude Abbott, one of Canada’s first female physicians, The HeartSpecialist is a story about the mysterious, painful journey into selfhood, and a “brilliant first novel” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

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Into the Valley: A Novel by Ruth Galm:

Ruth Galm’s spare, poetic debut novel, set in the American West of early Joan Didion, traces the drifting path of a young woman as she skirts the law and her own oppressive anxiety.

Into the Valley opens on the day in July 1967 when B. decides to pass her first counterfeit check and flee San Francisco for the Central Valley. Caught between generations and unmarried at 30, B. doesn’t understand the new counterculture youths. She likes the dresses and kid gloves of her mother’s generation, but doesn’t fit into that world either.

B. is beset by a disintegrative anxiety she calls “the carsickness,” and the only relief comes in handling illicit checks and driving endlessly through the valley. As she travels the bare, anonymous landscape, meeting an array of other characters—an alcoholic professor, a bohemian teenage girl, a criminal admirer—B.’s flight becomes that of a woman unraveling, a person lost between who she is and who she cannot yet be.

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The Man In The Maze written by Robert Silverberg with an introduction by Neil Gaiman:

A diplomat who successfully negotiated with intelligent aliens finds his loyalty to the human race tested in this novel by a Nebula Award–winning author.

Richard Muller was an honorable diplomat who braved unimaginable dangers to make contact with the first-known race of intelligent aliens. But those aliens left a mark on him: a psychic wound that emanates a telepathic miasma his fellow humans can neither cure nor endure. Muller is exiled to the remote planet of Lemnos, where he is left, deeply embittered, at the heart of a deadly maze . . . until a new alien race appears, seemingly intent on exterminating humanity. Only Muller can communicate with them, due to the very condition that has made him an outcast. But will Muller stick his neck out for the people who so callously rejected him?

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PRINT BOOK SUGGESTIONS:

The Chelsea Girls by Fiona Davis:

The bright lights of the theater district, the glamour and danger of 1950s New York, and the wild scene at the iconic Chelsea Hotel come together in a dazzling new novel about a twenty-year friendship that will irrevocably change two women’s lives—from the national bestselling author of The Dollhouse and The Address.

From the dramatic redbrick facade to the sweeping staircase dripping with art, the Chelsea Hotel has long been New York City’s creative oasis for the many artists, writers, musicians, actors, filmmakers, and poets who have called it home—a scene playwright Hazel Riley and actress Maxine Mead are determined to use to their advantage. Yet they soon discover that the greatest obstacle to putting up a show on Broadway has nothing to do with their art, and everything to do with politics. A Red scare is sweeping across America, and Senator Joseph McCarthy has started a witch hunt for Communists, with those in the entertainment industry in the crosshairs. As the pressure builds to name names, it is more than Hazel and Maxine’s Broadway dreams that may suffer as they grapple with the terrible consequences, but also their livelihood, their friendship, and even their freedom.

Spanning from the 1940s to the 1960s, The Chelsea Girls deftly pulls back the curtain on the desperate political pressures of McCarthyism, the complicated bonds of female friendship, and the siren call of the uninhibited Chelsea Hotel.

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Maggie Brown & Others: Stories by Peter Orner:

In this powerful and virtuosic collection of interlocking stories, each one “a marvel of concision and compassion” (Washington Post), Peter Orner, a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and “master of his form” (New York Times), takes the short story to new heights.

In his orchestral and moving new book, Peter Orner, a writer who “doesn’t simply bring his characters to life, he gives them souls” (New York Times Book Review), chronicles people whose lives are at inflection points. In forty-four compressed gems, he grips us with a series of defining moments.

Whether it’s a first date that turns into a late-night road trip to a séance in an abandoned airplane hangar, or a family’s memories of the painful mystery surrounding a forgotten uncle’s demise, Orner reveals how our fleeting decisions between kindness and abandonment chase us across time. These stories are anchored by a poignant novella that delivers not only the joys and travails of a forty-year marriage, but an entire era in a working-class New England city. Bristling with the crackling energy of life itself, Maggie Brown & Others marks the most sustained achievement to date for “a master of his form” (New York Times).

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Marilou is Everywhere by Sarah Smith:

One of Los Angeles Times “Most Anticipated Books of the Summer”

“This novel reads like a miracle.” –NPR

“Hauntingly gorgeous… Spare and sensual and surprisingly funny… Smith’s characters are as rich as her prose.”–Kirkus, STARRED review

Consumed by the longing for a different life, a teenager flees her family and carefully slips into another — replacing a girl whose own sudden disappearance still haunts the town.

Fourteen-year-old Cindy and her two older brothers live in rural Pennsylvania, in a house with occasional electricity, two fierce dogs, one book, and a mother who comes and goes for months at a time. Deprived of adult supervision, the siblings rely on one another for nourishment of all kinds. As Cindy’s brothers take on new responsibilities for her care, the shadow of danger looms larger and the status quo no longer seems tolerable.

So when a glamorous teen from a more affluent, cultured home goes missing, Cindy escapes her own family’s poverty and slips into the missing teen’s life. As Jude Vanderjohn, Cindy is suddenly surrounded by books and art, by new foods and traditions, and most important, by a startling sense of possibility. In her borrowed life she also finds herself accepting the confused love of a mother who is constitutionally incapable of grasping what has happened to her real daughter. As Cindy experiences overwhelming maternal love for the first time, she must reckon with her own deceits and, in the process, learn what it means to be a daughter, a sister, and a neighbor.

Marilou Is Everywhere is a powerful, propulsive portrait of an overlooked girl who finds for the first time that her choices matter.

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True Believer: A Thriller by Jack Carr:

“This is seriously good. I mean—seriously. Both author Jack Carr and main character James Reece are the real deal, the action is razor sharp, the suspense is unrelenting, and the tradecraft is so authentic the government will probably ban it—so read it while you can!” —Lee Child, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Past Tense

“A powerful, thoughtful, realistic, at times terrifying thriller that I could not put down. A terrific addition to the genre, Jack Carr and his alter-ego protagonist, James Reece, continue to blow me away.”—Mark Greaney, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mission Critical

“True Believer, the highly anticipated new thriller from Jack Carr, is one of this year’s hottest thrillers, and a perfect fit for fans of Vince Flynn, Brad Thor, and Daniel Silva.” —The Real Book Spy

In acclaimed author Jack Carr’s follow-up to The Terminal List, former Navy SEAL James Reece’s skill, cunning, and heroism put the US government back in his debt and set him on another path of revenge.

When a string of horrific terrorist attacks plagues the Western world during the holiday season, the broader markets fall into a tailspin. The attacks are being coordinated by a shadowy former Iraqi commando who has disappeared into Europe’s underground. The United States government has an asset who can turn the Iraqi against his masters: James Reece, the most-wanted domestic terrorist alive.

After avenging the deaths of his family and team members, Reece emerges deep in the wilds of Mozambique, protected by the family of his estranged best friend and former SEAL Team member. When a series of events uncovers his whereabouts, the CIA recruits him, using a Presidential pardon for Reece and immunity for the friends who helped him in his mission of vengeance.

Now a reluctant tool of the United States government, Reece travels the globe, targeting terrorist leaders and unraveling a geopolitical conspiracy that exposes a traitorous CIA officer and uncovers a sinister assassination plot with worldwide repercussions.

A high-intensity roller-coaster ride, True Believer explodes with action and authenticity that cements Jack Carr as the new leader in political thrillers.

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The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen:

From the bestselling author of The Tuscan Child comes a beautiful and heart-rending novel of a woman’s love and sacrifice during the First World War.

As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage.

When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden. The journals inspire Emily, and in the wake of devastating news, they are her saving grace. Emily’s lover has not only died a hero but has left her terrified—and with child. Since no one knows that Emily was never married, she adopts the charade of a war widow.

As Emily learns more about the volatile power of healing with herbs, the found journals will bring her to the brink of disaster, but may open a path to her destiny.

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Book descriptions are provided by the publishers unless otherwise specified.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, 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

*Magazines are available for free and on demand! You can check out magazines and read them on your computer or download the RBDigital app from your app store and read them on your mobile devices.

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.