Hi everyone, welcome to our Suggested Listening posting for this week!
Suggested Listening postings are published on Fridays; and our next Suggested Listening posting will be out on Friday, April 11, 2025.
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This week our musical spotlight is on a single musician, Muddy Waters, who was born Mckinley Morganfield on April 4, in Rolling Fork, Mississippi; there is some discrepancy over whether he was born in 1913 or 1915, although recent research suggested the 1913 date, is in fact the correct one; in any case, today is the anniversary of his birth.
He began playing guitar as a youth, was nicknamed “Muddy” by his grandmother as a child, moved to Chicago in 1943, became one of the pillars of the post-war electric blues scene, influencing countless other musicians and guitarists and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with its first class, in 1987.
To put it succinctly, his influence on blues, soul and rock & roll is incalculable!
For more information check out either of the following resources:
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios or streaming videos)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
–
Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
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The Antidote by Karen Russell
The prairie witch calls herself The Antidote because people feel so much better after she unburdens them of painful memories, storing them in her “vault.” But when she finds herself in jail in the midst of a terrifying dust storm in Uz, Nebraska, she realizes that the deposits she’s been paid to protect have vanished. High-school basketball star Asphodel Oletsky, living, since her mother was murdered, with her uncle Harp, a dryland farmer, is desperate to keep her winning team on the court after they lose their sponsor. Harp is haunted by how his Polish parents were forced off their land by the Germans, only to find themselves unwittingly doing the same to Native Americans. New Deal photographer Cleo Allfrey, at risk on the plains as a Black woman, arrives in Uz during the worst of the Dust Bowl and finds people pushed to the brink by drought, deadly and otherworldly dust storms, vanished crops and topsoil, unsolved murders, and a corrupt and brutal sheriff. Among many strange occurrences, Cleo’s photographs inexplicably depict the horrific past and a possible future. Highly honored Russell follows two stellar story collections with her second novel, an ardent work of encompassing and compassionate historical fiction supercharged with her signature imaginative, astutely calibrated supernatural twists. A dramatic and uncanny tale of the drastic consequences of our destruction of nature and Indigenous communities.
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Galaphile by Terry Brooks
New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks makes his triumphant return to the world of Shannara, delving deep into the origin story of the druid order and its enigmatic creator that will change the face of the Four Lands forever.
One of the most iconic structures in the Four Lands is Paranor, the fortress home of the Druid Order. Legend holds that it was erected by an Elven leader known as Galaphile Joss. But who was this Galaphile, and how and why did he choose to establish this center of magic and learning?
Within these pages we meet the real Galaphile, following him from a friendless teenage orphan stranded in the Human world to a powerful adult and master mage, studying under the infamous recluse, Cogline. We learn of the forces that shaped him—those he loved, and those he lost; those who aided him, and those who stood against him.
Throughout it all, Galaphile’s goal is a noble one: to bring order to a chaotic world, and to make life better for those trying to survive it. To this end, he commences building the citadel which will one day be known as Paranor with the aid of the King of the Silver River. But there is one other who seeks dominion over the Four Lands—and for far less virtuous ends.
For this foe has been corrupted by an ancient evil—one that will not only reach out and touch Galaphile’s nearest and dearest, but also echo down through the centuries, sowing the seeds for some of the darkest times the Four Lands will ever face.
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Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
Jane and Dan have been married for nineteen years, but Jane isn’t sure they’re going to make it to twenty. The mother of two feels unneeded by her teenagers, and her writing career has screeched to an unsuccessful halt. Her one published novel sold under five hundred copies. Worse? She’s pretty sure Dan is cheating on her. When the couple goes to the renowned upscale restaurant La Fin du Monde to celebrate their anniversary, Jane thinks it’s as good a place as any to tell Dan she wants a divorce.
But before they even get to the second course, an underground climate activist group bursts into the dining room. Jane is shocked—and not just because she’s in a hostage situation the likes of which she’s only seen in the movies. Nearly everything the disorganized and bumbling activists say and do is right out of the pages of her failed book. Even Dan (who Jane wasn’t sure even read her book) admits it’s eerily familiar.
Which means Dan and Jane are the only ones who know what’s going to happen next. And they’re the only ones who can stop it. This wasn’t what Jane was thinking of when she said “’til death do us part” all those years ago, but if they can survive this, maybe they can survive anything—even marriage.
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The Story She Left Behind by Patti Callahan Henry
Inspired by a true literary mystery, New York Times bestselling author of the mesmerizing The Secret Book of Flora Lea returns with the sweeping story of a legendary book, a lost mother, and a daughter’s search for them both. In 1927, eight-year-old Clara Harrington’s magical childhood shatters when her mother, renowned author, Bronwyn Newcastle Fordham, disappears off the coast of South Carolina. Bronwyn stunned the world with a book written in an invented language that became a national sensation when she was just twelve years old. Her departure leaves behind not only a devoted husband and heartbroken daughter, but also the hope of ever translating the sequel to her landmark work. As the headlines focus on the missing author, Clara yearns for something far deeper and more insatiable: her beautiful mother.
By 1952, Clara is an illustrator raising her own daughter, Wynnie. When a stranger named Charlie Jameson contacts her from London claiming to have discovered a handwritten dictionary of her mother’s lost language. Clara is skeptical. Compelled by the tragedy of her mother’s vanishing, she crosses the Atlantic with Wynnie only to arrive during one of London’s most deadly natural disasters—the Great Smog. With asthmatic Wynnie in peril, they escape the city with Charlie and find refuge in the Jameson’s family retreat nestled in the Lake District. It is there that Clara must find the courage to uncover the truth about her mother and the story she left behind.
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When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
Museum worker Virgil is about to go home for date night when he is summoned to the vault where the moon rock under his supervision lives; it has turned to a substance that resembles cheese. It seems every moon rock on Earth has undergone the same, unbelievable transformation, as have all the rocks that make up the actual moon. The narrative shifts from NASA to the White House to a diner in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and on to many other scientists, politicians, philosophers, and religious leaders trying to come to grips with this sudden and inexplicable transformation. Scalzi (Starter Villain, 2023) creates a myriad of compelling vignettes as people deal with a world they no longer have a handle on. In addition to traditional prose, the story is also told from articles, a Reddit AMA, and even a personal group chat providing commentary on everything from Hollywood to publishing catching lightning in a bottle, religion as industry and inspiration, and faith in science. When the Moon Hits Your Eye does what sf does best: offers a mirror up to society and explores how humanity might respond to sudden and seemingly impossible things.
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A simple but irresistible premise–the moon has turned to cheese!–anchors best-seller Scalzi’s latest, and his appeal continues to grow beyond traditional genre readers.by John Scalzi – Starred Booklist Review
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
–
Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
–
Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
All titles can be requested/checked out through the library.
If you’d like to go the traditional route to request a title on this list and drop by the library, or give us a call – please do!
Our telephone number is: 607-936-3713
–
New York Times Bestseller lists are shared via blog post on Sundays. And the next NYT blog post will be posted on Sunday, April 13, 2025.
THE BESTSELLERS
FICTION
1. ONYX STORM by Rebecca Yarros: The third book in the Empyrean series. As enemies gain traction, Violet Sorrengail goes beyond the Aretian wards in search of allies.
2. THE STRAWBERRY PATCH PANCAKE HOUSE by Laurie Gilmore: The fourth book in the Dream Harbor series. A woman with a spotty work history becomes the live-in nanny for the daughter of a single dad.
3. THE WRITER by James Patterson and J.D. Barker: An N.Y.P.D. detective is called to a crime scene in an apartment where the shelves are full of books by a true-crime writer.
4. FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros: Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
5. THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden: Troubles surface when a woman looking to make a fresh start takes a job in the home of the Winchesters.
6. IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros: The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training under the new vice commandant might require her to betray the man she loves.
7. THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah: Two sisters are separated in World War II France: one in the countryside, the other in Paris.
8. STORY OF MY LIFE by Lucy Score: A romance writer suffering from writer’s block moves away from Manhattan and finds inspiration in Story Lake, Pa.
9. WARD D by Freida McFadden: Patients and staff at a hospital’s mental health unit begin to disappear.
10. BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall: Beth must confront her past when the man she once loved as a teenager returns to the village with his son.
11. THE CRASH by Freida McFadden: A pregnant woman, who suffers an injury during a blizzard, is taken in by a couple who might put her life in further jeopardy.
12. LIGHTS OUT by Navessa Allen: As Aly and Josh live out their dark fantasies, someone with sinister intentions impinges on them.
13. THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon: In Maine, 1789, a midwife seeks to uncover the true cause of the death of a man discovered entombed in the Kennebec River.
14. THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach: A woman who is down on her luck forms an unexpected bond with the bride at a wedding in Rhode Island.
15. THE BUFFALO HUNTER HUNTER by Stephen Graham Jones: A Lutheran pastor’s diary from 1912, which details a massacre in which 217 Blackfeet died in the snow, is found a century later.
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NON-FICTION
1. EVERYTHING IS TUBERCULOSIS by John Green: The author of “The Anthropocene Reviewed” chronicles the fight against the deadly infectious disease tuberculosis.
2. ABUNDANCE by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson: A New York Times opinion columnist and a staff writer at The Atlantic evaluate obstacles to American progress.
3. CARELESS PEOPLE by Sarah Wynn-Williams: A former Facebook executive gives an account of policies and leadership at the social media platform.
4. RESOLUTE by Benjamin Hall: The author of “Saved” recounts his journey to recovery from the injuries he sustained from a Russian missile attack in Ukraine.
5. THE TELL by Amy Griffin: The founder of the investment firm G9 Ventures recounts her efforts to recover from trauma she experienced during childhood.
6. WHO IS GOVERNMENT? edited by Michael Lewis: Essays by Casey Cep, Dave Eggers, John Lanchester, Geraldine Brooks, Sarah Vowell, W. Kamau Bell and Michael Lewis illuminate the work of federal employees and the business of government.
7. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION by Jonathan Haidt: A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the mental health impacts that a phone-based life has on children.
8. ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder: Twenty lessons from the 20th century about the course of tyranny.
9. HEARTBREAKER by Mike Campbell with Ari Surdoval: A memoir by the musician known for his work as the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
10. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk: How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
11. THE WAGER by David Grann: The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.
12. ANTISEMITISM IN AMERICA by Chuck Schumer: The Democratic senator from New York examines various forces that have created a rise of antisemitism in modern times.
13. THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER by Shari Franke: Franke gives an account of abuse within her family, who gained a following with their YouTube channel “8 Passengers.”
14. OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford: A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
15. THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES by Amy Tan: Essays and drawings by the author of “The Joy Luck Club” and “The Bonesetter’s Daughter,” which depict a search for peace through birding.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
–
StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials:
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
–
For more information on library materials and services, including how to get a library card call the library at 607-936-3713.
–
*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
–
Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios or streaming videos)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
–
Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.
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A Century of Poetry in the New Yorker: 1925-2025
Edited by the magazine’s poetry editor, Kevin Young, a celebratory selection from one hundred years of influential, entertaining, and taste-making verse in The New Yorker
Seamus Heaney, Dorothy Parker, Louise Bogan, Louise Glück, Randall Jarrell, Langston Hughes, Derek Walcott, Sylvia Plath, W. S. Merwin, Czesław Miłosz, Tracy K. Smith, Mark Strand, E. E. Cummings, Sharon Olds, Franz Wright, John Ashbery, Sandra Cisneros, Amanda Gorman, Maggie Smith, Kaveh Akbar: these stellar names make up just a fraction of the wonderfulness that is present in this essential anthology.
The book is organized into sections honoring times of day (“Morning Bell,” “Lunch Break,” “After-Work Drinks,” “Night Shift”), allowing poets from different eras to talk back to one another in the same space, intertwined with chronological groupings from the decades as they march by: the frothy 1920s and 1930s (“despite the depression,” Young notes), the more serious ’40s and ’50s (introducing us to the early greats of our contemporary poetry, like Elizabeth Bishop, W. S. Merwin, and Adrienne Rich), the political ’60s and ’70s, the lyrical ’80s and ’90s, and then the 2000s’ with their explosion of greater diversity in the magazine, greater depth and breadth. Inevitably, we see the high points when poems spoke directly into, about, or against the crises of their times—the war poetry of W. H. Auden and Karl Shapiro; the remarkable outpouring of verse after 9/11 (who can forget Adam Zagajewski’s “Try to Praise the Mutilated World”?); and more recently, stunning poems in response to the cataclysmic events of COVID and the murder of George Floyd.
The magazine’s poetic influence resides not just in this historical and cultural relevance but in sheer human connection, exemplified by the passing verses that became what Young calls “refrigerator poems”: the ones you tear out and affix to the fridge to read again and again over months and years. Our love for that singular Billy Collins or Ada Limón poem—or lines by a new writer you’ve never heard of but will hear much more from in the future—is what has made The New Yorker a great organ for poetry, a mouthpiece for our changing culture and way of life, even a mirror of our collective soul.
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Elphie: A Wicked Childhood by Gregory Maguire
Hot on the heels of the first part of the film adaptation of the musical Wicked, a new prequel about Elphaba’s childhood is on its way (dedicated to Idina Menzel, Cynthia Erivo, and all the Elphabas in between). We know some of the green-skinned witch’s childhood from the rest of the volumes in Maguire’s Wicked Years series, but this edition fills in gaps, writing of her mother’s death in a humid jungle, her strained relationship with sister, Nessarose, her discovery of Animals, glimmers of her someday powers, and the characters who recognized that her sharp intelligence had potential. While some would argue that the foray is indulgent, fans of Elphaba and of Maguire’s work will be thrilled to once again venture into Oz and discover new characters, cities, and adventures besides. Readers who enjoy the musical or who have only read Wicked will be able to appreciate this as a stand-alone prequel, while fans of the series will eat up the Easter eggs and origin stories. Taken on its own, Elphie is an emotional coming-of-age story that thrums with injustice, regret, and the complicated characters who made a young girl into the serious, stubborn witch destined to take on all of Oz.
HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The recent surge in Wicked’s popularity will mean a flurry of interest in this prequel to the musical’s source material. – Starred Booklist Review
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Girl Anonymous by Christina Dodd
As an employee for Saint Rees Fine Arts Movers, Maarja Daire tries to remain as invisible as possible on the job. She intends to be exceedingly careful working for Mrs. Raine Arundel, but an explosion at the Arundel mansion forces Maarja into the spotlight as she tries to save her employer. Maarja’s courageous actions bring her to the attention of Raine’s son, Dante Arundel, who has inherited control of his crime family’s empire. The question now is whether Dante will recognize Maarja from an incident more than two decades ago, when Maarja’s mother and Dante’s father, a cruel mob boss, were both killed in another explosion at this same location. Given the explosive plot of her latest addictively readable tale, Dodd (Forget What You Know, 2023) cleverly ratchets up her usual exciting mix of suspense and romance to incendiary levels by successfully marrying a wildly imaginative story line involving an ancient feud, a Mafia clan straight out of La Cosa Nostra, and a rare artifact, with plenty of crackling sexual chemistry and a few love scenes guaranteed to scorch readers’ fingers as they turn the pages. – Starred Booklist Review
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Isola by Allegra Goodman
Young, orphaned Marguerite, curious and unruly, is the sole heir to a sizable French estate and a gloriously compelling narrator. Cared for by her loving nurse, Damienne, Marguerite is at the mercy of her mercurial and impervious guardian, Roberval, a voyager, warrior, and, as it turns out, thief. He is supposed to oversee her estate and make a good match for her once she’s of age, but instead he loots and sells her property. When she turns 20, he takes her with him when he sails across the ocean to New France, with loyal Damienne. Also onboard is Auguste, Roberval’s handsome, smart, and sensitive secretary, whom Roberval threatens to kill if he seeks Marguerite’s company. In a bravura departure for Goodman (Sam, 2023), she time-travels to the sixteenth century, bringing forth Marguerite’s opulent first world and the severe deprivation that follows with dramatic sensory detail. There’s no denying the passion between her and Auguste, and no escape from Roberval’s diabolical cruelty as he abandons the lovers and Damienne on a small island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. They display heroic fortitude and ingenuity, but the perils are many, their resources paltry. Based on a scantly documented true story, Goodman’s lush and enthralling castaway tale of betrayal and love, suffering and strength is magnificent in its beauty, mystery, fury, and redemption. – Starred Booklist Review
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Realm of Ice and Sky Triumph, Tragedy, and History’s Greatest Arctic Rescue by Buddy Levy
Levy continues his literary foray into the far north with this intriguing look into aerial exploration of the North Pole. After a brief overview of nineteenth-century “polar mania,”” including the famously doomed Franklin and Greely expeditions, he focuses on the period from 1900 to 1928, when hot air balloons and aircraft joined the international frenzy to reach the Pole. While readers will likely be familiar with Roald Amundsen, whose disappearance and assumed death make for a significant part of the narrative, it is the travails of lesser-known American journalist Walter Wellman and Italian balloonist Umberto Nobile that will likely spark acute reader interest and discussion (this is an excellent choice for book groups). Levy writes not only of the key events impacting these men as they competed to win the pole, he also considers their fears and excitements, their failures and disappointments, and, for Nobile in particular, the implications of a crushing loss. Levy excels at writing vivid history about the polar regions and exploration, and he’s written another winner. – Booklist Review
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
–
Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
–
Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
–
Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
All titles can be requested/checked out through the library.
If you’d like to go the traditional route to request a title on this list and drop by the library, or give us a call – please do!
Our telephone number is: 607-936-3713
–
New York Times Bestseller lists are shared via blog post on Sundays. And the next NYT blog post will be posted on Sunday, March 30, 2025
THE BESTSELLERS
FICTION
1. ONYX STORM by Rebecca Yarros: The third book in the Empyrean series. As enemies gain traction, Violet Sorrengail goes beyond the Aretian wards in search of allies.
2. STORY OF MY LIFE by Lucy Score: A romance writer suffering from writer’s block moves away from Manhattan and finds inspiration in Story Lake, Pa.
3. FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros: Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
4. BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall: Beth must confront her past when the man she once loved as a teenager returns to the village with his son.
5. THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden: Troubles surface when a woman looking to make a fresh start takes a job in the home of the Winchesters.
6. IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros: The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training under the new vice commandant might require her to betray the man she loves.
7. WARD D by Freida McFadden: Patients and staff at a hospital’s mental health unit begin to disappear.
8. THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah: Two sisters are separated in World War II France: one in the countryside, the other in Paris.
9. THE CRASH by Freida McFadden: A pregnant woman, who suffers an injury during a blizzard, is taken in by a couple who might put her life in further jeopardy.
10. THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon: In Maine, 1789, a midwife seeks to uncover the true cause of the death of a man discovered entombed in the Kennebec River.
11. DEEP END by Ali Hazelwood: As the pressure leading up to the Olympics builds so do the feelings Lukas and Scarlett have for each other.
12. THE WEDDING PEOPLE by Alison Espach: A woman who is down on her luck forms an unexpected bond with the bride at a wedding in Rhode Island.
13. LIGHTS OUT by Navessa Allen: As Aly and Josh live out their dark fantasies, someone with sinister intentions impinges on them.
14. VERITY by Colleen Hoover: Lowen Ashleigh is hired by the husband of an injured writer to complete her popular series and uncovers a horrifying truth.
15. WILD SIDE by Elsie Silver: The third book in the Rose Hill series. Tension rises between Tabitha and Rhy
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NON-FICTION
1. CARELESS PEOPLE by Sarah Wynn-Williams: A former Facebook executive gives an account of policies and leadership at the social media platform.
2. THE TELL by Amy Griffin: The founder of the investment firm G9 Ventures recounts her efforts to recover from trauma she experienced during childhood.
3. ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder: Twenty lessons from the 20th century about the course of tyranny.
4. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION by Jonathan Haidt: A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the mental health impacts that a phone-based life has on children.
5. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk: How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
6. THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER by Shari Franke: Franke gives an account of abuse within her family, who gained a following with their YouTube channel “8 Passengers.”
7. THE WAGER by David Grann: The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.
8. CARE AND FEEDING by Laurie Woolever: The author of “Bourdain” reconsiders her life and work in the context of reckonings within the food industry.
9. WAITING ON THE MOON by Peter Wolf: The musician, known for fronting the J. Geils Band, shares remembrances of artistic trailblazers he met during his more-than-six-decade career.
10. PAPER DOLL by Dylan Mulvaney: The actress and content creator details her life pre- and post-transition and right-wing backlash she received online.
11. FROM HERE TO THE GREAT UNKNOWN by Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough: Presley’s memoir, completed by her daughter, explores her relationships and challenges.
12. OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford: A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
13. MURDER THE TRUTH by David Enrich: The New York Times business investigations editor examines a campaign to protect the powerful and quash dissent.
14. I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING by Chelsea Handler: In a collection of essays, the comedian shares some public and private moments from her life.
15. THE BACKYARD BIRD CHRONICLES by Amy Tan: Essays and drawings by the author of “The Joy Luck Club” and “The Bonesetter’s Daughter,” which depict a search for peace through birding.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System* member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
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For more information on library materials and services, including how to get a library card call the library at 607-936-3713.
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*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios or streaming videos)?
Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you!
The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
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Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.
And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
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Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own Grave by Elle Cosimano
Cosimano’s latest Finlay adventure (after Finlay Donovan Rolls the Dice) allows readers to learn more about the series’ key players. Finlay and her sidekick, nanny Vero, are looking forward to a break from crime solving, but when a neighbor’s pipes burst and a body is unearthed in her yard, they must solve this new case. Since Mrs. Haggerty’s house is now a crime scene, she ends up staying at Finlay’s, which creates chaos that might not be all bad. Cosimano uses Mrs. Haggerty’s backstory to give greater depth to the current mysterious happenings and brings up topics worth a good book club discussion. Fans of the series will appreciate that this installment shows growth in Finlay and Nick’s romance, creates space for newer characters to shine, and gives small moments of appreciation to the wider family connections. There are enough explanations of previous hijinks that new readers won’t be lost but not so much that the story gets bogged down. VERDICT A great suggestion for fans of Janet Evanovich, Mary Kay Andrews, or Stephanie Bond. – Library Journal Review
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Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn
The Golden Girls of murder are back–bickering Natalie and Mary Alice, classy Helen, and, of course, ruthless Billie. After the events of Killers of a Certain Age (2022), these sexagenarian assassins are eager to retire yet are thwarted when a colleague dies, an obsidian carving of a wolf clutched in her fist. The symbol harks back to their first job, suggesting that someone is pursuing overdue revenge. Never ones to shy away from danger, they face this threat, and their off-the-books mission takes them to an ocean liner, Italy, Switzerland, and more. As they use wigs and face tape to age themselves down or drawn-on wrinkles and incontinence pants to age themselves up, they gather evidence and hatch plans. In between the action scenes, they also snipe at each other in a way only lifelong friends can while also admitting their fears, such as pursuing relationships as a widow or the looming guilt of a mission gone wrong. Fans of the first book will be eager to return to this gang of kick-butt ladies. – Booklist Review
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The Library Game by Gigi Pandian
A theatrical murder mystery turns from entertainment to crime scene when an actor turns up dead and then disappears. Transforming Gray House’s cottagelike structure into the Gray House Library of Classic Detective Fiction is a labor of love for Tempest Raj. It’s exactly the sort of clever and imaginative transformation her family’s San Francisco Bay-area based Secret Staircase Construction company is known for. Gray House’s late owner, Harold Gray, didn’t live long enough to see his dream come to life, but his heir, Cameron, has ably taken his place in guiding the work. Though Tempest and her team haven’t fully realized Harold’s plan yet, there’s already a murder mystery play evening in the works to celebrate and take advantage of the space. Written by Tempest’s best friend, Ivy Youngblood, the play, set in the 1930s, is almost derailed from its dress rehearsal when actor Lucas Cruz doesn’t show. Luckily, Sanjay Rai, Tempest’s dear friend from her past career as a magician, willingly steps in to play Lucas’ role. All goes well until the mystery gets a little too real-life (and death), and the reason Lucas couldn’t turn up becomes all too apparent. Except it doesn’t, because almost as soon as he shows up with a bullet hole in his chest, his body vanishes. Now Tempest and her friends aren’t sure whether to call the police, especially since Tempest doubts that Hidden Creek Det. Blackburn will be amused by a case of a vanishing corpse. There’s welcome character development and a plot that ends with a bang, all with a touch of whimsy. – Kirkus Review
Reader’s Note: This is the fourth book in the “A Secret Staircase” series; if you’d like to read the series from the beginning, check out book one: Under Lock & Skeleton Key.
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A Map To Paradise by Susan Meissner
Meissner returns with a post-World War II story set in California against the backdrop of the Red Scare. Blacklisted by association, actress Melanie Cole occupies her time pestering her housekeeper, Eva, and seeking the advice of her agoraphobic neighbor, Elwood, through their respective backyards. Eva is a displaced person from Europe, grieving her old life and trying to avoid entanglement with Melanie’s alleged Communist reputation. When Elwood stops appearing for their chats, Melanie sends Eva over to spy on him. The plan backfires, as Elwood’s caretaker, June, who is also his sister-in-law, has her own secrets to guard. The tension among the three women amplifies until they’re forced to trust each other out of necessity. The story moves at a fast clip; regular mystery readers will easily guess what happened to Elwood but will stick with the novel for the motivations behind each character’s choices. The epilogue, where the women reconnect under better circumstances, is nicely done. VERDICT Less somber than Meissner’s previous works, this novel will attract fans of Heather Webb and Melanie Benjamin. – Starred Library Journal Review
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Truth Matters: A Dialogue on Fruitful Disagreement in an Age of Division by Robert P. George & Cornel West
Two leading public intellectuals and dear friends—one progressive, one conservative—explore What is Truth? and Why Does Truth Matter?
In Truth Matters, Cornel West and Robert P. George address a range of social issues on which Americans today are bitterly divided. Their book models robust intellectual engagement and civil discourse as they explore vital questions surrounding the idea of truth and its foundational role in our lives. Along the way, they reflect on social conditions—such as respect for freedom of speech—that must be established and maintained if truth is to be seriously pursued. They also explore the virtues—such as intellectual humility and courage—that must be acquired and practiced if we frail, fallible, fallen human beings are to be determined truth seekers and bold truth speakers.
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Happy reading!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
–
Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
–
Tech & Book Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.
Hi everyone, taking a week of vacation the first week in March, combined with a busy month in Library Land, and I just didn’t quite get to publishing streaming recommendations for March on the first of the month, sorry about that!
So since it is half-way through March, I’m going to do something different and offer a special list of recommended streaming titles from Kanopy, the new streaming service available for free to all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders
Kanopy allows you to stream thousands of videos, for free, on demand.
The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!
All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.
The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.
Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.
The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.
The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.
The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!
You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).
Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.
–
Have questions about how to access digital library content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios & streaming videos)?
Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.
All titles can be requested/checked out through the library.
If you’d like to go the traditional route to request a title on this list and drop by the library, or give us a call – please do!
Our telephone number is: 607-936-3713
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New York Times Bestseller lists are shared via blog post on Sundays. And the next NYT blog post will be posted on Sunday, March 23, 2025.
THE BESTSELLERS
FICTION
1. ONYX STORM by Rebecca Yarros: The third book in the Empyrean series. As enemies gain traction, Violet Sorrengail goes beyond the Aretian wards in search of allies.
2. WILD SIDE by Elsie Silver: The third book in the Rose Hill series. Tension rises between Tabitha and Rhys.
3. FOURTH WING by Rebecca Yarros: Violet Sorrengail is urged by the commanding general, who also is her mother, to become a candidate for the elite dragon riders.
4. BLOOD MOON by Sandra Brown: The producer of a true crime TV series enlists the help of a detective to look into the disappearances of several teenage girls.
5. FAR FROM HOME by Danielle Steel: A woman whose husband was killed after a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler hides out in Normandy under an assumed name.
6. BROKEN COUNTRY by Clare Leslie Hall: Beth must confront her past when the man she once loved as a teenager returns to the village with his son.
7. THE NIGHTINGALE by Kristin Hannah: Two sisters are separated in World War II France: one in the countryside, the other in Paris.
8. IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros: The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training under the new vice commandant might require her to betray the man she loves.
9. THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden: Troubles surface when a woman looking to make a fresh start takes a job in the home of the Winchesters.
10. THE CRASH by Freida McFadden: A pregnant woman, who suffers an injury during a blizzard, is taken in by a couple who might put her life in further jeopardy.
11. DEEP END by Ali Hazelwood: As the pressure leading up to the Olympics builds so do the feelings Lukas and Scarlett have for each other.
12. WARD D by Freida McFadden: Patients and staff at a hospital’s mental health unit begin to disappear.
13. BATTLE MOUNTAIN by C.J. Box: The 25th book in the Joe Pickett series. Nate seeks vengeance while off the grid and Joe looks for the governor’s missing son-in-law.
14. THE FROZEN RIVER by Ariel Lawhon: In Maine, 1789, a midwife seeks to uncover the true cause of the death of a man discovered entombed in the Kennebec River.
15. IF CATS DISAPPEARED FROM THE WORLD by Genki Kawamura: A young postman, who has only months to live, gets an offer from the devil; translated by Eric Selland.
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NON-FICTION
1. THE HOUSE OF MY MOTHER by Shari Franke: Franke gives an account of abuse within her family, who gained a following with their YouTube channel “8 Passengers.”
2. THE TEARS OF THINGS by Richard Rohr: The author of “The Universal Christ” explicates the writings of Jewish prophets and reflects upon modern life.
3. ON TYRANNY by Timothy Snyder: Twenty lessons from the 20th century about the course of tyranny.
4. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk: How trauma affects the body and mind, and innovative treatments for recovery.
5. THE ANXIOUS GENERATION by Jonathan Haidt: A co-author of “The Coddling of the American Mind” looks at the mental health impacts that a phone-based life has on children.
6. THE WAGER by David Grann: The survivors of a shipwrecked British vessel on a secret mission during an imperial war with Spain have different accounts of events.
7. I’LL HAVE WHAT SHE’S HAVING by Chelsea Handler: In a collection of essays, the comedian shares some public and private moments from her life.
8. POVERTY, BY AMERICA by Matthew Desmond: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “Evicted” examines the ways in which affluent Americans keep poor people poor.
9. THE TECHNOLOGICAL REPUBLIC by Alexander C. Karp and Nicholas W. Zamiska: Two senior leaders at Palantir Technologies enumerate what they see as potential global threats to the United States.
10. THE LAST MANAGER by John W. Miller: A biography of Earl Weaver, the Baltimore Orioles manager from 1968 to 1982.
11. THE ART OF THE SNL PORTRAIT by Mary Ellen Matthews with Alison Castle and Emily Oberman: Portraits and behind-the-scenes photographs by the resident photographer for “Saturday Night Live.”
12. HILLBILLY ELEGY by JD Vance: The vice president, in a memoir written shortly after graduating from Yale Law School, looks at the struggles of the white working class through the story of his own childhood.
13. SAY EVERYTHING by Ione Skye: The performer who gained notice in the movie “Say Anything” shares details of her career and relationships.
14. GREENLIGHTS by Matthew McConaughey: The Academy Award-winning actor shares snippets from the diaries he kept over the last 35 years.
15. OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford: A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.
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Have a great Sunday!
Linda
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THE CATALOGS:
Catalog 1: StarCat
StarCat is the catalog of physical materials including print books, DVDs, audiobooks on CD etc. StarCat is available to all patrons of all public libraries in the Southern Tier Library System*
The Digital Catalog (and its companion app Libby) offers all Southern Tier Library System member library patrons access to eBooks, eAudiobooks & eMagazines via a lending model known in Library-ese as “one copy/one user;” that library speak means that eBooks & eAudiobooks found in The Digital Catalog/Libby are like print books found on library shelves, only one patron can check out a copy of a title at a time.
Exception: Magazines found in the digital catalog are available via a different lending model known as simultaneous access. And that fancy library speak means that magazines are available for all patrons to check out at the same time, i.e. if you and all your family and friends wish to read the latest digital edition of Newsweek, all of you can check out the e version of the magazine and read it at the same time.
The Digital Catalog/Libby checkout limit is 5 titles a time.
The Hoopla Digital Catalog (and its companion app, also called Hoopla) offers Southeast Steuben County Library patrons access to a second digital catalog with an on-demand lending model. In library speak, this lending model, like The Digital Catalog/Libby’s magazine lending model, is known as “simultaneous access.” The difference is, the Hoopla catalog offers access to more formats: eBooks, eAudiobooks, eComics, digital albums, TV shows & movies – and all items, in all those formats, are available for patrons to checkout immediately. The Hoopla check out limit is ten titles per month.
Hoopla Formats: All Hoopla content can be accessed on a computer or mobile device, and TV shows and movies can be accessed on computers, mobile devices, smart TVs and media streaming players, i.e. Roku or Apple TV.
Kanopy, is the new streaming video app/catalog available to all Southern Tier Library System members libraries patrons – including patrons of the Southeast Steuben County Library!
You can find the Kanopy app in your app store, or check out the streaming service online at: https://www.kanopy.com/en
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For more information on library materials and services, including how to get a library card call the library at 607-936-3713.
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*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 