Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Hi everyone, here is the list of New York Times Bestsellers for this week. 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, or call, the library – please do!

Our telephone number is: 607-936-3713

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If you’d like to checkout and/or request New York Times Bestsellers online, you can do that too!

There are currently three catalogs available to Southeast Steuben County Library patrons online, that you can access to search for and request New York Times Bestsellers, and other popular books and materials.

All you need is a library card to get started!

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First, the list of bestsellers for this week, and then more information on the three catalogs!

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THE BESTSELLERS

FICTION

1. TOXIC PREY by John Sandford

The 34th book in the Prey series. Letty and Lucas must find an expert on tropical and infectious diseases before a virus becomes weaponized.

2. THE WOMEN by Kristin Hannah

In 1965, a nursing student follows her brother to serve during the Vietnam War and returns to a divided America.

3. THE FAMILIAR by Leigh Bardugo

Luzia Cotado encounters dangers when her magic draws the attention of the disgraced secretary to Spain’s king.

4. A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSES by Sarah J. Maas

After killing a wolf in the woods, Feyre is taken from her home and placed inside the world of the Fae.

5. A COURT OF MIST AND FURY by Sarah J. Maas

The second book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. Feyre gains the powers of the High Fae and a greater evil emerges.

6. JUST FOR THE SUMMER by Abby Jimenez

Justin and Emma, whose exes find soulmates after breaking up with them, have a fling on a private island on Lake Minnetonka.

7. 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.

8. WILD LOVE by Elsie Silver

A billionaire who wants to open a recording studio in Rose Hill is attracted to his best friend’s sister.

9. IRON FLAME by Rebecca Yarros

The second book in the Empyrean series. Violet Sorrengail’s next round of training might require her to betray the man she loves.

10. A COURT OF WINGS AND RUIN by Sarah J. Maas

The third book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. As war approaches, Feyre endeavors to take charge of her magical and political powers.

11. A COURT OF SILVER FLAMES by Sarah J. Maas

The fifth book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. Nesta Archeron is forced into close quarters with a warrior named Cassian.

12. A COURT OF FROST AND STARLIGHT by Sarah J. Maas

The fourth book in the Court of Thorns and Roses series. After alterations incurred by war, Winter Solstice approaches.

13. 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.

14. THE TEACHER by Freida McFadden

A math teacher at Caseham High suspects there is more going on behind a scandal involving a teacher and a student.

15. THE BELOVED by J.R. Ward

The 22nd book in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. Nalla and Nate find an attraction to each other as they fight side by side.

NON-FICTION

1. SOMEHOW by Anne Lamott

Meditations and stories about the transformational power of love by the author of “Dusk, Night, Dawn” and “Bird by Bird.”

2. 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.

3. THE WIDE WIDE SEA by Hampton Sides

The author of “On Desperate Ground” depicts Captain James Cook’s final voyage and the controversies surrounding its legacy.

4. I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy

The actress and filmmaker describes her eating disorders and difficult relationship with her mother.

5. THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

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

6. AGE OF REVOLUTIONS by Fareed Zakaria

The CNN host draws out lessons for the present polarized era from the 17th-century Netherlands, the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution.

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. THE AGE OF MAGICAL OVERTHINKING by Amanda Montell

The linguist and podcast host examines cognitive biases and coping mechanisms used in our current information age.

9. OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford

A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.

10. KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann

The story of a murder spree in 1920s Oklahoma that targeted Osage Indians, whose lands contained oil.

11. THE SECRET LIVES OF BOOKSELLERS AND LIBRARIANS by James Patterson and Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney

Profiles of the workers who connect people with books.

12. NUCLEAR WAR by Annie Jacobsen

The author of “Operation Paperclip” portrays possible outcomes in the minutes following a nuclear missile launch.

13. BURN BOOK by Kara Swisher

The tech journalist and podcast host gives an overview of the tech industry and the foibles of its founders.

14. SOCIOPATH by Patric Gagne

Gagne, who was diagnosed as a sociopath when she was in college, reconnects with someone from her past who helps her chart her future.

15. GET IT TOGETHER by Jesse Watters

The Fox News host gives his take on some people whose political views differ from the ones to which he subscribes.

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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*

Starcat can be found online at: https://starcat.stls.org/

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Catalog 2: The Digital Catalog

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 Digital Catalog is found online at: https://stls.overdrive.com/

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Catalog 3: Hoopla

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.

The Hoopla Catalog is found online at: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

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*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.

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 26, 2024.

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Begin The Beguine by Les Paul

From The Album: The Trio’s Complete Decca Recordings Plus (1936-47) (1997)

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Can’t Sleep At Night by Susan Tedeschi

From The Album: Back To The River (2008)

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Honky Tonk Train Blues by Mead Lux Lewis

From The Album: The Meade Lux Lewis Collection 1927-61 (2016)

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In Memory of Elizabeth Reed by The Allman Brothers Band

From The Album: Idle Wind (1970)

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Life’s Too Short by Lucy Rose

From The Album: This Ain’t The Way You Go Out (2024)

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Mailman Bring Me No More Blues by Buddy Holly

From The Album: Buddy Holly (1957)

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Rockin’ Boogie by Sammy Price

From The Album: The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions – Rockin’ Boogie (2002)

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Rumble by Link Wray

From The Album: Discover 50s Rock’n’Roll (2014) by Various Artists

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Singapore Sadie by Richard Thompson

From The Album: Ship To Shore (2024)

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We’re Gonna Make It by Sue Foley & Peter Karp

From The Album: Beyond The Crossroads (2012)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

 Tony Rice (1977) by Tony Rice

And from the album the song:

And from the album the song:

Hills Of Roan Valley by Tony Rice

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Have a great weekend,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

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The Digital Catalog, web version of Libby

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

–

The Libby App

Libby is the companion app to the Digital Catalog and may be found in the Apple & Google app.

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Hoopla

A catalog of instant check out items, including eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, comic books, TV shows and movies for patrons of the Southeast Steuben County Library.

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Tech 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 published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, April 24, 2024.

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Close To Death by Anthony Horowitz  

Among his many outstanding accomplishments, Horowitz adapted Caroline Graham’s mysteries into the early episodes of the long-running and internationally popular television series Midsomer Murders. Here he’s created a tiny Midsomer village within Riverside Close in Richmond, a town near southwest London. The Close includes every manner of resident, including two ex-nuns and a chess celebrity, and becomes the scene of the murder of Charles Kenworthy, found dead on his porch with the bolt of a crossbow through his chest. Kenworthy was an arrogant and obnoxious man, and nothing in the peaceful complex was the same after he moved in. Each of the original residents had their own reason for wanting him dead. Daniel Hawthorne is called in by the baffled police. He is the shadowy (one might say shady) ex-policeman turned private investigator with whom the author himself has solved four earlier cases. Horowitz has perfected metafiction to the point where the reader settles in comfortably for the fifth time as the self-deprecating author engages with the prickly Hawthorne to create a crime novel based on his investigations. An absolutely engrossing tale, including a locked-room second murder, written with the abundance of whimsy and dark humor that seems to permeate nearly everything that Horowitz creates. Kudos to anyone who can figure this one out! 

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Horowitz followers and all lovers of diabolically clever mysteries are primed for the latest Hawthorne and Horowitz adventure. – Starred Booklist Review  

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The Gathering by C. J Tudor 

Vampires, or “vampyrs,” roam the earth—and provoke heated political debate—in this wildly imaginative supernatural thriller from Tudor (The Drift). Though vampyrs rarely attack humans, hostility toward them in the early 20th century led to the decimation of the species and their relegation to several remote colonies across the United States. In 1983, the federal government enacted the Vampyr Protection Act, declaring them a protected species and polarizing the electorate—right-wing religious fanatics believe vampyrs should be exterminated, while “woke liberals” consider them vulnerable minorities. Against this fraught backdrop, homicide detective Barbara Atkins, who has her PhD in forensic vampyr anthropology, is dispatched to the small town of Deadhart, Alaska, after local teen Marcus Anderson is killed and his neighbors blame a vampyr. While the citizens of Deadhart prepare to cull the nearby vampyr colony in retaliation, Atkins teams up with the local sheriff to investigate Marcus’s death. As they dig, Atkins and the sheriff come to suspect the vampyr theory is cover for a much more personal motive—and then someone else turns up dead. Tudor leverages her snowbound setting for maximum atmosphere, and never lets her high-concept premise overwhelm patient character development. This frostbitten procedural is a bloody good time.  – Starred Publishers Weekly Review 

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The House on Biscayne Bay by Chanel Cleeton 

Just as her newest protagonists, Anna Barnes and Carmen Acosta, brave a confounding maze and a hidden passage, Cleeton (The Cuban Heiress, 2023) intrepidly ventures into the gothic arena with her latest novel. Marbrisa is an extravagant showplace built on Biscayne Bay near Miami by Anna’s husband, Robert. Anna is a mature woman whose story takes place in Miami’s burgeoning post-WWI era, when rich outsiders buying up land and building mansions clash with the locals. Cue the screeching peacocks, the road-blocking, the slumbering alligators, and murder. In alternating segments, Carmen is a young woman who has come to Marbrisa to live with her estranged sister and brother-in-law after her parents’ tragic death in Havana. It’s the early 1940s, the war is starting in Europe, and history seems set to repeat itself at this ill-fated estate. As the story unfolds, readers will wonder if there’s anyone Anna and Carmen can trust. The gruff housekeeper? The handsome gardener? The nebbishy architect? The relentless detective? This is a sure bet for Cleeton fans and lovers of mansion-centric gothic tales. – Booklist Review 

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The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton 

DEBUT After losing her job at a prestigious Houston event-planning company and breaking up with her long-time boyfriend, Amerie Price is trying to launch a solo venture and has absolutely no time for romantic complications. But when her ex and his new girlfriend show up at Amerie’s favorite coffee shop, a random coffee-drinker (who happens to be very cute with a chiseled jawline) makes a convenient fake boyfriend. Vincent Price, a NASA astronaut, gamely plays along with Amerie’s scheme in the moment, but she’s shocked when he suggests they continue the ruse until he blasts off for a six-month mission to space. Vincent’s meddling family is concerned they’ll lose him, and Vincent hopes that having a doting (fake) girlfriend will help soothe their worries about his upcoming mission. Plus, Amerie can move into his apartment, leaving her free to focus on her new business, not making rent. What Amerie doesn’t plan on is truly falling for the secretly sweet Vincent. VERDICT Easton’s debut is perfect for readers seeking romance with excellent character development and STEM at its center. It’s a good read-alike for Denise Williams and Ali Hazelwood. – Library Journal Review  

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An Unfinished Love Story: A Personal History of the 1960s by Doris Kearns Goodwin 

Words matter. With their power to inspire, illuminate, instruct, and influence, the words a president or other prominent individual says at the right time can quell tension or encourage reform, embolden noble deeds or suppress destructive action. As speechwriter and advisor to JFK, RFK, and LBJ, Dick Goodwin wrote some of the most powerful speeches of the 1960s, a time when America was catapulting from the New Frontier to the Great Society and challenged by upheaval at home and abroad. Although he and Doris Kearns were moons orbiting the same political planets, they did not meet until 1972, when both were working at Harvard. Their adjacent experiences and shared passion for politics, justice, and the presidency was the foundation of a love that would last until Goodwin’s death in 2018. As befits all great researchers and eyewitnesses to history, the Goodwins collected a vast trove of archival material from their years as presidential advisers and authors, and it is this unparalleled source material that historian, biographer, and political commentator Kearns Goodwin mines to galvanizing effect in a memoir that purrs with beguiling intimacy and bubbles with effervescent appreciation for an exceptional marriage during more than four decades of profound mutual engagement with politics, social struggles, and each other. 

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The presidential biographer’s renown will lure readers to her most personal book. – 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.

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Information on the three library catalogs

The Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

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Have questions regarding how to access digital library content (i.e. eBooks & eAudios)? Drop by the Reference Desk at the library, or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

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

New York Times Bestsellers Combined Print & eBook

April 21, 2024

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Checkout New York Times Bestsellers through the library!

There are currently three catalogs available to Southeast Steuben County Library patrons that you can access to search for and request New York Times Bestsellers, and other popular books and materials.

All you need is a library card to get started!

Note: If you need assistance to set up initial access to the catalogs, call the Reference Desk at: 607-936-3713 x502 and the staff member on duty will be happy to assist you.

–

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*

Starcat can be found online at: https://starcat.stls.org/

–

Catalog 2: The Digital Catalog

The Digital Catalog (and its companion app Libby) offers all Southern Tier Library System member library patrons access to eBooks, eAudiobooks & digital magazines 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 those people could check out the magazine and read it at the same time.

The Digital Catalog/Libby Formats: eBooks can be accessed on mobile devices (AKA smartphone or tablet), computers and eReaders; eAudiobooks can be listen to on mobile devices and computers; and magazines can be accessed on mobile devices and computers.

The Digital Catalog is found online at: https://stls.overdrive.com/

–

Catalog 3: Hoopla

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.

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.

The Hoopla Catalog is found online at: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

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*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.

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 19, 2024.

–

And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Cow Cow Blues by Cow Cow Davenport

From The Album: N/A

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Have You Ever Loved A Woman by Freddie King

Released as a single in 1960.

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I’m Lost Without You by Memphis Slim

From The Album: The Best of Memphis Slim (2010)

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It Could Be We’re In Love by The Cryin Shames

From The Album: Please Stay (2024)

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Nobody Knows My Troubles/Cold Cold Feeling by Otis Spann with Muddy Waters

From The Album: Otis Spann’s Chicago Blues (1966)

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One Deep River by Mark Knoplfer

From The Album: One Deep River (2024)

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Pinetop’s Boogie Woogie by Pine Top Smith

From The Album: N/A

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So Sick Of Dreaming by Maggie Rogers 

From The Album: Don’t Forget Me (2024)

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 What’s Going On With Ordinary People by The Reds, The Pinks & Purples 

From The Album: Unwishing Well (2024)

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The Way To Your Heart by Bruce Katz

 

From The Album: Solo Ride (2019)

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Have a great weekend,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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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, web version of Libby

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

–

The Libby App

Libby is the companion app to the Digital Catalog and may be found in the Apple & Google app.

–

Hoopla

A catalog of instant check out items, including eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, comic books, TV shows and movies for patrons of the Southeast Steuben County Library.

–

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

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

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Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, April 17, 2024.

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Has Anyone Seen Charlote Salter? A Novel by Nicci French 

The 1990 disappearance of Charlotte Salter, a well-liked mother of four, remained unsolved for decades, burdening the village of Glensted with rumors of infidelity and suspicion. As salt on the wound, the Salters’ close friend, Duncan Ackerly, drowned the day after her disappearance, and Charlotte’s son, Paul, eventually committed suicide. Twenty years later, Charlotte’s remaining adult children, Niall, Ollie, and Etty, have gathered in Glensted to sell the family home. Duncan Ackerly’s sons, Greg and Morgan, have also returned to launch a podcast about the likely connections between Charlotte’s disappearance and their father’s death. With the spotlight on the police’s questionable initial response, Bristol DI Maud O’Connor is sent to Glensted to re-investigate both cases. Maud confronts resistance from her team, raging public criticism of the original investigation, and decades of cold clues with unshakable confidence in the cases’ solvability. French cleverly plays on that suspense by doling out Maud’s plan and clues in tantalizing bits. The wolf hides in sheep’s clothing here, to great effect. – Booklist Review  

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I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger 

Amid the dystopian collapse of the near future, a musician embarks on a quixotic voyage from the shore of Lake Superior. There’s both a playfulness and a seriousness of purpose to the latest from the Minnesota novelist, a spirit of whimsy that keeps hope flickering even in times of darkest despair. Things have gone dangerously dark along the North Shore, and likely for the country as a whole. A comet is coming that augurs ill, a pandemic has wreaked havoc with the public health, an autocratic despot and raging populism have made books and booksellers all but treasonous. There are corpses floating in the lake from climate change, and there are numerous instances of people swallowing something that kills them; the dead are generally considered seekers of whatever comes next (which has to be better than this) rather than suicides. As narrator Rainy sets the scene, “The world was so old and exhausted that many now saw it as a dying great-grand on a surgical table, body decaying from use and neglect, mind fading down to a glow.” Rainy is a bass player in bar bands, a jack of a variety of trades, and devoted husband to Lark, a bibliophile who runs the local bookstore. Before the collapse of the publishing industry, a cult author had been set to publish a volume with the same title as this novel, and finding one of the few advance copies has been like a holy grail for Lark. Then a copy finds her, courtesy of a fugitive pursued by the powers that be, and whatever tranquility Lark and Rainy had achieved is shattered. Rainy takes to the lake to escape the fugitive’s pursuers and reunite with Lark. He experiences a variety of hardship, challenge, and adventure, yet somehow lives to tell the tale that is this novel. The novel’s voice remains engaging, and its spirit resilient, against some staggeringly tough times. – Kirkus Review  

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Nosy Neighbors by Freya Sampson 

Ms. Dorothy Darling knows everything that goes on in Shelley House, a small, ramshackle apartment building in England. The opera-loving septuagenarian keeps watch from her front window, so she knows when her neighbor, Joseph Chambers, has illegally rented his spare room to Kat Bennett, a 25-year-old loner with pink hair. Kat wants nothing more than to keep her distance, so when everyone is served with an eight-week eviction notice, she figures she’ll just move on. But then Joseph is attacked, and Kat stays to watch his dog, Reggie. Dorothy and Kat both have secrets keeping them at Shelley House, and soon they are caught up in Joseph’s campaign to save the building from a shady developer. Sampson (The Lost Ticket, 2022) once again presents a charming story about intergenerational friendship leading to healing. As the narrative alternates between Dorothy and Kat’s distinct voices, readers learn why the two women have their walls up, and have the pleasure of watching those walls come down. This heartwarming tale is full of subtle humor and rich characters. – Booklist Review 

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Old Flames and New Fortunes by Sarah Hogle 

Moonville, a quaint town in rural Ohio, is where Romina Tempest and her two sisters run a whimsical shop full of candles, flowers, and fantasy books, all infused with the sisters’ magic. Romina calls herself a flora fortunist and uses the language of plants to make spellbinding arrangements. The owner of the shop, Trevor, is Romina’s best friend, and they hope to secure a loan from his father to help expand the business. They walk into what they think is a business meeting only to find that Trevor’s father is announcing his impending marriage to the mother of Romina’s high-school sweetheart, Alex King. Furthermore, Alex is there. Right there. The boy who broke her heart over a decade ago is back in Moonville. Romina and Trevor find themselves in the middle of a fake-dating scheme to get back at Alex, but through the chaos, Romina and Alex realize that an ember of their teenage love still burns. This second-chance romance is a bit jumbled at times, but Hogle (You Deserve Each Other, 2020) succeeds in crafting a fun romance with a touch of fantasy. – Booklist Review  

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The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians: Their Stories Are Better Than the Bestsellers by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann 

Not to spoil the secret promised in the title, but what unites all of the booksellers and librarians interviewed for this book is a love of books and reading and other people who love books and reading. Patterson and Eversmann include such luminaries as Judy Blume, who quit writing after 50 years and opened a book store in Key West, and a bookstore owner in Rehoboth, Delaware, who regularly rubs elbows with the Bidens. Several themes emerge: subjects grew up loving reading (there are a few mentions of favorite reads, like the Lord of the Rings series and even James Patterson); they love the community-hub aspect of where they work; and they relish a book-search challenge, like “”the cover is blue.”” What they don’t enjoy are challenges to books, with several entries devoted to those who are fighting for intellectual freedom, like the librarian in Texas who was fired for not taking down a pride display. With its bite-sized chapters, this collection of profiles doesn’t go into much depth, but it will appeal to readers looking for some quick, bookish inspiration.  

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Patterson is always in this category; add to that a topic that’s a natural for all booklovers. – Booklist Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Have questions or want to request a book?

Feel free to call the library! Our telephone number is 607-936-3713.

–

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

–

Information on the three library catalogs

The Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout content on a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

–

Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features on demand checkouts of eBooks, eAudiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV shows. Patron check out limit is 10 items per month.

Hoopla is a Southeast Steuben County Library service available to all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders.

The Hoopla companion app, also called Hoopla is available for mobile devices, smart TVs & media streaming players.

–

StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

–

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

New York Times Bestsellers Combined Print & eBook

April 14, 2024

–

Checkout New York Times Bestsellers through the library!

There are currently three catalogs available to Southeast Steuben County Library patrons, that you can access to search for and request New York Times Bestsellers, and other popular books and materials.

All you need is a library card and password!

Note: If you need assistance to set up initial access to the catalogs, call the Reference Desk at: 607-936-3713 x502 and the staff member on duty will be happy to assist you.

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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*

Starcat is found online at: https://starcat.stls.org/

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Catalog 2: The Digital Catalog

The Digital Catalog (and its companion app Libby) offers all Southern Tier Library System member library patrons access to eBooks, eAudiobooks & digital magazines 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 those people could check out the magazine and read it at the same time.

The Digital Catalog/Libby Formats: eBooks can be accessed on mobile devices (AKA smartphone or tablet), computers and eReaders; eAudiobooks can be listen to on mobile devices and computers; and magazines can be accessed on mobile devices and computers.

The Digital Catalog is found online at: https://stls.overdrive.com/

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Catalog 3: Hoopla

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.

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.

The Hoopla Catalog is found online at: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

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*The Southern Tier Library System includes the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler & Allegheny counties.

Hi everyone, here are our “baker’s” ten streaming recommendations for April 2024.

The next Suggested Viewing post will be out the first Saturday in May 2024.

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April 3, 2204

Ripley, Limited Series (2024) (Netflix)

 

Sight Unseen, Season One (2024) (CW)

 

Star Trek Discovery, Season Five (2024) 

 

April 5, 2024

Mary & George (2024) (Starz) 

 

Sugar (2024) (Apple TV+) 

 

April 11, 2024 

Fallout (2024) (Amazon Prime) 

 

April 12, 2024 

Franklin (2024) (Apple TV+) 

 

Good Times, Season One (2024) (Netflix) 

 

April 14, 2024

The Sympathizer (2024) (Max)

 

April 17, 2024

Our Living World (2024) (Netflix)

April 30, 2024 

The Veil (2024) (Hulu/FX) 

 

 

Hoopla Recommended Stream Of The Month*

Mayfair Witches, Season One (2023)  

Mayfair Witches, Season One Trailer  

 

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Research Links (in other words, articles featuring video reviews for April 2024; in case anyone would like more streaming recommendations!)

https://www.indiewire.com/gallery/april-2024-tv-preview-new-shows-watch

What to Watch (behind paywall – NY Times https://www.nytimes.com/spotlight/what-to-watch)

https://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/tv/what-to-stream-in-april-2024-fallout-ripley-under-the-bridge

https://www.tomsguide.com/entertainment/streaming/what-to-watch-in-april-2024-15-new-movies-and-shows-coming-to-netflix-prime-video-and-more

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*You can stream TV shows & movies from Hoopla online, or via the Hoopla app for free – all you need is a library card to get started!

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 12, 2024.

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Do You Feel Like We Do by Peter Frampton

From The Album: Frampton Comes Alive! (1976)

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Going Home (Theme From Local Hero) by Mark Knopfler & Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes

From The Album: Mark Knopfler & Mark Knopfler’s Guitar Heroes (2024)

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Just Won’t Burn by Susan Tedeschi

From The Album: Just Won’t Burn (1998)

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Long Nights (The Feeling They Call The Blues) by B. B. King

From The Album: King Of The Blues (1960)

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Money That’s What I Want by Buddy Guy

From The Album: A Man And The Blues (1968)

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Nobody’s Fool by Joanne Shaw Taylor

From The Album: The Blues Album (2021)

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Raunchy by Duane Eddy

From The Album: Twangin’ the Golden Hits (1965)

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Real Man by Bonnie Raitt

From The Album: Nick Of Time (1989)

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Snowy Wood by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (with Mick Taylor on guitar)

From The Album: Crusade (1968)

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Super-Natural by John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers (with Peter Green on Guitar)

From The Album: A Hard Road (1967)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

Local Hero (The Original Soundtrack) by Mark Knopfler

And from the album the song:

 Freeway Flyer

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Have a great weekend,

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

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The Digital Catalog, web version of Libby

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

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The Libby App

Libby is the companion app to the Digital Catalog and may be found in the Apple & Google app.

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Hoopla

A catalog of instant check out items, including eBooks, downloadable audiobooks, comic books, TV shows and movies for patrons of the Southeast Steuben County Library.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, with this posting we will be switching to a slightly different format, in that I will suggest five books to read each week, instead of ten.

Our weekly Suggested Reading Five posts, combined with the recent addition of our monthly New Books Coming Your Way posts, should offer plenty of suggested reading recommendations for everyone.  

However, if you’re in need of even more reading recommendations than you find on the Tech & Book Talk blog, please feel free to stop by the Circulation Desk or Reference Desk at the library and staff will be happy to assist you in finding even more books to read!  We’ll even be happy to print off author readings lists for you, to help you keep track of which books you have, or haven’t, read by your favorite authors! 

Alternatively, you can send me an email with your book-related questions. My email address is: reimerl@stls.org 

Have a great day, 

Linda Reimer, SSCL  

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Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, April 10, 2024.

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The Cemetery Of Untold Stories: A Novel by Julia Alvarez 

Alvarez (Afterlife, 2020) brings the magic again in this nesting box of a novel. Writer Alma, Alvarez’s stand-in for a touch of autobiographical fiction, and her sisters Refuge, Consolation, and Pity, the English versions Alma often invokes for Amparo, Consuelo, and Piedad, have inherited property in the Dominican Republic. The sisters are not happy with Alma’s decision to make over one of the parcels in the eponymous cemetery. She and her sculptor friend, Brava, haul boxes of her unfinished manuscripts there, and she buries the pages that won’t burn, hoping to finally be free of them. As Alma and Brava transform the cemetery plot with statues and install a gate that opens only when a story is told, the surrounding neighborhood watches and wonders. Alma hires one of the neighbors to be the cemetery’s caretaker, and the restless ghosts/statues tell sensitive Filomena their stories. These tales surround and crisscross each other as Filomena and her family; Alma’s father, Dr. Manuel Cruz; and Bienvenida Inocencia, the discarded first wife of the brutal dictator Trujillo, are linked in surprising ways, most especially in a humanity that transcends pathos and passion. May Alvarez continue to excavate stories for many years to come!  

HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The best-selling Alvarez has a committed readership, and word of this inventive novel will also attract new followers. – Booklist Review  

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Erasure by Percival Everett 

Percival Everett’s blistering satire about race and publishing, now adapted for the screen as the Academy Award-winning AMERICAN FICTION, directed by Cord Jefferson and starring Jeffrey Wright 

Thelonious “Monk” Ellison’s writing career has bottomed out: his latest manuscript has been rejected by seventeen publishers, which stings all the more because his previous novels have been “critically acclaimed.” He seethes on the sidelines of the literary establishment as he watches the meteoric success of We’s Lives in Da Ghetto, a first novel by a woman who once visited “some relatives in Harlem for a couple of days.” Meanwhile, Monk struggles with real family tragedies—his aged mother is fast succumbing to Alzheimer’s, and he still grapples with the reverberations of his father’s suicide seven years before. 

In his rage and despair, Monk dashes off a novel meant to be an indictment of Juanita Mae Jenkins’s bestseller. He doesn’t intend for My Pafology to be published, let alone taken seriously, but it is—under the pseudonym Stagg R. Leigh—and soon it becomes the Next Big Thing. How Monk deals with the personal and professional fallout galvanizes this audacious, hysterical, and quietly devastating novel. 

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The Morningside: A Novel by Téa Obreht 

Silvia, a tall, worried, intrepid 11-year-old, and her wiry, pragmatic, reticent mother, climate refugees, finally reach waterlogged Island City and the Morningside, a luxury apartment building that, like everything on this near-future Earth, has seen better days. The superintendent is Silvia’s Aunt Ena, who tells heart-stopping stories of the lost old country and the family Silvia knows nothing about, since her intractable mother insists on keeping their past secret. Silvia soon becomes obsessed with Bezi Duras, the mysterious woman who lives in the penthouse with her enormous dogs, convinced that she is a Vila, “a spirit of the mountain” with epic powers. As in her previous richly imagined and profoundly insightful novels, Tiger’s Wife (2011) and Inland (2019), Obreht writes at the crossroads of myth and history, but here with a twist as she envisions a catastrophic tomorrow in which rampaging forces of nature and human atrocities intensify in impact and scope. Silvia’s narration is a marvel of evolving perception under duress as she navigates the “world beneath the world” and a “cosmos of dangers.” With fairy-tale eeriness, a man with a staggering backstory running a pirate radio station, Silvia’s mother’s treacherous work as a salvage diver in the city’s flooded towers and, finally, her harrowing revelations, this is a bewitchingly atmospheric, psychologically lush, and deeply knowing tale of ancient sorrows and coalescing crises, courage and fortitude. – Booklist Review  

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Table For Two: Stories by Amor Towles 

In his first collection, Towles sequel-izes his debut novel, Rules of Civility (2011), with a 200-page novella and adds six short fictions involving unlikely encounters and unexpected outcomes. Set in the late 1930s, the novella, Eve in Hollywood, extends the story of Evelyn Ross, nervy sidekick of Rules protagonist Katey Kontent. On a train from New York to Los Angeles, the flinty, facially scarred blond, impulsively rejecting a return to her home in Indiana, strikes up a friendship with widowed former homicide cop Charlie Granger. They meet months later in L.A. when Eve’s cutely met new friend, starlet Olivia de Havilland, is blackmailed over surreptitiously taken nude photos. In classic noir fashion, an untrustworthy man of significant girth is at the heart of the plot. The book’s other lively pairings include a used bookseller and a young would-be writer who finds his calling forging signatures of famous authors for him (Paul Auster plays a key role); a newly committed concertgoer and an older patron who drives him to distraction by secretly recording the music; and two travelers stranded at the airport who share a cab ride to a hotel, where one of them transforms from a harmless nice guy into a raging alcoholic and the other attempts to drag him away from the bar on desperately phoned orders from the man’s wife. Towles has fun leaping ahead with his narratives. In a cruel twist of fate, a peasant in late-czarist Russia pays a price for daring to profit from holding people’s places on excessively long food lines in Moscow. Towles sometimes lays on the philosophical wisdom and historical knowledge a bit, but the novella and all the stories are treated to his understated (and occasionally mischievous) irony. A sneakily entertaining assortment of tales. – Kirkus Review 

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The Truth About The Devlins by Lisa Scottoline  

The ne’er-do-well son of a successful Irish American family gets dragged into criminal complications that suggest the rest of the Devlins aren’t exactly the upstanding citizens they appear. The first 35 years in the life of Thomas “TJ” Devlin have been one disappointment after another to his parents, lawyers who founded a prosperous insurance and reinsurance firm, and his more successful siblings, John and Gabby. A longtime alcoholic who’s been unemployable ever since he did time for an incident involving his ex-girlfriend Carrie’s then 2-year-old daughter, TJ is nominally an investigator for Devlin & Devlin, but everyone knows the post is a sinecure. Things change dramatically when golden-boy John tells TJ that he just killed Neil Lemaire, an accountant for D&D client Runstan Electronics. Their speedy return to the murder scene reveals no corpse, so the brothers breathe easier–until Lemaire turns up shot to death in his car. John’s way of avoiding anything that might jeopardize his status as heir apparent to D&D is to throw TJ under the bus, blaming him for everything John himself has done and adding that you can’t trust anything his brother has said since he’s fallen off the wagon. TJ, who’s maintained his sobriety a day at a time for nearly two years, feels outraged, but neither the police investigating the murder nor his nearest and dearest care about his feelings. Forget the forgettable mystery, whose solution will leave you shrugging instead of gasping, and focus on the circular firing squad of the Devlins, and you’ll have a much better time than TJ. As an adjunct member says, “You’re not a family, you’re a force.” Exactly, though not in the way you’d expect. – Kirkus Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda

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Have questions or want to request a book?

Feel free to call the library! Our telephone number is 607-936-3713.

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

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Information on the three library catalogs

Digital Catalog: https://stls.overdrive.com/

The Digital Catalog, is an online catalog containing eBooks, eAudiobooks, and digital magazines. You can use your library card and checkout/download content to a PC; you can also use the companion app, Libby, to access titles on your mobile devices; so you can enjoy eBooks and eAudiobooks on the go!

All card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can check out items from the Digital Catalog.

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Hoopla Catalog: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

The Hoopla Catalog features instant 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 App is available for Android or Apple mobile devices, PCs, Macs*, smart TVs & media streaming players.

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StarCat: The catalog of physical/traditional library materials: https://starcat.stls.org

Card holders of all Southern Tier Library System member libraries can access StarCat to search for and request materials available at libraries through out the Southern Tier Library System.

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*You must have an active Internet connection to access Hoopla content on a Mac.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.