Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Hi everyone, here are our recommended reads for the week!

*More information on the three catalogs and available formats is found at the end of the list of recommended reads*

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are  published on Wednesday.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, December 13, 2023.

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Breaking In: A Novel by Tyler Schwanke 

(Available Formats: Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudio) 

Teens try to reclaim what’s theirs in the cutthroat world of Hollywood. Since before her father died in a botched bank robbery, 17-year-old aspiring filmmaker Millie Blomquist has dreamed of becoming a famous director of heist films. She finally gets the chance to pursue her dreams at the Manhattan Movie Academy, where she is working with friends Paz, Devin, and Jordan, when her idol, famed director and academy founder Ricky O’Naire, is arrested for embezzlement. The school collapses before her summer program is even over. Seven months later, Millie is back home in Fargo, North Dakota, trying to make movies on her own when she sees the trailer for recently exonerated O’Naire’s new project–only to realize it’s the film about her father she presented to him at the academy. Desperate to hold him responsible, Millie organizes Paz, Devin, and Jordan to carry out a real-life heist and take O’Naire’s materials ransom. But with the stakes ramping up, they don’t realize how dangerous things are about to become. Given her personal history with heists gone wrong, Millie’s naiveté is occasionally unbelievable, and readers not deeply familiar with heist films may have trouble with the endless movie references, but overall, this is a compelling read that doesn’t shy away from slightly darker content. Main characters are cued White; contextual clues may indicate that Paz is Latine and Jordan is Black. A fast-paced homage to the classic heist film. – Kirkus Review  

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Daughters of Nantucket by Julie Gerstenblatt 

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudio) 

In a youthful, spirited voice, Keylor Leigh narrates a sweeping novel that takes place on Nantucket Island in the summer of 1846. The story is told from the points of view of three characters: a lonely sea captain’s wife, a progressive librarian who is also an astronomer, and a pregnant Black business owner. Leigh gives all three women distinctive voices, and listeners come to understand their viewpoints, prejudices, and longings. All three are tested by the horrendous fire that destroys many homes and businesses. The island tragedy alters the lives and perspectives of the women. This work of historical fiction is fast paced, informative, richly detailed, and filled with memorable characters. Leigh keeps the story moving and listeners engaged. AudioFile Review  

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Mister Lullaby: A Novel by J. H. Markert 

(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudio) 

The small town of Crooked Tree is home to Dr. Robert Bookman, a well-known specialist in the field of nightmares, and his grandson, horror novelist Ben Bookman. It’s also where veteran detective Winchester Mills and rookie Samantha Blue investigate a murderer who sews his victims into corn husk cocoons, a crime that mirrors details in Ben’s new book. Now the detectives must find the link between Ben, his grandfather, and the evil plaguing Crooked Tree before another written death becomes real. The town of Crooked Tree is less Stephen King’s bucolic Castle Rock and more a darker version of Batman’s Gotham City, meaning the villains’ acts could easily strain one’s suspension of disbelief. The characters themselves read like archetypes, from the grizzled detective to the quirky, haunted writer. This might be a plus for those fans who love Dean Koontz thrillers, however, as the book’s pacing doesn’t give the reader time to poke at plot holes but lets them simply enjoy the dark ride.

VERDICT Markert’s (Midnight at the Tuscany Hotel, published under the name James Markert) first horror novel is both a literary thrill ride and a supernaturally satisfying guilty pleasure. – Library Journal Review  

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The Prospectors: A Novel by Ariel Djanikian 

(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudio) 

Alice Bush is excited to welcome her sister Ethel and brother-in-law Clarence Berry home from Yukon, Canada, to celebrate the couple’s prosperous claims in the Klondike Gold Rush, and even more excited to join the couple on the return trip north. Once there, she discovers how rough living conditions are for the newly arrived, as well as how much worse they are for the First Nations people pushed off their land and into domestic work. Over a century later, Anna and her grandfather, descendants of the Bush-Berrys, are trying to right old wrongs with one Native Canadian family in particular. By using the perspective of one main character in each time line to tell their generation’s story and the trauma they pass down and inherit, Djanikian creates strong emotional attachments and builds subtle tension for readers. By explaining the gold rush’s historical background and narrating everyday life for prospectors, she provides a solid framework for exploring issues of racism, settler colonialism, and exploitation of natural resources. This engaging book will appeal to fans of Leon Uris, James Michener, and Herman Wouk. – Booklist Review  

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Silver Lady by Mary Jo Putney 

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook) 

Putney launches an exciting new historical romance series set in 19th-century Cornwall. Bran had a rough start in life after being cast out as a young child by his birth father because of his gift of intuition; however, he found a wonderful new family when he was taken in by Lord and Lady Tremayne. Many years later, circumstances require that Bran face his birth parents, but he doesn’t expect to also encounter and rescue a compelling and beautiful lady in the woods. That lady, Merryn, struggles to overcome her mystical stupor and amnesia to escape her captors and is grateful for Bran’s assistance. Bran and Merryn are instantly drawn to each other and find that Merryn’s extraordinary gifts have put her in the middle of a plot by the French and some dangerous smugglers. They must work together using their gifts, which only makes their bond and passion stronger.

VERDICT Recommended for readers who like some fantasy in their historical romance and appreciate stories with chosen family and strong women. – Library Journal Review  

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Steeped In Secrets by Lauren Elliott 

(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudio)

Opening a tea shop brings surprises welcome and unwelcome for a recent divorcee. Elliott’s first page amounts almost to a parody of a shopkeeper cozy. Having shed her faithless husband, Brad, Shayleigh Myers gazes at the quaint Victorian houses lining the main street of picturesque Bray Harbor, California, “finding it hard to believe she was actually back in the small town she thought she had left behind forever.” But this series opener has a twist. Instead of a coffee shop, bakery, or candle outlet with a preciously punning name, the emporium Shay inherits from Bridget Early, a woman she barely knew, is Crystals & CuriosiTEAS, specializing in herbs, teas, and objects of the occult. In life, Bridget read tea leaves and was rumored to possess special healing powers that Shay’s beginning to believe she may share. So instead of selling the shop, as the pushy realtor presses her to do, she refurbishes the dusty old place with the help of Tassi, the niece of her old friend Joanne, who owns Cuppa-Jo, Main Street’s coffee shop. Since every cozy needs a murder, Shay’s renovations are soon halted by the discovery of a corpse on her roof. Her obligatory romantic interest is Liam Madigan, owner of the pub next door to CuriosiTEAS. If all this sounds pretty formulaic, the discovery of an amulet with mystical powers, a box of mysterious old photos, and the lingering presence of Spirit, a mongrel with uncanny intuition, take Shay along a road less traveled. A promising series debut. 

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The Twelve Days of Murder by Andreina Cordani 

(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudio)  

YA novelist Cordani makes an impressive adult debut with this devious holiday whodunit. Twelve years ago, a group of university friends formed a murder mystery cosplaying group called the Masquerade Society. During their final game, the group’s ringleader, Karl, went missing, and another member’s expensive necklace vanished. In the present, each of the society’s former members—Charley, Leo, Sam, Gideon, Pan, and Shona—have been summoned by a mysterious invitation to a hunting lodge in the Scottish Highlands for a Christmas reunion game. What begins as lighthearted fun turns grave when Pan, who’d been assigned the role of “Lady Partridge,” is found dead and dangling from a pear tree. As the body count starts to rise, the group is forced to reopen questions about what happened to Karl all those years ago, and determine who among them poses a threat to the others. Cordani starts in the key of a holiday cozy but gets dark fast, a risky transition she pulls off without a hitch. Mystery lovers of all stripes will walk away satisfied. – Publishers Weekly Review

  

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Unladylike Lessons In Love by Amita Murray 

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoople Instant Checkout eBook) 

As the out-of-wedlock daughter of an English earl and his Indian mistress, Lila Marleigh is well acquainted with life on the outskirts of society. However, she does enjoy some degree of social status as the eccentric hostess of a celebrated gambling salon. One ill-fated evening, she is confronted at her salon by both Ivor Tristram, who accuses her of being his father’s mistress, and Maisie, a friend she let down in the past, who is now a pregnant prostitute in desperate need of help. Against the odds, the three join forces, venturing from society soirees to seedy slums to solve a crime and clear an innocent man’s name. Murray (“Arya Winters” mystery series) makes her romance debut with this first series installment, a Regency romance that doubles as a moving mystery. Rich, realistic detail immerses readers in all manner of London locales, from regal to rat-infested. The narrative is both charming and charged with suspense, yielding a captivating and compelling reading experience.  

VERDICT This book will appeal to readers seeking a multicultural historical romance heavy on adrenaline and intrigue. Recommended for fans of Sarah MacLean, Eva Leigh, and Julia Quinn. – Library Journal Review  

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Window Shopping: A Novel by Tessa Bailey  

(Available Formats: eBook & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook) 

A sizzling, standalone, feel-good opposites attract holiday romance from Tessa Bailey, #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer- now in a beautiful new package! 

Two weeks before Christmas and all through Manhattan, shop windows are decorated in red and green satin. Stella’s standing alone outside a famous department store, when a charming man asks her opinion on the décor. 

It’s a tragedy in tinsel, she says, unable to lie. Then he asks for a better idea, with a twinkle in his eye. She didn’t know he owned the place, when he put her on the spot, and now she’s working for that man, trying to ignore that he’s hot. 

But as a down-on-her-luck girl with a difficult past, Stella knows how to make a good opportunity last. So she gives it her all, working without stopping. Trying to resist temptation, because she’s just window shopping. 

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Yours For The Taking by Gabrielle Korn  

(Available Formats: Print Book)  

Korn makes her fiction debut (after the essay collection Everybody (Else) Is Perfect) with an alluring story of a feminist dystopia. It’s 2050, and unchecked climate change has caused civilization to crumble amid dangerous storms and disappearing coastal areas. The story unfolds through intersecting narratives of various women. Among them are Shelby, who is accompanying her billionaire boss Jacqueline Millender on a space shuttle orbiting Earth, and Ava, who gains acceptance to Jacqueline’s city-size Inside Project, a series of weather-resistant tunnels in New York City that allow people to move between buildings without exposure to the worsening climate. Korn also portrays life on Earth for the less fortunate, including Ava’s ex-girlfriend, Orchid, who is forced to fend for herself on the dying planet. As a member of Inside, Ava lets her life be designed and controlled by Jacqueline. There are no men allowed into the tunnels, as Jacqueline has determined that the planet can only be healed by eliminating the patriarchy. Before the end, though, Ava uncovers the dark side of Jacqueline’s vision for populating the next generation. Korn’s conceits are as provocative as her characters are well-rounded. Readers will eat up this distinctive work of climate fiction. – Publishers Weekly 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.

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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, Downloadable Audiobooks, digital magazines and a handful of streaming videos. The catalog, which allows one to download content to a PC, also has a companion app, Libby, which you can download to your mobile device; so you can enjoy eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks 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, Downloadable Audiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV series. Patron check out limit is 6 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 devices, 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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Format Note: Under each book title you’ll find a list of all the different formats that specific title is available in; including: Print Books, Large Print Books, CD Audiobooks, eBooks & Downloadable Audiobooks from the Digital Catalog (Libby app) and Hoopla eBooks & Hoopla Downloadable Audiobooks (Hoopla app).

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Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.

New York Times Bestsellers can be requested through StarCat (for print books) & The Digital Catalog/Libby for eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks. Select titles may also be checked out, on demand, through the Hoopla Catalog.

For more information on the three catalogs skip to the section below the bestselling titles*

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New York Times Bestseller blog posts are published on Sundays. And the next New York Times blog post will be posted in two weeks on Sunday, December 10, 2023.

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FICTION

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ALEX CROSS MUST DIE by James Patterson

The 32nd book in the Alex Cross series. When a jet is gunned down, Cross goes back into action. 

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ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

The lives of a blind French girl and a gadget-obsessed German boy before and during World War II.

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THE BALL AT VERSAILLES by Danielle Steel

Four young women are invited to an event, which may change their lives, at the Palace of Versailles in the summer of 1959.

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DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver

Winner of a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. A reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in the mountains of southern Appalachia.

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DIRTY THIRTY by Janet Evanovich

The 30th book in the Stephanie Plum series. Plum tracks a local jeweler’s former security guard and has an overnight stakeout with relatives.

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THE EDGE by David Baldacci

The second book in the 6:20 Man series. Travis Devine investigates the murder of the C.I.A. operative Jenny Silkwell in rural Maine.

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THE EXCHANGE by John Grisham

In a sequel to “The Firm,” Mitch McDeere, who is now a partner at the world’s largest law firm, gets caught up in a sinister plot.

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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.

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THE HEAVEN & EARTH GROCERY STORE by James McBride

Secrets held by the residents of a dilapidated neighborhood come to life when a skeleton is found at the bottom of a well.

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HOLLY by Stephen King

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The private detective Holly Gibney investigates whether a married pair of octogenarian academics had anything to do with Bonnie Dahl’s disappearance.

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ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace

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Anastasia might need the help of the captain of a college hockey team to get on the Olympic figure skating team.

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INHERITANCE by Nora Roberts

After the death of her mysterious uncle, a graphic designer receives an inheritance that stipulates she must live in a haunted Victorian house for at least three years.

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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.

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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

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A scientist and single mother living in California in the 1960s becomes a star on a TV cooking show.

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THE LITTLE LIAR by Mitch Albom

The actions of an 11-year-old boy help facilitate the delivery of Jewish residents, including his family, to Auschwitz.

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RESURRECTION WALK by Michael Connelly

The seventh book in the Lincoln Lawyer series. Haller and Bosch team up to prove the innocence of a woman in prison for killing her husband.

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THE SECRET by Lee Child and Andrew Child

The 28th book in the Jack Reacher series. It’s 1992 and Reacher looks into the cause of a string of mysterious deaths.

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TWISTED LOVE by Ana Huang

The first book in the Twisted series. Secrets emerge when Ava explores things with her brother’s best friend.

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NON-FICTION

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BEHIND THE SEAMS by Dolly Parton with Holly George-Warren

The country music legend shares stories about her favorite outfits she has worn on and off the stage.

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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

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

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ELON MUSK by Walter Isaacson

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The author of “The Code Breaker” traces Musk’s life and summarizes his work on electric vehicles, private space exploration and artificial intelligence.

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FRIENDS, LOVERS, AND THE BIG TERRIBLE THING by Matthew Perry

The late actor, known for playing Chandler Bing on “Friends,” shares stories from his childhood and his struggles with sobriety.  

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GHOSTS OF HONOLULU by Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll Jr.

The story of a Japanese American naval intelligence agent, a Japanese spy and events in Hawaii before the start of World War II.

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I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy

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

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KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann

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

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KILLING THE WITCHES by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

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The 13th book in the conservative commentator’s Killing series gives a portrayal of the events of 1692 and 1693 in Salem Village, Mass.

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MY EFFIN’ LIFE by Geddy Lee with Daniel Richler

The musician known for his work with the band Rush chronicles his life as the child of Holocaust survivors and his time in the limelight.

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MY NAME IS BARBRA by Barbra Streisand

The EGOT winner chronicles her journey in show business and reveals details about some of her personal relationships. 

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OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford

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A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.

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PREQUEL by Rachel Maddow

The MSNBC host and co-author of “Bag Man” details a campaign to overthrow the U.S. government and install authoritarian rule prior to and during our involvement in World War II. 

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TEDDY AND BOOKER T.by Brian Kilmeade

The Fox News host gives an account of the relationship between President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington.

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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.

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THE WOMAN IN ME by Britney Spears

The Grammy Award-winning pop star details her personal and professional experiences, including the years she spent under a conservatorship overseen by her father.  

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Search for and request books online!

eBooks & Audiobooks Through The Digital Catalog & Libby

Through The Digital Catalog (online) : https://stls.overdrive.com/

Through the Digital Catalog companion app Libby, which is found in your app store.

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

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Through Hoopla!

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

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

The Hoopla App is available online, for Android or Apple devices and most 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 throughout the Southern Tier Library System.

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Also of Note: If a New York Times Bestseller isn’t yet available in any of the three catalogs, you can contact the library and request to be notified when it becomes available.

Southeast Steuben County Library Telephone Number: 607-936-3713.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

This blog post includes all the new titles that have been ordered by the library this month; and are either already published, or will be published in the month ahead of us.

Some of these titles have arrived and can be requested through StarCat; other titles are not yet ready to circulate (and thus are not yet found in StarCat).

So, if you see a book you’d love to read, but don’t find it listed in StarCat, send me an email and let me know which title you’d like to read; and I will place it on hold for you, when it is ready to circulate.

My email address is: reimerl@stls.org

And just a little note, the library ordered books, monthly, on a 10-month ordering schedule, from January through October, so there are only a few new titles coming to the library’s collection this month.

And here is list the list of New Books Coming Your Way for December 2023:

Heartstopper #5: A Graphic Novel by Alice Oseman (12.19.2023)

What Really Happens in Vegas: True Stories of the People Who Make Vegas, Vegas by James Patterson (12.4.2023)

Winter Turning: A Graphic Novel (Wings of Fire Graphic Novel #7) by Tui T. Sutherland (12.26.2023)

Yours for the Taking by Gabrielle Korn (12.5.2023)

New Books is a monthly post; coming on the first Saturday of the month.

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSC Library

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Accessing The Catalogs:

And the direct link to our catalog of physical materials, AKA StarCat, is: https://starcat.stls.org/

The direct link to the online version of the Digital Catalog (companion app Libby, found in your app store) is: https://stls.overdrive.com/

And the Hoopla catalog (which is like Netflix in that all content* is available on-demand & which also has a complementary app, simply called Hoopla) can be accessed online at: https://www.hoopladigital.com/

*Hoopla content includes Audiobooks, eBooks, comic books, TV shows & Movies (A Smart TV app is available),

Hi everyone, here are our streaming recommendations for the month ahead of us, in this case, December 2023.

The next recommended streaming post will be out January 1, 2024.

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Streaming Picks of the Month

December 1  

Candy Cane Lane (2023) (Amazon Prime Video) 

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The Shepherd (2023) (Disney+) 

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Slow Horses Season 3 (2023) (Apple TV+) 

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December 7  

The Archies (2023) (Netflix) 

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December 8 

Leave The World Behind (2023) (Netflix) 

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Merry Little Batman (2023) (Amazon Prime Video)

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December 14 

The Crown Season 6, Part 2 (2023) (Netflix) 

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December 15 

Reacher Season 2 (2023) (Amazon Prime Video) 

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December 20 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (2023) (Disney+) 

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December 22 

Rebel Moon: Part I: A Child of Fire (2023) (Netflix)  

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December 25

Doctor Who Holiday Special: The Church on Ruby Road (2023)

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Hoopla Streaming Pick of the Month

Oklahoma! (1955)

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Oklahoma! Trailer (1955)

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Have a great weekend,

Linda

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References

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,

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Coffee House Blues by Lightin’ Hopkins

From The Album: Blues for Gamblers / Lightnin’ Hopkins with Brownie Mcghee & Sonny Terry (Live) (2015)

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Compared To What by Les McCann with Eddie Harris

Studio Version From The Album: Les McCann Plays the Hits (1966)

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Fairytale of New York by The Pogues with Kirsty MacColl

From The Album: If I Should Fall from Grace with God (1988)

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Flying (From Peter Pan Soundtrack) 

 

From The Album: Luna (2023) 

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It Was Always You by Matthew Morgan with Alexa Barchini

From The Album: A Study In Swing (2023)

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Long As I Can See The Light by Dolly Parton with John Fogerty  

 

From The Album: Rockstar (2023) 

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Maple Leaf Rag by Jelly Roll Morton

From The Album: The Complete Library of Congress Recordings (2005)

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The Sun Rose This Morning by Mississippi Fred McDowell

From The Album: My Home Is In The Delta (1965)

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Tennessee Border by Hank Williams

From The Album: Alone With His Guitar (2000)

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We The Cats by Joe Jackson 

 

From The Album: Jumpin’ Jive (1981) 

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And just for fun, here is the original: 

Jumpin’ Jive by Cab Calloway from the film Stormy Weather (1943) 

 

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

Social Music (2016) by Jon Baptiste

And from the album the song:

The Jazz Man Speaks (Maple Leaf Rag) by Jon Batiste

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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, here are our recommended reads for the week!

*More information on the three catalogs and available formats is found at the end of the list of recommended reads*

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are  published on Wednesday.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, December 6, 2023.

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The Autobiography of Benjamin Sisko 

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The fascinating life of Starfleet’s celebrated captain, and Bajor’s Emissary of the Prophets, celebrating the 30th anniversary of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. 

Benjamin Sisko tells the story of his career in Starfleet, and his life as a father and Bajor’s Emissary to the Prophets. Chart his rise through the ranks, his pioneering work designing the Defiant class, his critical role as ambassador and leader during the Dominion War, and his sacred standing as a religious leader of his adopted home. 

Explore the hidden history of his childhood and early career in Starfleet, and the innermost thoughts of the man who made first contact with the wormhole aliens and opened safe passage to the Gamma Quadrant, and united Starfleet, Klingon and Romulan forces to defeat the Dominion. Discover Sisko’s personal take on his confidantes Lieutenant Dax and Major Kira Nerys, the enigmatic Garak, and his adversaries, Gul Dukat and Kai Winn, as well as his fatherly advice for his son Jake.  

Passing on lessons from father to son, from his experiences with the Prophets to the writings of Benny Russell, Sisko’s story is a unique phenomenon in Starfleet and human history, told in the way only he can. 

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The Beautiful And The Wild by Peggy Townsend  

(Available Formats: Print Book)

One woman’s quest to survive the harsh Alaskan wilderness and the even harsher people is a riveting read of determination and perseverance from Townsend (The Thin Edge). Growing up poor, abused, and isolated, Liv is working as a waitress when she meets and falls hard for charismatic filmmaker Mark. When Mark’s film career implodes, he convinces Liv to travel with him, getting temporary jobs only when they run low on funds. When their son Xander is born with a rare genetic condition, Liv and Mark settle down. Life is hard but Liv is happy, even though Mark is moody and sometimes disappears for days. When Mark dies by suicide, Liv is devastated but soon discovers signs that Mark might have faked his death. Following clues to rural Alaska, Liv finds him. Mark, a follower of a philosopher who preaches hedonistic pleasure above all else, encourages Liv to join their group. When she refuses, Mark holds her prisoner. In desperation, Liv pretends to change her mind while plotting to escape with Xander. VERDICT Jumping between the past and present, this novel is recommended for all collections. Readers will sympathize with Liv and applaud her grit. – Library Journal Review  

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Pacific Vortex! by Clive Cussler 

(Available Formats: Print Book)

DIRK PITT’S FIRST, MOST TERRIFYING ADVENTURE!

Dirk Pitt, death-defying adventurer and deep-sea expert, is put to the ultimate test as he plunges into the perilous waters of the Pacific Vortex—a fog-shrouded area where dozens of ships have vanished without a trace. The latest victim is the awesome supersub Starbuck, bearing America’s deep-diving nuclear arsenal. Its loss poses an unthinkable threat to national defense. Pitt’s job is to find it and salvage it before international forces beat him to the prize or the sea explodes in a nuclear blast—whichever comes first. Pitt’s mission also leads him into the arms of Summer Moran, the most stunningly exotic and dangerous woman ever to enter his life. As the countdown heads toward disaster, Pitt has no choice but to descend through the shark-infested depths to an ancient sunken island, from which he may never again emerge to see the light of day.

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The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss 

(Available Formats: Print Book)

#1 New York Times–bestselling phenomenon Patrick Rothfuss returns to the wildly popular Kingkiller Chronicle universe with a stunning reimagining of “The Lightning Tree.” Expanded to twice its previous length, this touching stand-alone story is sure to please new readers and veteran Rothfuss fans alike. No one taller than the stone. Come to blacktree, come alone. Tell no adult what’s been said, Lest the lightning strike you dead. Follow the Kingkiller Chronicle’s most charming fae as he schemes his way through the small town of Newarre. While Bast cares nothing for the laws of man, he is beholden to older, deeper laws. And despite his cleverness and care, Bast finds himself forced to choose between betraying his master and helping a hated enemy. Playful, sweet, and sly as Bast himself, The Narrow Road Between Desires explores a previously unseen part of Temerant, and shows a side of Bast we’ve only glimpsed before. Learn more about Bast as he goes against his better judgment and follows his heart’s desire. For after all, what good is wisdom if it keeps you from finding your way to danger and delight? 

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A Dish Best Served Hot by Natalie Caña 

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla Instant Checkout eAudiobook)

Rebellious Lola Leon and conventional Santiago “Saint” Vega were unlikely high school sweethearts. After graduating from high school, they lost contact when Lola mysteriously disappeared without a word. Decades later, Lola, now a dedicated activist, is back in Chicago, working for the local community center. Saint, who lost his wife in a fatal accident, is now a single father working for his family construction business, helping to turn a building that used to be a shelter for LGBTQIA+ kids into expensive condos. He knows he’s on the wrong side of the gentrification issue and quickly realizes he is on the opposite side of the struggle from Lola, but his sense of family duty overrides all else. Reunited under the worst of circumstances, their love still burns bright, but they’ll need to forgive past mistakes and work through their seemingly insurmountable disagreements to find a happily ever after. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of contemporary romances with strong social justice and family themes. This second “Vega Family Love Stories” book (following A Proposal They Can’t Refuse) works well as a stand-alone. -Starred Publishers Weekly Review  

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On Censorship: A Public Librarian Examines Cancel Culture in the US by James LaRue

(Available Formats:  Print Book & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook)

This inspirational defense of intellectual freedom and critical analysis of cancel culture should be required reading for every aspiring and active information specialist. Part of the Speaker’s Corner, a series of book-length essays on current topics, the book offers a nuanced and engaging overview of recent censorship trends in the United States followed by components and conditions that can result in cancel culture. Author LaRue certainly has the chops to address these issues, having over 25 years of experience as a public library director plus spending 201,618 as the executive director of ALA’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. Drawing heavily on his own experience (LaRue figures he’s dealt with roughly 1,000 library-censorship attempts), he analyzes types of complaints, types of complainers, case studies, outcomes, and lessons learned, identifying effective strategies and helpful resources (board-approved policies, written responses, legislation, allies). He offers insightful profiles of typical adherents of cancel-culture campaigns along with evaluations of their motives, tactics, and backers. LaRue’s practical advice will be welcomed by information practitioners who work faceto-face with the public, and his thoughtful observations make this an excellent choice for professional-reading groups. This is a worthy addition to the intellectual-freedom canon. – Booklist Review 

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The Paleontologist by Luke Dumas  

(Available Formats: Print Book)

A haunted paleontologist returns to the museum where his sister was abducted years earlier and is faced with a terrifying and murderous spirit in this chilling novel. 

Curator of paleontology Dr. Simon Nealy never expected to return to his Pennsylvania hometown, let alone the Hawthorne Museum of Natural History. He was just a boy when his six-year-old sister, Morgan, was abducted from the museum under his watch, and the guilt has haunted Simon ever since. After a recent breakup and the death of the aunt who raised him, Simon feels drawn back to the place where Morgan vanished, in search of the bones they never found. 

But from the moment he arrives, things aren’t what he expected. The Hawthorne is a crumbling ruin, still closed amid the ongoing pandemic, and plummeting toward financial catastrophe. Worse, Simon begins seeing and hearing things he can’t explain. Strange animal sounds. Bloody footprints that no living creature could have left. A prehistoric killer looming in the shadows of the museum. Terrified he’s losing his grasp on reality, Simon turns to the handwritten research diaries of his predecessor and uncovers a blood-soaked mystery 150 million years in the making that could be the answer to everything. 

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The Recipe for Second Chances by Ali Rosen  

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The ones that got away reunite at a big Italian wedding in this second-chance romance from debut author Ali Rosen, the James Beard Award–nominated writer and host of Potluck with Ali Rosen. 

Stella Park is elated to celebrate her best friend’s wedding in the Italian countryside—and maybe she also needs this escape from her personal and her professional life. Writing recipes for a living isn’t all it’s cooked up to be. 

But the revelry is short lived when she runs into the ex she hasn’t seen since she broke his heart ten years ago, Samuel Gordon. As her past gets propelled to the forefront, Stella tries not to question the choices she made a decade ago. 

When Stella and Samuel keep getting pushed together during a weekend filled with delectable food, Indian and Italian wedding traditions, and unplanned detours in gorgeous locales, she attempts to ignore that maybe he really was the one that got away. 

Playing it safe has always been Stella’s dependable rule book. But maybe Samuel is worth the risk—and perhaps some love stories just need more time to marinate. 

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The River Runs South by Audrey Ingram  

(Available Formats: Print Book)

This transporting and illuminating debut novel will resonate with readers who have ever felt a little bit lost, perfect for fans of Kristy Woodson Harvey and Linda Holmes. 

Exploring love, loss, and the courage of starting over fresh, this novel will appeal to readers on the hunt for emotionally rich fiction. 

When Camille Taylor’s husband dies unexpectedly, the carefully constructed life she worked so hard to build in Washington, DC, shatters. After struggling for almost a year, she reaches a breaking point, packs up her daughter, and heads for the Alabama coast where she grew up. 

The salt air and slow rhythms of the coast soothe Camille’s spirit, but when she meets local fisherman Mack Phillips, she learns that things have changed in her hometown. Runoff from an abandoned development site is polluting the water, and Mack has brought a suit against the site’s owners—Camille’s father among them. 

Battling her own fears for the fragile ecosystem of her beloved Mobile Bay, Camille joins her father’s defense team, but the more she learns, the more she wonders if she’s landed on the right side of the fight. Meanwhile, Camille is slowly drawn to Mack’s fearless resolve, his sterling ideals, and finally to the man himself. 

Faced with blurred lines between right and wrong, Camille must decide for herself what the next chapter of her life will bring. 

With timely commentary on Alabama’s fragile ecosystem and exploring themes of grief, love, and community, The River Runs South will appeal to southern fiction readers on the hunt for the nostalgia of Sweet Home Alabama. 

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The Watchmaker’s Hand by Jeffery Deaver 

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Quadriplegic criminalist Lincoln Rhyme returns in this top-shelf thriller. Political terrorists claim responsibility for a New York City construction crane’s collapse and then make a series of demands in exchange for staving off further destruction. Lincoln gets on the case and while investigating uncovers evidence to suggest that the Watchmaker, a brilliant psychopath determined to kill Lincoln in previous series titles (see, for example, 2006’s The Cold Moon), might be behind the plot, putting into action his most brilliantly convoluted plan yet. With New Yorkers on high alert, the clock is ticking for Lincoln to solve this one with his longtime partner, Amelia Sachs. The Rhyme novels are remarkably consistent: the writing is superb, the characters intriguing, the stories spellbinding, and the plot twists shocking. Fans of Deaver’s long-running series (the first novel, The Bone Collector, appeared in 1997) will want to read this one as soon as they can. Expect high demand. – 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.

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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, Downloadable Audiobooks, digital magazines and a handful of streaming videos. The catalog, which allows one to download content to a PC, also has a companion app, Libby, which you can download to your mobile device; so you can enjoy eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks 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, Downloadable Audiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV series. Patron check out limit is 6 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 devices, 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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Format Note: Under each book title you’ll find a list of all the different formats that specific title is available in; including: Print Books, Large Print Books, CD Audiobooks, eBooks & Downloadable Audiobooks from the Digital Catalog (Libby app) and Hoopla eBooks & Hoopla Downloadable Audiobooks (Hoopla app).

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Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

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, December 2, 2023.

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And here are our dozen recommended songs of the week!

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Ac-Cent-Tchua-Ate the Positive by Johnny Mercer and the Pied Pipers 

 

From The Album: Accentuate The Positive! (1957) 

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Call It Stormy Monday by T-Bone Walker  

 

From The Album: T-Bone Blues (2005) 

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Choo Choo Ch’Boogie by Louis Jordan 

 

From The Album: No Moe! Louis Jordan’s Greatest Hits (1992) 

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Guitar Boogie by Arthur Smith  

 

From The Album: Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith (2015) 

 

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How High The Moon by Les Paul and Mary Ford 

 

From The Album: The Hit Makers (1953) 

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Money Honey by The Drifters 

 

From The Album: Clyde McPhatter & The Drifters (1956) 

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New San Antonio Rose by Bob Wills and His Texas Playboys 

 

From The Album: The Essential Bob Wills And His Texas Playboys (2013)

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Nuages by Django Reinhardt 

 

From The Album: Nuages (2019) 

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Rock Me by Sister Rosetta Tharpe 

 

From The Album: Sister Rosetta Tharpe Vol. 2 1942-1944 (2005) 

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Rumble by Link Wray 

 

From The Album: Rumble / The Swag (1958) 

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Seven Come Eleven by The Benny Goodman Sextet with Charlie Christian  

 

From The Album: The Original Guitar Hero (2002) 

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Wake Up Little Susie by The Everly Brothers 

 

From The Album: The Very Best of the Everly Brothers (1964) 

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

The Soundtrack: Hymie’s Fair Ladies (1962) by Hymie Baleson

 

And from the album the song:

Lulu’s Back In Town by Hyme Baleson  

 

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And if you have a lot of time of the long holiday weekend, here is a link to an NPR article focusing on 150 of the best albums ever made by women! 

https://www.npr.org/2017/07/24/538387823/turning-the-tables-150-greatest-albums-made-by-women 

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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, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.

New York Times Bestsellers can be requested through StarCat (for print books) & The Digital Catalog/Libby for eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks. Select titles may also be checked out, on demand, through the Hoopla Catalog/app.

For more information on the three catalogs skip to the section below the bestselling titles*

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New York Times Bestseller blog posts are usually published on Sundays; although the new New York Times Bestseller Lists come out, and are accessible for free through the NYT website, on Thursdays.

And this week, the library is closed from Thursday, November 23 through Sunday, November 26, in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday, and the annual fall deep cleaning days; so I’m going to provide the direct links to the New York Times Bestseller lists so you can access the bestseller lists and see what new books are popular anytime over the long holiday weekend.

Our regular New York Times Bestsellers blog posts will resume next Sunday, December 3, 2023.

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The New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller Bestsellers

https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/hardcover-fiction/

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The New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Fiction Bestsellers

https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/combined-print-and-e-book-fiction/

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The New York Times Hardcover Non-Fiction Bestsellers

https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/hardcover-nonfiction/

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The New York Times Combined Print & E-Book Non-Fiction Bestsellers

https://www.nytimes.com/books/best-sellers/combined-print-and-e-book-nonfiction/

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Have a great long weekend & happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Search for and request books online!

eBooks & Audiobooks Through The Digital Catalog/Libby

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

The Digital Catalog has a companion app named Libby.

The Libby app is available for Android or Apple devices.

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

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Through Hoopla!

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

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

The Hoopla App is available online, for Android or Apple devices and most 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 throughout the Southern Tier Library System.

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Also of Note: If a New York Times Bestseller isn’t yet available in any of the three catalogs, you can contact the library and request to be notified when it becomes available.

Southeast Steuben County Library Telephone Number: 607-936-3713.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our recommended reads for the week!

*More information on the three catalogs and available formats is found at the end of the list of recommended reads*

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are  published on Wednesday.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, November 29, 2023.

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And before we get into our regular weekly ten recommended titles, I’d like to take a minute to note that today, Wednesdays, November 22, 2023, is the sixtieth anniversary of the assassination President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

To mark the occasion, I’m going to recommend a top-notch biography of President Kennedy:

An Unfinished Life: John F. Kennedy, 1917 – 1963 by Robert Dallek

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout Audiobook)

In this riveting tour de force, Boston University history professor Dallek (Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973) delivers what will most assuredly become the benchmark JFK biography for this generation. A master of the art of narrative history, Dallek is also the first biographer since Doris Kearns Goodwin to be granted unrestricted access to key Kennedy family papers (most importantly, the Joseph and Rose Kennedy Papers) in the JFK Library. This is a substantial and significant trove to which Dallek brings a refreshingly critical eye. He has also mined many nuggets of key information from the papers of JFK’s colleagues, doctors and friends.Thus Dallek has significant new ground to break on a range of fronts including but not limited to Kennedy’s health, politics, personal recklessness and love affairs. Dallek’s revelations about JFK’s health, based on previously unavailable medical files maintained by Kennedy’s personal physician, have already received significant publicity from the Atlantic excerpt in December 2002. But here Dallek expands on that information and reveals (for the first time) the full extent of the medical coverup orchestrated by the Kennedy family: a coverup that involved the destruction of key medical records even after JFK was in his grave. On the political front, Dallek uses new inside information from a Kennedy associate to reveal the detailed mechanics (and enormous scope) of the use of Kennedy money to purchase the West Virginia primary in 1960. At the same time, Dallek has new evidence on both Jack’s philandering and his recklessness. Example: During the same 1960 campaign on which his father spent millions, JFK risked it all by inviting an underage cheerleader to his hotel room. As is appropriate, close to two-thirds of this biography covers Kennedy’s truncated presidency. In one of the book’s most important sections, Dallek marshals new evidence that JFK did not view with favor the expansion of the war in Vietnam, and that he most likely would not have sanctioned such an expansion. Throughout the book, Dallek stops short of worshipping his subject. He is a Kennedy admirer, but he never allows this admiration to cloud either his focus or his truth telling. Dallek is to be thanked for providing the thoroughly researched, well-sourced, responsible and readable biography that has for so long been wanting in Kennedy scholarship. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review

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And here are the ten recommended reads of the week.

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Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko

(Available Formats: Print Book, eAudiobook & Hoopla Instant Checkout eAudiobook)

The great Native American Novel of a battered veteran returning home to heal his mind and spirit

More than thirty-five years since its original publication, Ceremony remains one of the most profound and moving works of Native American literature, a novel that is itself a ceremony of healing. Tayo, a World War II veteran of mixed ancestry, returns to the Laguna Pueblo Reservation. He is deeply scarred by his experience as a prisoner of the Japanese and further wounded by the rejection he encounters from his people. Only by immersing himself in the Indian past can he begin to regain the peace that was taken from him. Masterfully written, filled with the somber majesty of Pueblo myth, Ceremony is a work of enduring power.

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Dancing At The Rascal Fair by Ivan Doig

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla Instant Checkout eAudiobook)

Dancing at the Rascal Fair by National Book Award nominee Ivan Doig captures the passion and tenacity of turn-of-the-century immigrants struggling to build new lives amidst Montana’s windswept Rockies. The tale unfolds into a contest of the heart between Anna Ramsay and Angus McCaskill-kept apart by obligations-as they and their stormy kin vie to tame the brutal land. “Magnificent . Dancing at the Rascal Fair establishes its author in the front ranks of contemporary American writers.”-Seattle Times

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Fool’s Crow by James Welch

(Available Formats: Print Book)

In the Two Medicine Territory of Montana, the Lone Eaters, a small band of Blackfeet Indians, are living their immemorial life. The men hunt and mount the occasional horse-taking raid or war party against the enemy Crow. The women tan the hides, sew the beadwork, and raise the children. But the year is 1870, and the whites are moving into their land. Fools Crow, a young warrior and medicine man, has seen the future and knows that the newcomers will punish resistance with swift retribution. First published to broad acclaim in 1986, Fools Crow is James Welch’s stunningly evocative portrait of his people’s bygone way of life.

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The Grass Dancer by Susan Power

(Available Formats: Print Book)

A major talent debuts with this beguiling novel whose characters are Dakota Sioux and their spirit ancestors. Covering some of the same themes as Louise Erdrich but displaying her own distinctive voice and transcendent imagination, Power has produced an authentic portrait of Native American culture and characters who are as resilient and tangible as the grass moving over the Great Plains. In interconnected stories that begin in 1981 and range back to 1864, the residents of a Sioux reservation endure poverty, epidemic illness, injustice and–no less importantly–jealousy, greed, anger and unrequited love. The tales begin and end with Harley Wind Soldier, a 17-year-old whose soul is a “black, empty hole” because his mother has not spoken a word since the accident 17 years earlier in which Harley’s father and brother died. Eventually we discover the true circumstances surrounding that event and other secrets–of clandestine love affairs, of childrens’ paternity–that stretch back several generations but hold a grip on the present. Meanwhile, Harley falls in love with enchanting Pumpkin, an amazingly adept grass dancer whose fate will make readers gasp. Mercury Thunder and her daughter Anna use magic in a sinister way, and tragedy results. Herod Small War, a Yuwipi (interpreter of dreams), tries to bring his community into harmony with the spiritual world. The existence of ghosts in the real world is accepted with calm belief by the characters, who know the old legends and understand that the direction of their lives is determined by their gods and ancestors. Power weaves historical events–the Apollo Moon landing; the 19th-century Great Plains drought–into her narrative, reinforcing the seamless coexistence of the real and the spirit realm. A consummate storyteller whose graceful prose is plangent with lyrical metaphor and sensuous detail, she deftly uses suspense, humor, irony and the gradual revelation of dramatic disclosures to compose a tapestry of human life. Seduced by her humane vision and its convincing depiction, one absorbs the traditions and lore of the Sioux community with a sense of wonder reflecting that with which the characters view the natural world. This is a book that begs to be read at one sitting, and then again. – Publishers Weekly Review

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Green Grass Running Water by Thomas King

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Strong, Sassy women and hard-luck hardheaded men, all searching for the middle ground between Native American tradition and the modern world, perform an elaborate dance of approach and avoidance in this magical, rollicking tale by Cherokee author Thomas King. Alberta is a university professor who would like to trade her two boyfriends for a baby but no husband; Lionel is forty and still sells televisions for a patronizing boss; Eli and his log cabin stand in the way of a profitable dam project. These three—and others—are coming to the Blackfoot reservation for the Sun Dance and there they will encounter four Indian elders and their companion, the trickster Coyote—and nothing in the small town of Blossom will be the same again…

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House Made of Dawn by N. Soctt Momaday

(Available Formats: Print Book, Hoopla Instant Checkout eAudiobook)

The magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of a stranger in his native land.

“Both a masterpiece about the universal human condition and a masterpiece of Native American literature. . . . A book everyone should read for the joy and emotion of the language it contains.” – The Paris Review

A young Native American, Abel has come home from war to find himself caught between two worlds. The first is the world of his father’s, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, and the ancient rites and traditions of his people. But the other world—modern, industrial America—pulls at Abel, demanding his loyalty, trying to claim his soul, and goading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of depravity and disgust.

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The Jailing of Cecelia Capture by Janet Campbell Hale

(Available Formats: Print Book)

Cecelia Capture Welles, an Indian law student and mother of two, is jailed on her thirtieth birthday for drunk driving. Held on an old welfare fraud charge, she reflects back on her life on the reservation in Idaho, her days as an unwed mother in San Francisco, her marriage to a white liberal, and her decision to return to college. This mixed inheritance of ambition and despair brings her to the brink of suicide.

“The Jailing of Cecelia Capture is a beautifully written book. Janet Campbell Hale’s gifts are genuine and deeply felt.”‚ Toni Morrison

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Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich

(Available Formats: Print Book & Large Print)

This reissue of Erdrich’s exquisite first novel includes five new sections that color and complement the original multigenerational saga of two extended families who live on and around a Chippewa reservation in North Dakota. Each chapter is narrated in a memorable voice like the one of Lipsha Morrissey, a young man who is believed to have “the touch,” with which he attempts to bring his wandering grandfather back to his long-suffering grandmother with a love medicine made from goose hearts. By placing us right inside the heads of her remarkable characters, Erdrich allows us to feel the despair that insensitive government policies, poverty, and alcoholism have brought them. For those who have yet to discover this magical novel and for those who will have the pleasure of reexperiencing its heartbreak and its hope, this new version is highly recommended. -Library Journal Review

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Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese

(Available Formats: Print Book, Libby eBook, Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook & eAudiobook)

Canadian author and memoirist Wagamese (Indian Horse) has penned a complex, rugged, and moving father-son novel. Franklin Starlight, a 16-year-old Ojibway Indian, is summoned to the Canadian mill town of Parson’s Gap by his alcoholic father, Eldon Starlight, to discuss an important matter. Franklin goes reluctantly, since he has a dysfunctional and distant relationship with his dad. (Franklin was raised by a rancher identified only as “the old man.”) Eldon persuades Franklin to take him on a 40-mile journey to an isolated ridge to die (he suffers from a cirrhotic liver) so that he can be buried “in the warrior way.” Wagamese deftly weaves in the backstory as Eldon, racked with heartache and horror, relates different episodes from his past (when he’s lucid enough). Initially, Franklin is unsympathetic to his father’s plight, which seems to be caused by a lifetime of boozing and womanizing. However, as Eldon tells his tales, including that of his harrowing ordeal in the Korean War, which precipitated his chronic drinking, Franklin comes to see his father in a new light. Wagamese’s muscular prose and spare tone complement this gem of a narrative, which examines the bond between father and son. – Starred Publisher’s Weekly

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Solar Storms by Linda Hogan

(Available Formats: Print Book)

In her luminous, quietly compelling second novel, Hogan, a Chickasaw poet and writer (whose first novel, Mean Spirit, was a finalist for the Pulitzer), ties a young woman’s coming-of-age to the fate of the natural world she comes to inhabit. Angela Jensen, a troubled 17-year-old, narrates the tale of her return to Adam’s Rib, an island town in the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada. Tucked into a pristine landscape of countless islands, wild animals and desperately harsh winters, it’s her Native American family’s homeland. As a child, Angela was abandoned by her mother, Hannah Wing, but not before Hannah had permanently scarred half of Angela’s face; earlier, Hannah herself had been separated from her family and unspeakably abused. In Adam’s Rib, Angela is reunited with her great-grandmother, Agnes Iron, and Agnes’s mother, Dora-Rouge; she also spends a winter with Bush, a solitary woman who briefly raised her and, years earlier and also briefly, raised Hannah. Just as Angela discovers through her family’s elemental way of life her own blood ties to the land, the threat of a huge hydroelectric dam project ruins her idyll. The four women–Angela, Agnes, Dora-Rouge and Bush–embark on a dangerous journey far northward to visit the homeland, where Hannah Wing is known to live. Hogan’s finely tuned descriptions of the land and its spiritual significance draw a parallel between the ravages suffered by the environment and those suffered by Angela’s mother. And, as the land is transformed, so are the lives of the characters, often in deeply resonant ways.

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Reservation Blues by Sherman Alexie

(Available Formats: Print Book & Hoopla Instant Checkout eBook)

Winner of the American Book Award and the Murray Morgan Prize, Sherman Alexie’s brilliant first novel tells a powerful tale of Indians, rock ’n’ roll, and redemption

Coyote Springs is the only all-Indian rock band in Washington State—and the entire rest of the world. Thomas Builds-the-Fire takes vocals and bass guitar, Victor Joseph hits lead guitar, and Junior Polatkin rounds off the sound on drums. Backup vocals come from sisters Chess and Checkers Warm Water. The band sings its own brand of the blues, full of poverty, pain, and loss—but also joy and laughter.

It all started one day when legendary bluesman Robert Johnson showed up on the Spokane Indian Reservation with a magical guitar, leaving it on the floor of Thomas Builds-the-Fire’s van after setting off to climb Wellpinit Mountain in search of Big Mom.

In Reservation Blues, National Book Award winner Alexie vaults with ease from comedy to tragedy and back in a tour-de-force outing powered by a collision of cultures: Delta blues and Indian rock.

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There There by Tommy Orange

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & eAudiobook)

Orange’s debut novel offers a kaleidoscopic look at Native American life in Oakland, California, through the experiences and perspectives of 12 characters. An aspiring documentary filmmaker, a young man who has taught himself traditional dance by watching YouTube, another lost in the bulk of his enormous body–these are just a few of the point-of-view characters in this astonishingly wide-ranging book, which culminates with an event called the Big Oakland Powwow. Orange, who grew up in the East Bay, knows the territory, but this is no work of social anthropology; rather, it is a deep dive into the fractured diaspora of a community that remains, in many ways, invisible to many outside of it. “We made powwows because we needed a place to be together,” he writes. “Something intertribal, something old, something to make us money, something we could work toward, for our jewelry, our songs, our dances, our drum.” The plot of the book is almost impossible to encapsulate, but that’s part of its power. At the same time, the narrative moves forward with propulsive force. The stakes are high: For Jacquie Red Feather, on her way to meet her three grandsons for the first time, there is nothing as conditional as sobriety: “She was sober again,” Orange tells us, “and ten days is the same as a year when you want to drink all the time.” For Daniel Gonzales, creating plastic guns on a 3-D printer, the only lifeline is his dead brother, Manny, to whom he writes at a ghostly Gmail account. In its portrayal of so-called “Urban Indians,” the novel recalls David Treuer’s The Hiawatha, but the range, the vision, is all its own. What Orange is saying is that, like all people, Native Americans don’t share a single identity; theirs is a multifaceted landscape, made more so by the sins, the weight, of history. That some of these sins belong to the characters alone should go without saying, a point Orange makes explicit in the novel’s stunning, brutal denouement. “People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them,” James Baldwin wrote in a line Orange borrows as an epigraph to one of the book’s sections; this is the inescapable fate of every individual here. In this vivid and moving book, Orange articulates the challenges and complexities not only of Native Americans, but also of America itself. – Starred Kirkus 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.

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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, Downloadable Audiobooks, digital magazines and a handful of streaming videos. The catalog, which allows one to download content to a PC, also has a companion app, Libby, which you can download to your mobile device; so you can enjoy eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks 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, Downloadable Audiobooks, comic books, albums, movies and TV series. Patron check out limit is 6 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 devices, 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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Format Note: Under each book title you’ll find a list of all the different formats that specific title is available in; including: Print Books, Large Print Books, CD Audiobooks, eBooks & Downloadable Audiobooks from the Digital Catalog (Libby app) and Hoopla eBooks & Hoopla Downloadable Audiobooks (Hoopla app).

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Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers.

New York Times Bestsellers can be requested through StarCat (for print books) & The Digital Catalog/Libby for eBooks and Downloadable Audiobooks. Select titles may also be checked out, on demand, through the Hoopla Catalog.

For more information on the three catalogs skip to the section below the bestselling titles*

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New York Times Bestseller blog posts are published on Sundays. And the next New York Times blog post will be posted in two weeks on Sunday, November 26, 2023.

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FICTION

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ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE by Anthony Doerr

The lives of a blind French girl and a gadget-obsessed German boy before and during World War II.

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BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST by Travis Baldree

In a prequel to “Legends & Lattes,” an orc who was hurt during a battle winds up in a sleepy beach town called Murk.

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CLIVE CUSSLER: THE CORSICAN SHADOW by Dirk Cussler

The 27th book in the Dirk Pitt series. A murderous cabal targets water treatment facilities around the world.

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THE COVENANT OF WATER by Abraham Verghese

Three generations of a family living on South India’s Malabar Coast suffer the loss of a family member by drowning.

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DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver

Winner of a 2023 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. A reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in the mountains of southern Appalachia.

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DIRTY THIRTY by Janet Evanovich

The 30th book in the Stephanie Plum series. Plum tracks a local jeweler’s former security guard and has an overnight stakeout with relatives.

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THE EXCHANGE by John Grisham

In a sequel to “The Firm,” Mitch McDeere, who is now a partner at the world’s largest law firm, gets caught up in a sinister plot.

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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.

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HOLLY by Stephen King

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The private detective Holly Gibney investigates whether a married pair of octogenarian academics had anything to do with Bonnie Dahl’s disappearance.

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THE HOUSEMAID by Freida McFadden

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Troubles surface when a woman looking to make a fresh start takes a job in the home of the Winchesters.

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ICEBREAKER by Hannah Grace

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Anastasia might need the help of the captain of a college hockey team to get on the Olympic figure skating team.

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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

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A scientist and single mother living in California in the 1960s becomes a star on a TV cooking show.

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LOVE REDESIGNED by Lauren Asher

An interior designer and a billionaire who were childhood rivals have an attraction to each other.  

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OLYMPIAN AFFAIR by Jim Butcher

The second book in the Cinder Spires series. The Spires may soon be involved in an open war.  

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PRETTY BOYS ARE POISONOUS by Megan Fox

A collection of poems exploring how love relationships can affect one’s sense of identity. 

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REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES by Shelby Van Pelt

A widow working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium is aided in solving a mystery by a giant Pacific octopus living there.

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RESURRECTION WALK by Michael Connelly

The seventh book in the Lincoln Lawyer series. Haller and Bosch team up to prove the innocence of a woman in prison for killing her husband.

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THE SECRET by Lee Child and Andrew Child

The 28th book in the Jack Reacher series. It’s 1992 and Reacher looks into the cause of a string of mysterious deaths.

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SLAY by Laurell K. Hamilton

The 30th book in the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series. Anita must introduce her fiancé, who is the vampire king of America, to her very religious family. 

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TOM LAKE by Ann Patchett

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Three daughters, who return to their family orchard in the spring of 2020, learn about their mother’s relationship with a famous actor.

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NON-FICTION

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BEING HENRY by Henry Winkler with James Kaplan

The Emmy Award-winning actor shares how playing roles such as the Fonz and his struggles with dyslexia affected his life.  

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BEHIND THE SEAMS by Dolly Parton with Holly George-Warren

The country music legend shares stories about her favorite outfits she has worn on and off the stage.

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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

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

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CITY ON MARS by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith

The authors of “Soonish” examine the pros and cons of space settlement. 

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ELON MUSK by Walter Isaacson

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The author of “The Code Breaker” traces Musk’s life and summarizes his work on electric vehicles, private space exploration and artificial intelligence.

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FRIENDS, LOVERS, AND THE BIG TERRIBLE THING by Matthew Perry

The late actor, known for playing Chandler Bing on “Friends,” shares stories from his childhood and his struggles with sobriety.  

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THE FUND by Rob Copeland

A finance reporter for The New York Times gives an account of the hedge-fund manager Ray Dalio’s work and how it affected others. 

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THE GENIUS OF ISRAEL by Dan Senor and Saul Singer

The authors of “Start-Up Nation” share insights about Israeli society. 

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KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON by David Grann

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

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KILLING THE WITCHES by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard

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The 13th book in the conservative commentator’s Killing series gives a portrayal of the events of 1692 and 1693 in Salem Village, Mass.

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MY NAME IS BARBRA by Barbra Streisand

The EGOT winner chronicles her journey in show business and reveals details about some of her personal relationships. 

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OUTLIVE by Peter Attia with Bill Gifford

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A look at recent scientific research on aging and longevity.

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PREQUEL by Rachel Maddow

The MSNBC host and co-author of “Bag Man” details a campaign to overthrow the U.S. government and install authoritarian rule prior to and during our involvement in World War II. 

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TEDDY AND BOOKER T.by Brian Kilmeade

The Fox News host gives an account of the relationship between President Theodore Roosevelt and Booker T. Washington.

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UNWOKE by Ted Cruz

The Republican senator from Texas shares his opinions on an assortment of American institutions. 

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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.

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THE WOMAN IN ME by Britney Spears

The Grammy Award-winning pop star details her personal and professional experiences, including the years she spent under a conservatorship overseen by her father.  

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THE WORLD WITHIN A SONG by Jeff Tweedy

The founder of the rock band Wilco explores 50 songs that made an impression on him. 

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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Search for and request books online!

eBooks & Audiobooks Through The Digital Catalog/Libby

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

The Digital Catalog has a companion app named Libby.

The Libby app is available for Android or Apple devices.

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

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Through Hoopla!

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

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

The Hoopla App is available online, for Android or Apple devices and most 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 throughout the Southern Tier Library System.

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Also of Note: If a New York Times Bestseller isn’t yet available in any of the three catalogs, you can contact the library and request to be notified when it becomes available.

Southeast Steuben County Library Telephone Number: 607-936-3713.

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.