Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

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, January 27, 2023.

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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All I Have To Do/Kathy’s Clown by The Everly Brothers (Genre: Classic Rock, Vocal)

From The Album: The Very Best of the Everly Brothers (2008)

And as a bonus, as it is a great song:

Nashville Blues by The Everly Brothers

From The Album: It’s Everly Time (1960)

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Ball n’ Chain by Big Mama Thornton & Buddy Guy (Genre: Blues)

Studio Version From The Album: Ball n’ Chain (1989)

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Baby, You Got What It Takes by Dinah Washington & Brooks Benton (Genre: Vocal, R&B)

From The Album: The Two Of Us (1960)

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Been To The Mountain by Margo Price (Genre: Americana)

From The Album: Strays (2023)

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Crazy Love (Crazy Music) by Buddy Guy (Genre: Blues)

From The Album: Left My Blues in San Francisco (1967)

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Good Times Bad Times by Led Zeppelin (Genre: Rock)

From The Album: Led Zeppelin (1969)

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Hey Jude by The Beatles (Genre: Rock)

From The Album: 1 (2000)

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Hit The Road Jack by Ray Charles (Genre: Vocal, R&B)

From The Album: True Genius (2021)

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Roll On Down The Highway by Bachman-Turner OverDrive (Genre: Classic Rock)

From The Album: Not Fragile (1974)

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You Know What I Mean by Jeff Beck (Genre: Guitar)

From The Album: Blow By Blow (1975)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

The Chronological Fats Waller 1940 – 1941 by Fats Waller (Genre: Jazz)

And from the album the song:

Fat’s Waller’s Original E Flat Blues by Fats Waller

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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 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 now published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, January 25, 2023

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A Bad Day For Sunshine by Darynda Jones

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook & Hoopla instant checkout audiobook)

After Sunshine “Sun” Vicram moves back to her hometown of Del Sol, NM, she’s elected as the new sheriff in a race she never entered, thanks to her well-meaning parents. While Sun faces her first day on the job, her 14-year-old daughter Auri starts at the local high school, where she is soon targeted by bullies. Events rapidly deteriorate for the new sheriff, with a missing deputy, an escaped prisoner, and an abducted teen. With the help of various deputies and other law enforcement officers, and Auri, Sun must unravel all the mysteries and find the missing teen. As the investigations continue, Sun is also forced to face her own history and tell her daughter the truth about their past. Jones (Summoned to the Thirteenth Grave) departs from her usual paranormal fiction and creates a smart and sassy mother-daughter team in a small-town setting where anything can happen. VERDICT Though readers may find it difficult to keep track of the minor characters, this series opener provides plenty of action. Recommended for fans of Linda Castillo and J.A. Jance. – Library Journal

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House of Wolves by James Patterson & Brian Sitts

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook & eBooks)

James Patterson and Mike Lupica are the thriller dream team! Jenny Wolf’s murdered father leaves her in charge of a billion-dollar empire—and a family more ruthless than Succession’s Roys and Yellowstone’s Duttons.

The Wolfs, the most powerful family in California, have a new head–thirty-six-year-old former high school teacher Jenny Wolf.

That means Jenny now runs the prestigious San Francisco Tribune.

She also controls the legendary pro football team, the Wolves.

And she has a murdered father to avenge—if she can survive the killers all around her.

An unforgettable family drama by two writers at the top of their craft.

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Leech by Hiron Ennes

(Available Formats: Print Book)

DEBUT Ennes’s novel is an amalgam of multiple genres that mutates into something truly unique. In an isolated mining town, a baron’s doctor has died mysteriously, and the Institute sends a replacement (who narrates this story) to find out what happened. The Institute is more than just a guild of doctors; all of its members are a hivemind, all parts of an organism dedicated to keeping watch over humanity. This doctor, and subsequently the Institute, discovers a new kind of parasite spreading throughout the baron’s chateau, which could usurp the Institute’s rung on the evolutionary ladder. Ennes blends several different genres here, including science fiction, postapocalyptic fiction, gothic horror, and body horror, turning them into a delightfully original work that explores multiple themes including identity and autonomy. Readers must really pay attention to the story, since the narrator is used to being one of many bodies, but for their efforts they also get to watch the narrator evolve away from the Institute’s influence. VERDICT The fascinating world and original narrator that Ennes creates in their debut produce a sublime gothic sci-fi tale that grows into a story greater than the sum of its parts. -Library Journal

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Mitford Affair by Marie Benedict

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Benedict (Her Hidden Genius) delves into the Mitford family’s fatal attraction to fascism and Hitler in her captivating latest. Set in 1930s England before WWII, Diana, the middle child of six sisters and a brother, is a famous beauty who is married to Bryan Guinness, heir to the brewing fortune. Diana, 22, leaves Bryan for “fascist gadabout” Sir Oswald Mosley, founder of the British Union of Fascists. Diane later teaches her children the Hitler salute, and her connections to elite Nazis keep Mosley’s BUF afloat until the political tide turns against them when WWII looms. Younger sister Unity, 18, hoping to help Great Britain prevent war with Germany, is a fierce Nazi sympathizer and antisemite, and her obsession with Hitler leads her to join his inner circle—a decision followed by dire consequences. When the oldest Mitford sister, 29-year-old novelist Nancy, grasps the precise nature of her sisters’ visits to Germany, she sleuths out Diana’s and Mosley’s treasonous scheme to start up a radio station for spreading Nazi propaganda, and outs them to her cousin Winston Churchill. This engaging tale of genteel spies shifts easily between the sisters’ perspectives and provides timely insight on British fascists and supporters of appeasement. Benedict’s silky-smooth page-turner is sure to please her fans. – Publishers Weekly

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The Most Likely Club by Elyssa Friedland

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

In the delightful latest from Friedland (Last Summer at the Golden Hotel), four women celebrate their 25th high school reunion. Of the four, only Suki Hammer, whose school superlative was “Most Likely to Join the Forbes 400,” feels fulfilled. Melissa Levin, meanwhile, divorced her high school sweetheart and worries about her weight; Tara Taylor aspired to be a chef before she was sexually assaulted by a culinary celebrity; and Priya Chowdhury, a doctor, second-guesses her successes after overhearing her colleagues’ racist and sexist comments about her. A lot of the details are delivered in exposition, such as a magazine article that outlines how Suki manages to keep up a successful and happy life. Furthermore, a glut of 1990s references—Tara’s “Courtney Love” look, coveted Oakley sunglasses—eventually slips into overkill. Still, Friedland keeps up a steady supply of clever lines to convey the women’s mix of excitement and dread over the big event (“Like a migraine, the weekend of the reunion arrived without warning”). The author also does a good job with the heavier themes—in addition to the racism and sexism, there are nuanced accounts of Tara’s sexual assault and Melissa’s eating disorder. Overall, this strikes a fine balance between lighthearted and serious. – Publishers Weekly

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Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey Archer

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print & CD Audiobook)

With his latest, Archer delivers another page-turning, heart-stopping saga, with delightful twists, and a surprise ending. This first title from the Clifton Chronicles introduces readers to Harry Clifton, a boy growing up in Bristol whose father mysteriously died a full year before his birth, supposedly killed in WWI. Though Harry dreams of becoming a stevedore like his Uncle Stan, crazy Old Jack Tar shows Harry the truths of the stevedore life and becomes his surrogate father. After hearing an angelic treble voice, Harry decides to join the choir and learns to read. The choir in turn gains him a scholarship to boys’ boarding school St. Bede’sâa gateway to the life his mother wants for him, far from the harbor and shipping industry. He meets scholarly Deakins and wealthy Giles Barrington, who become his best friends, and the three strive to gain acceptance to Bristol Grammar School. Though Giles’ father has a particular aversion to Harry, the boys’ friendship proves stronger than any paternal dictates. While Archer hasn’t revealed how many books will make up this saga (which will span one hundred years), readers will surely wait for the next with bated breath. – Publishers Weekly Review

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Putin by Philip Short

(Available Formats: Print Book & Large Print)

Vladimir Putin has had his finger in almost every international political pie of the 21st century. To understand what drives the man and how he controls post-Soviet Russia, journalist Short (Mao: A Life) explores the totality of Putin’s life. Details of his infancy, childhood, and schooling in St. Petersburg, his marriage, life as a KGB operative in Dresden, and his nascent political career in St. Petersburg add context to the man who has presided over Russia for two decades. Extensive research including interviews with acquaintances from childhood through adulthood, observers from multiple countries, and information regarding his family life flesh out as closely as currently possible the truths and lies that comprise the Putin mystique. Sketches of Russian life during the Brezhnev, Gorbachev, and Yeltsin eras put Putin’s obsession with regaining respect for Russia in context. VERDICT Short has written a remarkable biography, rich in facts and details, of Putin’s life and career. This book will appeal to readers with an interest in Russia, world history, biographies of world leaders, and current events.-Starred Library Journal Review

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Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s urgent mission to bring healing to homeless people by Tracy Kidder

(Available Formats: Downloadable Audiobook)

Pulitzer winner Kidder (A Truck Full of Money) spotlights in this poignant account the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, “the country’s largest medical system wholly devoted to the care of homeless people.” At the center of the narrative is Jim O’Connell, the program’s founding physician and organizer of its Street Team, which ministers to people who shun shelters and live “mainly outside or in makeshift quarters.” According to Kidder, the Health Care for the Homeless Program works against the grain of corporate medicine by emphasizing continuity of care and the importance of listening attentively to and spending time with homeless people. Interwoven with O’Connell’s story are those of his patients, including Tony Columbo, who spent 18 years in prison for sexual assault and struggles with substance abuse and mental disorders. Drawing on five years’ worth of reporting, Kidder vividly portrays life on the streets and in the program’s health clinics, and sheds light on various legal and policy matters, though the focus is less on the institutional forces that contribute to chronic homelessness than on the individual lives it touches. Keenly observed and fluidly written, this is a compassionate report from the front lines of one of America’s most intractable social problems. – Publishers Weekly Review

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The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka

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

An Instant National Bestseller • One of The New York Times 100 Notable Books of 2022 • An NPR Book We Loved in 2022 • Named a Best Fiction book of 2022 by the Washington Post, Times (UK), Financial Times, and The Guardian.

Winner of the 2022 Booker Prize, The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida is a searing satire set amid the mayhem of the Sri Lankan civil war.

Colombo, 1990. Maali Almeida—war photographer, gambler, and closet queen—has woken up dead in what seems like a celestial visa office. His dismembered body is sinking in the serene Beira Lake and he has no idea who killed him. In a country where scores are settled by death squads, suicide bombers, and hired goons, the list of suspects is depressingly long, as the ghouls and ghosts with grudges who cluster round can attest. But even in the afterlife, time is running out for Maali. He has seven moons to contact the man and woman he loves most and lead them to the photos that will rock Sri Lanka.

Ten years after his prize-winning novel Chinaman established him as one of Sri Lanka’s foremost authors, Shehan Karunatilaka is back with a “thrilling satire” (Economist) and rip-roaring state-of-the-nation epic that offers equal parts mordant wit and disturbing, profound truths.

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The Sleeping Car Porter by Suzette Mayr

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

WINNER OF THE 2022 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 20 LITERARY FICTION BOOKS OF 2022

OPRAH DAILY: BOOKS TO READ BY THE FIRE

THE GLOBE 100: THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022

CBC BOOKS: THE BEST CANADIAN FICTION OF 2022

When a mudslide strands a train, Baxter, a queer Black sleeping car porter, must contend with the perils of white passengers, ghosts, and his secret love affair

The Sleeping Car Porter brings to life an important part of Black history in North America, from the perspective of a queer man living in a culture that renders him invisible in two ways. Affecting, imaginative, and visceral enough that you’ll feel the rocking of the train, The Sleeping Car Porter is a stunning accomplishment.

Baxter’s name isn’t George. But it’s 1929, and Baxter is lucky enough, as a Black man, to have a job as a sleeping car porter on a train that crisscrosses the country. So when the passengers call him George, he has to just smile and nod and act invisible. What he really wants is to go to dentistry school, but he’ll have to save up a lot of nickel and dime tips to get there, so he puts up with “George.”

On this particular trip out west, the passengers are more unruly than usual, especially when the train is stalled for two extra days; their secrets start to leak out and blur with the sleep-deprivation hallucinations Baxter is having. When he finds a naughty postcard of two queer men, Baxter’s memories and longings are reawakened; keeping it puts his job in peril, but he can’t part with the postcard or his thoughts of Edwin Drew, Porter Instructor.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer

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*Information on the three 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 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 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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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

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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.

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, January 20, 2023.

–

And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Bamalong Blues by Andre & Jim Baxter (Genre: Blues)

From The Various Artists Album: Before The Blues, Vol. 1 (1996; Yazoo Records)

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Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy by The Andrew Sisters (Genre: Vocal, Jazz, Swing)

From The Album: 20th Century Masters: Best of the Andrews Sisters (The Millennium Collection) (2000)

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Carol by Chuck Berry (Genre: Rock)

From The Album: Chuck Berry Is On Top (1959)

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Coming Up by Paul McCartney (Genre: Rock)

From The Album: McCartney II (1980)

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Fine And Mellow by Billie Holiday (Genre: Blues/Jazz)

From The Album: Lady In Satin: The Centennial Edition (2015)

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Hobo Blues by John Lee Hooker (Genre: Blues)

From The Album: Early Years (1948-1953) (2000)

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Jumpin Jive by Cab Calloway and the Nicholas Brothers (Genre: Jazz, Swing)

From The Movie/Album: Stormy Weather (1943) | Masters Of The Last Century: Best of Cab Calloway (2012)

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Never Gonna Rain by Bryan Adams (Genre: Rock)

From The Album: So Happy It Hurts (2022)

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Two Tickets To Paradise by Eddie Money (Genre: Pop/Rock)

From The Album: Eddie Money (1977)

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Underneath The Harlem Moon by Ethel Waters (Genre: Vocal, Jazz)

From The Movie: Rufus Jones for President (1933)

And as a bonus here is Rhiannon Giddens’s version:

Underneath The Harlem Moon by Rhiannon Giddens (Genre: Vocal)

From The EP: Factory Girl (2015)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

To Whom It May Concern (2003) by Lisa Marie Presley

And from the album the song:

So Lovely by Lisa Marie Presley (Genre: Rock)

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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 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*

–

Weekly Suggested Reading postings are now published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, January 18, 2023

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At Day’s Close: Night In Times Past by A. Roger Ekirch

(Available Format: eBook)

Engrossing, leisurely paced and richly researched, this history finds Ekirch reminding us of how preindustrial Westerners lived during the nocturnal hours, when most were plunged into almost total darkness. By describing how that darkness spelled heightened risk—of stumbles, drowning, fires and other dangers—Ekirch accounts for the traditional association of nighttime with fear and suspicion, illuminating the foundations of popular beliefs in satanic forces and the occult. He also describes how the night literally provided a cloak of darkness for crimes and insurrections, and how fear of the night sometimes led to racist blame and accusation. A professor of history at Virginia Tech, Ekirch ranges across the archives of Europe and early colonial America to paint a portrait of how the forces of law and order operated at night, and he provides fascinating insight into nocturnal labor—of masons, carpenters, bakers, glassmakers and iron smelters, among many others. The hardest nocturnal workers were women, Ekirch writes, doing laundry after a full day’s domestic work. Ekirch also evokes benign nighttime activities, such as drinking and alehouse camaraderie; the thrill of aristocratic masquerades; the merrymaking of harvest suppers and dances. A rich weave of citation and archival evidence, Ekirch’s narrative is rooted in the material realities of the past, evoking a bygone world of extreme physicality and preindustrial survival stratagems. – Publishers Weekly

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Bruno’s Challenge: And Other Stories of the French Countryside by Martin Walker

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Fans of The Coldest Case and Walker’s other novels set in the little French market town of St. Denis will savor this inviting story collection featuring Bruno Courrèges, the town’s genial chief of police. As St. Denis is in the Périgord, the culinary heartland of France, a thread of gastronomy and bonhomie plays a significant part in all 14 tales. Walker smoothly integrates recipes into the text, beginning with the title story, which finds Bruno throwing together a golden wedding anniversary feast for friends on short notice and includes easy to follow instructions on how to prepare Poulet à l’estragon. Prehistoric cooking methods figure in “Boeuf Neanderthal,” as Bruno prepares a menu for the Société Historique et Archéologique du Périgord. “The Green Army” describes biodynamic viticultural techniques, and “Sugar Lumps” reveals the proper way to drink absinthe. The area’s rich history and traditions are explored at every turn. Any crimes are relatively minor—nasty anonymous letters, spates of vandalism—and are resolved by cooperation, conviviality, and Bruno’s clever intervention. Culinary mystery aficionados won’t want to miss this one. – Publishers Weekly Review

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Code Name Wren: The True Story of America’s Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed by Jim Poplin

(Available Formats: Hoopla instant checkout audiobook; Print Book coming soon!)

Investigative journalist Popkin’s engrossing debut tells the story of Ana Montes, an intelligence analyst for the U.S. government who, probably before she joined the Defense Intelligence Agency in 1985, was spying for Cuba. In 1998, the efforts of her sister, Lucy, an FBI analyst, to bring down a Cuban spy ring in Miami led to clues about a highly placed U.S. citizen working for Cuba. The FBI and DIA spent more than two years investigating, but came up short due to a lack of cooperation between the agencies. It wasn’t until they finally shared information that they identified the spy as Montes. She was arrested 10 days after 9/11, which explains the lack of headlines her capture received. Montes pleaded guilty to one count of espionage, receiving 25 years in prison. Popkin thoroughly explores her upbringing—an abusive father divorced her mother—but never really explains why she became an ardent supporter of Fidel Castro to the extent that she risked her high-level position at the DIA and ultimately her freedom. This is a must-read for espionage fans. – Publishers Weekly Review

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Even This I Get To Experience by Norman Lear

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook & eBook)

This is, flat out, one of the best Hollywood memoirs ever written. In most Hollywood bios, we skip through a lot of sections, waiting to get to the good stuff, but here it’s all good stuff. Lear, the creator of the classic TV series All in the Family and Maude (among many, many others), had numerous jobs before he fell into television writing: he was a PR man, a door-to-door salesman, an inventor, a radio operator aboard a B-17 bomber, and each of these stages of his early life easily could be a book unto itself, so entertainingly does Lear write about them. And the story of how he came to be one of television’s top producers reads like the script for a really good movie: Lear teams up with a buddy to write comic songs; they parlay this into a gig writing sketches and routines for Danny Thomas, which leads to writing full-time for legends like Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, which leads (for Lear, anyway) to writing movie scripts, which leads to Lear’s changing the landscape of television in the 1970s with his truly revolutionary approach to the types of characters and themes that could appear on the small screen. Now in his nineties, Lear writes about his own life with a sort of can you believe it? approach, and at times you can see him opening new doors in his own memory (as, for example, when he realizes that he’s spent most of his life trying to whitewash the truth about his father, who was a fraud and a liar but also a pretty likable guy). An absolute treasure. Starred Booklist Review

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A Few Days Full of Trouble: Revelations on the Journey to Justice for My Cousin and Best Friend, Emmett Till

(Available Formats: eBook)

Parker is the last living witness to the abduction of his cousin Emmett Till, whose 1955 lynching in Mississippi lent momentum to the Civil Rights movement. Here, with the help of Benson, a lawyer and former features editor for Ebony, he recalls the event, the impact on his family, and efforts over the decades to secure justice for Till. – Library Journal Review

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Freedom: Stories Celebrating the Universal Declaration of Human Right by various authors, published by Amnesty International USA

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Thirty-six authors ranging widely in nationality have contributed to this tribute to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. With an introduction by Archbishop Desmond Tutu discussing literature as an expression of humanity and a moving epilog by Henning Mankell, this compilation includes stories inspired by each of the declaration’s 30 articles. The writers, who include Joyce Carol Oates, Walter Mosley, David Mitchell, Ariel Dorfman, Banana Yoshimoto, Yann Martel, Paulo Coehlo, Nadine Gordimer, and Rohinton Mistry, among many others, interpret the articles as they consider culture, government, religion, law, gender, race, and media in relation to human rights. For instance, in “The Kind of Neighbor You Used To Have,” James Meek writes effectively of a man detained without habeas corpus and confronted by a neighbor who himself has been taken in to custody to persuade the detainee to confess to his crime. Kate Atkinson’s satirical and frightening “The War on Woman” focuses on an apolitical woman whose mundane existence is altered by an increasingly aggressive enforcement of a law against women.

VERDICT The stories here are impressive in scope and show that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights can apply to many aspects of the human experience. Valuable reading. – Library Journal Review

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The Redbreast by Jo Nesbo

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Hoopla instant check out eBook)

Shifting effortlessly between the last days of WWII on the Eastern front and modern day Oslo, Norwegian Nesbø spins a complex tale of murder, revenge and betrayal. A recovering alcoholic recently reassigned to the Norwegian Security Service, Insp. Harry Hole begins tracking Sverre Olsen, a vicious neo-Nazi who escaped prosecution on a technicality. But what starts as a quest to put Olsen behind bars soon explodes into a race to prevent an assassination. As Hole struggles to stay one step ahead of Olsen and his gang of skinheads, Nesbø takes the reader back to WWII, as Norwegians fighting for Hitler wage a losing battle on the Eastern front. When the two story lines finally collide, it’s up to Hole to stop a man hell-bent on carrying out the deadly plan he hatched half a century ago in the trenches. Perfectly paced and painfully suspenseful, this crime novel illuminates not only Norway’s alleged Nazi ties but also its present skinhead subculture. Readers will delight in Hole, a laconic hero as doggedly stubborn as Connelly’s Harry Bosch, and yet with a prickly appeal all his own. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review

Reader’s Note: The Readbreast is the third book in the Harry Hole Mystery Series.

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The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique by Samantha Vérant

(Available Formats: eBook)

No matter how small the dish or how simple the preparation, cooking always harnesses Kate’s senses. The feel of pliable dough, the smell of fresh herbs, the sound of sizzling -butter–all of it lights up her every neuron and emotion. Now opening her very own restaurant in Paris’ trendy tenth arrondissement, Kate can channel her love of food to the wider world–or at least her little canal-side corner of it. But when Bistro Exotique threatens to crumble around her, Kate will have to rely on more than her senses to bring her dream restaurant back to its full strength. Vérant brings her signature style to Kate’s story, infusing it with sensuality, romance, and a genuine love of the culinary arts. No mere background player, the City of Lights itself is present in every fish market, chic café, and floury boulangerie that Kate sets foot in on her culinary adventures. Fans of Mary Simses and Kerry Anne King will adore the interplay between food and romance, snobbery and appreciation, and critique and acclaim. – Booklist Review

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Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

In mid-1970s Belfast, 24-year-old Cushla’s name (from the Irish endearment, “”the pulse of my heart””) instantly marks her as part of the Catholic minority. A teacher at the local parochial school and part-time barmaid in her family’s pub, she occupies a precarious middle ground. Some of the pub’s Protestant regulars won’t acknowledge her family on the street, and her seven-year-old students are on intimate terms with the violence they report on each morning during current events. When Michael, an older, married Protestant lawyer who frequents the pub, asks Cushla to teach him and his friends the Irish language, the two quickly begin an affair. When the father of one of her students is brutally assaulted, Cushla helps the boy’s family. Cushla tries to keep the various strands of her life separate, but eventually they become tangled, culminating in a violent act with lasting repercussions. Kennedy (The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac, 2021) draws on her personal experiences growing up Catholic in Northern Ireland in this debut novel that will appeal to fans of Douglas Stuart’s Shuggie Bain (2020). – Booklist Review

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Waypoints: My Scottish Journey by Sam Heughan

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

The male lead of the TV series Outlander takes us on a long Scottish hike while recounting the travails of stage and screen. “I’m not hyperactive, I crave down time, but I feel guilty if I’m not…pushing myself in some capacity,” writes Heughan, who, sidelined by Covid-19 after shooting an abbreviated sixth season of Outlander, decided to walk the West Highland Way. Running from just north of Glasgow along Loch Lomond and up the U.K.’s tallest mountain, Ben Nevis, before ending along Scotland’s west coast, the trail is not for the faint of heart. Neither, writes Heughan, is acting: He chronicles his unsuccessful auditions for many much-wanted roles–e.g., hoping to bring the James Bond trademark back home, he was beaten out by Daniel Craig. Being hammered by rain and cold and pained by blisters and sore muscles are perhaps no less dispiriting than losing a role, but Heughan writes with generally good humor of his experiences, in which, on the trail, he plays the part of the hapless newbie. Still, he enjoys the bucolic solitude, as when he notes, “There isn’t a single soul around, unless you count a few hardy sheep in the distance bracing themselves against the gusts.” If you want to read solely about tramping around Britain, Robert Macfarlane is the writer you want, but if you have any interest in the art and craft of acting along the way, Heughan offers plenty of notes. “The key to Shakespeare, I learned, is to allow the text to live,” he writes. “It’s the punctuation and poetry that guides the actor, which makes breathing key to delivery.” For all that, it’s a treat, after a winding narrative that ranges from exultant to melancholic, to see Heughan on top of Ben Nevis at last. A pleasure for fans of the author, whisky, and Scotland. – Kirkus Review

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer

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*Information on the three 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 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 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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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

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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.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the latest edition of Library Connections, our weekly readers’ and listeners’ advisory videocast.

The next Library Connections video will be posted on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.

Library Connections videos may also be accessed via the Southeast Steuben County Library’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/SESTEUBENCOLIBRARY

Have a great week!
Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

Each title is followed by a listing of which formats it is available in for check out within the three catalogs: StarCat (Print, Large Print & CD Audiobook), The Digital Catalog (eBook & Downloadable Audiobook) and the Hoopla Catalog (Hoopla instant checkout eBook & Hoopla Audiobook).

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.And the next New York Times blog post will be published Sunday, January 15, 2022

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FICTION

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BABEL by R.F. Kuang

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

In 1828, Robin Swift studies at Oxford University’s Royal Institute of Translation and faces a choice when Britain pursues a war with China.

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THE BOYS FROM BILOXI by John Grisham

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook & eBook)

Two childhood friends follow in their fathers’ footsteps, which puts them on opposite sides of the law.

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DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook & eBook)

A reimagining of Charles Dickens’s “David Copperfield” set in the mountains of southern Appalachia.

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DESERT STAR by Michael Connelly

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook & eBook)

Ballard and Bosch bury old resentments as they go after two killers.

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DREAMLAND by Nicholas Sparks

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print & CD audiobook)

Musicians from different backgrounds are attracted to each other and a mother flees with her son from an abusive husband.

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FAIRY TALE by Stephen King

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & downloadable audiobook)

A high school kid inherits a shed that is a portal to another world where good and evil are at war.

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GOING ROGUE by Janet Evanovich

(Available Formats: Print Book & CD audiobook)

The 29th book in the Stephanie Plum series. The man who abducted the office manager at Vinnie’s Bail Bonds demands a mysterious coin in exchange for her.

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IT ENDS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & downloadable audiobook)

A battered wife raised in a violent home attempts to halt the cycle of abuse.

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IT STARTS WITH US by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book)

In the sequel to “It Ends With Us,” Lily deals with her jealous ex-husband as she reconnects with her first boyfriend.

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LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY by Bonnie Garmus

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

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

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MAD HONEY by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & downloadable audiobook)

After returning to her hometown, Olivia McAfee’s son gets accused of killing his crush.

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THE MARRIAGE PORTRAIT by Maggie O’Farrell

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

In 1550s Florence, the future of the third daughter of the grand duke seems uncertain after she is thrust into a marriage.

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THE MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Nora Seed finds a library beyond the edge of the universe that contains books with multiple possibilities of the lives one could have lived.

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THE SEVEN HUSBANDS OF EVELYN HUGO by Taylor Jenkins Reid

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

A movie icon recounts stories of her loves and career to a struggling magazine writer.

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THE SILENT PATIENT by Alex Michaelides

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Theo Faber looks into the mystery of a famous painter who stops speaking after shooting her husband.

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TOM CLANCY: RED WINTER by Marc Cameron

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

The 22nd book in the Jack Ryan series. Ryan goes behind the Berlin Wall in 1985 to investigate an East German defector.

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TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW, AND TOMORROW by Gabrielle Zevin

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Two friends find their partnership challenged in the world of video game design.

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TRIPLE CROSS by James Patterson

(Available Formats: Print Book & CD audiobook)

Detective Alex Cross and the true-crime author Thomas Tull search for a serial killer known as the Family Man.

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UGLY LOVE by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Hoopla instant checkout audiobook)

Tate Collins and Miles Archer, an airline pilot, think they can handle a no strings attached arrangement. But they can’t.

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VERITY by Colleen Hoover

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Lowen Ashleigh is hired by the husband of an injured writer to complete her popular series and uncovers a horrifying truth.

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A WORLD OF CURIOSITIES by Louise Penny

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The 18th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. When an attic room that was sealed off 160 years ago is opened, an old enemy returns.

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NON-FICTION:

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AND THERE WAS LIGHT by Jon Meacham

(Available Formats: Print Book

The Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer portrays the life of Abraham Lincoln.

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THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE by Bessel van der Kolk

(Available Formats: Print Book, CD audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

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

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CINEMA SPECULATION by Quentin Tarantino

(Available Formats: Not yet available in any catalog)

The filmmaker shares his love of cinema with special attention given to key American films of the 1970s.

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CRYING IN H MART by Michelle Zauner

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The daughter of a Korean mother and Jewish-American father, and leader of the indie rock project Japanese Breakfast, describes creating her own identity after losing her mother to cancer

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FINDING ME by Viola Davis

(Available Format: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The multiple award-winning actress describes the difficulties she encountered before claiming her sense of self and achieving professional success.

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

(Available Formats: Print Book)

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

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I’M GLAD MY MOM DIED by Jennette McCurdy

(Available Formats: Print Book & downloadable audiobook)

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

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AN IMMENSE WORLD by Ed Yong

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The Pulitzer Prize–winning science writer explains the sensory perceptions and ways of communication used by a variety of animals.

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JANUARY 6 REPORT by the House January 6th Committee

(Available Formats: Not yet available in any catalog)

The final report of the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6. Attack on the United States Capitol; with a foreword by Ari Melber. (Harper Press)

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JANUARY 6TH REPORT by the Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6. Attack on the United States Capitol

with a preface by David Remnick and epilogue by Representative Jamie Raskin. (Celadon Press)

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THE LIGHT WE CARRY by Michelle Obama

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

The former first lady shares personal stories and the tools she uses to deal with difficult situations.

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MYTH OF NORMAL by Gabor Maté with Daniel Maté

(Available Formats: Print Book, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The potential ways in which trauma and stress from modern-day living can affect our physical health.

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PHILOSOPHY OF MODERN SONG by Bob Dylan

(Available Formats: Print Book)

In a collection of more than 60 essays, the musician and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature explores the nature of popular music.

 

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THE REVOLUTIONARY by Stacy Schiff

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer details Samuel Adams’s contributions to the American Revolution.

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SONG OF THE CELL by Siddhartha Mukherjee

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author chronicles the discovery of cells and describes how modern medicine uses them.

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STARRY MESSENGER by Neil deGrasse Tyson

(Available Formats: Print Book, Large Print, CD Audiobook, eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

The astrophysicist and director of the Hayden Planetarium delves into subjects including politics, religion, gender and race.

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SURRENDER by Bono

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The lead singer of the Irish rock band U2 offers details of his life, career and activism.

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WHAT IF? 2 by Randall Munroe

(Available Formats: Print Book)

The creator of the web comic “xkcd” and former NASA roboticist looks into hypothetical and oddball scenarios.

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSL

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*Information on the Three Catalogs*

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

The Digital Catalog has two companion apps, Libby & OverDrive. Libby is the app for newer devices and the OverDrive app should be used for older devices and Amazon tablets.

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 check outs of eBooks, downloadable audiobook, comic books, albums and streaming videos. Patron check out limit is 4 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 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 through out 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 Tel: 607-936-3713

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Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our streaming recommendations for the month ahead of us.

The next Suggested Viewing post will be out the first Saturday, in February – Saturday, February 4, 2023.

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The Adam Project (Netflix) (Debut Date: 2022)

Adam Reed is a pilot from the year 2050, a dystopian future where time travel is more or less commonplace.
Adam’s wife disappears in the past, and he attempts to travel to the year 2018 to find her but inadvertently ends up in the year 2022, in his own childhood backyard. Now Adam will need to rely on the help of his younger self to find his wife and save the future. “The Adam Project” is a funny, lighthearted adventure through time that just about anyone will have fun watching. – Looper Description

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The Fablemans (Debut Date: 2022)

(Can be rented/purchased from Amazon, Apple or Google Play and is playing in theaters now) (Debut Date: 2022)

Rediscover the magic of movies in Steven Spielberg’s coming-of-age story about a young man’s love of film and the power it has to reveal the truth in ourselves and others

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The Woman King (2022)

(Can be rented/purchased from Amazon, Apple or Google Play) (Debut Date: 2022)

Inspired by true events, Viola Davis stars in an action-packed story of an elite all-female unit of warriors determined to defend their nation. Amazon Description

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Kaleidoscope (Netflix) (Debut Date: January 1, 2023)

DESCRIPTION: This heart-pounding Netflix Original action crime-drama series is an absolute must-watch for 2023.

Follow along as a master thief and his crew try to carry out an extremely elaborate and ambitious heist worth a whopping $7 billion dollars. Unsurprisingly, an effort this big comes with its own share of problems that include betrayals, greed, vengeance, and more threats that seek to undermine their mission. See it all go down Kaleidoscope this month, only on Netflix. – Decider Description

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Star Wars: The Bad Batch (Disney+) (Debut Date: January 4, 2023)

The series is about a team of clone mercenaries navigating the galaxy after the fall of the Republic. -Marketwatch

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The Pale Blue Eye (Netflix) (January 6, 2023)

Christian Bale headlines this 1830-set mystery as world-weary detective Landor, who’s called to West Point to investigate the gruesome murder of a young cadet. Stonewalled by the academy’s code of silence, he enlists the help of one of their own. The eccentric cadet has no love for military life but a true passion for poetry. His name is Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling). Together, Landor and Poe pursue the case, all while the detective struggles with grief over his dead wife. Meanwhile, Poe is intrigued by Lea (Lucy Boynton), the sister of a cadet who becomes a suspect. – Kelly Woo, Tom’s Guide

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The Rig (Amazon Prime Video) (January 6, 2023)

A group of workers on a remote Scottish oil rig are due to return to the mainland when a mysterious fog enshrouds them and supernatural forces take hold. Buzzfeed Description

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Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (AMC) (Debut Date: January 8, 2023)

AMC is all in on Anne Rice. The network has ordered a second season of its Interview With a Vampire reboot, and now it’s unveiling a series based on the author’s bestselling trilogy, Lives of the Mayfair Witches. Alexandra Daddario stars as Rowan, an intuitive neurosurgeon who discovers she’s the heir to a family of witches. As she comes to terms with her heritage and her newfound powers, she must also contend with the sinister spirit that has haunted her family for generations. – Kelly Woo, Tom’s Guide

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Night Court (NBC) (January 17, 2023)

Revivals and reboots are a trend that’s here to stay. The latest classic TV show to come back to life is Night Court, a sequel/continuation of the 1980s sitcom. The original starred Harry Anderson as Judge Harry Stone, who presided over the night shift at a Manhattan courthouse. Now, more than 30 years later, his daughter, Abby Stone (Melissa Rauch) is wielding the gavel. Anderson passed away in 2018, so he’ll only be present as a beloved memory. But John Larroquette is reprising his role as prosecutor Dan Fielding. He’ll be one of many oddballs and cynics that the second Judge Stone must bring to order. – Kelly Woo, Tom’s Guide

Lockwood & Co. (Netflix) (January 27, 2023)

DESCRIPTION: This brand new Netflix Original supernatural thriller based on Jonathan Stroud’s book series of the same name takes place in London, where the most skilled ghost-hunters engage in nightly battles with dangerous spirits. Setting themselves apart from all the adult-run ghost-hunting agencies are the three teens behind Lockwood & Co., a small startup determined to investigate the deadly spirits haunting their city. – Decider Description

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Hoopla Streaming Pick of the Month

Because We’re Done (2022) (Genre: Comedy)

A married man going through a mid life crisis believes that the fate of his marriage rest solely in his hands.

Only to learn that the ultimate decision will be made by his wife.

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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, January 13, 2023.

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And here are the 10 recommended songs of the week!

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Black Nights by Lowell Fulsom (Genre: Blues)

From The Album: Soul (1966)

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Blues With A Feeling by The Butterfield Blues Band (Genre: Blues)

From The Album: The Butterfield Blues Band (1965)

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Cedar’s Blues by Rufus Reed Trio with the Sirius Quartet (Genre: Jazz)

From The Album: Celebration (2022)

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Days Beyond Recall by Bunk Johnson (Genre: Jazz)

From The Album: Bunk’s Blues (2009)

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Gonna Live The Life by Josh White Jr. (Genre: Blues)

From The Album: House of the Rising Son (1999)

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If I Do Nothing by Colleen Kattau (Genre: Folk)

Recorded live in 2016. Colleen Kattau is a professor at Cortland University.

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I Stand And Wonder by Sam Chatmon (Genre: Blues)

From The Albums: I Have To Paint My Face (1960) by Sam Chatmon & Classic Delta and Deep South Blue from Smithsonian Folkways (2018) by Various Artists

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Peace Piece by Bill Evans (Genre: Jazz)

From The Album: Everyone Digs Bill Evans (1959)

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A Pillow of Winds by Pink Floyd (Genre: Rock, Classic Rock)

From The Album: Meddle (1971)

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Ten Long Years by B.B. King & Eric Clapton (Genre: Blues)

From The Album: Riding With The King (2000)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

In Defense of My Own Happiness (2021) by Joy Oladokun (Genre: Folk)

And from the album, the song:

In My Younger Days by Joy Oladokun

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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 now published on Wednesdays.

And the next Suggested Reading posting will be published on Wednesday, January 11, 2023.

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Age of Vice: A Novel by Deepti Kapoor

(Available Formats: eBook, Print Book coming soon!)

A poor boy joins up with a ruthless rich family in this fast-paced thriller. Kapoor’s sprawling second novel opens with a horrific scene: five day laborers lying dead on a New Delhi street, killed after being struck by a Mercedes early in the morning. When the police arrive, they find Ajay, a young man, at the wheel, an empty bottle of scotch nearby. Ajay, we learn, comes from a “poor, less than poor” family in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh; his family are members of a socially disadvantaged caste. When he was a boy, his father was beaten to death by a group of strongmen; his mother sold him to pay for the money she borrowed for her husband’s medical bills. Ajay worked for the farmer who bought him until the man died, then found work in a backpacker cafe where he met Sunny Wadia, the de facto leader of a band of “young, rich, and glamorous Indians, not afraid to show it, not afraid to slum it, welcome everywhere, welcomed by themselves.” Sunny, a flashy playboy, offers Ajay a job working for him in Delhi; the young man accepts, becoming a valet, butler, bodyguard: “the beating heart of Sunny’s world. Wordless, faceless, content.” Ajay soon learns that the Wadia family, entrenched in a feud, is more sinister and dangerous than he thought and that he’s being made to take the fall for a crime he didn’t commit. Kapoor switches points of view and timelines throughout the book to great effect; it doesn’t take long for the reader to become invested in the Mario Puzo-esque drama of the Wadia family and their associates. Her dialogue shines, and although the novel is a bit too long, it’s certainly gripping. Fans of crime novels will find much to admire in this quite entertaining book. A bit too long-winded but a whole lot of fun. – Kirkus Review

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Bandit Queens: A Novel by Parini Shroff

(Available Formats: eBook & Downloadable Audiobook)

Shroff’s debut is a darkly hilarious take on gossip, caste, truth, village life, and the patriarchy. Geeta’s abusive drunk of a husband disappeared five years ago, leaving her alone and destitute in a small village in India, where rumor has it that she did him in. Her reputation as a woman who “removed her own nose ring” protects her from various unpleasant attentions, and it’s not long before other women in her microloan group seek her assistance removing their nose rings. Inspired by Phoolan Devi, “the Bandit Queen,” who fought for the rights of women in India, Geeta engages the help of a handsome widower (and black-market liquor purveyor) and takes on a gangster from whom she steals a dog. Geeta inadvertently manages to facilitate a couple of husband disposals before her own spouse reappears, hoping to reconcile with her. As one of her beneficiaries tries to blackmail her and her long-estranged, childhood best friend becomes a source of support, Geeta endeavors to take her life back. A perfect match for fans of Oyinkan Braithwaite’s My Sister, the Serial Killer (2018) and clever, subversive storytelling. – Booklist Review

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Brotherless Night: A Novel by V. V. Ganeshananthan

(Available Formats: eBook)

In 1980s civil war–shattered Sri Lanka, 16-year-old Sashi works as a medic at a field hospital for the Tamil Tigers, who are fighting for a separate homeland. When the Tigers murder one of her teachers and Indian peacekeepers bring further atrocity, Sashi joins a dangerous underground project to document human rights violations in her country. From the author of Love Marriage, which was long-listed for the Women’s Prize. – Library Journal Review

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Checkout 19: A Novel by Claire-Louise Bennett

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Bennett’s (Pond, 2016) kaleidoscopically imaginative, word-enthralled, working-class English narrator reenters the consciousness of her younger selves and tracks how books, reading, and writing shaped each phase of her life, her syntax, vocabulary, and tone evolving as she matures. As a misfit child she learns to take out one book at a time from the library rather than the stack she covets because the other books distract her while she attempts to read. Hyper-observant, she fidgets in school, has a crush on a teacher who encourages her to write, and, with increasing cynicism, becomes cognizant of society’s different expectations for men and women. She works for years on a story that stoked the precariousness of her relationship with a poet, a poignant, metaphysical, and wryly witty tale featuring wealthy Tarquin Superbus in “long-ago” Venice who discovers that his vast library contains books with blank pages. When she works in a grocery store during college, the Russian man who always stands in her checkout line eventually presents her with Nietzche’s Beyond Good and Evil. Incandescent, surreal, mordantly funny, wrenching, and exhilarating, Bennett’s enrapturing paean to literature echoes Jorge Luis Borges, Clarice Lispector, Lynne Tillman, and Lucy Ellmann, pays direct homage to myriad writers, traces the nexus of literature and life, and maps a book-besotted woman’s search for meaning. – Booklist Review

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Dangerous Business: A Novel by Jane Smiley

(Available Formats: Print Book & eBook)

Pulitzer Prize winner Smiley (Perestroika in Paris) spins a remarkable story of the California gold rush and a pair of sex worker sleuths who track down the culprit behind a series of disappearances. After 21-year-old Eliza Cargill Ripple’s husband is killed in a bar brawl, she goes to work in the efficiently run and well-guarded brothel of beneficent madam Mrs. Parks. It’s Mrs. Parks who says the “risky business” of prostitution is a “dangerous” one, but so is, for these characters, simply being a woman. Eliza’s customers are a mix of the young and old, wandering sailors, adulterous husbands, judges, and lawyers. One day, Eliza establishes what she terms her life’s “ first true friendship” with Jean MacPherson, a colleague who services “reticent” women and often dresses as a man. Most of the characters are transplants from back east who’ve landed in town with new names and new identities, and when several of them—all women—disappear, Eliza and Jean become a formidable duo of amateur sleuths whose deductive skills were gained by reading Edgar Allan Poe (especially “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”). Harnessing’s Poe’s character Dupin’s “train of logic,” the women suss out the most likely culprit and hatch a cleverly devised trap. The vivid historical details and vibrant characters bring Smiley’s setting to glorious life. This seductive entertainment is not to be missed. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review

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The Darkest Game by Joseph Schneider

(Available Formats: eBook, Hoopla instant checkout eBook & Audiobook)

Good thing Joseph Schneider is a crackerjack crime novelist. As readers of his quirky first novel, One Day You’ll Burn (2020), know, he writes more asides, mini-essays, and one-liners into his fiction than the chattiest Victorian ever dared. And they’re usually fascinating enough to keep plot-centered mystery readers from abandoning ship. Learn the origin of the word “”buccaneer.”” Ponder the possibility that brain scans can reveal sociopathy. And enjoy the story. LA homicide detective Marcus Jarsdale of Burn is back, this time tackling two murders at a prestigious library, art museum, and garden. His interrogations of staffers have an unusual layer, as arty types with strong sense of self-importance encounter a cop who’s a former classics professor and can correct their misinformation about Emperor Vespasian. There’s gunplay, too, along with misdirection and facts presented as clues that may be just . . . facts. (Watch out for that blue chip and that H.G. Wells novel lying about.) Above all, relish the beautiful writing, as when water is described as “”the dazzling blue of a gas flame.”” And ponder the distinction between “”acronyms”” and “”initialisms. – Booklist Review

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Earl and the Pharaoh: From the Real Downton Abbey to the Discovery of Tutankhamun by The Countess of Carnarvon

(Available Formats: eBook & CD Audiobook)

You may not know Lady Fiona Carnarvon, but you know her country home, Highclere Castle, where the sensationally popular Downton Abbey is filmed. Here she draws on Highclere’s archives to chronicle the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, financed by her forebear George Herbert, an antiquities collector and the 5th Earl of Carnarvon. Just in time for the centennial. – Library Journal Review

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Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries: Book One of the Emily Wilde Series by Heather Fawcett
(Available Formats: eBook)

DEBUT Known for her middle grade and YA titles, Fawcett (The School Between Winter and Fairyland) makes her adult fiction debut with this story told in the form of a journal. Emily Wilde is a faerie folklore researcher setting off for field work in Hrafnsvik, a small town with few amenities. She is a genius researcher with meticulous practices, the very opposite of her colleague Wendell Bambleby. Wendelle is a leading researcher with many accolades, but who is he really? Emily has many suspicions about him, and their field work will bring them closer than ever, as Wendell shows up unexpectedly in Hrafnsvik. What’s more, faeries are abducting and harassing humans, which forces Emily and Wendell to team up in order to help the locals and so that Emily can finish her research. VERDICT While the pacing starts off slow, Fawcett grabs readers’ attention by drawing them into the folklore as well as the surrounding world. She does a fantastic job building complex characters, and the academic-prose style of Emily’s journal entries works well for the story. A great read for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Erin Morgenstern. – Starred Library Journal Review

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Ghost 19 by Simone St. James

(Available Formats: eBook)

A woman moves to a town where she becomes obsessed with watching the lives of her neighbors while stuck in a house that refuses to let her leave in this first ever short story from the New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases.

Is there something wrong with Ginette Cox? It’s what everyone seems to think. When a doctor suggests that what she might need is less excitement, she packs up and moves from New York City to a house in suburban NY: 19 Howard Ave.

The town offers Ginette little in the way of entertainment in 1959, but at least she has interesting neighbors. Whether it’s the little girl with her doll or the couple and their mother-in-law, Ginette watches them from her window and makes up names and stories for them.

But it’s not all peaceful in suburbia. Ginette finds it hard to sleep in her new house. There are strange and scary noises coming from the basement, and she is trapped, either by a ghost or her own madness.

But when Ginette starts to think a murder has taken place and a mysterious man starts making terrifying appearances outside her window, it’s clear she must deal with whatever isn’t allowing her to escape this house…

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Heretic Royal: An Action Packed Novel of High Fantasy by G.A. Aiken

(Available Formats: eBook & Hoopla instant checkout eBook)

In this riveting, feminist tale perfect for fans of Katee Robert and Nalini Singh, two sisters battle for a single throne, warring factions take up arms, a land is divided, and uncertain allies become very certain lovers. With subtle commentary on today’s political polarization, this riveting epic celebrates strong female characters and champions the underdog with diverse, expert world building.
Gods save the queen!

Ainsley Farmerson has always planned to break free of the family business—and the family drama. But what was once farming, smithworking, and bickering over the dinner table has turned into open warfare between sisters. Sides have been taken, lives are on the line, and Ainsley has no doubt which sister must be queen. She’ll do whatever is necessary to take down the soulless Beatrix. Even if that means joining forces with angry battle nuns, irritating monks, and overbearing centaurs.
Gruffyn of the Torn Moon Clan has no time for human beings.

And yet . . . there is something about the uncontrollable princess that he can’t ignore. Maybe it’s the way her eldest sisters underestimate her. Or her bravery facing down dragons and mad queens from distant lands. Whatever the reason, Gruff is willing to fight by this human’s side. Not only for the entertainment value, but because she’s right. Beatrix must never be queen. So whatever he has to do, whoever he has to destroy, Gruff will battle beside Ainsley. Fast. Hard. And with absolutely no mercy .

“The action speeds along and the dialogue pings among sarcastic dragons, earnest fathers and obnoxious siblings.”– Bookpage

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer

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*Information on the three 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 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 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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Note: Book summaries are from the respective publishers unless otherwise specified.

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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.

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, January 6, 2023.

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And here are our recommended songs of the week!

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Auld Lang Syne by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians (Genre: Easy Listening)

From The Album: Auld Lang Syne (2006)

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Auld Lang Syne Boogie by Freddie Mitchell (Genre: Jazz)

From The Album: The Chronological Freddie Mitchell 1949-1950 (2002)

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Bringing In A Brand New Year by Charles Brown (Genre: R&B, Blues)

From The Album: Cool Christmas Blues (1994)

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Celtic New Year by Van Morrison (Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Folk)

From The Album: Magic Time (2005)

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Happy New Year by Judy Garland (Genre: Vocal)

From The Album: Alone (1957)

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Let’s Start The New Year Right by Bing Crosby (Genre: Vocal)

From The Soundtrack: Holiday Inn (1942)

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My Dear Acquaintance (A Happy New Year) by Peggy Lee (Genre: Pop, Vocal)

From The Album: Christmas With Peggy Lee (2006)

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New Year’s Eve by Joe Walsh (of the Eagles)

From The Soundtrack: The Waterboy (2007)

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New Year’s Resolution by Otis Redding & Carla Thomas (Genre: R&B, Vocal)

From The Album: King And Queen (1967)

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Nothin’ New for New Year by Harry Connick Jr. & George Jones (Genre: Vocal, Jazz & Country)

From The Album: Harry For The Holidays (2003)

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Peace by Norah Jones (Genre: Vocal)

From The Album: First Sessions (2001)

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Same Old Lang Syne by Dan Fogelberg (Genre: Pop/Rock)

From The Album: The Innocent Age (1981)

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This Will Be Our Year by The Zombies (Genre: Classic Rock)

From The Album: Odessey and Oracle (1968)

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Hoopla Recommend Album of the Week

This Time I’m Swingin’ (1960) by Dean Martin (Genre: Vocal, Easy Listening)

 

And from the album, the song:

On The Street Where You Live by Dean Martin

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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.