Tech & Book Talk at SSCL

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers available in the Digital Catalog.

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If you have questions about how to access digital content, you can write a comment and post it on the blog, or send me, SSCL Librarian Linda Reimer, questions via email: reimerl@stls.org

 

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FICTION:

 

ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman (eBook)

A failed bank robber holds a group of strangers hostage at an apartment open house.

 

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BATTLE GROUND by Jim Butcher (eBook)

 

The 17th book in the Dresden Files series. Harry must save Chicago from destruction by the Last Titan.

 

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THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS by Jodi Picoult (eBook)

After surviving a plane crash, a death doula travels to Egypt to reconnect with an old flame who is an archaeologist.

 

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EVENING AND THE MORNING by Ken Follett (eBook)

In a prequel to “The Pillars of the Earth,” a boatbuilder, a Norman noblewoman and a monk live in England under attack by the Welsh and the Vikings.

 

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MIDNIGHT LIBRARY by Matt Haig (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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ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware (eBook)

An avalanche tests the bonds of coworkers from a London-based tech startup on a corporate retreat in the French Alps.

 

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RETURN by Nicholas Sparks (eBook)

 

A doctor serving in the Navy in Afghanistan goes back to North Carolina where two women change his life.

 

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TROUBLED BLOOD by Robert Galbraith (eBook)

The fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series. A decades-old cold case might be connected to a serial killer; by J.K. Rowling, writing pseudonymously.

 

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THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett (eBook)

The lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern black community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity.

 

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens (eBook)

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

 

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NON-FICTION:

 

CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson (Downloadable Audiobook)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

 

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DISLOYAL by Michael Cohen (eBook)

An account of President Trump’s business empire, political campaign and presidential administration by his former personal attorney.

 

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HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST by Ibram X. Kendi (eBook)

A primer for creating a more just and equitable society through identifying and opposing racism.

 

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KILLING CRAZY HORSE by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard (eBook)

 

 

The ninth book in the conservative commentator’s Killing series focuses on conflicts with Native Americans.

 

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MY OWN WORDS by Ruth Bader Ginsburg with Mary Hartnett and Wendy W. Williams (eBook)

 

A collection of articles and speeches by the Supreme Court justice.

 

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RAGE by Bob Woodward (eBook)

Based on 17 on-the-record interviews with President Trump and other reporting, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist details the president’s perspective on multiple crises.

 

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TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH by Mary L. Trump (eBook)

The clinical psychologist gives her assessment of events and patterns inside her family and how they shaped President Trump.

 

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UNTAMED by Glennon Doyle (eBook)

The activist and public speaker describes her journey of listening to her inner voice.

 

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WHITE FRAGILITY by Robin DiAngelo (eBook)

Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.

 

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Be well and read on!

Linda Reimer, SSL

 

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Note: this list contains all the New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers for the week that are owned by libraries within the Southern Tier Library System.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, welcome to our Suggested Listening posting for this week!

Our Suggested Listening postings focus on the music of the past, with a few new songs mixed in for good measure.

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Suggested Listening postings come out weekly, on Fridays, and  the next Suggested Listening posting will be out on Friday, October 16, 2020.

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Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive by Johnny Mercer with the Pied Pipers (Genre: Vocal, Big Band)

A number 1 hit in 1945; and a very upbeat song!

 

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Baby’s Callin’ Me Home by The Steve Miller Band (Genre: Rock, Classic Rock)

From the band’s very first album Children of The Future (1968).

 

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Chicago Waves by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson & Carlos Niño (Genre: Jazz, New Age)

From their new album Chicago Waves (2020)

 

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Fields of Gold by Sting (Rock, Singer-Songwriter)

From Sting’s album Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993).

 

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Imagine by John Lennon (Genre: Rock, Classic Rock)

From Lennon’s album Imagine (1971), on the 80th anniversary of his birth.

 

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The Lakes by Taylor Swift (Genre: Pop, Rock)

From Swift’s forthcoming album Forklore (2020).

 

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Let Love Rule by Lenny Kravitz (Genre: Rock)

The title track from Lenny’s first album, Let Love Rule (1989).

 

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Moon Gone Down by The Gourds (Country, Rock, Americana)

From the band’s album Noble Creatures (2020).

 

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Stand By Me by Ben E. King (Genre: Pop, R&B)

Ben E. King’s best-known song, originally released on his third album, Don’t Play That Song (1962) and more recently a hit from the soundtrack of the film Stand By Me (1986)

 

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You Make Me Real by The Doors (Genre: Rock)

From the band’s album Morrison Hotel (1969).

 

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Hoopla Pick of the Week

As you may well have already heard our library, The Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, N.Y., has just added the new instant check out service Hoopla.

If you have a SSCL (aka Corning) library card, you can check out four items per month from the Hoopla catalog. All items are available instantly, and the available formats include music albums, eBooks, digital audiobooks, comic books, TV shows and movies.

So, starting this week, I will recommend one album per week that you can immediately check out from the Hoopla catalog.

And in the future I will dispense with the preamble and simply tell  you what my Hoopla album recommendation is for the current week!

For this first week, I’m going to recommend:

Digging Deep: Subterranea (2020) by Robert Plant

Digging Deep: Subterranea  is the new album by the former lead vocalist of Led Zepplin.

 

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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REFERENCES:

Print References

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Online References

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

Shostakovich: Piano Quintet; Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok (2020) performed by Trio Wanderer / Christophe Gaugué / Catherine Montier / Ekaterina Semenchuk, AllMusic Review., https://www.allmusic.com/album/shostakovich-piano-quintet-seven-romances-on-poems-by-alexander-blok-mw0003402994

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Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

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

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS: Libby & RBDigital:

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, consisting entirely of eBooks & downloadable audiobooks available through the Digital Catalog.

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are published on Tuesdays.

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The Archive of the Forgotten: Hell’s Library Series, Book 2 by A. J. Hackwith (Format: eBook)

In the second installment of this richly imagined fantasy adventure series, a new threat from within the Library could destroy those who depend upon it the most.

The Library of the Unwritten in Hell was saved from total devastation, but hundreds of potential books were destroyed. Former librarian Claire and Brevity the muse feel the loss of those stories, and are trying to adjust to their new roles within the Arcane Wing and Library, respectively. But when the remains of those books begin to leak a strange ink, Claire realizes that the Library has kept secrets from Hell—and from its own librarians.

Claire and Brevity are immediately at odds in their approach to the ink, and the potential power that it represents has not gone unnoticed. When a representative from the Muses Corps arrives at the Library to advise Brevity, the angel Rami and the erstwhile Hero hunt for answers in other realms. The true nature of the ink could fundamentally alter the afterlife for good or ill, but it entirely depends on who is left to hold the pen.

Readers’ Note: The first eBook in the series, The Library of the Unwritten, is also available in the Digital Catalog.

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Confessions on the 7:45 by Lisa Unger (Format: eBook)

From master of suspense Lisa Unger comes a riveting thriller about a chance encounter that unravels a stunning web of lies and deceit.

Be careful to whom you tell your darkest secrets…

Selena Murphy is commuting home from her job in the city when the train stalls out on the tracks. She strikes up a conversation with a beautiful stranger in the next seat, and their connection is fast and easy. The woman introduces herself as Martha and confesses that she’s been stuck in an affair with her boss. Selena, in turn, confesses that she suspects her husband is sleeping with the nanny. When the train arrives at Selena’s station, the two women part ways, presumably never to meet again.

But days later, Selena’s nanny disappears.

Soon Selena finds her once-perfect life upended. As she is pulled into the mystery of the missing nanny, and as the fractures in her marriage grow deeper, Selena begins to wonder, who was Martha really? But she is hardly prepared for what she’ll discover.

Expertly plotted and reminiscent of the timeless classic Strangers on a Train, Confessions on the 7:45 is a gripping thriller about the delicate facades we create around our lives.

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A Death Long Overdue by Eva Gates (Format: eBook)

When her former director is found dead in the water, librarian Lucy Richardson will have to get to the bottom of the mystery before the killer ends her tale.

It’s summertime in the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Bertie James’s college class is having their 40th anniversary reunion. The opening night reception is held at the Lighthouse Library and Lucy and her colleagues have assembled an exhibit of library artifacts showing how libraries have changed over the years. After the reception, some of the women take a walk down the boardwalk to the pier, using flashlights to illuminate the dark path, but what’s scarier than the dark is finding the former director of the Lighthouse Library floating lifeless in the water.

Helena Sanchez, the former director, wasn’t much loved and spent the party being rude to almost everyone there. As a result, Lucy finds herself in deep water as she rocks the boat, questioning several suspects. But she’ll have to batten down the hatches and fast before she’s left high and dry…and right in the killer’s crosshairs.

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Every Now and Then: A Novel by Lesley Kagen (Format: eBook)

For fans of Where the Crawdads Sing and This Tender Land comes a heartfelt story about three young girls searching for adventure during the summer of 1960 from the New York Times bestselling author of Whistling in the Dark.

That summer would change us . . . forever.

The summer of 1960 was the hottest ever for Summit, Wisconsin. For kids seeking relief from the heat, there was a creek to be swum in, sprinklers to run through, and ice cream at Whitcomb’s Drugstore. But for Frankie, Viv, and Biz, eleven-year-old best friends, it would forever be remembered as the summer that evil paid a visit to their small town—and took their young lives as they’d known them as a souvenir.

With a to-do list in hand, the girls set forth from their hideout to make their mark on that summer, but when three patients escape from Broadhurst Mental Institution, their idyllic lives take a sinister turn. Determined to uncover long-held secrets, the girls have no idea that what they discover could cost them their lives and the ones they hold dear.

Six decades later, Biz, now a bestselling novelist, remembers that long ago summer and how it still haunts her and her lifelong friends in Every Now and Then, a story about the ties that bind us, the timelessness of grief and guilt—and the everlasting hope for redemption.

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The Fragile Earth: Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change edited by David Remnick & Henry Finder (Format: eBook)

A collection of the New Yorker’s groundbreaking reporting from the front lines of climate change—including writing from Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Kolbert, Ian Frazier, Kathryn Schulz, and more

Just one year after climatologist James Hansen first came before a Senate committee and testified that the Earth was now warmer than it had ever been in recorded history, thanks to humankind’s heedless consumption of fossil fuels, New Yorker writer Bill McKibben published a deeply reported and considered piece on climate change and what it could mean for the planet.

At the time, the piece was to some speculative to the point of alarmist; read now, McKibben’s work is heroically prescient. Since then, the New Yorker has devoted enormous attention to climate change, describing the causes of the crisis, the political and ecological conditions we now find ourselves in, and the scenarios and solutions we face.

The Fragile Earth tells the story of climate change—its past, present, and future—taking readers from Greenland to the Great Plains, and into both laboratories and rain forests. It features some of the best writing on global warming from the last three decades, including Bill McKibben’s seminal essay “The End of Nature,” the first piece to popularize both the science and politics of climate change for a general audience, and the Pulitzer Prize–winning work of Elizabeth Kolbert, as well as Kathryn Schulz, Dexter Filkins, Jonathan Franzen, Ian Frazier, Eric Klinenberg, and others. The result, in its range, depth, and passion, promises to bring light, and sometimes heat, to the great emergency of our age.

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The Harp of Kings: Warrior Bards Series, Book 1 by Juliet Marillier (Format: eBook)

A young woman is both a bard—and a warrior—in this thrilling historical fantasy from the author of the Sevenwaters novels.

Eighteen-year-old Liobhan is a powerful singer and an expert whistle player. Her brother has a voice to melt the hardest heart, and a rare talent on the harp. But Liobhan’s burning ambition is to join the elite warrior band on Swan Island. She and her brother train there to compete for places, and find themselves joining a mission while still candidates. Their unusual blend of skills makes them ideal for this particular job, which requires going undercover as traveling minstrels. For Swan Island trains both warriors and spies.

Their mission: to find and retrieve a precious harp, an ancient symbol of kingship, which has gone mysteriously missing. If the instrument is not played at the upcoming coronation, the candidate will not be accepted and the people could revolt. Faced with plotting courtiers and tight-lipped druids, an insightful storyteller, and a boorish Crown Prince, Liobhan soon realizes an Otherworld power may be meddling in the affairs of the kingdom. When ambition clashes with conscience, Liobhan must make a bold decision and is faced with a heartbreaking choice. . . .

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In the Hands of the People: Thomas Jefferson on Equality, Faith, Freedom, Compromise, and the Art of Citizenship by edited by Jon Meacham with an afterward by Annette Gordon-Reed (Format: eBook)

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Jon Meacham offers a collection of inspiring words about how to be a good citizen, from Thomas Jefferson and others, and reminds us why our country’s founding principles are still so important today.

Thomas Jefferson believed in the covenant between a government and its citizens, in both the government’s responsibilities to its people and also the people’s responsibility to the republic. In this illuminating book, a project of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation at Monticello, the #1 New York Times bestselling author Jon Meacham presents selections from Jefferson’s writing on the subject, with an afterword by

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Annette Gordon-Reed and comments on Jefferson’s ideas from others, including Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Frederick Douglass, Carl Sagan, and American presidents.

This curated collection revitalizes how to see an individual’s role in the world, as it explores such Jeffersonian concepts as religious freedom, the importance of a free press, public education, participation in government, and others.

Meacham writes, “In an hour of twenty-first-century division and partisanship, of declining trust in institutions and of widespread skepticism about the long-term viability of the American experiment, it is instructive to return to first principles. Not, to be sure, as an exercise in nostalgia or as a flight from the reality of our own time, but as an honest effort to see, as Jefferson wrote, what history may be able to tell us about the present and the future.”

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The Last Million: Europe’s Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War by David Nasaw (Format: eBook)

From bestselling author David Nasaw, a sweeping new history of the one million refugees left behind in Germany after WWII

In May 1945, German forces surrendered to the Allied powers, putting an end to World War II in Europe. But the aftershocks of global military conflict did not cease with the German capitulation. Millions of lost and homeless concentration camp survivors, POWs, slave laborers, political prisoners, and Nazi collaborators in flight from the Red Army overwhelmed Germany, a nation in ruins. British and American soldiers gathered the malnourished and desperate refugees and attempted to repatriate them. But after exhaustive efforts, there remained more than a million displaced persons left behind in Germany: Jews, Poles, Estonians, Latvians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians, and other Eastern Europeans who refused to go home or had no homes to return to. The Last Million would spend the next three to five years in displaced persons camps, temporary homelands in exile, divided by nationality, with their own police forces, churches and synagogues, schools, newspapers, theaters, and infirmaries.

The international community could not agree on the fate of the Last Million, and after a year of debate and inaction, the International Refugee Organization was created to resettle them in lands suffering from postwar labor shortages. But no nations were willing to accept the 200,000 to 250,000 Jewish men, women, and children who remained trapped in Germany. In 1948, the United States, among the last countries to accept refugees for resettlement, finally passed a displaced persons bill. With Cold War fears supplanting memories of World War II atrocities, the bill granted the vast majority of visas to those who were reliably anti-Communist, including thousands of former Nazi collaborators and war criminals, while severely limiting the entry of Jews, who were suspected of being Communist sympathizers or agents because they had been recent residents of Soviet-dominated Poland. Only after the controversial partition of Palestine and Israel’s declaration of independence were the remaining Jewish survivors able to leave their displaced persons camps in Germany.

A masterwork from acclaimed historian David Nasaw, The Last Million tells the gripping yet until now largely hidden story of postwar displacement and statelessness. By 1952, the Last Million were scattered around the world. As they crossed from their broken past into an unknowable future, they carried with them their wounds, their fears, their hope, and their secrets. Here for the first time, Nasaw illuminates their incredible history and, with profound contemporary resonance, shows us that it is our history as well.

Readers’ Note: the author of the The Last Million was recently featured on NPR’s Fresh Air.

The segment is titled: What Happened To The 1 Million Displaced Persons After WWII?

Here is a link to the audio interview, in case you’d like to check it out:
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/10/911444531/what-happened-to-the-1-million-displaced-persons-after-wwii

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Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rumaan Alam (Format: eBook)

LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD IN FICTION

A Recommended Book From
Vogue * TIME * The Washington Post * Buzzfeed * The Boston Globe * Vulture * Newsweek * NY Observer * Refinery29 * The New York Post * Parade * The Millions * PopSugar * AARP * Publishers Weekly * Kirkus * LA Mag * Alma

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong

Amanda and Clay head out to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a vacation: a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter, and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they’ve rented for the week. But a late-night knock on the door breaks the spell. Ruth and G. H. are an older couple—it’s their house, and they’ve arrived in a panic. They bring the news that a sudden blackout has swept the city. But in this rural area—with the TV and internet now down, and no cell phone service—it’s hard to know what to believe.

Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple—and vice versa? What happened back in New York? Is the vacation home, isolated from civilization, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one other?

Suspenseful and provocative, Rumaan Alam’s third novel is keenly attuned to the complexities of parenthood, race, and class. Leave the World Behind explores how our closest bonds are reshaped—and unexpected new ones are forged—in moments of crisis.

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Vanishing Act: Jane Whitefield Series, Book 1 by Thomas Perry (Format: eBook)

“A challenging and satisfying thriller . . . [with] many surprising twists.”—The New York Times

Jane Whitefield is a Native American guide who leads people out of the wilderness—not the tree-filled variety but the kind created by enemies who want you dead. She is in the one-woman business of helping the desperate disappear. Thanks to her membership in the Wolf Clan of the Seneca tribe, she can fool any pursuer, cover any trail, and then provide her clients with new identities, complete with authentic paperwork. Jane knows all the tricks, ancient and modern; in fact, she has invented several of them herself.

So she is only mildly surprised to find an intruder waiting for her when she returns home one day. An ex-cop suspected of embezzling, John Felker wants Jane to do for him what she did for his buddy Harry Kemple: make him vanish. But as Jane opens a door out of the world for Felker, she walks into a trap that will take all her heritage and cunning to escape. . . .

Praise for Vanishing Act

“Thomas Perry keeps pulling fresh ideas and original characters out of thin air. The strong-willed heroine he introduces in Vanishing Act rates as one of his most singular creations.”—The New York Times Book Review

“One thriller that must be read. . . . Perry has created his most complex and compelling protagonist.”—San Francisco Examiner

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Hoopla Reading Recommendation of the Week

Readers ‘ Note: You must have a Southeast Steuben County Library Card to check out Hoopla eBooks.

Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country (2014)

For more than three decades, bestselling author Louise Erdrich has enthralled readers with dazzling novels that paint an evocative portrait of Native American life. From her dazzling first novel, Love Medicine, to the National Book Award-winning The Round House, Erdrich’s lyrical skill and emotional assurance have earned her a place alongside William Faulkner and Willa Cather as an author deeply rooted in the American landscape. In Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country, Erdrich takes us on an illuminating tour through the terrain her ancestors have inhabited for centuries: the lakes and islands of southern Ontario. Summoning to life the Ojibwe’s sacred spirits and songs, their language and sorrows, she considers the many ways in which her tribe-whose name derives from the word ozhibii’ige, “to write”-have influenced her. Her journey links ancient stone paintings with a magical island where a bookish recluse built an extraordinary library, and she reveals how both have transformed her.A blend of history, mythology, and memoir, Books and Islands in Ojibwe Country is an enchanting meditation on modern life, natural splendor, and the ancient spirituality and creativity of Erdrich’s native homeland-a long, elemental tradition of storytelling that is in her blood.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

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StarCat

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

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

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

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

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers available in the Digital Catalog.

–

If you have questions about how to access digital content, you can write a comment and post it on the blog, or send me, SSCL Librarian Linda Reimer, questions via email: reimerl@stls.org

 

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FICTION:

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE by Louise Penny (Downloadable Audiobook):

The 16th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. When his billionaire godfather is attacked, Gamache uncovers secrets hidden throughout Paris.

 

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AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins (eBook):

A bookseller flees Mexico for the United States with her son while pursued by the head of a drug cartel.

 

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ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman (eBook):

A failed bank robber holds a group of strangers hostage at an apartment open house.

 

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THE BOOK OF TWO WAYS by Jodi Picoult (eBook):

After surviving a plane crash, a death doula travels to Egypt to reconnect with an old flame who is an archaeologist.

 

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EVENING AND THE MORNING by Ken Follett (eBook):

In a prequel to “The Pillars of the Earth,” a boatbuilder, a Norman noblewoman and a monk live in England under attack by the Welsh and the Vikings.

 

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THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley (Downloadable Audiobook)

A wedding between a TV star and a magazine publisher on an island off the coast of Ireland turns deadly.

 

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NEXT TO LAST STAND by Craig Johnson (eBook):

The 16th book in the Longmire series. A million dollars in a shoebox and a piece of a painting might be clues to an art heist.

 

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ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware (eBook):

An avalanche tests the bonds of coworkers from a London-based tech startup on a corporate retreat in the French Alps.

 

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SHADOWS IN DEATH by J.D. Robb (eBook):

The 51st book of the In Death series. A hitman with possible connections to Eve Dallas’s husband is seen near the scene of a crime.

 

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TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS by Christopher Paolini (eBook):

Kira Navárez might be the only one who can save the Earth and its colonies from being destroyed.

 

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TROUBLED BLOOD by Robert Galbraith (eBook):

The fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series. A decades-old cold case might be connected to a serial killer; by J.K. Rowling, writing pseudonymously.

 

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THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett (eBook)

The lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern black community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity.

 

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens (eBook)

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

 

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NON-FICTION:

CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson (Downloadable Audiobook):

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

 

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DISLOYAL by Michael Cohen (eBook):

An account of President Trump’s business empire, political campaign and presidential administration by his former personal attorney.

 

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EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME by Jenna Bush Hager:

Essays by the former first daughter and granddaughter celebrating the lives of her grandparents.

 

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HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST by Ibram X. Kendi (eBook)

A primer for creating a more just and equitable society through identifying and opposing racism.

 

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NOTORIOUS RBG by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik (Downloadable Audibook):

A celebration of the life and career of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

 

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RAGE by Bob Woodward (eBook):

Based on 17 on-the-record interviews with President Trump and other reporting, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist details the president’s perspective on multiple crises.

 

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TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH by Mary L. Trump (eBook):

The clinical psychologist gives her assessment of events and patterns inside her family and how they shaped President Trump.

 

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UNTAMED by Glennon Doyle (eBook):

The activist and public speaker describes her journey of listening to her inner voice.

 

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WHITE FRAGILITY by Robin DiAngelo (eBook):

Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.

 

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Be well and read on!

Linda Reimer, SSL

 

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Note: this list contains all the New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers for the week that are owned by libraries within the Southern Tier Library System.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, welcome to our Suggested Listening posting for this week!

Our Suggested Listening postings focus on the music of the past, with a few new songs mixed in for good measure.

–

Suggested Listening postings come out weekly, on Fridays, and next Suggested Listening posting will be out on Friday, October 9, 2020.

–

Boom Boom by John Lee Hooker (Genre: Blues)

A classic song from the blues master’s equally classic album Burnin” (1962).

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Down by The Riverside by Christian McBride / Christian McBride Big Band (Genre: Big Band)

A rousing rendition of the spiritual classic; from the group’s new album For Jimmy, Wes and Oliver (2020).

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Forrest Gump Suite from the Forest Gump (Genre: Soundtrack)

A majestic, instrumental song, composed by by Alan Silvestri, which appears with a collection of classic rock tunes, on the Forrest Gump Soundtrack (1994).

 

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The Fountain by The Nightshop (Genre: Folk)

From the band’s new EP of the same name, the Fountain (2020).

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Friday On My Mind by The Easybeats (Genre: Classic Rock)

A classic, upbeat song from the Australian group who were, unquestionably, big fans of The Beatles!

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Piano Quintet Prelude by Trio wander (Genre: Classical)

From the album Shostakovich: Piano Quintet; Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok (2020) performed by Trio Wanderer / Christophe Gaugué / Catherine Montier / Ekaterina Semenchuk.

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Red-Yellow Bonfire by Cayucas (Genre: Pop/Rock)

From the duo’s new album Blue Summer (2020).

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Song Of A Baker by The Small Faces (Classic Rock)

From the band’s terrific album  Ogdens’ Nut Gone Flake (1968).

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Summer In the City by Quincy Jones (Genre: Jazz, R&B)

From Quincy’s classic album You’ve Got It Bad Girl (1973).

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This Little Light of Mine by Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Genre: Blues)

An upbeat song by the great singer and guitarist recorded live in 1960.

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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REFERENCES:

Print References

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Online References

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

Shostakovich: Piano Quintet; Seven Romances on Poems by Alexander Blok (2020) performed by Trio Wanderer / Christophe Gaugué / Catherine Montier / Ekaterina Semenchuk, AllMusic Review., https://www.allmusic.com/album/shostakovich-piano-quintet-seven-romances-on-poems-by-alexander-blok-mw0003402994

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Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

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

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS: Libby & RBDigital:

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, consisting entirely of eBooks & downloadable audiobooks available through the Digital Catalog.

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Weekly Suggested Reading postings are published on Tuesdays.

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Battle Ground: The Dresden Files, Book 17 by Jim Butcher (Format: eBook)

THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET SERIOUS FOR HARRY DRESDEN, CHICAGO’S ONLY PROFESSIONAL WIZARD, in the next entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.

Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. The Red Court of vampires. The fallen angels of the Order of the Blackened Denarius. The Outsiders.

But this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous on an order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army. The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago, and has come to subjugate humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way.

Harry’s mission is simple but impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change Harry’s life, Chicago, and the mortal world forever.

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The King at the Edge of the World: A Novel by Arthur Phillips (Format: eBook)

The year is 1601. Queen Elizabeth I is dying, childless. Her nervous kingdom has no heir. It is a capital crime even to think that Elizabeth will ever die. Potential successors secretly maneuver to be in position when the inevitable occurs. The leading candidate is King James VI of Scotland, but there is a problem.

The queen’s spymasters—hardened veterans of a long war on terror and religious extremism—fear that James is not what he appears. He has every reason to claim to be a Protestant, but if he secretly shares his family’s Catholicism, then forty years of religious war will have been for nothing, and a bloodbath will ensue. With time running out, London confronts a seemingly impossible question: What does James truly believe?

It falls to Geoffrey Belloc, a secret warrior from the hottest days of England’s religious battles, to devise a test to discover the true nature of King James’s soul. Belloc enlists Mahmoud Ezzedine, a Muslim physician left behind by the last diplomatic visit from the Ottoman Empire, as his undercover agent. The perfect man for the job, Ezzedine is the ultimate outsider, stranded on this cold, wet, and primitive island. He will do almost anything to return home to his wife and son.

Arthur Phillips returns with a unique and thrilling novel that will leave readers questioning the nature of truth at every turn.

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Lone Jack Trail written by Owen Laukkanen and read by Kevin Stillwell (Format: Downloadable Audiobook)

A veteran Marine and an ex-convict find themselves on opposite sides of the law in this propulsive new thriller from award-nominated suspense master and “powerhouse writer” Owen Laukkanen (Kirkus Reviews).

Could your closest friend be a killer?

When a body washes up outside Deception Cove, Washington, Jess Winslow-once a US Marine, now a trainee sheriff’s deputy-is assigned to investigate. But when she realizes it’s “Bad” Brock Boyd, a hometown celebrity lately fallen from grace, things become complicated. The last person seen with Boyd was her own boyfriend, Mason Burke.

An ex-convict and newcomer in town, Mason is one of the only people who can understand Jess’s haunting memories of her time in Afghanistan-and her love for Lucy, her devoted service dog. Finding one another in Deception Cove has been the best thing to happen to either of them in years. So Jess knows Mason could never be guilty of murder-doesn’t she?

As the facts of the case point ever more squarely at Mason, Jess must face that everything she thinks she knows about him might be wrong. A thrilling sequel to Deception Cove, and a heart-pounding adventure all its own, Lone Jack Trail pushes Jess and Mason to a shocking confrontation and will test everything they’ve come to love and trust in Deception Cove.

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Mr. Nobody: A Novel by Catherine Steadman (Format: Downloadable Audiobook)

When a man is found on a British beach, drifting in and out of consciousness, with no identification and unable to speak, interest in him is sparked immediately. From the hospital staff who find themselves inexplicably drawn to him, to international medical experts who are baffled by him, to the national press who call him Mr. Nobody, everyone wants answers. Who is this man? And what happened to him?

Some memories are best forgotten.

Neuropsychiatrist Dr. Emma Lewis is asked to assess the patient in a small town deep in the English countryside. This is her field of expertise, this is the chance she’s been waiting for, and this case could make her name known across the world. But therein lies the danger. Emma left this same town fourteen years ago and has taken great pains to cover all traces of her past since then.

Places aren’t haunted . . . people are.

But now something—or someone—is calling her back. And the more time she spends with her patient, the more alarmed she becomes that he knows the one thing about her that nobody is supposed to know.

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Nancy Wake: The gripping true story of the woman who became the Gestapo’s most wanted spy by Peter FitzSimons (Format: eBook)

The gripping true story of the woman who became the Gestapo’s most wanted spy

In the early 1930s, Nancy Wake was a young woman enjoying a bohemian life in Paris. By the end of the Second World War, she was the Gestapo’s most wanted person.

As a naïve, young journalist, Nancy Wake witnessed a horrific scene of Nazi violence in a Viennese street. From that moment, she declared that she would do everything in her power to rid Europe of the Nazis. What began as a courier job here and there became a highly successful escape network for Allied soldiers, perfectly camouflaged by Nancy’s high-society life in Marseille.

Her network was soon so successful – and so notorious – that she was forced to flee France to escape the Gestapo, who had dubbed her “the white mouse” for her knack of slipping through its traps. But Nancy was a passionate enemy of the Nazis and refused to stay away. Supplying weapons and training members of a powerful underground fighting force, organising Allied parachute drops, cycling four hundred kilometres across a mountain range to find a new transmitting radio – nothing seemed too difficult in her fight against the Nazis. Peter FitzSimons reveals Nancy Wake’s compelling story, a tale of an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things.

For fans of A Woman of No Importance and Code Name: Lise comes the true story behind the historical fiction novels Code Name Helène and Liberation.

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Necessary Lies written by Diane Chamberlain and Alison Elliott (Format: Downloadable Audiobook)

Bestselling author Diane Chamberlain delivers a breakout book about a small southern town fifty years ago, and the darkest—and most hopeful—places in the human heartAfter losing her parents, fifteen-year-old Ivy Hart is left to care for her grandmother, older sister and nephew as tenants on a small tobacco farm. As she struggles with her grandmother’s aging, her sister’s mental illness and her own epilepsy, she realizes they might need more than she can give. When Jane Forrester takes a position as Grace County’s newest social worker, she doesn’t realize just how much her help is needed. She quickly becomes emotionally invested in her clients’ lives, causing tension with her boss and her new husband. But as Jane is drawn in by the Hart women, she begins to discover the secrets of the small farm—secrets much darker than she would have guessed. Soon, she must decide whether to take drastic action to help them, or risk losing the battle against everything she believes is wrong. Set in rural Grace County, North Carolina in a time of state-mandated sterilizations and racial tension, Necessary Lies tells the story of these two young women, seemingly worlds apart, but both haunted by tragedy. Jane and Ivy are thrown together and must ask themselves: how can you know what you believe is right, when everyone is telling you it’s wrong?

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Passage West: A Novel by Rishi Reddi (Format: eBook)

A sweeping, vibrant first novel following a family of Indian sharecroppers at the onset of World War I, revealing a little-known part of California history

1914: Ram Singh arrives in the Imperial Valley on the Mexican border, reluctantly accepting his friend Karak’s offer of work and partnership in a small cantaloupe farm. Ram is unmoored; fleeing violence in Oregon, he desperately longs to return to his wife and newborn son in Punjab—but he is duty bound to make his fortune first.

In the Valley, American settlement is still new and the rules are ever shifting. Alongside Karak; Jivan and his wife, Kishen; and Amarjeet, a U.S. soldier, Ram struggles to farm in the unforgiving desert. When he meets an alluring woman who has fought in Mexico’s revolution, he strives to stay true to his wife. The Valley is full of settlers hailing from other cities and different continents. The stakes are high and times are desperate—just one bad harvest or stolen crop could destabilize a family. And as anti- immigrant sentiment rises among white residents, the tensions of life in the west finally boil over.

In her ambitious debut novel, Rishi Reddi, award-winning author of Karma and Other Stories, explores an enduring question: Who is welcome in America? Richly imagined and beautifully rendered, Passage West offers a moving portrait of one man’s search for home.

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The Sirens of Mars: Searching for Life on Another World by Sarah Stewart Johnson (Format: eBook)

In this beautifully observed, deeply personal book, Georgetown scientist Sarah Stewart Johnson tells the story of how she and other researchers have scoured Mars for signs of life, transforming the planet from a distant point of light into a world of its own.

Johnson’s fascination with Mars began as a child in Kentucky, turning over rocks with her father and looking at planets in the night sky. She now conducts fieldwork in some of Earth’s most hostile environments, such as the Dry Valleys of Antarctica and the salt flats of Western Australia, developing methods for detecting life on other worlds. Here, with poetic precision, she interlaces her own personal journey—as a female scientist and a mother—with tales of other seekers, from Percival Lowell, who was convinced that a utopian society existed on Mars, to Audouin Dollfus, who tried to carry out astronomical observations from a stratospheric balloon. In the process, she shows how the story of Mars is also a story about Earth: This other world has been our mirror, our foil, a telltale reflection of our own anxieties and yearnings.

Empathetic and evocative, The Sirens of Mars offers an unlikely natural history of a place where no human has ever set foot, while providing a vivid portrait of our quest to defy our isolation in the cosmos.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

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StarCat

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

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

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

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

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers available in the Digital Catalog.

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If you have questions about how to access digital content, you can write a comment and post it on the blog, or send me, SSCL Librarian Linda Reimer, questions via email: reimerl@stls.org

 

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FICTION:

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE by Louise Penny (Downloadable Audiobook):

The 16th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. When his billionaire godfather is attacked, Gamache uncovers secrets hidden throughout Paris.

 

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ANXIOUS PEOPLE by Fredrik Backman (eBook):

A failed bank robber holds a group of strangers hostage at an apartment open house.

 

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EVENING AND THE MORNING by Ken Follett (eBook):

In a prequel to “The Pillars of the Earth,” a boatbuilder, a Norman noblewoman and a monk live in England under attack by the Welsh and the Vikings.

 

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THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley (Downloadable Audiobook)

A wedding between a TV star and a magazine publisher on an island off the coast of Ireland turns deadly.

 

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PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke (eBook):

Another world is revealed as a man called the Other asks Piranesi for help with research into a Great and Secret Knowledge.

 

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SHADOWS IN DEATH by J.D. Robb (eBook):

The 51st book of the In Death series. A hitman with possible connections to Eve Dallas’s husband is seen near the scene of a crime.

 

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SQUEEZE ME by Carl Hiaasen (eBook):

A dead dowager, hungry pythons and occupants of the winter White House shake up the Palm Beach charity ball season.

 

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TO SLEEP IN A SEA OF STARS by Christopher Paolini (eBook):

Kira Navárez might be the only one who can save the Earth and its colonies from being destroyed.

 

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TRANSCENDENT KINGDOM by Yaa Gyasi (eBook):

A Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience looks to the hard sciences and her childhood faith to potentially help her grieving Ghanaian immigrant family.

 

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TROUBLED BLOOD by Robert Galbraith (eBook):

The fifth book in the Cormoran Strike series. A decades-old cold case might be connected to a serial killer; by J.K. Rowling, writing pseudonymously.

 

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THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett (eBook)

The lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern black community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity.

 

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens (eBook)

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

 

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NON-FICTION:

CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson (Downloadable Audiobook):

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

 

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DISLOYAL by Michael Cohen (eBook):

An account of President Trump’s business empire, political campaign and presidential administration by his former personal attorney.

 

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EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME by Jenna Bush Hager:

Essays by the former first daughter and granddaughter celebrating the lives of her grandparents.

 

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HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST by Ibram X. Kendi (eBook)

A primer for creating a more just and equitable society through identifying and opposing racism.

 

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MELANIA AND ME by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (eBook):

The former director of special events at Vogue describes parting ways with the First Lady after being made the scapegoat for inauguration finance irregularities.

 

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RAGE by Bob Woodward (eBook):

Based on 17 on-the-record interviews with President Trump and other reporting, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist details the president’s perspective on multiple crises.

 

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SO YOU WANT TO TALK ABOUT RACE by Ijeoma Oluo (eBook):

A look at the contemporary racial landscape of the United States.

 

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TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH by Mary L. Trump (eBook):

The clinical psychologist gives her assessment of events and patterns inside her family and how they shaped President Trump.

 

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UNTAMED by Glennon Doyle (eBook):

The activist and public speaker describes her journey of listening to her inner voice.

 

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WHITE FRAGILITY by Robin DiAngelo (eBook):

Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.

 

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Be well and read on!

Linda Reimer, SSL

 

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Note: this list contains all the New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers for the week that are owned by libraries within the Southern Tier Library System.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, welcome to our Suggested Listening posting for this week!

Our Suggested Listening postings focus on the music of the past, with a few new songs mixed in for good measure.

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Suggested Listening postings come out weekly, on Fridays, and next Suggested Listening posting will be out on Friday, October 2, 2020.

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America The Beautiful by Beyonce & Friends (Genre: Vocal, Pop, Patriotic Songs)

Recorded live at President Obama’s Inaugural Concert (2008).

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Gimme Some Lovin’ (2020 Version) by Steve Winwood and Friends (Genre: Classic Rock)

The classic Spencer Davis Group tune – updated for the Covid-19 age.

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Ghosts by Bruce Springsteen (Genre: Singer-Songwriter, Rock)

From Bruce’s forthcoming album Letter To You (2020).

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Have You Never Been Mellow by Olivia Newton-John (Genre: Pop, Seventies)

The title track from Newton-John’s classic seventies album – Have You Never Been Mellow (1975).

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I Can See A New Day by Pete Seeger (Genre: Folk)

From Pete’s classic album of the same name, I Can See A New Day (1964).

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If I Had A Hammer by Peter, Paul & Mary (Genre: Folk)

One of the most popular songs recorded by the classic folk trio. The tune was penned by Pete Seeger and appeared on their very first album – Peter, Paul & Mary (1962).

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Peaceful Waters by Gordon Lightfoot (Genre: Folk, Vocal)

From Gordon’s first album Lightfoot! (1966).

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The Promise of Living composed by Aaron Copland and performed by the Phoenix Symphony with David Sedaris conducting (Genre: Classical)

From the album Copland: Tender Land – Suite; Three Latin American Sketches (1992).

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Sunblind by Fleet Foxes (Genre: Rock, Folk)

From the band’s new album Shore (2020).

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We Got the Beat (2020 Version) by The Go-Gos (Genre: Rock, New Wave, Eighties)

Recorded live for the Today Show earlier this year. The songs is on their classic debut LP Beauty And The Beat (1981).

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

REFERENCES:

Print References

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn

Online References

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

–

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

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

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS: Libby & RBDigital:

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, consisting entirely of eBooks & downloadable audiobooks available through the Digital Catalog.

–

Weekly Suggested Reading postings are published on Tuesdays.

–

The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui (eBook)

National bestseller

2017 National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) Finalist

ABA Indies Introduce Winter / Spring 2017 Selection

Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Spring 2017 Selection

ALA 2018 Notable Books Selection

An intimate and poignant graphic novel portraying one family’s journey from war-torn Vietnam, from debut author Thi Bui.

This beautifully illustrated and emotional story is an evocative memoir about the search for a better future and a longing for the past. Exploring the anguish of immigration and the lasting effects that displacement has on a child and her family, Bui documents the story of her family’s daring escape after the fall of South Vietnam in the 1970s, and the difficulties they faced building new lives for themselves.

At the heart of Bui’s story is a universal struggle: While adjusting to life as a first-time mother, she ultimately discovers what it means to be a parent—the endless sacrifices, the unnoticed gestures, and the depths of unspoken love. Despite how impossible it seems to take on the simultaneous roles of both parent and child, Bui pushes through. With haunting, poetic writing and breathtaking art, she examines the strength of family, the importance of identity, and the meaning of home.

In what Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen calls “a book to break your heart and heal it,” The Best We Could Do brings to life Thi Bui’s journey of understanding, and provides inspiration to all of those who search for a better future while longing for a simpler past.

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Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day written by Diane Ackerman and read by Laural Merlington (Downloadable Audiobook)

In an eye-opening sequence of personal meditations through the cycle of seasons, Diane Ackerman awakens us to the world at dawn—drawing on sources as diverse as meteorology, world religion, etymology, art history, poetry, organic farming, and beekeeping. As a patient and learned observer of animal and human physiology and behavior, she introduces us to varieties of bird music and other signs of avian intelligence, while she herself “migrates” from winter in Florida to spring, summer, and fall in upstate New York.

Humans might luxuriate in the idea of being “in” nature, Ackerman points out, but we often forget that we are nature—for “no facet of nature is as unlikely as we, the tiny bipeds with the giant dreams.” Joining science’s devotion to detail with religion’s appreciation of the sublime, Dawn Light is an impassioned celebration of the miracles of evolution—especially human consciousness of our numbered days on a turning earth.

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Devil in a Blue Dress (Easy Rawlins Mystery Series, Book 1) by Walter Mosley (eBook)

The time is 1948. The town is Los Angeles. The hero is Easy Rawlins, an out of work black war veteran. The mortgage payment’s coming due, so Easy accepts the assignment of finding Daphne Monet, a blonde torch singer with a penchant for jazz and criminal black consorts. In his search through a sleazy, fearful city, he is lucky to be under the protection of the murderous Mouse who wants a piece of the action. Easy Rawlins is a fascinating creation driving a plot that carries a fine and bitter sting. With this first novel, Walter Mosley made a distinctly confident start to his career as a great and inspirational writer.

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The Eaves of Desctruction by Kate Carlisle (eBook)

Murder is on the to-do list when construction contractor Shannon Hammer looks for a killer in the fifth Fixer-Upper Mystery…

Don’t miss the Hallmark Movies & Mystery Originals starring Jewel, based on the Fixer-Upper Mystery series!

At the annual Victorian Home and Garden Tour, Lighthouse Cove, California’s premier contractor, Shannon Hammer, realizes that the competition is about to turn deadly….

Shannon is in high demand among rival homeowners, who will do anything to win Best in Show. One-upmanship and even espionage break out among neighbors, construction crews, decorators, and landscapers. Thanks to several new hires, Shannon is sure she can handle the extra load—until murder throws a wrench in the works.

The small town’s corrupt building inspector is found dead on one of Shannon’s jobsites, and soon plenty of suspects are coming out of the woodwork. When another body is discovered, Shannon calls on her team of close friends and devilishly astute thriller writer Mac to help her nail down the details and build a case against the killer before the door shuts on someone else—for good.

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The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency by John Dickerson (eBook)

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

From the veteran political journalist and 60 Minutes correspondent, a deep dive into the history, evolution, and current state of the American presidency—and how we can make the job less impossible and more productive.

“This is a great gift to our sense of the actual presidency, a primer on leadership.”—Ken Burns

Imagine you have just been elected president. You are now commander-in-chief, chief executive, chief diplomat, chief legislator, chief of party, chief voice of the people, first responder, chief priest, and world leader. You’re expected to fulfill your campaign promises, but you’re also expected to solve the urgent crises of the day. What’s on your to-do list? Where would you even start? What shocks aren’t you thinking about?

The American presidency is in trouble. It has become overburdened, misunderstood, almost impossible to do. “The problems in the job unfolded before Donald Trump was elected, and the challenges of governing today will confront his successors,” writes John Dickerson. After all, the founders never intended for our system of checks and balances to have one superior Chief Magistrate, with Congress demoted to “the little brother who can’t keep up.”

In this eye-opening book, John Dickerson writes about presidents in history such a Washington, Lincoln, FDR, and Eisenhower, and and in contemporary times, from LBJ and Reagan and Bush, Obama, and Trump, to show how a complex job has been done, and why we need to reevaluate how we view the presidency, how we choose our presidents, and what we expect from them once they are in office. Think of the presidential campaign as a job interview. Are we asking the right questions? Are we looking for good campaigners, or good presidents? Once a candidate gets the job, what can they do to thrive? Drawing on research and interviews with current and former White House staffers, Dickerson defines what the job of president actually entails, identifies the things that only the president can do, and analyzes how presidents in history have managed the burden. What qualities make for a good president? Who did it well? Why did Bill Clinton call the White House “the crown jewel in the American penal system”? The presidency is a job of surprises with high stakes, requiring vision, management skill, and an even temperament. Ultimately, in order to evaluate candidates properly for the job, we need to adjust our expectations, and be more realistic about the goals, the requirements, and the limitations of the office.

As Dickerson writes, “Americans need their president to succeed, but the presidency is set up for failure. It doesn’t have to be.”

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Fruit of the Drunken Tree: A Novel by Ingrid Rojas Contreras (eBook)

“One of the most dazzling and devastating novels I’ve read in a long time…Readers of Fruit of the Drunken Tree will surely be transformed.”
—San Francisco Chronicle

“Simultaneously propulsive and poetic, reminiscent of Isabel Allende…Listen to this new author’s voice — she has something powerful to say.”
—Entertainment Weekly

A mesmerizing debut set in Colombia at the height Pablo Escobar’s violent reign about a sheltered young girl and a teenage maid who strike an unlikely friendship that threatens to undo them both

Seven-year-old Chula and her older sister Cassandra enjoy carefree lives thanks to their gated community in Bogotá, but the threat of kidnappings, car bombs, and assassinations hover just outside the neighborhood walls, where the godlike drug lord Pablo Escobar continues to elude authorities and capture the attention of the nation.

When their mother hires Petrona, a live-in-maid from the city’s guerrilla-occupied slum, Chula makes it her mission to understand Petrona’s mysterious ways. But Petrona’s unusual behavior belies more than shyness. She is a young woman crumbling under the burden of providing for her family as the rip tide of first love pulls her in the opposite direction. As both girls’ families scramble to maintain stability amidst the rapidly escalating conflict, Petrona and Chula find themselves entangled in a web of secrecy that will force them both to choose between sacrifice and betrayal.

Inspired by the author’s own life, and told through the alternating perspectives of the willful Chula and the achingly hopeful Petrona, Fruit of the Drunken Tree contrasts two very different, but inextricably linked coming-of-age stories. In lush prose, Rojas Contreras has written a powerful testament to the impossible choices women are often forced to make in the face of violence and the unexpected connections that can blossom out of desperation.

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Heresy (Giordano Bruno Series, Book 1) by S.J. Parris (eBook)

Masterfully blending true events with fiction, this blockbuster historical thriller delivers a page-turning murder mystery set on the sixteenth-century Oxford University campus.

Giordano Bruno was a monk, poet, scientist, and magician on the run from the Roman Inquisition on charges of heresy for his belief that the Earth orbits the sun and that the universe is infinite. This alone could have got him burned at the stake, but he was also a student of occult philosophies and magic.

In S. J. Parris’s gripping novel, Bruno’s pursuit of this rare knowledge brings him to London, where he is unexpectedly recruited by Queen Elizabeth I and is sent undercover to Oxford University on the pretext of a royal visitation. Officially Bruno is to take part in a debate on the Copernican theory of the universe; unofficially, he is to find out whatever he can about a Catholic plot to overthrow the queen.

His mission is dramatically thrown off course by a series of grisly murders and a spirited and beautiful young woman. As Bruno begins to discover a pattern in these killings, he realizes that no one at Oxford is who he seems to be. Bruno must attempt to outwit a killer who appears obsessed with the boundary between truth and heresy.

Like The Dante Club and The Alienist, this clever, sophisticated, exceptionally enjoyable novel is written with the unstoppable narrative propulsion and stylistic flair of the very best historical thrillers.

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The Moonglow Sisters: A Novel by Lori Wilde (eBook)

Welcome to Moonglow Cove, Texas, a place where your neighbors know your name and the gentle waves of the Gulf of Mexico lap lazily against the sands. It’s a magical spot, especially in the summertime…

Once the town was the home of the Clark sisters—brought up by their grandmother at the Moonglow Inn. Nicknamed “The Moonglow Sisters”, as children they were inseparable. Then, a wedding-day betrayal tore them apart and they scattered across the globe and away from each other. But the sisters have at last come home…

There’s Maddie: smart, sensible, and stubborn. Shelley, who ran off to find her bliss. And Gia, a free-spirit determined to keep the peace. It’s her impending wedding that keeps them together…but Gia has a secret, and when her sisters find out all heck is going to break loose!

The Moonglow Sisters continues Lori Wilde’s trademark storytelling to create an unforgettable novel of family, betrayal, love, and second chances.

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Pilgrims and Time Travelers: Collected Short Stories, #1 by Joe Vasicek (eBook)

This is the first volume of the collected short stories by Joe Vasicek. It contains:

The Gettysburg Paradox
The greatest battle of all time, secretly fought by time travelers.
(Gallery of Curiosities, June 2018; Bards and Sages Quarterly, July 2019)

Killing Mister Wilson
Every time traveler wants to kill Hitler. Only one actually stopped him.
(Uprising Review, September 2017; Unrealpolitik, November 2018)

My Name Is For My Friends
When fellowship draws the line between life and death, trust must be proven.
(Mirror Dance, September 2017)

Memoirs of a Snowflake
The life and times of a December snowflake.

The Curse of the Lifewalker
When all the world is afflicted by the plague, sometimes the greater curse is to be whole.
(Sci Phi Journal, June 2016)

Decision LZ1527
A boy, a girl, and a whole crew of matchmakers.
(Leading Edge, December 2009; Digital Fiction Quickfic, December 2016)

Jane Carter of Earth and the Rescue that Never Was
To boldly go where no Earthfleet Academy Xenolinguistics major has gone before.

Time and Space in Amish Country
What if the Amish are guarding a naturally occuring time portal in the Pennsylvania countryside?

A Hill On Which To Die
As the witch-king impresses the mountain orcs into his eldritch army, Garak-Nur must lead the last of the free orcs into the wilderness to start a new clan.
(The Great Tome of Fantastic and Wondrous Places, September 2016)

The Open Source Time Machine
Just like information, time wants to be free.
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(The New Accelerator, January 2019; Bards and Sages Quarterly, April 2020)

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Sisters in Law by Linda Hirshman (eBook)

The author of the celebrated Victory tells the fascinating story of the intertwined lives of Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the first and second women to serve as Supreme Court justices.

The relationship between Sandra Day O’Connor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg—Republican and Democrat, Christian and Jew, western rancher’s daughter and Brooklyn girl—transcends party, religion, region, and culture. Strengthened by each other’s presence, these groundbreaking judges, the first and second to serve on the highest court in the land, have transformed the Constitution and America itself, making it a more equal place for all women.

Linda Hirshman’s dual biography includes revealing stories of how these trailblazers fought for their own recognition in a male-dominated profession—battles that would ultimately benefit every American woman. She also makes clear how these two justices have shaped the legal framework of modern feminism, including employment discrimination, abortion, affirmative action, sexual harassment, and many other issues crucial to women’s lives.

Sisters-in-Law combines legal detail with warm personal anecdotes that bring these very different women into focus as never before. Meticulously researched and compellingly told, it is an authoritative account of our changing law and culture, and a moving story of a remarkable friendship.

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Together in a Sudden Strangeness: America’s Poets Respond to the Pandemic edited by Alice Quinn (eBook)

In this urgent outpouring of American voices, our poets speak to us as they shelter in place, addressing our collective fear, grief, and hope from eloquent and diverse individual perspectives.

As the novel coronavirus and its devastating effects began to spread in the United States and around the world, Alice Quinn reached out to poets across the country to see if, and what, they were writing under quarantine. Moved and galvanized by the response, the onetime New Yorker poetry editor and recent former director of the Poetry Society of America began collecting the poems arriving in her inbox, assembling this various, intimate, and intricate portrait of our suddenly altered reality. In these pages, we find poets grieving for relatives they are separated from or recovering from illness themselves, attending to suddenly complicated household tasks or turning to literature for strength, considering the bravery of medical workers or working their own shifts at the hospital, and, as the Black Lives Matter movement has swept the globe, reflecting on the inequities in our society that amplify sorrow and demand our engagement. From fierce and resilient to wistful, darkly humorous, and emblematically reverent about the earth and the vulnerability of human beings in frightening times, the poems in this collection find the words to describe what can feel unspeakably difficult and strange, providing wisdom, companionship, and depths of feeling that enliven our spirits.

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Have a great week!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

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StarCat

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

ABOUT LIBRARY APPS:

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

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

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Hi everyone, here is the weekly list of New York Times Bestsellers available in the Digital Catalog.

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If you have questions about how to access digital content, you can write a comment and post it on the blog, or send me, SSCL Librarian Linda Reimer, questions via email: reimerl@stls.org

 

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FICTION:

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE by Louise Penny (Downloadable Audiobook):

The 16th book in the Chief Inspector Gamache series. When his billionaire godfather is attacked, Gamache uncovers secrets hidden throughout Paris.

 

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AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins (eBook)

A bookseller flees Mexico for the United States with her son while pursued by the head of a drug cartel.

 

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THE DARKEST EVENING by Ann Cleeves (Audiobook):

The ninth book in the Vera Stanhope series. An abandoned toddler, a dead woman and a blizzard complicate the holidays in the Northumberland countryside.

 

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THE GUEST LIST by Lucy Foley (Downloadable Audiobook)

A wedding between a TV star and a magazine publisher on an island off the coast of Ireland turns deadly.

 

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LYING LIFE OF ADULTS (eBook) by Elena FerranteIn:

This coming-of-age story, Giovanna seeks her true reflection in two kindred cities.

 

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ONE BY ONE by Ruth Ware (Audiobook):

An avalanche tests the bonds of coworkers from a London-based tech startup on a corporate retreat in the French Alps.

 

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ROYAL by Danielle Steel (eBook):

In 1943, the 17-year-old Princess Charlotte assumes a new identity in the country and falls in love.

 

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SHADOWS IN DEATH by J.D. Robb (eBook):

The 51st book of the In Death series. A hitman with possible connections to Eve Dallas’s husband is seen near the scene of a crime.

 

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SQUEEZE ME by Carl Hiaasen (eBook):

A dead dowager, hungry pythons and occupants of the winter White House shake up the Palm Beach charity ball season.

 

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SUCH A FUN AGE by Kiley Reid:

Tumult ensues when Alix Chamberlain’s babysitter is mistakenly accused of kidnapping her charge.

 

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THICK AS THIEVES by Sandra Brown (eBook):

Arden Maxwell returns home to uncover the truth about her father’s involvement in a heist that went wrong 20 years ago.

 

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THE VANISHING HALF by Brit Bennett (eBook)

The lives of twin sisters who run away from a Southern black community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity.

 

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WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING by Delia Owens (eBook)

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

 

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NON-FICTION:

CASTE by Isabel Wilkerson (Downloadable Audiobook):

The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in America today.

 

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DISLOYAL by Michael Cohen (eBook):

An account of President Trump’s business empire, political campaign and presidential administration by his former personal attorney.

 

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EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL IN ITS TIME by Jenna Bush Hager:

Essays by the former first daughter and granddaughter celebrating the lives of her grandparents.

 

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HOAX by Brian Stelter (Downloadable Audiobook):

The CNN anchor and chief media correspondent examines the inner workings of Fox News and its relationship with President Trump.

 

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HOW TO BE AN ANTIRACIST by Ibram X. Kendi (eBook)

A primer for creating a more just and equitable society through identifying and opposing racism.

 

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MELANIA AND ME by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff (eBook):

The former director of special events at Vogue describes parting ways with the First Lady after being made the scapegoat for inauguration finance irregularities.

 

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TOO MUCH AND NEVER ENOUGH by Mary L. Trump (eBook):

The clinical psychologist gives her assessment of events and patterns inside her family and how they shaped President Trump.

 

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UNTAMED by Glennon Doyle (eBook):

The activist and public speaker describes her journey of listening to her inner voice.

 

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WHITE FRAGILITY by Robin DiAngelo (eBook):

Historical and cultural analyses on what causes defensive moves by white people and how this inhibits cross-racial dialogue.

 

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Be well and read on!

Linda Reimer, SSL

 

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Note: this list contains all the New York Times fiction and non-fiction bestsellers for the week that are owned by libraries within the Southern Tier Library System.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.