Tag: Corning NY

Suggested Reading November 12, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, for last week!

Apologies for the delay in posting; between vacation days and our charming inclement weather at the end of last week, this is my first chance to finish it.

So here are the suggested reads for last week and I’ll post the recommended titles for this week on Wednesday.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week For Last Week:

The Comedians, Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff (Format: eBook):

“Funny [and] fascinating . . . If you’re a comedy nerd you’ll love this book” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette).

Named a Best Book of the Year by Kirkus Reviews, National Post, and Splitsider

Based on over two hundred original interviews and extensive archival research, this groundbreaking work is a narrative exploration of the way comedians have reflected, shaped, and changed American culture over the past one hundred years.

Starting with the vaudeville circuit at the turn of the last century, the book introduces the first stand-up comedian—an emcee who abandoned physical shtick for straight jokes. After the repeal of Prohibition, Mafia-run supper clubs replaced speakeasies, and mobsters replaced vaudeville impresarios as the comedian’s primary employer. In the 1950s, the late-night talk show brought stand-up to a wide public, while Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, and Jonathan Winters attacked conformity and staged a comedy rebellion in coffeehouses. From comedy’s part in the Civil Rights movement and the social upheaval of the late 1960s, to the first comedy clubs of the 1970s and the cocaine-fueled comedy boom of the 1980s, The Comedians culminates with a new era of media-driven celebrity in the twenty-first century.

“Entertaining and carefully documented . . . jaw-dropping anecdotes . . . This book is a real treat.” —Merrill Markoe, The Wall Street Journal

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (Format: eBook):

A dark, twisted, unforgettable fairy tale from Elana K. Arnold, author of the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of.

The rite has existed for as long as anyone can remember: When the king dies, his son the prince must venture out into the gray lands, slay a fierce dragon, and rescue a damsel to be his bride. This is the way things have always been.

When Ama wakes in the arms of Prince Emory, she knows none of this. She has no memory of what came before she was captured by the dragon or what horrors she faced in its lair. She knows only this handsome young man, the story he tells of her rescue, and her destiny of sitting on a throne beside him. It’s all like a dream, like something from a fairy tale.

As Ama follows Emory to the kingdom of Harding, however, she discovers that not all is as it seems. There is more to the legends of the dragons and the damsels than anyone knows, and the greatest threats may not be behind her, but around her, now, and closing in.

Jack Of Spades by Joyce Carol Oates (Format: eBook): 

An exquisite, psychologically complex thriller about opposing forces within the mind of one ambitious writer and the delicate line between genius and madness.

Andrew J. Rush has achieved the kind of critical and commercial success most authors only dream about: He has a top agent and publisher in New York, and his twenty-eight mystery novels have sold millions of copies. Only Stephen King, one of the few mystery writers whose fame exceeds his own, is capable of inspiring a twinge of envy in Rush. But Rush is hiding a dark secret. Under the pseudonym “Jack of Spades,” he pens another string of novels—noir thrillers that are violent, lurid, masochistic. These are novels that the upstanding Rush wouldn’t be caught reading, let alone writing. When his daughter comes across a Jack of Spades novel he has carelessly left out, she picks it up and begins to ask questions. Meanwhile, Rush receives a court summons in the mail explaining that a local woman has accused him of plagiarizing her own self-published fiction. Before long, Rush’s reputation, career, and family life all come under threat—and in his mind he begins to hear the taunting voice of the Jack of Spades.

“Sleek and suspenseful . . . Readers are sure to be gripped and unsettled by [Oates’s] depiction of a seemingly mild-mannered character whose psychopathology simmers frighteningly close to the surface.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Just when you think you’ve got her all figured out, Joyce Carol Oates sneaks up behind and confounds you yet again. She does it with a wicked flourish in Jack of Spades.” —The New York Times Book Review

The Vineyard Victims, Wine Country Mystery Series, Book 8 written by Ellen Crosby & read by Christine Marshall (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):

The death of a former presidential candidate in a fiery car crash at her Virginia vineyard has ties to a thirty-year-old murder, as well as to Lucie Montgomery’s own near-fatal accident ten years ago, as she searches for a killer who now may be stalking her.

When Jamison Vaughn-billionaire real-estate mogul, Virginia vineyard owner, and unsuccessful US presidential candidate-drives his gold SUV into a stone pillar at the entrance to Montgomery Estate Vineyard, Lucie Montgomery is certain the crash was deliberate. But everyone else in Atoka, Virginia, is equally sure that Jamie must have lost control of his car on a rain-slicked country road. In spite of being saddled with massive campaign debts from the recent election, Jamie is seemingly the man with the perfect life. What possible reason could he have for committing suicide? Or was it murder?

Before long, Lucie uncovers a connection between Jamie and some of his old friends, an elite group of academics, and the brutal murder thirty years ago of a brilliant PhD student. Although a handyman is on death row for the crime, Lucie soon suspects someone else is guilty. But the investigation into the two deaths throws Lucie a curve ball when someone from her own past becomes involved, forcing her to confront old demons. Now the race to solve the mystery behind the two deaths becomes intensely personal as Lucie realizes someone wants her silenced-for good.

Written in Red, The Anna Hopkins Mysteries, Book 2 by Annie Dalton (Format: eBook):

The murder of a college professor uncovers long-buried Cold War secrets in this “suspense-filled” mystery in the Oxford Dogwalkers’ series (Booklist).

Shortly before Christmas, Professor James Lowell is found brutally attacked in his rooms at Walsingham College, where dog-lover Anna Hopkins works as an administrator. Baffled as to why anyone would wish to harm such a gentle scholar, Anna discovers that her fellow dog walker, Isadora Salzman, knew Lowell as an undergraduate in the 1960s. They were both members of the so-called Oxford Six—and it seems that Isadora has been keeping a surprising secret all these years. But someone else knows about Isadora’s secret: someone who has sent her a threatening, frightening letter.

Could the attack on Professor Lowell have its roots in a fifty-year-old murder? And who is targeting Isadora and the surviving members of the Oxford Six? Anna, Isadora, and Tansy, the dog walking detectives, make it their business to find out.

This mystery series for adult readers is an intriguing new departure for award-winning YA writer Annie Dalton. Dalton is the author of more than 30 novels for children and young adults, including the Agent Angel series. She has twice been shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal.

“This taut . . . nail-biter of a mystery is chock-full of surprises and will appeal to a wide range of mystery lovers.” —Booklist

“Dog lovers will enjoy the canine interludes.” —Publishers Weekly

Print Suggestions Of The Week For Last Week:

Almost Everything: Notes On Hope by Anne Lamott:

From Anne Lamott, the New York Times-bestselling author of Help, Thanks, Wow, comes the book we need from her now: How to bring hope back into our lives.

“I am stockpiling antibiotics for the Apocalypse, even as I await the blossoming of paperwhites on the windowsill in the kitchen,” Anne Lamott admits at the beginning of Almost Everything. Despair and uncertainty surround us: in the news, in our families, and in ourselves. But even when life is at its bleakest–when we are, as she puts it, “doomed, stunned, exhausted, and over-caffeinated”–the seeds of rejuvenation are at hand. “All truth is paradox,” Lamott writes, “and this turns out to be a reason for hope. If you arrive at a place in life that is miserable, it will change.” That is the time when we must pledge not to give up but “to do what Wendell Berry wrote: ‘Be joyful, though you have considered all the facts.'”

In this profound and funny book, Lamott calls for each of us to rediscover the nuggets of hope and wisdom that are buried within us that can make life sweeter than we ever imagined. Divided into short chapters that explore life’s essential truths, Almost Everything pinpoints these moments of insight as it shines an encouraging light forward.
Candid and caring, insightful and sometimes hilarious, Almost Everything is the book we need and that only Anne Lamott can write.

Elevation by Stephen King:

The latest from legendary master storyteller Stephen King, a riveting, extraordinarily eerie, and moving story about a man whose mysterious affliction brings a small town together—a timely, upbeat tale about finding common ground despite deep-rooted differences.

Although Scott Carey doesn’t look any different, he’s been steadily losing weight. There are a couple of other odd things, too. He weighs the same in his clothes and out of them, no matter how heavy they are. Scott doesn’t want to be poked and prodded. He mostly just wants someone else to know, and he trusts Doctor Bob Ellis.

In the small town of Castle Rock, the setting of many of King’s most iconic stories, Scott is engaged in a low grade—but escalating—battle with the lesbians next door whose dog regularly drops his business on Scott’s lawn. One of the women is friendly; the other, cold as ice. Both are trying to launch a new restaurant, but the people of Castle Rock want no part of a gay married couple, and the place is in trouble. When Scott finally understands the prejudices they face–including his own—he tries to help. Unlikely alliances, the annual foot race, and the mystery of Scott’s affliction bring out the best in people who have indulged the worst in themselves and others.

From Stephen King, our “most precious renewable resource, like Shakespeare in the malleability of his work” (The Guardian), Elevation is an antidote to our divisive culture, as gloriously joyful (with a twinge of deep sadness) as “It’s a Wonderful Life.”

Merry And Bright by Debbie Macomber:

Merry Knight is pretty busy these days. She’s taking care of her family, baking cookies, decorating for the holidays, and hoping to stay out of the crosshairs of her stressed and by-the-book boss at the consulting firm where she temps. Her own social life is the last thing she has in mind, much less a man. Without her knowledge, Merry’s well-meaning mom and brother create an online dating profile for her—minus her photo—and the matches start rolling in. Initially, Merry is incredulous, but she reluctantly decides to give it a whirl.

Soon Merry finds herself chatting with a charming stranger, a man with similar interests and an unmistakably kind soul. Their online exchanges become the brightest part of her day. But meeting face-to-face is altogether different, and her special friend is the last person Merry expects—or desires. Still, sometimes hearts can see what our eyes cannot. In this satisfying seasonal tale, unanticipated love is only a click away.

Past Tense by Lee Child:

Family secrets come back to haunt Jack Reacher in this electrifying thriller from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lee Child, “a superb craftsman of suspense” (Entertainment Weekly).

Jack Reacher hits the pavement and sticks out his thumb. He plans to follow the sun on an epic trip across America, from Maine to California. He doesn’t get far. On a country road deep in the New England woods, he sees a sign to a place he has never been: the town where his father was born. He thinks, What’s one extra day? He takes the detour.

At the same moment, in the same isolated area, a car breaks down. Two young Canadians had been on their way to New York City to sell a treasure. Now they’re stranded at a lonely motel in the middle of nowhere. The owners seem almost too friendly. It’s a strange place, but it’s all there is.

The next morning, in the city clerk’s office, Reacher asks about the old family home. He’s told no one named Reacher ever lived in town. He’s always known his father left and never returned, but now Reacher wonders, Was he ever there in the first place?

As Reacher explores his father’s life, and as the Canadians face lethal dangers, strands of different stories begin to merge. Then Reacher makes a shocking discovery: The present can be tough, but the past can be tense . . . and deadly.

“Superb . . . [Lee] Child’s spare prose continues to set a very high bar.”—Publishers Weekly (boxed and starred review)

You Don’t Own Me by Mary Higgins Clark:

When we last saw Laurie Moran, she had recently become engaged to her show’s former host, Alex Buckley. Since then, the two have been happily planning a summer wedding and honeymoon, preparing for Alex’s confirmation to a federal judicial appointment, and searching for the perfect New York City home for their new life together.

But then Laurie is approached by Robert and Cynthia Bell, parents of Dr. Martin Bell, a famously charming and talented physician who was shot dead as he pulled into the driveway of his Greenwich Village carriage house five years ago. The Bells are sure that Martin’s disgraced and erratic wife, Kendra, carried out the murder. Determined to prove Kendra’s guilt and win custody over their grandchildren, they plead with Laurie to feature their son’s case on “Under Suspicion,” ensuring her that Kendra is willing to cooperate.

Kendra has lived under a blanket of suspicion since Martin’s death, with the tabloid media depicting her as a secretive, mentally unstable gold-digger. Laurie’s show is a chance for her to clear her name. But unbeknownst to the Bells, Kendra has already refused once before to go forward with a re-investigation of her husband’s murder, and her statements to the contrary only add to the appearance of guilt.

But once Laurie dives into the case, she learns that Martin wasn’t the picture-perfect husband, father, and doctor he appeared to be and was carrying secrets of his own. And what does the web of lies ensnaring the Bell family have to do with a dangerous stranger, who gazes at Laurie from afar and thinks, She is actually quite a lovely girl, I’m sure she’s going to be missed…?

You Don’t Own Me is the perfect, exhilarating follow up to the bestselling Every Breath You Take. The “Queen of Suspense” Mary Higgins Clark and her dazzling partner-in-crime Alafair Burke have devised another riveting page-turner.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

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.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Listening November 9, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our lucky seven musical recommendations for the week; five streaming suggestions* and two recommended albums on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

Complete Columbia: Live at University of Missouri 4/25/93 (2016) by Big Star (Genre: Rock, Classic Rock):

Singer-songwriter and Big Star founder Alex Chilton leads a reformed Big Star on this concert recording.

Chilton’s voice still features the same sweet and deep tone evident on his first hit – The Box Top’s The Letter. This album features a cool collection of straight ahead rock n’ roll songs that deliver – sort of like a Howard Johnson motel or your favorite winter sweater – you know just what to expect – great, solid rock music.

Songs on the LP include: With My Baby’s Beside Me, I Am The Cosmos, The Ballad of el Goodo, Way Out West and September Gurls.

Walls (2018) by Barbra Streisand (Genre: Vocal, Pop):

Walls, Streisand’s just released new album, features something you would expect, lush strings accompanying Streisand’s vocals. However, the songs are something you might not expect – they are songs that reflect the strange place America finds itself in 2018

Songs on the LP include: Walls, What The World Needs Now, Love’s Never Wrong, Take Care Of This House and Imagine/What A Wonderful World medley.

Moochin’ Abouts Stateside Hitlist 1962 by Various Artists (Genre: Pop, Rock):

The Moochin’ Abouts Stateside Hitlist series of streamable/downloadable albums feature every song to hit the Billboard Top 30 from 1947 to 1962.

This collection features all the songs to hit the Billboard Top 30 in 1962; and as that list contains 292 songs and clocks in at twelve hours, 38 minutes and 18 second, I’m not going to mention even a quarter of those songs– we’d be here all day!

Suffice it to say if you like pop and rock music of the early sixties, then you’ll like this collection!

A handful of the songs in the set include: Return To Sender by Elvis, (I’m The Girl From) Wolverton Mountain by Jo Ann Campbell, Lie To Me by Brook Benton, Moon River by Henry Mancini, Town Without Pity by Gene Pitney, Gypsy Woman by The Impressions, Soldier Boy by the Shirelles and You Are Mine by Frankie Avalon.

Sings Lonely And Blue (1960) / Crying (1962) by Roy Orbison (Genre: Rock, Classic Rock, Early Sixties Rock):

This double album set features Roy Orbison’s first two studio albums: Sings Lonely And Blue and Crying.

Sings Lonely And Blue (1960): Fifty eight years after its original release the significance of this album has been as been partially forgotten. Granted, modern music fans know who Roy Orbison was and are familiar with some of his greatest songs, i.e., Oh, Pretty Woman, Only The Lonely, Running Scared etc. but the fact that he was a tremendous Rock N’ Roll vocalist with a three octave range, and that his music mixed his distinct voice with elements of country while still maintaining a rock n’ roll beat may be something younger music fans aren’t aware of – so they should check out this collection!

The first twelve songs in this collection are from Sings Lonely And Blue. The songs include: Only The Lonely, Bye Bye Love, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Come Back To Me and Twenty-Two Days.

Crying (1962): The second twelve songs in this digital double album set, starting with the title track Crying, are from Roy Orbison’s second album. The Crying album follows 1960’s Sings Lonely And Blue and a compilation LP of Orbison’s Rockabilly music recorded in 1955 and released in 1961 – titled At The Rock House.

Songs on the Crying LP include: Raindrops, I’m Hurtin’, The Great Pretender, Wedding Day, Summersong and Dance.

An Album To Benefit Preservation Hall & The Preservation Hall Music Outreach Program (Deluxe Version) by Preservation Hall Jazz Band (Genre: Jazz, Traditional New Orleans Jazz):

Preservation Hall Jazz Band is playing the next Civic Music concert on Saturday, November 17, 2018!

This album is from 2010 and features the New Orleans traditionalists in fine fettle playing their usual top-notch upbeat Jazz.

Songs in the 25 song collection include: Shake It And Break it, St. James Infirmary, Between The Devil & The Deep Blue Sea, Louisiana Fairytale, After You’ve Gone and Freight Train.

Recommended CDs of the Week:

So It Is! (2017) by Preservation Hall Jazz Band (Genre: Jazz):

So It Is! is the latest release by the band known far and wide for playing traditional New Orleans Jazz.

Here’s the AllMusic Review of the LP: Listening to So It Is, one is immediately picked up by the Latin rhythms of the songs, which carry the musicians and the listener joyfully forward through each track. The record is full of upbeat numbers which reflect not only a Latin and Caribbean flavor, but also the more driving elements of the blues and big band swing, so that the entire record passes quickly and leaves the listener’s day a great deal lighter and brighter. Kenneth Bridgham, AllMusic

Songs on the album include: So It Is, Santiago, Innocence, La Malanga, Convergence, One Hundred Fires & Mad.

E.G.O. by Lucie Silvas (Genre: Rock, Country, Pop, Singer-Songwriter):

E.G.O. is the new album by singer-songwriter Lucie Silvas who hails from Nashville and is known for writing songs for country artists including Reba McEntire and Miranda Lambert.

Songs on the rocking album include: Kite, Girls From California, First Rate Heartbreak, Everything Looks Beautiful and Just For The Record.

Videos of the Week:

Walls by Barbara Streisand

Town Without Pity by Gene Pitney

Running Scared by Roy Orbison

Oh, Pretty Woman by Roy Orbison

Shake It And Break It by Preservation Hall Jazz Band

So It Is by Preservation Hall Jazz Band

Kite by Lucie Silvas

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!

Suggested Reading November 5, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

Been So Long, My Life and Music written and read by Jorma Kaukonen with Grace Slick and Jack Cassidy (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):

This audiobook is perfect for classic rock fans! Guitarist Jorma Kaukonen was an original member of The Jefferson Airplane and, has subsequently played music for decades with his childhood friend bassist Jack Cassidy in the band Hot Tuna. Cassidy too was a founding member of the Jefferson Airplane.

And here is an in-depth description of this neat audiobook:

From the man who made a name for himself as a founding member and lead guitarist of Jefferson Airplane comes a memoir that offers a rare glimpse into the heart and soul of a musical genius—and a vivid journey through the psychedelic era in America.

“Music is the reward for being alive,” writes Jorma Kaukonen in this candid and emotional account of his life and work. “It stirs memory in a singular way that is unmatched.” In a career that has already spanned a half century—one that has earned him induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, among other honors—Jorma is best known for his legendary bands Jefferson Airplane and the still-touring Hot Tuna. But before he won worldwide recognition he was just a young man with a passion and a dream.

Been So Long is the story of how Jorma found his place in the world of music and beyond. The grandson of Finnish and Russian-Jewish immigrants whose formative years were spent abroad with his American-born diplomat father, Jorma channeled his life experiences—from his coming-of-age in Pakistan and the Philippines to his early gigs with Jack Casady in D.C. to his jam sessions in San Francisco with Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, Bob Dylan, and other contemporaries—into his art in unique and revelatory ways.

Been So Long charts not only Jorma’s association with the bands that made him famous but goes into never-before-told details about his addiction and recovery, his troubled first marriage and still-thriving second, and more. Interspersed with diary entries, personal correspondence, and song lyrics, this memoir is as unforgettable and inspiring as Jorma’s music itself.

The Devaney Brothers: Ryan and Sean: Ryan’s Place\Sean’s Reckoning (Format: eBook):

#1 New York Times bestselling author Sherryl Woods brings readers two classic tales of the Devaneys…brothers torn apart in childhood, reunited by love

Ryan’s Place
Abandoned by his parents and separated from his brothers, Ryan Devaney doesn’t believe in love. Until Maggie O’Brien storms into his Irish pub and her bright smile and tender touch have him reconsidering. The beautiful redhead warms his frozen spirit and awakens forgotten dreams—like the desire to search for his long-lost brothers. Will he dare to believe there’s a place for them in happily-ever-after?

Sean’s Reckoning
Son of a shattered family, fireman Sean Devaney knows love never lasts, so he refuses to chance it. Then he meets single mom Deanna Blackwell, who has just lost everything in a devastating fire. Despite the warning in Sean’s head, he’s drawn to protect the stunning woman and her son. Sean may be tough enough to storm burning buildings…but is he brave enough to risk building a family of his own?

Drums Of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon (Format: eBook):

The magnificent saga continues….

It began in Scotland, at an ancient stone circle. There, a doorway, open to a select few, leads into the past–or the grave. Claire Randall survived the extraordinary passage, not once but twice. Her first trip swept her into the arms of Jamie Fraser, an eighteenth-century Scot whose love for her became legend–a tale of tragic passion that ended with her return to the present to bear his child. Her second journey, two decades later, brought them together again in frontier America. But Claire had left someone behind in the twentieth century. Their daughter, Brianna….

Now Brianna has made a disturbing discovery that sends her to the stone circle and a terrifying leap into the unknown. In search of her mother and the father she has never met, she is risking her own future to try to change history…and to save their lives. But as Brianna plunges into an uncharted wilderness, a heartbreaking encounter may strand her forever in the past…or root her in the place she should be, where her heart and soul belong….

The Finkler Question: A Novel by Howard Jacobson (Format: eBook):

He should have seen it coming. His life had been one mishap after another. So he should have been prepared for this one… Julian Treslove, a professionally unspectacular and disappointed BBC worker, and Sam Finkler, a popular Jewish philosopher, writer and television personality, are old school friends. Despite a prickly relationship and very different lives, they’ve never quite lost touch with each other – or with their former teacher, Libor Sevick, a Czechoslovakian always more concerned with the wider world than with exam results.

Now, both Libor and Finkler are recently widowed, and with Treslove, his chequered and unsuccessful record with women rendering him an honorary third widower, they dine at Libor’s grand, central London apartment. It’s a sweetly painful evening of reminiscence in which all three remove themselves to a time before they had loved and lost; a time before they had fathered children, before the devastation of separations, before they had prized anything greatly enough to fear the loss of it. Better, perhaps, to go through life without knowing happiness at all because that way you had less to mourn? Treslove finds he has tears enough for the unbearable sadness of both his friends’ losses.
And it’s that very evening, at exactly 11:30pm, as Treslove hesitates a moment outside the window of the oldest violin dealer in the country as he walks home, that he is attacked. After this, his whole sense of who and what he is will slowly and ineluctably change. The Finkler Question is a scorching story of exclusion and belonging, justice and love, ageing, wisdom and humanity. Funny, furious, unflinching, this extraordinary novel shows one of our finest writers at his brilliant best.

Homemade Holiday, Craft Your Way Through More than 40 Festive Projects by Sophie Pester & Catharina Bruns (Format: eBook):

Bring the magic of a handmade Christmas into your home with 40 projects for gifts, decorations, and homemade wrapping paper.

Save time and money with the festive craft projects in Homemade Holiday. Clear, step-by-step instructions guide readers to create fresh flower garlands, bake edible gift tags, make homemade bath salts, and paint authentic tree ornaments. With last-minute ideas and lots of inspiration, this book will help you wrap up gift-giving and decorating for the holiday season.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

A Christmas Revelation by Anne Perry: 

In this intriguing, uplifting holiday mystery from bestselling author Anne Perry, an orphan boy investigates a woman’s kidnapping—and discovers there’s more at stake than a disappearance.

It wouldn’t quite be Christmas without a holiday mystery decorated with all the Victorian trimmings, as only New York Times bestselling author Anne Perry can render it. Now the tradition continues as mayhem is once again found under the mistletoe, and intrigue stalks the cobblestone streets and gaslit parlors of old London Town.

Formerly a river urchin living on the banks of the Thames, nine-year-old Worm has never experienced a family Christmas. But thanks to a job at Hester Monk’s clinic in Portpool Lane, he’s found a makeshift family in kindly volunteer Miss Claudine Burroughs and curmudgeonly old bookkeeper Squeaky Robinson. When Worm witnesses the abduction of a beautiful woman by a pair of ruffians just days before Christmas, he frantically turns to Squeaky for help. A one-time brothel owner, Squeaky knows the perils of interfering in nasty business, but he can’t bear to disappoint Worm—or leave the boy to attempt a rescue on his own. What neither of the would-be saviors expects, however, is that the damsel in distress already has her dilemma well in hand . . . and is taking steps to bring her captors to justice for crimes far worse than kidnapping. But the rogues, as cunning as they are deadly, are not to be underestimated. The aid of cynical old Squeaky and hopeful young Worm just might make the difference between a merry triumph over evil and a terrible yuletide tragedy.

Dark Sacred Night by Michael Connelly:

LAPD Detective Renée Ballard teams up with Harry Bosch in the new work of fiction from #1 NYT bestselling author Michael Connelly.

Renée Ballard is working the night beat again, and returns to Hollywood Station in the early hours only to find a stranger rifling through old file cabinets. The intruder is retired detective Harry Bosch, working a cold case that has gotten under his skin. Ballard kicks him out, but then checks into the case herself and it brings a deep tug of empathy and anger.

Bosch is investigating the death of fifteen-year-old Daisy Clayton, a runaway on the streets of Hollywood who was brutally murdered and her body left in a dumpster like so much trash. Now, Ballard joins forces with Bosch to find out what happened to Daisy and finally bring her killer to justice.

Heads You Win: A Novel by Jeffrey Archer:

Leningrad, Russia, 1968. Alexander Karpenko is no ordinary child, and from an early age, it is clear he is destined to lead his countrymen. But when his father is assassinated by the KGB for defying the state, he and his mother will have to escape from Russia if they hope to survive. At the docks, they are confronted with an irreversible choice: should they board a container ship bound for America, or Great Britain? Alexander leaves that choice to the toss of a coin . . .

In a single moment, a double twist decides Alexander’s future. During an epic tale of fate and fortune, spanning two continents and thirty years, we follow his triumphs and defeats as he struggles as an immigrant to conquer his new world. As this unique story unfolds, Alexander comes to realize where his destiny lies, and accepts that he must face the past he left behind in Russia.

Nine Perfect Strangers by Liane Moriarty:

Could ten days at a health resort really change you forever? In Liane Moriarty’s latest page-turner, nine perfect strangers are about to find out…

Nine people gather at a remote health resort. Some are here to lose weight, some are here to get a reboot on life, some are here for reasons they can’t even admit to themselves. Amidst all of the luxury and pampering, the mindfulness and meditation, they know these ten days might involve some real work. But none of them could imagine just how challenging the next ten days are going to be.

Frances Welty, the formerly best-selling romantic novelist, arrives at Tranquillum House nursing a bad back, a broken heart, and an exquisitely painful paper cut. She’s immediately intrigued by her fellow guests. Most of them don’t look to be in need of a health resort at all. But the person that intrigues her most is the strange and charismatic owner/director of Tranquillum House. Could this person really have the answers Frances didn’t even know she was seeking? Should Frances put aside her doubts and immerse herself in everything Tranquillum House has to offer – or should she run while she still can?

It’s not long before every guest at Tranquillum House is asking exactly the same question.

Combining all of the hallmarks that have made her writing a go-to for anyone looking for wickedly smart, page-turning fiction that will make you laugh and gasp, Liane Moriarty’s Nine Perfect Strangers once again shows why she is a master of her craft.

The Rain Watcher: A Novel Tatiana de Rosnay:

The first new novel in four years from the beloved superstar author of Sarah’s Key, a heartbreaking and uplifting story of family secrets and devastating disaster, set against a Paris backdrop, fraught with revelations, and resolutions.
“Hypnotic, passionate, ominous and tender—unforgettable.” —Jenna Blum, New York Times and internationally bestselling author of Those Who Save Us

Linden Malegarde has come home to Paris from the United States. It has been years since the whole family was all together. Now the Malegarde family is gathering for Paul, Linden’s father’s 70th birthday.

Each member of the Malegarde family is on edge, holding their breath, afraid one wrong move will shatter their delicate harmony. Paul, the quiet patriarch, an internationally-renowned arborist obsessed with his trees and little else, has always had an uneasy relationship with his son. Lauren, his American wife, is determined that the weekend celebration will be a success. Tilia, Linden’s blunt older sister, projects an air of false fulfillment. And Linden himself, the youngest, uncomfortable in his own skin, never quite at home no matter where he lives—an American in France and a Frenchman in the U.S.—still fears that, despite his hard-won success as a celebrated photographer, he will always be a disappointment to his parents.

Their hidden fears and secrets slowly unravel as the City of Light undergoes a stunning natural disaster, and the Seine bursts its banks and floods the city. All members of the family will have to fight to keep their unity against tragic circumstances. In this profound and intense novel of love and redemption, de Rosnay demonstrates all of her writer’s skills both as an incredible storyteller but also as a soul seeker.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

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.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Reading October 29, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

The Clockmaker’s Daughter by Kate Morton (Format: eBook): 

A rich, spellbinding new novel from the author of The Lake House—the story of a love affair and a mysterious murder that cast their shadow across generations, set in England from the 1860’s until the present day.

My real name, no one remembers.

The truth about that summer, no one else knows.

In the summer of 1862, a group of young artists led by the passionate and talented Edward Radcliffe descends upon Birchwood Manor in rural Oxfordshire. Their plan: to spend a secluded summer month in a haze of inspiration and creativity. But by the time their stay is over, one woman has been shot dead while another has disappeared; a priceless heirloom is missing; and Edward Radcliffe’s life is in ruins.

Over one hundred and fifty years later, Elodie Winslow, a young archivist in London, uncovers a leather satchel containing two seemingly unrelated items: a sepia photograph of an arresting-looking woman in Victorian clothing, and an artist’s sketchbook containing the drawing of a twin-gabled house on the bend of a river.

Why does Birchwood Manor feel so familiar to Elodie? And who is the beautiful woman in the photograph? Will she ever give up her secrets?

Told by multiple voices across time, The Clockmaker’s Daughter is a story of murder, mystery, and thievery, of art, love and loss. And flowing through its pages like a river, is the voice of a woman who stands outside time, whose name has been forgotten by history, but who has watched it all unfold: Birdie Bell, the clockmaker’s daughter.

The Fire Next Time written by James Baldwin & Narrated by Jesse L. Martin (Format: Downloadable Audibook):

A national bestseller when it first appeared in 1963, The Fire Next Time galvanized the nation and gave passionate voice to the emerging civil rights movement. At once a powerful evocation of James Baldwin’s early life in Harlem and a disturbing examination of the consequences of racial injustice, the book is an intensely personal and provocative document. It consists of two “letters,” written on the occasion of the centennial of the Emancipation Proclamation, that exhort Americans, both black and white, to attack the terrible legacy of racism. Described by The New York Times Book Review as “sermon, ultimatum, confession, deposition, testament, and chronicle…all presented in searing, brilliant prose,” The Fire Next Time stands as a classic of our literature.

Outlander by Dianne Gabaldon (Format: eBook):

The Outlander series was the runner up book in the 2018 Great American Read!

Unrivaled storytelling. Unforgettable characters. Rich historical detail. These are the hallmarks of Diana Gabaldon’s work. Her New York Times bestselling Outlander novels have earned the praise of critics and captured the hearts of millions of fans. Here is the story that started it all, introducing two remarkable characters, Claire Beauchamp Randall and Jamie Fraser, in a spellbinding novel of passion and history that combines exhilarating adventure with a love story for the ages.

Scottish Highlands, 1945. Claire Randall, a former British combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding clans in the year of Our Lord . . . 1743.

Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of a world that threatens her life, and may shatter her heart. Marooned amid danger, passion, and violence, Claire learns her only chance of safety lies in Jamie Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior. What begins in compulsion becomes urgent need, and Claire finds herself torn between two very different men, in two irreconcilable lives.

The Reckoning by John Grisham (Format: eBook):

October 1946, Clanton, Mississippi

Pete Banning was Clanton, Mississippi’s favorite son—a decorated World War II hero, the patriarch of a prominent family, a farmer, father, neighbor, and a faithful member of the Methodist church. Then one cool October morning he rose early, drove into town, walked into the church, and calmly shot and killed his pastor and friend, the Reverend Dexter Bell. As if the murder weren’t shocking enough, it was even more baffling that Pete’s only statement about it—to the sheriff, to his lawyers, to the judge, to the jury, and to his family—was: “I have nothing to say.” He was not afraid of death and was willing to take his motive to the grave.

In a major novel unlike anything he has written before, John Grisham takes us on an incredible journey, from the Jim Crow South to the jungles of the Philippines during World War II; from an insane asylum filled with secrets to the Clanton courtroom where Pete’s defense attorney tries desperately to save him.

Reminiscent of the finest tradition of Southern Gothic storytelling, The Reckoning would not be complete without Grisham’s signature layers of legal suspense, and he delivers on every page.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee (Format: eBook):

This title was just selected as America’s favorite book in the PBS sponsored The Great American Read!

Lawyer Atticus Finch defends the real mockingbird of Harper Lee’s classic, Puliter Prize-winning novel—a black man charged with the rape of a white woman. Through the eyes of Atticus’s children, Scout and Jem Finch, Harper Lee explores with rich humor and unanswering honesty the irrationality of adult attitudes toward race and class in the Deep South of the 1930’s.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

The Craftsman by S. J. Bolton

Sharon Bolton returns with her creepiest standalone yet, following a young cop trying to trace the disappearances of a small town’s teenagers. Florence Lovelady’s career was made when she convicted coffin-maker Larry Grassbrook of a series of child murders 30 years ago in a small village in Lancashire. Like something out of a nightmare, the victims were buried alive Florence was able to solve the mystery and get a confession out of Larry before more children were murdered.

But now, decades later, he’s dead, and events from the past start to repeat themselves. Is someone copying the original murders? Or did she get it wrong all those years ago? When her own son goes missing under similar circumstances, the case not only gets reopened… it gets personal.

In master of suspense Sharon Bolton’s latest thriller, readers will find a page-turner to confirm their deepest fears and the only protagonist who can face them.

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven: Sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom:

In this enchanting sequel to the number one bestseller The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom tells the story of Eddie’s heavenly reunion with Annie—the little girl he saved on earth—in an unforgettable novel of how our lives and losses intersect.

Fifteen years ago, in Mitch Albom’s beloved novel, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the world fell in love with Eddie, a grizzled war veteran- turned-amusement park mechanic who died saving the life of a young girl named Annie. Eddie’s journey to heaven taught him that every life matters.

Now, in this magical sequel, Mitch Albom reveals Annie’s story.

The accident that killed Eddie left an indelible mark on Annie. It took her left hand, which needed to be surgically reattached. Injured, scarred, and unable to remember why, Annie’s life is forever changed by a guilt-ravaged mother who whisks her away from the world she knew. Bullied by her peers and haunted by something she cannot recall, Annie struggles to find acceptance as she grows. When, as a young woman, she reconnects with Paulo, her childhood love, she believes she has finally found happiness.

As the novel opens, Annie is marrying Paulo. But when her wedding night day ends in an unimaginable accident, Annie finds herself on her own heavenly journey—and an inevitable reunion with Eddie, one of the five people who will show her how her life mattered in ways she could not have fathomed.

Poignant and beautiful, filled with unexpected twists, The Next Person You Meet in Heaven reminds us that not only does every life matter, but that every ending is also a beginning—we only need to open our eyes to see it.

One Day In December by Josie Silver:

Laurie is pretty sure love at first sight doesn’t exist anywhere but the movies. But then, through a misted-up bus window one snowy December day, she sees a man who she knows instantly is the one. Their eyes meet, there’s a moment of pure magic…and then her bus drives away.

Certain they’re fated to find each other again, Laurie spends a year scanning every bus stop and cafe in London for him. But she doesn’t find him, not when it matters anyway. Instead they “reunite” at a Christmas party, when her best friend Sarah giddily introduces her new boyfriend to Laurie. It’s Jack, the man from the bus. It would be.

What follows for Laurie, Sarah and Jack is ten years of friendship, heartbreak, missed opportunities, roads not taken, and destinies reconsidered. One Day in December is a joyous, heartwarming and immensely moving love story to escape into and a reminder that fate takes inexplicable turns along the route to happiness.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life by Jane Sherron De Hart:

The first full life—private, public, legal, philosophical—of the 107th Supreme Court Justice, one of the most profound and profoundly transformative legal minds of our time; a book fifteen years in work, written with the cooperation of Ruth Bader Ginsburg herself and based on many interviews with the justice, her husband, her children, her friends, and her associates.

In this large, comprehensive, revelatory biography, Jane De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, her meticulous jurisprudence: her desire to make We the People more united and our union more perfect. At the heart of her story and abiding beliefs—her Jewish background. Tikkun olam, the Hebrew injunction to “repair the world,” with its profound meaning for a young girl who grew up during the Holocaust and World War II. We see the influence of her mother, Celia Amster Bader, whose intellect inspired her daughter’s feminism, insisting that Ruth become independent, as she witnessed her mother coping with terminal cervical cancer (Celia died the day before Ruth, at seventeen, graduated from high school).

From Ruth’s days as a baton twirler at Brooklyn’s James Madison High School, to Cornell University, Harvard and Columbia Law Schools (first in her class), to being a law professor at Rutgers University (one of the few women in the field and fighting pay discrimination), hiding her second pregnancy so as not to risk losing her job; founding the Women’s Rights Law Reporter, writing the brief for the first case that persuaded the Supreme Court to strike down a sex-discriminatory state law, then at Columbia (the law school’s first tenured female professor); becoming the director of the women’s rights project of the ACLU, persuading the Supreme Court in a series of decisions to ban laws that denied women full citizenship status with men.

Her years on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, deciding cases the way she played golf, as she, left-handed, played with right-handed clubs—aiming left, swinging right, hitting down the middle. Her years on the Supreme Court . . .

A pioneering life and legal career whose profound mark on American jurisprudence, on American society, on our American character and spirit, will reverberate deep into the twenty-first century and beyond.

Samhain Secrets by Jennifer David Hesse:

It’s that haunted time of year, when skeletons come out to play. But Edindale, Illinois, attorney Keli Milanni discovers it isn’t just restless spirits who walk the night . . .

After her recent promotion to junior partner, Keli is putting in overtime to juggle her professional career and private Wiccan spiritual practice. With Halloween fast approaching, her duties include appearing as a witch at a “haunted” barn and hand-holding a client who’s convinced her new house is really haunted. But it’s the disappearance of Josephine O’Malley that has Keli spooked.

The missing person is Keli’s aunt, an environmental activist and free spirit who always seemed to embody peace, love, and independence. When Josephine is found dead in the woods, Keli wonders if her aunt’s activities were as friendly as they seemed. As Keli comes to terms with her loss—while adjusting to having a live-in boyfriend and new demands at work—she must wield her one-of-a-kind magic to banish negative energy if she’s going to catch a killer this Samhain season. Because Keli isn’t ready to give up the ghost . . .

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

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.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Reading October 22, 2018

Linda Reimer

As Halloween is just around the corner, our suggested titles for this week are all spooky!

Perfect reading for the Halloween season!

Spooky eBooks:

All I Want For Halloween by Marie Harte:

TONIGHT, SHE PLANS TO LET GO.

Dressed up and anonymous, Sadie Liberato feels powerful, sexy and free. Where better to lose herself than a masked party?

Gear Blackstone’s cheating ex and scheming best friend have managed to spin his life into a serious downward spiral. At least with a mask on he can cut loose for one night. And cut loose he does—with the sexiest, snarkiest chick he’s ever met.

After a scorching-hot encounter, Sadie and Gear are desperate to find each other in real life. But can the heat last when the masks come off?

A Catered Halloween by Isis Crawford:

With the promise of a hefty commission and some valuable word-of-mouth for their catering business, A Little Taste of Heaven, sisters Bernadette and Libby Simmons agree to cater the charity haunted house being staged at the old Peabody School. But when wealthy socialite Amethyst Applegate is found dead in the haunted house, Bernie and Libby wonder if a murderer might also be lurking about Peabody’s gloomy halls…

While almost everyone Amethyst ever met might have a motive for killing her, not everyone had access to the Peabody School. All Bernie and Libby know is if they don’t solve this mystery soon, they might become the next stars in a real-life horror flick…

“Fun…well-plotted…A selection of delectable seasonal recipes rounds out the volume.”–Publishers Weekly

An English Ghost Story by Kim Newman:

A dysfunctional British nuclear family seek a new life away from the big city in the sleepy Somerset countryside. At first their new home, The Hollow, seems to embrace them, creating a rare peace and harmony within the family. But when the house turns on them, it seems to know just how to hurt them the most–threatening to destroy them from the inside out.

Haunted Nights by Lisa Morton:

Sixteen never-before-published chilling tales that explore every aspect of our darkest holiday, Halloween, co-edited by Ellen Datlow, one of the most successful and respected genre editors, and Lisa Morton, a leading authority on Halloween.

In addition to stories about scheming jack-o’-lanterns, vengeful ghosts, otherworldly changelings, disturbingly realistic haunted attractions, masks that cover terrifying faces, murderous urban legends, parties gone bad, cult Halloween movies, and trick or treating in the future, Hallows’ Eve also offers terrifying and mind-bending explorations of related holidays like All Souls’ Day, Dia de los Muertos, and Devil’s Night.

“With Graveyard Weeds and Wolfbane Seeds” by Seanan McGuire
“Dirtmouth” by Stephen Graham Jones”
“A Small Taste of the Old Countr” by Jonathan Maberry
“Wick’s End” by Joanna Parypinski
“The Seventeen Year Itch” by Garth Nix
“A Flicker of Light on Devil’s Night” by Kate Jonez
“Witch-Hazel” by Jeffrey Ford
“Nos Galen Gaeaf” by Kelley Armstrong
“We’re Never Inviting Amber Again” by S. P. Miskowski
“Sisters” by Brian Evenson
“All Through the Night” by Elise Forier Edie
“A Kingdom of Sugar Skulls and Marigolds” by Eric J. Guignard
“The Turn” by Paul Kane
“Jack” by Pat Cadigan
“Lost in the Dark” by John Langan
“The First Lunar Halloween” by John R. Little

Joyland by Stephen King:

A STUNNING NEW NOVEL FROM ONE OF THE BEST-SELLING AUTHORS OF ALL TIME!

The #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Set in a small-town North Carolina amusement park in 1973, Joyland tells the story of the summer in which college student Devin Jones comes to work as a carny and confronts the legacy of a vicious murder, the fate of a dying child, and the ways both will change his life forever.

“I love crime, I love mysteries, and I love ghosts. That combo made Hard Case Crime the perfect venue for this book, which is one of my favorites. I also loved the paperbacks I grew up with as a kid, and for that reason, we’re going to hold off on e-publishing this one for the time being. Joyland will be coming out in paperback, and folks who want to read it will have to buy the actual book.” –Stephen King

Last Call at the Nightshade Lounge: A Novel by Paul Krueger:

In this sharp and funny urban fantasy novel, booze is magic, demons are real, and millennial Bailey Chen joins a band of monster-fighting Chicago bartenders instead of finding a “real” post-college job.

Bailey Chen is fresh out of college with all the usual new-adult demons: no cash, no job offers, and an awkward relationship with Zane, the old friend she kinda-sorta hooked up with during high school.

But when Zane introduces Bailey to his monster-fighting bartender friends, her demons become a lot more literal. It turns out that evil creatures stalk the city streets after hours, and they can be hunted only with the help of magically mixed cocktails: vodka grants super-strength, whiskey offers the power of telekinesis, and rum lets its drinker fire blasts of elemental energy. But will all these powers be enough for Bailey to halt a mysterious rash of gruesome deaths? And what will she do when the safety of a “real world” job beckons?

This sharp and funny urban fantasy is perfect for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, and grown-up readers of Harry Potter. Includes 14 recipes from a book of ancient cocktail lore.

Magick & Mayhem by Sharon Pepe:

What’s in a murderer’s bag of tricks?

Twenty-something Kailyn Wilde has learned to embrace her unpredictable life as a descendant of small-town New Camel’s most magickal family. She just didn’t expect to inherit her mother and grandmother’s centuries-old shop, Abracadabra, so suddenly. The surprises keep coming when Kailyn goes to finalize the estate at the local attorney’s office—and stumbles over the body of her best friend Elise’s husband . . .

As a brash detective casts the blame on Elise, Kailyn summons her deepest powers to find answers and start an investigation of her own. What with running a business, perfecting ancient spells, and keeping up with an uninvited guest of fabled origins, Kailyn has her hands full. But with the help of her uncanny black cat Sashkatu and her muumuu-clad Aunt Tilly, she’s closing in on a killer—who will do anything to make sure she never tests her supernatural skills again!

“Magic, Merlin, and murder are a great mix for this fun debut cozy.” —Lynn Cahoon, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author

“Spellbinding, with magical prose, a wizardly plot, and a charming sleuth.” —Janet Bolin, Agatha-nominated author of the national bestselling Threadville Mysteries

“Pape has a sure‑handed balance of humor and action.” —Julie Hyzy, New York Times bestselling author

“A charming, must-read mystery with enchanting characters. A fun and entertaining page turner.”—Rose Pressey, USA Today bestselling author

Rotters by Daniel Kraus:

After the tragic death of his mother, Joey is shipped from Chicago to a father in Iowa he’s never met. The town’s majority immediately and vehemently rejects Joey based solely on his bloodlines, and it doesn’t help that his sleuthing reveals that the stench enveloping his father’s shack stems from illegal grave robbing. However, bullied from every side, he decides a bond with his father plucking valuables off corpses is better than not belonging at all. With countless oozing, festering descriptions of decay both physical and mental, this is not a story for the weak at stomach. At times, the near tangibility of cracking bones, icky vermin and self-mutilation seems gratuitous, but how else to describe such a gruesome realm of morbid artistry? A first-person narration from 16-year-old Joey provides a genuine foray into the mind of an intellectual young man who injects himself into a seedy brotherhood with hopes of simultaneously belonging and escaping the demoralizing social mores of small-town life. A cerebral romp through a fascinating, revolting underworld. Kirkus Review

There’s Someone Inside Your House by Stephanie Perkins:

A New York Times bestseller!

“The best new horror of the season.” –Mashable

“There’s Someone Inside Your House is equal parts heart-stopping horror and steamy romance. It’s tons of bloody fun.” –HelloGiggles

“Turn on—all—the lights before reading this hair-raiser full of serious Scream vibes.” –Seventeen
It’s been almost a year since Makani Young came to live with her grandmother in landlocked Nebraska, and she’s still adjusting to her new life. And still haunted by her past in Hawaii.

Then, one by one, the students of her small town high school begin to die in a series of gruesome murders, each with increasing and grotesque flair. As the terror grows closer and the hunt intensifies for the killer, Makani will be forced to confront her own dark secrets.

Stephanie Perkins, bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss, returns with a fresh take on the classic teen slasher story that’s fun, quick-witted, and completely impossible to put down.

Trick or Treat Murder by Leslie Meier:

“A charming setting and likable cast. . .enjoyable reading.” —Publishers Weekly
Haunted-house parties and ghostly galas. . .grinning pumpkins, mayhem and murder. It’s going to be one heck of a Halloween for Lucy Stone and Tinker’s Cove. . .

It’s October in Maine, and everyone in Tinker’s Cove is preparing for the annual Halloween festival. While Lucy Stone is whipping up orange-frosted cupcakes, recycling tutus for her daughters’ Halloween costumes, helping her son with his pre-teen rebellion, and breast-feeding her brand-new bay, an arsonist is loose in Tinker’s Cove. When the latest fire claims the life of the owner of the town’s oldest house, arson turns into murder. . .

While the townsfolk work to transform a dilapidated mansion into a haunted house for the All-Ghouls festival, the hunt for the culprit heats up. Trick-or-treat turns deadly as a little digging in all the wrong places puts Lucy too close to a shocking discovery that could send all her best-laid plans up in smoke. . .

“Lucy Stone is an endearing sleuth.” —Dorothy Cannell

Wicked Witch Murder by Leslie Meier:

When the bewitching Diana Ravenscroft comes to quiet Tinker’s Cove and opens Solstice, a quaint little shop offering everything from jewelry to psychic readings, Lucy Stone writes her off as eccentric but harmless. Even after Diana gives her a disturbingly accurate reading, Lucy can’t help but befriend the newcomer. But not everyone in town is so enchanted. And when Lucy stumbles upon a dead body near her home, she can’t shake the feeling that something sinister is lurking in the crisp October air. . .

Convinced Diana is an evil witch, prominent businessman Ike Stoughton blames her for a series of recent misfortunes, including Lucy’s gruesome discovery and his own wife’s death, and rallies the townsfolk against her. But after Lucy learns the murder victim was a magician and close friend of Diana’s, she starts to wonder who’s really stirring up a cauldron of trouble. By Halloween, her suspicions lead her to a deadly web of secrets–and a spine-chilling brush with the things that go bump in the night. . .

“Clever. . .a neat little cozy.” –Publishers Weekly

“Keeps fans coming back for more.” –RT Book Reviews

“The warm, small-town ambiance and the persevering Lucy Stone make this a winner for cozy fans.” –Library Journal

“I like Lucy Stone a lot, and so will readers.” –Carolyn Hart

Spooky Print Books:

Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco:

A horror novel that deserves a much wider modern appreciation, Marasco’s story turns on a classic horror trope: the too-good-to-be-true offer. In this case, the Rolfes are offered a way out of their small, hot Brooklyn apartment: for a small amount of rent, they can live in an upstate mansion for the summer. All they have to do is prepare meals for the mansion’s owner, the elderly Mrs. Allardyce, who never emerges from her bedroom. Over the course of the summer, of course, the Rolfe’s learn the fundamental rule of horror stories: too-good-to-be-true is always a doorway into a hell.

A Catered Costume Party by Isis Crawford:

When sisters Bernie and Libby Simmons agree to cater an extravagant Halloween party in their little upstate New York town of Longely, they figured a ghost or two and a blood curdling scream might be part of the menu, but they never expected to be haunted by the deadly specter of murder . . .

Halloween is coming, and Darius Witherspoon isn’t giving up on his plan for a catered costume party—despite the recent disappearance of his wife, Penelope. He may be heartbroken, but perhaps throwing a big shindig in her honor will boost his spirits. He’s going to hold it at his stylish new co-op apartment at the Berkshire Arms, where the couple had dreamed of moving in.

Darius hires Bernie and Libby to provide the treats. They’d prefer to avoid the festivities altogether. As far as they’re concerned, the Berkshire Arms is a haunted house—or at least haunted by the memory of the murder that happened on the site, when it used to be The Peabody School. But as always, there are bills to be paid, so they accept the job. And in the midst of the celebration, Darius is discovered hanging from a noose outside one of the ballroom’s French doors . . .

Was it suicide, induced by despair over his missing spouse? Bernie and Libby think not, once they read the note he left—which includes a sum of money and a request for them to “do something” if anything should happen to him. Now, once the serving trays have been cleared and the decorations taken down, it’s time for the sisters to unmask a killer . . .

Ghost Story by Peter Straub:

Straub’s 1979 novel is a perfect combination of classic ghost stories and modern technique. Five old friends gather regularly to share ghost stories for their own amusement. When one of them dies, the surviving four are plagued by nightmares of their own deaths—and slowly start to believe that a horrific shared moment from their past is literally haunting them. If you’re looking for a traditional scare with a sharper modern edge, this is your ideal Halloween read.

The Diva Haunts The House by Krista Davis:

In the fifth mystery in the New York Times bestselling Domestic Diva series, Sophie Winston is getting into the Halloween spirit, but someone else is intent on mischief…

Sophie’s decorations for a community haunted house are so good, it’s scary. Not to be outdone, rival domestic diva Natasha is throwing a spooktacular Halloween party at her house. But when Sophie arrives, she discovers one of Natasha’s guests dead in a hair-raising Halloween display, and a pale, fanged partygoer fleeing the scene.

The cause of death is not immediately apparent, but the victim does have two puncture wounds on his neck. While Sophie’s boyfriend, homicide detective Wolf, investigates, rumors start flying faster than witches on broomsticks. Could the killer be a real vampire—the same one rumored to have lived in Sophie’s haunted house back when it was a boardinghouse? Good thing a domestic diva never runs out of garlic…

Includes delicious recipes and entertaining tips!

The Fall Of The House Of Usher And Four Other Tales by Edgar Allen Poe:

You literally cannot have Halloween without at least one Poe story or poem. It’s a law, we believe. The Fall of the House of Usher isn’t always the most name-checked of Poe’s works, but at Halloween it should be; it’s expertly constructed, drips with dread, and will scare the socks off you no matter how many times you’ve read it before.

The other tales include: The Black Cat, Ms. Found in a Bottle, Three Sundays in a Week and The Oval Portrait.

The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard:

“A bold, wise, magical, and authentic novel about youthful infatuation and its legacy. Hannah Pittard’s beautifully confident prose is sure to make readers look back on their own teenage years with fresh wonder.”
—Vendela Vida, author of The Lovers

Already acclaimed for her short fiction—a McSweeney’s Amanda Davis Highwire Fiction Award winner whose work was selected by Salman Rushdie for inclusion in 2008 Best American Short Stories’ 100 Distinguished Stories—Hannah Pittard proves herself a master of long form fiction as well with her haunting, masterfully crafted debut novel, The Fates Will Find Their Way. A powerful and beautiful literary masterwork reminiscent of The Virgin Suicides, Pittard’s The Fates Will Find Their Way tells the unforgettable story of a teenaged girl gone missing, and the boys she grew up with who find themselves caught in the mysterious wake of her absence for the rest of their lives.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski:

On the other end of the tradition-versus-modern spectrum is Danielewski’s absolutely mind-breaking novel, in which several overlapping storylines and narratives spiral downward into madness. Starting off as a more-or-less straightforward tale of a house that is impossibly larger on the inside by a few inches, the novel drags the reader down a dark hallway, with reality slowly fading away as you progress.

Kill Creek: A Novel by Thomas Scott:

“Intensely realized and beautifully orchestrated Gothic horror.” —Joyce Carol Oates

“A match for readers who enjoyed Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.” —Booklist (starred review)

At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, is the Finch House. For years it has remained empty, overgrown, abandoned. Soon the door will be opened for the first time in decades. But something is waiting, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests…

When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country’s most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won’t be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt will become a fight for survival. The entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them a part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.

Let Me Go by Chelsea Cain:

“[A] masterful blend of psychological suspense and straight-up gore, chronicling the twisted bond between police detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell.”—Criminal Element

Detective Archie Sheridan just has to get through the next few days, then his birthday and Halloween will be over. But with escaped serial killer Gretchen Lowell on the loose, the investigation into the murder of a DEA agent demanding his attention, and journalist Susan Ward showing up at his apartment needing a favor, it’s going to be a long weekend.

Night Film by Marisha Pessl:

On a damp October night, beautiful young Ashley Cordova is found dead in an abandoned warehouse in lower Manhattan. Though her death is ruled a suicide, veteran investigative journalist Scott McGrath suspects otherwise. As he probes the strange circumstances surrounding Ashley’s life and death, McGrath comes face-to-face with the legacy of her father: the legendary, reclusive cult-horror-film director Stanislas Cordova—a man who hasn’t been seen in public for more than thirty years.

For McGrath, another death connected to this seemingly cursed family dynasty seems more than just a coincidence. Though much has been written about Cordova’s dark and unsettling films, very little is known about the man himself.

Driven by revenge, curiosity, and a need for the truth, McGrath, with the aid of two strangers, is drawn deeper and deeper into Cordova’s eerie, hypnotic world.

The last time he got close to exposing the director, McGrath lost his marriage and his career. This time he might lose even more.

Night Film, the gorgeously written, spellbinding new novel by the dazzlingly inventive Marisha Pessl, will hold you in suspense until you turn the final page.

Have a good week!

Linda, SSCL

Suggested Listening October 19, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our five musical recommendations for the week; four streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

May Your Kindness Remain (2018) by Courtney Marie Andrews (Genre: Singer-Songwriter/Folk, Country, Pop, Rock):

Phoenix native Courtney Marie Andrews is an indie singer-songwriter with a strong clear singing voice. She is known for writing and playing in a variety of styles, May Your Kindness Remain is her new album.

Songs on the LP include: May Your Kindness Remain, Life the Lonely from My Heart, Rough Around the Edges and Two Cold Nights in Buffalo.

With Me Little Ukulele in Me Hand (2018) by Diz Disley (Genre: Folk, Comedy, Jazz):

William “Diz” Disley was a Anglo-Canadian guitarist and ukulele player whose humorous ukulele songs have a sort of early twentieth century Dixieland sound and will bring a smile to your face.

Songs in this collection include: Little Ukulele, On the Wigan Boat Express, If You Want To Get Your Photo in the Press, Sitting On Top Of Blackpool Tower and When I’m Cleaning Windows.

Everything I Could Never Say (2018) by lovelytheband (Genre: Modern Pop, Rock with a touch of dance music mixed in):

lovelytheband is a Los Angeles based indie pop-rock band consisting of singer & songwriter Mitchy Collins, guitarist Jordan Greenwald and drummer Sam Price. Everything I Could Never Say is their new album.

Songs in the set include: broken, emotion, don’t worry, stupid mistakes, everything I could never say and pity party. (And just FYI for the grammar detectives out there – yes, the song titles on the album really are typed all in lower case letters…)

Forgotten But Not Gone (2009) by Various Artists:

Originally released in 2009, sales from this album originally went toward rebuilding New Orleans and the Gulf Coast in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The album features a great collection of songs by mostly vintage musicians including Bonnie Bramlett, Buddy & Julie Miller, Steve Earle, Chris Knight, Moses Crow and Lee Roy Parnell.

Songs on the album include: Last Night I Dreamed of New Orleans by Bonnie Bramlett, Indianola by Steve Azar, Steve’s Hammer by Steve Earle, Brighter Day by Jon Justice, Mardi Gras by Bruce Buscoyo Belliott and Hard Times in the Big easy by Wood Newton.

Recommended CD of the Week:

Halloween Stomp (1990) by Various Artists (Genre: Swing, Jazz, Vocal, Humor):

This collection of “spooky” performances is dominated by songs dealing with ghosts and monsters, everything from “Mysterious Mose” and “Got the Jitters” to “Zombie,” “Skeleton in the Closet,” “The Ghost of Smokey Joe” and “With Her Head Tucked Underneath Her Arm.” Most of the music is from the swing era with such bands as those led by Red Nichols, Don Redman, Glen Gray, Louis Prima, Ozzie Nelson, Cab Calloway, Tommy Dorsey and even Rudy Vallee alternating with much more obscure groups. The producers at Jass have also “enhanced” the music by inserting odd sound effects between songs. This CD certainly qualifies as the definitive (and also only) Halloween jazz album. – Scott Yanow, AllMusic Review.

Videos of the Week:

Two Cold Nights In Buffalo by Courtney Marie Andrews

Little Ukulele by Diz Disley

It Had To Be You by The Diz Disley Trio

Broken by lovelytheband

Steve’s Hammer (for Pete) by Steve Earle:

(This is a live performance and be aware, Steve’s intro is a bit salty! Also, if you wish to skip the intro – go to 4:43)

Skeletons in the Closet by Louis Armstrong: 

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!

Suggested Reading October 15, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

Difficult Women by Roxane Gay:

Award-winning author and powerhouse talent Roxane Gay burst onto the scene with An Untamed State and the New York Times bestselling essay collection Bad Feminist (Harper Perennial). Gay returns with Difficult Women, a collection of stories of rare force and beauty, of hardscrabble lives, passionate loves, and quirky and vexed human connection.

The women in these stories live lives of privilege and of poverty, are in marriages both loving and haunted by past crimes or emotional blackmail. A pair of sisters, grown now, have been inseparable ever since they were abducted together as children, and must negotiate the elder sister’s marriage. A woman married to a twin pretends not to realize when her husband and his brother impersonate each other. A stripper putting herself through college fends off the advances of an overzealous customer. A black engineer moves to Upper Michigan for a job and faces the malign curiosity of her colleagues and the difficulty of leaving her past behind. From a girls’ fight club to a wealthy subdivision in Florida where neighbors conform, compete, and spy on each other, Gay delivers a wry, beautiful, haunting vision of modern America reminiscent of Merritt Tierce, Jamie Quatro, and Miranda July.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson:

The classic supernatural thriller by an author who helped define the genre

First published in 1959, Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House has been hailed as a perfect work of unnerving terror. It is the story of four seekers who arrive at a notoriously unfriendly pile called Hill House: Dr. Montague, an occult scholar looking for solid evidence of a “haunting”; Theodora, his lighthearted assistant; Eleanor, a friendless, fragile young woman well acquainted with poltergeists; and Luke, the future heir of Hill House. At first, their stay seems destined to be merely a spooky encounter with inexplicable phenomena. But Hill House is gathering its powers—and soon it will choose one of them to make its own.

Send Down the Rain by Charles Martin:

“Martin’s latest is another beautifully written winner. . . Amazingly heartfelt statements about love, loss and the true meaning of friendship will resonate deeply with readers.” —RT Book Reviews

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Mountain Between Us comes a new, spellbinding story of buried secrets, lost love, and the promise of second chances.

Allie is still recovering from the loss of her family’s beloved waterfront restaurant on Florida’s Gulf Coast when she loses her second husband to a terrifying highway accident. Devastated and losing hope, she shudders to contemplate the future—until a cherished person from her past returns.

Joseph has been adrift for many years, wounded in both body and spirit and unable to come to terms with the trauma of his Vietnam War experiences. Just as he resolves to abandon his search for peace and live alone at a remote cabin in the Carolina mountains, he discovers a mother and her two small children lost in the forest. A man of character and strength, he instinctively steps in to help them get back to their home in Florida. There he will return to his own hometown—and witness the accident that launches a bittersweet reunion with his childhood sweetheart, Allie.

When Joseph offers to help Allie rebuild her restaurant, it seems the flame may reignite—until a 45-year-old secret from the past begins to emerge, threatening to destroy all hope for their second chance at love.

In Send Down the Rain, Charles Martin proves himself to be a storyteller of great wisdom and compassion who bears witness to the dreams we cherish, the struggles we face, and the courage we must summon when life seems to threaten what we hold most dear.

Transcription: A Novel by Kate Atkinson:

A dramatic story of WWII espionage, betrayal, and loyalty, by the #1 bestselling author of Life After Life

In 1940, eighteen-year old Juliet Armstrong is reluctantly recruited into the world of espionage. Sent to an obscure department of MI5 tasked with monitoring the comings and goings of British Fascist sympathizers, she discovers the work to be by turns both tedious and terrifying. But after the war has ended, she presumes the events of those years have been relegated to the past forever.

Ten years later, now a radio producer at the BBC, Juliet is unexpectedly confronted by figures from her past. A different war is being fought now, on a different battleground, but Juliet finds herself once more under threat. A bill of reckoning is due, and she finally begins to realize that there is no action without consequence.

Transcription is a work of rare depth and texture, a bravura modern novel of extraordinary power, wit and empathy. It is a triumphant work of fiction from one of the best writers of our time.

The Wife: A Novel by Meg Wolitzer:

Soon to be a major motion picture starring Glenn Close

Meg Wolitzer brings her characteristic wit and intelligence to a provocative story about the evolution of a marriage, the nature of partnership, the question of a male or female sensibility, and the place for an ambitious woman in a man’s world.

The moment Joan Castleman decides to leave her husband, they are thirty-five thousand feet above the ocean on a flight to Helsinki. Joan’s husband, Joseph, is one of America’s preeminent novelists, about to receive a prestigious international award, and Joan, who has spent forty years subjugating her own literary talents to fan the flames of his career, has finally decided to stop. From this gripping opening, Meg Wolitzer flashes back to 1950s Smith College and Greenwich Village and follows the course of the marriage that has brought the couple to this breaking point—one that results in a shocking revelation.

With her skillful storytelling and pitch-perfect observations, Wolitzer has crafted a wise and candid look at the choices all men and women make—in marriage, work, and life.

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

Ask Me No Questions by Shelley Noble:

A modern woman in 1907, Lady Dunbridge is not about to let a little thing like the death of her husband ruin her social life. She’s ready to take the dazzling world of Gilded Age Manhattan by storm. From the decadence of high society balls to the underbelly of Belmont horse racing, romance, murder, and scandals abound. Someone simply must do something. And Lady Dunbridge is happy to oblige.

The Bartered Brides by Mercedes Lackey:

The thirteenth novel in the magical alternate history Elemental Masters series continues the reimagined adventures of Sherlock Holmes in a richly-detailed alternate Victorian England.

The threat of Moriarty is gone—but so is Sherlock Holmes.

Even as they mourn the loss of their colleague, psychic Nan Killian, medium Sarah Lyon-White, and Elemental Masters John and Mary Watson must be vigilant, for members of Moriarty’s network are still at large. And their troubles are far from over: in a matter of weeks, two headless bodies of young brides wash up in major waterways. A couple who fears for their own recently-wedded daughter hires the group to investigate, but with each new body, the mystery only deepens.

The more bodies emerge, the more the gang suspects that there is dangerous magic at work, and that Moriarty’s associates are somehow involved. But as they race against the clock to uncover the killer, it will take all their talents, Magic, and Psychic Powers—and perhaps some help from a dearly departed friend—to bring the murderer to justice.

Every Breath by Nicholas Sparks:

In the romantic tradition of The Notebook and Nights in Rodanthe, #1 New York Times bestselling author Nicholas Sparks returns with a story about a chance encounter that becomes a touchstone for two vastly different individuals — transcending decades, continents, and the bittersweet workings of fate.

Hope Anderson is at a crossroads. At thirty-six, she’s been dating her boyfriend, an orthopedic surgeon, for six years. With no wedding plans in sight, and her father recently diagnosed with ALS, she decides to use a week at her family’s cottage in Sunset Beach, North Carolina, to ready the house for sale and mull over some difficult decisions about her future.

Tru Walls has never visited North Carolina but is summoned to Sunset Beach by a letter from a man claiming to be his father. A safari guide, born and raised in Zimbabwe, Tru hopes to unravel some of the mysteries surrounding his mother’s early life and recapture memories lost with her death. When the two strangers cross paths, their connection is as electric as it is unfathomable . . . but in the immersive days that follow, their feelings for each other will give way to choices that pit family duty against personal happiness in devastating ways.

Illuminating life’s heartbreaking regrets and enduring hope, EVERY BREATH explores the many facets of love that lay claim to our deepest loyalties — and asks the question, How long can a dream survive?

Shell Game by Sara Paretsky:

Sara Paretsky follows her instant New York Times bestseller Fallout—her most widely read novel in years—with an extraordinary adventure that pits her acclaimed detective, V.I. Warshawski, against some of today’s most powerful figures.

Legendary sleuth V.I. Warshawski returns to the Windy City to save an old friend’s nephew from a murder arrest. The case involves a stolen artifact that could implicate a shadowy network of international criminals. As V.I. investigates, the detective soon finds herself tangling with the Russian mob, ISIS backers, and a shady network of stock scams and stolen art that stretches from Chicago to the East Indies and the Middle East. In Shell Game, nothing and no one are what they seem, except for the detective herself, who loses sleep, money, and blood, but remains indomitable in her quest for justice.

That’s What I Thought: Poems by Gary Young:

Gary Young builds on his remarkable oeuvre with this heartening volume, his seventh. His new poems, full of the pleasures and concerns of everyday life, brim with subtle wit and wisdom. Set implicitly along the coastal landscape of northern California, Young’s longtime home, they are latest achievements of a poet renown for “the capturing of small, daily miracles” (Dorianne Laux) in his masterful prose poems.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

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.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Listening October 12, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our musical recommendations for the week; five streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

Jammin’ in Georgia by Harlem Stompers (Genre: Blues/Jazz):

The Harlem Stompers consisted of drummer and band leader William Henry “Chick” Webb, John Trueheart on guitar, Don Kirkpatrick on piano, Bobby Stark on trumpet, Johnny Hodges on saxophone and Ella Fitzgerald as a featured vocalist. The group formed in the late 1920s and played through the 1930s with an expanded line-up. Unfortunately, Webb died young in 1939 at the age of  only 30 but fortunately, the great music he produced lives on.

This collection features just four great songs and gives you a good idea of the style of music that was popular during the Harlem Renaissance years.

The LP contains the songs: Jammin’ in George, My Understanding Man, Serenade to a Jitterbug and The Monkey Swing.

The Psychedelic World Of The 13th Floor Elevators (Genre: Rock, Psychedelic, Garage Band):

The 13th Floor Elevators hailed from Kerrville, Texas; and at its creative peak in the mid-sixties, the band consisted of Stacy Sutherland, John Ike Walton, Benny Therman, Tommy Hall and vocalist Roger Erickson. Erickson became the lead singer and front man for the band.

The Psychedelic World of The 13 Floor Elevators was the band’s first albums and its 1966 release date shows it is clearly one of the first psychedelic rock LPs to be released.

And to this listener’s ears, the music sound a bit psychedelic and bit like a garage band; by any designation though, this album features fun rock n roll!

Songs on the LP include: Your Gonna Miss Me, Roller Coaster, Splash 1, Everybody Needs Somebody and the aptly titled Fire Engine.

Under The Covers, Vol. 1 by Susanna Hoffs & Matthew Sweet (Genre: Rock):

Hoffs and Sweet are both huge fans of sixties pop and rock, which is something you can hear in their solo projects, and of course, in Hoffs’s work with The Bangles.They join up for this album to record cover versions of some great sixties songs – and they succeed in offering an upbeat and fun album that shows their obvious love for the music.

Songs on the LP include: And Your Bird Can Sing, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, Who Knows Where the Time Goes, The Warmth of the Sun and Different Drum.

Wish I Was Here by Various Artists (Genre: Soundtrack, Indie, Pop, Rock):

This 2004 soundtrack features a collection of contemplative songs by a mix of artists old and new.

The coming of age theme of the movie sets the tone for the songs on the soundtrack which include: So Now What by The Shins, Wish I Was Here by Cold Play & Cat Power, Mend by The Weepies, The Obvious Child by Paul Simon and Raven’s Song by Aaron Embry.

Recommended CD of the Week:

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967) & Magical Mystery Tour (1967) by The Beatles (Genre: Rock):

I’m recommending two albums on CD this week because I came across the neat video for Strawberry Fields Forever on YouTube while doing research for this posting, and, the song was the first one recorded for the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band but didn’t appear on an album until Magical Mystery Tour was released.

And the music of The Beatles is always worth another listen.

And incidentally, our library owns all the Beatles albums on CD – so check them out!

Songs on Sgt. Pepper include: With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Getting Better, Fixing A Hole, Lovely Rita and Good Morning Good Morning.

Songs on Magical Mystery Tour include: Fool On The Hill, Magical Mystery Tour, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, I Am The Walrus and All You need is love

Videos of the Week:

Jamin’ In George (1939) by Harlem Stompers

You’re Gonna Miss Me by 13th Floor Elevators

Different Drum by Susanna Hoffs and Matthew Sweet

So Now What? By The Shins

Strawberry Fields Forever by The Beatles

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance By Aberjhani, Sandra L. West

https://books.google.com/books?id=XP48QWTmjyUC&pg=PA355&lpg=PA355&dq=Harlem+Stompers&source=bl&ots=XwrULHUTg0&sig=E9JmlkxB9sNALBbVeJxlcgl5NLQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiah76nge3dAhWRdN8KHX-2C38Q6AEwDXoECAAQAQ#v=onepage&q=Harlem%20Stompers&f=false

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!

Suggested Reading Week of October 8, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our recommended titles for the week, five digital titles available through OverDrive and five print titles available through StarCat.

(Note: Click on the photo of the item you’d like to request or check out)

Digital Suggestions Of The Week:

Betty Ford First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer by Lisa McCubbin & Susan Ford Bales (Format: eBook):

An intimate and insightful biography of Betty Ford, the groundbreaking, candid, and resilient First Lady and wife of President Gerald Ford, from the #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Five Presidents and Mrs. Kennedy and Me.

Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer is the inspiring story of an ordinary Midwestern girl thrust onto the world stage and into the White House under extraordinary circumstances. Setting a precedent as First Lady, Betty Ford refused to be silenced by her critics as she publicly championed equal rights for women, and spoke out about issues that had previously been taboo—breast cancer, depression, abortion, and sexuality. Privately, there were signs something was wrong. After a painful intervention by her family, she admitted to an addiction to alcohol and prescription drugs. Her courageous decision to speak out publicly sparked a national dialogue, and in 1982, she co-founded the Betty Ford Center, which revolutionized treatment for alcoholism and inspired the modern concept of recovery.

Lisa McCubbin also brings to light Gerald and Betty Ford’s sweeping love story: from Michigan to the White House, until their dying days, their relationship was that of a man and woman utterly devoted to one another other—a relationship built on trust, respect, and an unquantifiable chemistry.

Based on intimate in-depth interviews with all four of her children, Susan Ford Bales, Michael Ford, Jack Ford, and Steven Ford, as well as family friends, and colleagues, Betty Ford: First Lady, Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer is a deeply personal, empathic portrait of an outspoken First Lady, who was first and foremost a devoted wife and mother. With poignant details and rare insight, McCubbin reveals a fiercely independent woman who had a lively sense of humor, unwavering faith, and an indomitable spirit—the true story behind one of the most admired and influential women of our time.

The Good Son: A Novel by You-Jeong Jeong (Format: eBook):

“Ingeniously twisted.” —Entertainment Weekly, “Must List”

“The summer’s must-read psychological thriller.” —Lenny Letter

Finalist for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’s “Summer Reads” Book Club

The Talented Mr. Ripley meets The Bad Seed in this breathless, chilling psychological thriller by the #1 bestselling novelist known as “Korea’s Stephen King”

Who can you trust if you can’t trust yourself?

Early one morning, twenty-six-year-old Yu-jin wakes up to a strange metallic smell, and a phone call from his brother asking if everything’s all right at home – he missed a call from their mother in the middle of the night. Yu-jin soon discovers her murdered body, lying in a pool of blood at the bottom of the stairs of their stylish Seoul duplex. He can’t remember much about the night before; having suffered from seizures for most of his life, Yu-jin often has trouble with his memory. All he has is a faint impression of his mother calling his name. But was she calling for help? Or begging for her life?

Thus begins Yu-jin’s frantic three-day search to uncover what happened that night, and to finally learn the truth about himself and his family. A shocking and addictive psychological thriller, The Good Son explores the mysteries of mind and memory, and the twisted relationship between a mother and son, with incredible urgency.

Named a Must-Read Book of the Summer by Elle, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, CrimeReads, Lit Hub, The Millions, Electric Literature, and Brit + Co

Halloween Poems, Volume 1 by Various Authors (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):

POEMS FOR HALLOWEEN – An Introduction. I should be whispering this because Halloween is almost upon us. A time of Witches, Ghouls and Hauntings and all kinds of scary things that come out the evening before All Saints Day to wreak…I’m glad you’re listening so let us begin- Many of us remember that feeling from childhood when an adult or even our friends would tell us scary stories of things that go bump in the night. It was a time to scare and be scared and no matter how terrifying the stories were it was a good feeling punctuated by yelps and laughs. Halloween is now firmly established in the Calendar as a favourite; to go trick or treating and an excuse for kids everywhere to dress up in outlandish attire and collect vast quantities of sweets. Equally adults everywhere are prone to switch off the lights and pretend to be out! In our collection the poems show that words have been used to enthral and suggest dark mysterious forces beyond our control for quite some time. With authors of the ability of Keats, Poe, Byron, Sheehan & Shakespeare, to nourish these primeval fears the poems have an unsettling nature as all bad things should! This collection of poems is read to you by Ghizela Rowe & Gideon Wagner.

Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret by Craig Brown (Format: eBook)

“Rollicking, irresistible, un-put-downable . . . For anyone . . . who swooned to Netflix’s The Crown, this book will be manna from heaven.” —Hamish Bowles, Vogue

“Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is a brilliant, eccentric treat.” —Anna Mundow, The Wall Street Journal

I ripped through the book with the avidity of Margaret attacking her morning vodka and orange juice . . . The wisdom of the book, and the artistry, is in how Brown subtly expands his lens from Margaret’s misbehavior . . . to those who gawked at her, who huddled around her, pens poised over their diaries, hoping for the show she never denied them.” —Parul Sehgal, The New York Times

“Brown has done something astonishing: He makes the reader care, even sympathize, with perhaps the last subject worthy of such affection . . . His book is big fun, equal measures insightful and hysterical.” —Karen Heller, The Washington Post

A witty and profound portrait of the most talked-about English royal

She made John Lennon blush and Marlon Brando tongue-tied. She iced out Princess Diana and humiliated Elizabeth Taylor. Andy Warhol photographed her. Jack Nicholson offered her cocaine. Gore Vidal revered her. Francis Bacon heckled her. Peter Sellers was madly in love with her. For Pablo Picasso, she was the object of sexual fantasy.

Princess Margaret aroused passion and indignation in equal measures. To her friends, she was witty and regal. To her enemies, she was rude and demanding. In her 1950s heyday, she was seen as one of the most glamorous and desirable women in the world. By the time of her death in 2002, she had come to personify disappointment. One friend said he had never known an unhappier woman. The tale of Princess Margaret is Cinderella in reverse: hope dashed, happiness mislaid, life mishandled.

Such an enigmatic and divisive figure demands a reckoning that is far from the usual fare. Combining interviews, parodies, dreams, parallel lives, diaries, announcements, lists, catalogues, and essays, Craig Brown’s Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret is a kaleidoscopic experiment in biography and a witty meditation on fame and art, snobbery and deference, bohemia and high society.

Red War written by Vince Flynn & read by Kyle Mills (Format: Downloadable Audiobook):

The #1 New York Times bestselling series returns with Mitch Rapp racing to prevent Russia’s gravely ill leader from starting a full-scale war with NATO.

When Russian president Maxim Krupin discovers that he has inoperable brain cancer, he’s determined to cling to power. His first task is to kill or imprison any of his countrymen who can threaten him. Soon, though, his illness becomes serious enough to require a more dramatic diversion—war with the West.

Upon learning of Krupin’s condition, CIA director Irene Kennedy understands that the US is facing an opponent who has nothing to lose. The only way to avoid a confrontation that could leave millions dead is to send Mitch Rapp to Russia under impossibly dangerous orders. With the Kremlin’s entire security apparatus hunting him, he must find and kill a man many have deemed the most powerful in the world.

Success means averting a war that could consume all of Europe. But if his mission is discovered, Rapp will plunge Russia and America into a conflict that neither will survive.
“In the world of black-ops thrillers, Mitch Rapp continues to be among the best of the best” (Booklist, starred review).

Print Suggestions Of The Week:

Becoming Lincoln by William W. Freehling:

Previous biographies of Abraham Lincoln—universally acknowledged as one of America’s greatest presidents—have typically focused on his experiences in the White House. In Becoming Lincoln, renowned historian William Freehling instead emphasizes the prewar years, revealing how Lincoln came to be the extraordinary leader who would guide the nation through its most bitter chapter.

Freehling’s engaging narrative focuses anew on Lincoln’s journey. The epic highlights Lincoln’s difficult family life, first with his father and later with his wife. We learn about the staggering number of setbacks and recoveries Lincoln experienced. We witness Lincoln’s famous embodiment of the self-made man (although he sought and received critical help from others).

The book traces Lincoln from his tough childhood through incarnations as a bankrupt with few prospects, a superb lawyer, a canny two-party politician, a great orator, a failed state legislator, and a losing senatorial candidate, to a winning presidential contender and a besieged six weeks as a pre-war president.

As Lincoln’s individual life unfolds, so does the American nineteenth century. Few great Americans have endured such pain but been rewarded with such success. Few lives have seen so much color and drama. Few mirror so uncannily the great themes of their own society. No one so well illustrates the emergence of our national economy and the causes of the Civil War.

The book concludes with a substantial epilogue in which Freehling turns to Lincoln’s wartime presidency to assess how the preceding fifty-one years of experience shaped the Great Emancipator’s final four years. Extensively illustrated, nuanced but swiftly paced, and full of examples that vividly bring Lincoln to life for the modern reader, this new biography shows how an ordinary young man from the Midwest prepared to become, against almost absurd odds, our most tested and successful president.

Between Hope and Fear: A History of Vaccines and Human Immunity by Michael Kinch:

A smart and compelling examination of the science of immunity, the public policy implications of vaccine denial, and the real-world outcomes of failing to vaccinate.

If you have a child in school, you may have heard stories of long-dormant diseases suddenly reappearing—cases of measles, mumps, rubella, and whooping cough cropping up everywhere from elementary schools to Ivy League universities because a select group of parents refuse to vaccinate their children.

Between Hope and Fear tells the remarkable story of vaccine-preventable infectious diseases and their social and political implications. While detailing the history of vaccine invention, Kinch reveals the ominous reality that our victories against vaccine-preventable diseases are not permanent—and could easily be undone. In the tradition of John Barry’s The Great Influenza and Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Emperor of All Maladies, Between Hope and Fear relates the remarkable intersection of science, technology and disease that has helped eradicate many of the deadliest plagues known to man.

Dr. Strange Beard by Penny Reid:

Hunches, horse races, and heartbreak

Ten years after Simone Payton broke his heart, all Roscoe Winston wants is a doughnut. He’d also like to forget her entirely, but that’s never going to happen. Roscoe Winston remembers everything—every look, every word, every single unrequited second—and the last thing he needs is another memory of Simone.

Unfortunately, after one chance encounter, Simone keeps popping up everywhere he happens to be . . .

Ten years after Roscoe Winston dropped out of her life, all Simone Payton wants is to exploit him. She’d also like some answers from her former best friend about why he ghosted her, but if she never gets those answers, that’s a-okay. Simone let go of the past a long time ago. Seriously, she has. She totally, totally has. She is definitely not still thinking about Roscoe. Nope. She’s more than happy to forget he exists.

But first, she needs just one teeny-tiny favor . . .

Dr. Strange Beard is a full-length romantic comedy novel, can be read as a stand-alone, and is the fifth book in the USA TODAY bestselling Winston Brothers series.

Under Fire: Reporting from the Front Lines of the Trump White House by April Ryan: 

Veteran White House reporter April Ryan thought she had seen everything in her two decades as a White House correspondent. And then came the Trump administration. In Under Fire, Ryan takes us inside the confusion and chaos of the Trump White House to understand how she and other reporters adjusted to the new normal. She takes us inside the policy debates, the revolving door of personnel appointments, and what it is like when she, as a reporter asking difficult questions, finds herself in the spotlight, becoming part of the story. With the world on edge and a country grappling with a new controversy almost daily, Ryan gives readers a glimpse into current events from her perspective, not only from inside the briefing room but also as a target of those who want to avoid answering probing questions. After reading her new book, readers will have an unprecedented inside view of the Trump White House and what it is like to be a reporter Under Fire.

Your Duck Is My Duck by Deborah Eisenberg:

A much-anticipated collection of brilliantly observant short stories from one of the great American masters of the form.

At times raucously hilarious, at times charming and delightful, at times as solemn and mysterious as a pond at midnight, Deborah Eisenberg’s stories gently compel us to confront the most disturbing truths about ourselves—from our intimate lives as lovers, parents, and children, to our equally troubling roles as citizens on a violent, terrifying planet.

Each of the six stories in Your Duck is My Duck, her first collection since 2006, has the heft and complexity of a novel. With her own inexorable but utterly unpredictable logic and her almost uncanny ability to conjure the strange states of mind and emotion that constitute our daily consciousness, Eisenberg pulls us as if by gossamer threads through her characters—a tormented woman whose face determines her destiny; a group of film actors shocked to read a book about their past; a privileged young man who unexpectedly falls into a love affair with a human rights worker caught up in an all-consuming quest that he doesn’t understand.

In Eisenberg’s world, the forces of money, sex, and power cannot be escaped, and the force of history, whether confronted or denied, cannot be evaded. No one writes better about time, tragedy and grief, and the indifferent but beautiful universe around us.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

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.

Freegal Music Service

This music service is free to library card holders and offers the option to download, and keep, three free songs per week and to stream three hours of commercial free music each day:

RBDigital

Digital magazines on demand and for free! Back issues are available and you can even choose to be notified by email when the new issue of your favorite magazine is available.

About Library Apps:

You can access digital library content on PCs, Macs and mobile devices. For mobile devices simply download the OverDrive, Freegal or Zinio app from your app store to get started. If you have questions call the library at: 607-936-3713 and one of our Digital Literacy Specialists will be happy to assist you.

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Suggested Listening October 5, 2018

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here are our five musical recommendations for the week; four streaming suggestions* and one recommended album on CD.

(Click on the photo to stream or request the album you’re interested in!)

Freegal Streaming Suggestions*

1. The Essential Otis Rush: The Classic Cobra Recordings 1956-1958 (Genre: Blues, Guitar):

This is a wonderful collection of songs from the great blues guitarist who died last week.

Songs in the collection include: I Can’t Quit You Baby, My Love Will Never Die, Groaning the Blues, Jump Sister Rosie, Double Trouble and All Your Love.

2. American Horror Songs by Various Artists (Genre: Pop, Swing, Spoken, Rock):

A collection of fun “horror” songs by a mix of classic and contemporary artists including Shooter Jennings, Ann Williams, Cab Calloway, Dirk Jacobs & His Orchestra and the Ohio Express. This is a cool album perfect for the month of Halloween.

Songs on the LP include: Halloween by Betty Grable and David Wayne, The Wobblin’ Goblin by Rosemary Clooney, The Little Man Who Wasn’t There by The Glen Miller Orchestra, Halloween by Bob Hope, The Raven by Basil Rathbone, The Ghost of Ol’ Man Moss by Harry Gold and Nightmare by The Velvets.

3. To The Roots and Back (1972) by Lloyd Price:

A classic LP by the pop and R&B favorite sees him updating some of his classic fifties hits for the seventies era.

Songs on the LP include: Sing a Song, They Get Down, It Ain’t Easy, Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Stagger Lee and Personality — all with a seventies spin on them!

4. Fabulous Fifty 5 LPs: This is a fun set of five albums available to stream and download separately from Freegal. The albums feature a great combo of fifties pop, rhythm and blues and rock – perfect for parties or just weekend listening.

Here are the albums in the series:

Fabulous 50′ Vol. 1 – Instrumental Versions (Genre: Pop, R&B, Fifties Rock):

Songs on the album include: Blue Tango by Leroy Anderson, Song for a Summer Night by Mitch Mitchell And His Orchestra, Autumn Leaves by Morris Stoloff, So Rare by Jimmy Dorsey and Sail Along, Silvery Moon by Billy Vaughn.

Fabulous 50′ Vol. 2 – Sung Originals (Genre: Pop, R&B & Fifties Rock):

Songs on the LP include: Venus by Frankie Avalon, Be Bop Baby by Ricky Nelson, Sixteen Tons by Tennessee Ernie Ford, Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin and Crazy Love by Paul Anka.

Fabulous 50′ Vol. 3 – Sung Originals (Genre: Pop, R&B, Fifties Rock):

Songs on the LP include: Too Young by Nat King Cole, Charlie Brown by The Coasters, Witch Doctor by David Seville, Lollipop by The Chordettes, Just Because by Lloyd Price and Papa Loves Mambo by Perry Combo.

Fabulous 50′ Vol. 4 – Sung Originals  (Genre: Pop, R&B, Fifties Rock):

Songs on the LP include: Stood Up by Ricky Nelson, Kiss of Fire by Georgia Gibbs, My Special Angel by Bobby Helms, Summertime Blues by Eddie Cochran and Razzle Dazzle by Bill Haley.

Fabulous 50’ Vol. 5 – Sung Originals  (Genre: Pop, R&B, Fifties Rock):

Songs on the album include: Jamaica Farewell by Harry Belafonte, Sh Boom by The Crew Cuts, Blueberry Hill by Fats Domino, Reveille Rock by Johnny & The Hurricanes and Bye, Bye Love by The Everly Brothers.

Recommended CD of the Week:

Over The Years (2018) by Graham Nash (Genre: Pop, Rock, Vocal): 

Arriving nearly a decade after the career-spanning 2009 box Reflections, Over the Years… isn’t nearly as ambitious a compilation as its predecessor. In its simplest form, it’s a collection of 15 highlights from Nash’s career, using the first Crosby, Stills & Nash album as its starting point and running until his 2016 album, This Path Tonight. Despite that designation, Over the Years… largely lingers on material made during the ’70s and early ’80s, anchored on CSN standards (“Marrakesh Express,” “Just a Song Before I Go,” “Teach Your Children,” “Our House,” “Wasted on the Way”) and featuring two Crosby & Nash tracks (“Immigration Man,” “Wind on the Water”) in addition to five solo cuts. All of this makes for a nice capsule introduction, but for the dedicated, the selling point is the second disc on the Deluxe Edition, which collects 15 demos. The great majority of these — 12, as a matter of fact — were recorded between 1968 and 1972, with three of the previously mentioned CSN classics from the twilight of the ’70s rounding out the disc. A few of these were previously released, but taken as a collective, these unadorned recordings — just a guitar and a voice, save “Wind on the Water” and “Just a Song Before I Go,” where Nash plays piano, and “Wasted on the Way,” which features Stephen Stills on harmony — strip away not just the studio polish but nostalgia, revealing the delicate craft that lies behind them.

Videos of the Week:

I Can’t Quit You Baby by Otis Rush

The Black Cat by Buddy Morrow & His Orchestra

In The Cold, Cold Night by Wanda Jackson and Shooter Jennings

The Monster Twist by Tyrone A’Saurus and his Cro-Magnons

Personality by Lloyd Price

Have You Ever Loved A Woman by Freddie King

Stood Up by Ricky Nelson

Lollipop & Mr. Sandman by The Chordettes introduced by Dick Clark

Immigration Man by Graham Nash

Have a great weekend!

Linda, SSCL

*A library card is required to use the Freegal Music Service. If you live in the service area of the Southern Tier Library System, which consists of the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Alleghany counties in New York State, you can get a library card for free at your nearest public library – including our own Southeast Steuben County Library in Corning, New York. The Freegal Music Service is free for all Southern Tier Library System member libraries library card holders to access.

References:

Artist Biography & Discography Information:

http://www.allmusic.com/

The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits by Joel Whitburn (Billboard Books. New York. 2009.)

P.S. If you have any questions about how to download or stream free music through the Freegal Music service to a desktop or laptop computer or how to download and use the Freegal Music app let us know! Drop by the library or give us a call at: 607-936-3713

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and includes our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York!

Library cards are free if you live in our service area. And you can obtain a card by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features your name and your current address.

Links to the desktop versions of the catalogs for the library system – apps for each are available in your app store:

Digital Library Catalogs:

Freegal offers streaming and downloadable music

OverDrive allows you to check out eBooks, downloadable audiobooks and handful of streaming videos

RB Digital is the place you go to check out magazines – on demand – and you never have to return them!

The Traditional Library Catalog:

You can search for and request books, DVDs, music CDs, audiobooks on CD and other physical format items through StarCat – it is the modern day card catalog!