Tag: Corning

Suggested Reading Five: July 8, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Big Stick Energy by Sarine Bowen  

Bowen’s second “New York Legends Hockey” book, after Thrown for a Loop, delivers a romance between Darcy Kendrick, assistant to the general manager of the New York Legends hockey team, and team captain Eric Tremaine. When Darcy receives a wedding invitation from her half-sibling, she decides to enter a fake-dating arrangement with Eric, who is also attending the wedding. Their scheme quickly becomes complicated as real feelings emerge between the two characters. The workplace-romance element adds layers of tension to their relationship as Darcy navigates the implications of dating the team captain while maintaining her position in management. Bowen shifts the focus from hockey to relationship development, allowing readers to dive deeper into the emotional lives of the characters, and the novel explores significantly heavy family dynamics: Eric struggles with his parents’ inability to move on after a death in the family, while Darcy navigates the fallout from her parents’ divorce, affairs, and complicated half-sibling relationships.  

VERDICT Fans of the first book in Bowen’s series will enjoy this sequel, which has even more focus on romance. Recommended for readers who want to delve into sports romance with unique workplace dynamics. – Library Journal Review 

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The Book of Birds: A Field Guide to Wonder and Loss by Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris 

From the best-selling authors of The Lost Words, a dazzling celebration of endangered birds. 

The Book of Birds is a field guide with a difference: It shows readers not just how to identify birds, but also how to identify with them. Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris conjure the unique spirit of nearly fifty once-common species: avocet to yellowhammer, kestrel to kingfisher, skylark to nightingale. In lyrical and incantatory essays, Macfarlane describes each bird’s habits and habitats, their patterns of flight and patterns of song, how they hunt or fish or scavenge or gather, how they nest and raise their chicks, the myths that attend them, the threats that shadow them―and how their lives intersect with our own. On every page we encounter Morris’s exhilarating artwork, painted from life in watercolor and gold leaf, and animated with an extraordinary attention to detail. The Book of Birds is a love letter to the thrilling variety and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the rapid depletion of our skies. 

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Bulletproof by K. M. Moronova 

He was built to be bulletproof. She’s the one thing that can break him. Briar Thornton has spent months outrunning her past, but when she’s drawn to the small Montana town of Bane Falls with the death of her late uncle and his estate to handle, she runs straight into a new nightmare—and a man more dangerous than the one who tried to kill her. Roman Syxx isn’t a savior. He’s a weapon—cold, precise, and programmed by the Dark Forces to destroy anything and anyone. As the lieutenant of the covert Icarus Squad, he’s in Bane Falls on orders: infiltrate, eliminate, disappear. But the new girl that randomly shows up in the small town fractures his control in ways no enemy ever could. Drawn together by their traumas, they burn through each other’s defenses until love feels as lethal as war. And when Briar’s hidden connection to Roman’s mission is exposed, both will learn that freedom always comes with a body count. 

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The Great Wherever by Shannon Sanders  

Award-winning short-story author Sanders (Company, 2023) returns with a debut novel that is part family saga, part historical fiction, part ghost story, and entirely captivating. We meet Aubrey Lamb on the night her boyfriend of four years ends things and just a year after losing her father. As she struggles to cope and navigate multiple jobs to afford her life in Washington, DC, the inheritance of a family farm in Tennessee offers not only a distraction from her heartbreak, but also an opportunity to connect with her extended family. As Aubrey contemplates the future of her family’s land, the complicated and fraught origins of her heritage are told through the story of her great-grandfather. Throughout the novel, the ghosts of her ancestors observe the daily lives of their descendants and the story unfolds under their watchful eyes. Sanders expertly portrays familial relationships, imbuing her characters with pathos and humor as they grapple with the complexities of family legacy. Give to readers of The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois (2021), by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. Booklist Review 

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Revolutionary by Alex Myers 

As a former indentured servant in Colonial Massachusetts, Deborah Sampson (1760-1827) leads a constricted life. Frequently chided for her desire for independence, she reaches a breaking point and runs away. Tall and strong, she dresses as a man to escape and soon finds untold freedom, respect, and comfort when she joins the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff. But there are risks as well. Besides the dangers of battle and the fear of being discovered, there is the effect on Deborah/Robert’s sense of self: while increasingly comfortable at being Robert, the deceit of having to hide her true and complex nature takes its toll. The author is transgender and writes well about identity and gender, but sticklers for a historical voice may be disappointed. While based on true events and a real person, Myers’s debut novel is more interested in Deborah/Robert’s internal journey than in immersing readers in period detail.  

VERDICT Despite some flaws, this work offers a new take on historical accounts of transgender people; Myers explores not just how Deborah manages to pass as a man but her reasons for doing so.– Library Journal Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

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

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

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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

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

Suggested Listening & Viewing: July 3, 2026

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring a collection thematic songs and two streaming video recommendations, one from a mainstream service and the other from Kanopy, the library’s free to access streaming service (all you need is a library card!).

First off the music, and as today is July 3 and tomorrow is the Semiquincentennial of the founding of the United States, this week our suggested listening collection offers both traditional songs for a 4th of July celebration & a collection of diverse songs that offer a glimpse into the rich history and culture of the peoples that make up the United States.

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An American Tune by Paul Simon 

 

Found on the Album: There Goes Rhymin’ Simon (1973) 

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Ballad of Ira Hayes by Johnny Cash 

 

Found on the Album: The Essential Johnny Cash (2002) 

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Beans, Bacon, and Gravy by Pete Seeger 

 

Found on the Album: Industrial Ballads (1992) 

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Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Buffy Sainte-Marie 

 

Found on the Album: Up Where We Belong (1995) 

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Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos) by Joan Baez 

 

Video recorded live during the 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  

Found on the album:  Joan Baez 75th Birthday Celebration (2016)

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Hole hole bushi by Allison Arakawa at Japanese American National Museum 

 

Found on the Album: N/A

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Jimmie Brown the Newsboy

Found on the Album: The Essential Carter Family (2013)

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John Henry by Bruce Springsteen 

 

Recorded live at the at the 2006 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival 

Found on the Album: We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions (American Land Edition) (2006)

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Midnight Special by Lead Belly

Found on the Album: Lead Belly: The Smithsonian Folkways Collection (2015)

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No More Auction Blocks by Odetta  

 

Found on the Album: Live (2011) 

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Lift Every Voice and Sing by Kim Weston 

 

Found on the Album: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: Best Of Kim Weston (2003) 

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One Time One Night by Los Lobos 

 

Found on the Album: By The Light of the Moon (1987) 

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This Land Is Your Land by Woody Guthrie 

 

Found on the Album: The Asch Recordings Vol. 1 

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We Shall Overcome by Pete Seeger 

 

Found on the Album: If I Had a Hammer: Songs of Hope and Struggle (2006) 

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Fanfare for the Common Man by Aaron Copland, performed by the London Symphony Orchestra 

 

Found on the Album: Copland Conducts Copland (2000) 

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Rhapsody in Blue composed by George Gerswhin and performed by Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic 

 

Found on the Album: Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue & An American in Paris by Leonard Bernstein (2022) 

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Stars & Stripes Forever by John Phillips Sousa, performed by The U.S. Marine Band 

 

Found on the Album: Sousa’s Greatest Hits & Some That Should Have Been (1999) 

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And a few humorous American Revolution related clips from the School House Rock: 

The Constitution Preamble 

 

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No More Kings 

 

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Shot Heard Round The World  

 

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Three Ring Government 

 

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Fireworks 

 

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And one more clip just for fun! (Yes, indeed, I’m showing my vintage!) 

Sufferin’ for Suffrage  

 

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For those who prefer more traditional 4th of July music here are two more videos: 

Fourth of July Concert at Washington National Cathedral, 2015 (1 hour, 46 minutes) 

 

& 

Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular (2024) (2 hours, 27 minutes) 

 

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Mainstream Stream of the Week 

Enola Holmes, Season 3 (2006) (Netflix) 

 

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Kanopy Stream of the Week 

The American Revolution (2025) a Ken Burns presentation 

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Have a great weekend!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Information on the four library catalogs 

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

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

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

And The Digital Catalog/Libby features titles that may be checked out via the one-copy-one-user lending model, just like print books.  

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

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

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

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

Titles in the Hoopla Catalog are available to be checked out on-demand by all library card holders, with the caveat of being able to check out a maximum of ten titles per month, per card.  

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Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en 

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.  

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders! 

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV). 

– 

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

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

Suggested Reading Five: July 1, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Nine Lives by Catherine Steadman 

Reeling from a very recent divorce, Frankie has moved into a glamorous London neighborhood. This is a new chapter in her life. She’s decided to put down roots with Blue, the beautiful Persian cat she left her marriage with. 

But little doubts about her perfect new life start to grow, and when Blue returns one night from slipping into places he shouldn’t, Frankie’s concerns solidify. Two words are roughly scratched into his collar: help me. Unsettled and unwilling to ignore the incident, Frankie roots out an old unused “cat cam” collar. What slowly begins as a voyeuristic fascination with her neighbors and the secrets they’re hiding soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth that threatens to bring untold terrors to her doorstep. 

A riveting thriller about the terrible secrets hidden behind the pastel-colored façade of one of London’s most upscale enclaves, Nine Lives is catnip for suspense readers everywhere and perfect for fans of modern classics like The Girl on the Train and The Woman in the Window. 

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Scandal of the Summer by Alexandra Vasti 

In Vasti’s new Regency adventure, following Ladies in Hating (2025), Ruby and her two best friends are tired of being high society outcasts for being different or having family issues. Ruby is too scientific and outspoken for the ton’s liking. She hatches a plan with her friends to pretend to be ladies-in-waiting at a princess’ empty estate. When they arrive, they find handsome Malcolm Archer and his crew running the mansion. The crew tries to make things unpleasant for the young women in hilarious ways, attempting to get them to leave. Archer is using his role at the royal home to disguise his smuggling business and doesn’t need nosy misses about, even if Ruby captures his attention and even as the women clean and fix up the house. Ruby is fascinated with Archer and tries to discover his secrets and what he and his crew are up to. Then the imperiled princess arrives, and they are all thrown into a plot to save her. Vasti’s wonderfully entertaining caper is full of heroism and romance. –Booklist Review  

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The Someday Garden by Ashley Poston  

In an attempt to grapple with her grief after the death of her best friend Harriet, horticulturist Sophie Drear takes on the head gardener position at her and Harriet’s favorite place, Lilymoor House in coastal Maine. The house and its vast, hedge-mazed gardens are challenging and gorgeous, as is the disgruntled and handsome man Sophie discovers behind a secret blue door. Cyrus Beck, grandchild of Lilymoor House’s owners, is trapped inside, and Sophie cannot seem to find a way to free him. As Sophie attempts to unlock the secrets tangled in the lush foliage and the people of Lilymoor House, she also finds herself falling in love with both the place and with Cyrus. Questions abound in this paranormal romance. Will Sophie be able to solve Lilymoor House’s mysteries without losing track of herself or her grief? What if the man she has fallen in love with is not the man who she’ll eventually meet in real life, outside of the hedge maze?  

VERDICT Poston (Sounds Like Love) continues her trend of lightly magical stories, perfect for readers seeking the magic of Sarah Addison Allen blended with the humor and romance tropes of Emily Henry.—Library Journal Review 

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Sweet Spot by Kemper Donovan  

Ghostwriters, just like ghosts, shouldn’t exist. Knowing that the latest juicy memoir was penned by a stranger for a paycheck tends to ruin the illusion of intimacy. But not every ghostwriter is in it for the money alone. 

For Belle Currer—as the ghostwriter extraordinaire prefers to be known—Genevieve Caraway’s memoir is an irresistible project, a tale of tragedy overcome. At 14, Genevieve was abducted from her bedroom by a couple and held hostage for three months. She’s now a happily married mother with a flourishing career, a poster child for thriving after trauma. Still, the scars haven’t entirely faded. 

Genevieve’s lavish Utah home, “Sweet Spot,” is a guarded compound impregnable to outsiders—theoretically, at least. But Belle’s arrival coincides with the parole of Deirdre Gregory, one of Genevieve’s kidnappers. When Deirdre shows up at Sweet Spot begging to see Genevieve, she is refused. The next day, Deirdre’s dead body is found on the grounds. 

How did Deirdre get in? More importantly, who killed her? Belle soon joins Detective Kay Adams, the pregnant Mormon detective assigned to the case, in sifting through the suspects. The compound is filled with family and friends—and also with secrets, including one the ghostwriter has been carrying for far too long. She knows how guilt, remorse, and love can drive people to do unthinkable things. And that no matter how much you try to keep the world at bay, the best and worst of it may find a way to get in . . .

 

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The Top of the World by Ethan Joella  

A teenager with leukemia spends one eye-opening summer working at a Poconos honeymoon resort, trying to find new experiences before he dies. It’s the mid-1970s, and Maggie Bishop’s older brother, Chip, has been diagnosed with cancer. Rather than subject himself to the treatments his doctors recommend, he leaves town after finishing high school without telling anyone where he’s going. He only returns home once he’s certain his death is imminent. He wants to spend his last days with his family, but he never tells them where he’d been all that time. After he dies, Maggie finds herself stuck on the question of where her brother spent his last summer and why. She snoops through his things for months until she finally discovers a nametag indicating Chip had been employed by the Red Maple, a Poconos resort. As soon as she finishes her own senior year, Maggie, like her brother before her, takes off without explaining to her parents where she’s going. She manages to get herself employed at the Red Maple, as well, and she spends her summer there trying to get to know the people who knew Chip in the hope of better understanding his final choices.

Told in alternating chapters that follow Chip through the summer of 1974 and Maggie through the summer of 1975, the book depicts a touchingly close relationship between the siblings, which is, paradoxically, most evocative in the moments when they are apart. Joella also manages to portray the devastation of a teenager’s certain death with grace and insight. While Chip seems to have a much richer internal life than his sister, both characters are exceedingly likable and devoted to each other, which makes their separation all the more heartrending. A particular strength of the novel is the Red Maple setting, where the author manages to capture the magic of the summer resorts where both visitors and staff have transformative experiences. While some readers may find a few too many coincidences or some predictable turns of plot, the preponderance of touching moments while Chip accepts the unfairness of his fate allow the story to soar nonetheless. A captivating and tragic tale about living to the fullest before a young life is extinguished. – Starred Kirkus Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

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

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

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

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

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

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

New Books Coming Your Way: July 2026

Linda Reimer

Hi everyone, here is a list of all the new books, physical media items, eAudios & eBooks coming to the Southeast Steuben County Library this month!

New Books Coming Your Way: July 2026

New Books Coming Your Way July 2026Download

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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P.S. Some of the print books & physical media items, which will be published in the month ahead of us, may not yet appear in StarCat. So, if you see a title you’d like to check out, but it isn’t yet in StarCat, send me an email or give me a call and I’ll put your name on the list for it, as soon as it has arrived.

Linda Reimer, Acquisitions Librarian

Southeast Steuben County Library

Tel: 607-936-3713 x2412

Email: reimerl@stls.org

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P.S.S. The three digital catalogs are:

The Digital Catalog found online at https://stls.overdrive.com/ and its companion app Libby found in mobile app stores.

The Hoopla Catalog found online at: https://www.hoopladigital.com/ and its companion app, also called Hoopla and found in mobile app stores.

Kanopy: The streaming video catalog found online at https://www.kanopy.com/ and its companion app, also called Kanopy, found in mobile app stores.

Suggested Reading Five: June 24, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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1873: The Rothschilds, the First Great Depression, and the Making of the Modern World by Liaquat Ahamed 

The global economy collapsed in 1873 amid a cascading chain of shocks. Pulitzer Prize-winning economist Ahamed (Lords of Finance) explains in riveting detail how events in Europe, the U.S., and developing countries successively fueled fear, stock-market turmoil, and financial chaos. He highlights the major economic powers’ blundering, self-inflicted wounds that choked global liquidity. The abrupt demonetization of silver, a shift from bimetallism, unnecessarily reordered the global currency system and triggered a massive deflation that reverberated into the mid-1890s. A mounting scarcity of international gold reserves and over-leveraged banks saddled with bad loans and bad bonds accelerated the disarray. Adding to this was the mistake of raising tariffs, which killed free trade as tariff spikes triggered retaliatory trade wars. More than economic pain resulted. Pervasive pessimism bred a rising sense of resentment and political instability. So many elements carry a familiar ring today, Ahamed warns, pointing to real estate bubbles, stock market mania, careless lending, cascading defaults, financial disruptions, drastic austerity programs, and social unrest.  

VERDICT This supremely useful historical analysis not only explains past events but also, with its unsettling parallels to current economic woes, offers readers and policymakers clear directions for present and future paths to avoid. – Starred Library Journal Review  

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Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky 

If Rocket from Guardians of the Galaxy toned his language down and opened a private investigator’s office like Philip Marlowe, he’d be Tchaikovsky’s (Shroud) Skotch. The raccoon private eye is every noir detective who ever walked the mean streets, with friends in low places and a bandit’s black mask across his muzzle. His world is mostly grim, his morals are often conflicted, and he’s always broke and often broken. But he always has a scheme and he always finds the answers–even when no one wants him to. He’s taken a case to find one enhanced mouse among all the strains of enhanced animals that live and work under the new green city. He knows the job is too good to be true, but he’s compelled to take it, even if it gets him and his friends killed. This postapocalyptic world of green cities, along with gene-splicing that made animals into supposedly perfect workers, is fascinating, as is Skotch’s journey, while the resolution is a shock. VERDICT Readers searching for an adult Redwall, the animals-as-humans concept of Juneau Black’s Shady Hollow, or the upside-down criminal enterprise of John Scalzi’s Starter Villain will be thrilled to meet Skotch. – Starred Library Journal Review 

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Muneca by Cynthia Gomez 

DEBUT A queer, Latine witch finds her powers, and her heart, tested in this dramatic and entrancing gothic. Natalia “Nati” Fuentes is working as a bank teller in Oakland, CA, in 1968, when at a party she overhears the tragic tale of a young heiress stricken with a mysterious illness that has left her unable to move or speak. Nati realizes she knows this woman, Violeta Miramontes, and her family, as Nati’s late mother was employed as their housekeeper for a time. Convinced the heiress is under a spell and drawing on the training provided by her grandmother when she was a child, Nati formulates a plan: become Violeta’s caretaker, free her from the spell, and collect a hefty reward. While Nati is able to secure a position with ease, she quickly learns that the forces keeping Violeta trapped will not easily be vanquished. As she spends more time caring for Violeta, Nati discovers an entirely new reason to want to free her. VERDICT Easily paced and richly layered, G mez’s (The Nightmare Box) formidable novel debut will delight fans of Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Mayra by Nicky Gonzalez, and Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield.–Booklist Review  

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The Shampoo Effect by Jenny Jackson 

When Caroline Lash arrives in Greenhead, Massachusetts, she falls head-over-heels for Van Whittaker, a fleece-wearing, litter-collecting, kayak enthusiast with long, floppy hair and the personality of a Border collie. Born and raised in this picturesque coastal village, Van runs with the same crowd he did as a kid: His ex-girlfriend, Bailey, a beautiful girl who attracts men like moths to a flame; Augusta, old money, horsey, and snobbish; and Fran, surrounded by brothers and sons, too fed up with boys to ever consider marrying one. 

Together, the group runs wild through the marshes, beaches, and bars of Greenhead, drinking on houseboats, spending long afternoons sunbathing with their children, and playing games the way they always have. But when Bailey discovers that she is pregnant with Van’s baby, the delicate balance of the group’s friendship is thrown off. Soon Caroline is cast out of the circle and what she does next—in a potent mix of fury and heartbreak—exposes long-held secrets and works the entire town of Greenhead into a lather. Dazzlingly funny, sexy, and as juicy as it is astute, The Shampoo Effect is a story of late-night parties, early mornings with small children, the dawn of midlife, and a group of old friends finally growing up despite all their best efforts to the contrary. 

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When You Loved Me: A Novel by Beatriz Williams 

Local history insists that a legendary pirate buried his treasure somewhere beneath Windward, the decayed Cooper estate on Winthrop Island, but Lucy Cooper never trusted the fable that broke her family apart. When a widowed Lucy returns with her young daughter to grieve her estranged father, she discovers catastrophe: The property is mired in debt she canʼt repay, and Ben Ressler has unexpectedly turned up on her doorstep. 

Thirteen summers ago, the teenaged Lucy never meant to fall in love with Ben, a Dartmouth football star vacationing nearby at the Peabody estate and the object of an all-consuming crush by Laura Peabody, Lucy’s best friend. Those few weeks were the best and worst of Lucy’s life, dooming her friendship with Laura. Now, after a fatal accident ended his dazzling NFL career, Ben has returned to live quietly in the Peabodys’ caretaker lodge. He’s also the last person who saw Lucy’s father alive. 

As Lucy reconstructs her father’s troubling final days, she uncovers his research on the frozen winter of 1717, when a desperately wounded pirate sought refuge on Winthrop Island with an enigmatic healer. To Lucy, this history points the way to a different kind of treasure: how to heal from the fractures of the past and earn a second chance at love. But just as Lucy’s long-buried emotions sear to the surface, a shocking turn of events reveals that someone else on the island will do whatever it takes to claim the fabled plunder. 

A timeless story of love and atonement, When You Loved Me maps both a centuries-old treasure hunt and the intimate territory of the human heart, weaving together past and present as only Beatriz Williams can. 

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

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

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

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

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

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

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

Suggested Reading Five: June 17, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Ash Dark as Night by Gary Phillips 

The times, they are a-changing in Phillips’s outstanding sequel to One-Shot Harry (2022). It’s August 1965: Vietnam is heating up; the civil rights movement is marching forward. Escalating tensions between the police and Black Americans have boiled over most recently in the Watts Riots. Black photographer Harry Ingram is in Los Angeles to document the unrest and winds up capturing the police shooting of unarmed activist Faraday Zinum. The widely reproduced photo brings Harry newfound fame, as well as the unwelcome attention of LAPD chief William Parker and his intelligence division. Meanwhile, an acquaintance hires Harry to look into the disappearance of her business associate Moses Tolbert, who ran a building company in the Watts neighborhood and vanished during the riots. As Harry investigates, stumbling into citywide conspiracies along the way, he finds that he has a natural aptitude for the work, and ponders the possibility of becoming a private detective full-time. Phillips folds real historical figures, including TV journalist Louis Lomax, and events into a complex narrative of shifting alliances that captures the urgency and volatility of the mid-’60s. The results rank with the best of Walter Mosley in the canon of Los Angeles noir. Agent: David Hale Smith, InkWell Management. – Starred Publishers Weekly Review  

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Inner City Blues by Paula L. Woods 

The award-winning first book in the series featuring black LAPD homicide detective Charlotte Justice. 

Meet Detective Charlotte Justice, a black woman in the very white, very male, and sometimes very racist Los Angeles Police Department. The time is 48 hours into the epochal L.A. riots and she and her fellow officers are exhausted. She saves the curfew-breaking black doctor Lance Mitchell from a potentially lethal beating from some white officers—only to discover nearby the body of one-time radical Cinque Lewis, a thug who years before had murdered her husband and young daughter. Was it a random shooting or was Mitchell responsible? And what had brought Lewis back to a city he’d long since fled? 

Charlotte’s quest for the truth behind Cinque’s death will set her at odds with the LAPD hierarchy, plunge her into the intricacies of everything from L.A.’s gang-banging politics to its black blue-bloods, and lead her into deep emotional waters with Mitchell’s partner (and her old flame), Dr. Aubrey Scott. 

In Charlotte Justice, Paula L. Woods has created a tough, tart, but also vulnerable heroine sure to draw comparisons to such classic figures as Easy Rawlins and Kinsey Milhone, but a true original as well. 

Winner of the Macavity Award for Best First Mystery Novel from Mystery Readers International.  

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The Island Club by Nicola Harris  

On California’s Balboa Island in the 1950s, three different women strive to make the best of their strenuous situations. Milly moved to the island in hopes that she would have more quality time with her husband, who works in the movie business in L.A. Despite her plans for family dinners and beach trips, she is alone most of the time as he barely comes home from work. Sylvia, a pillar in the social community, has started a tennis club with her husband, hoping to boost membership and boost their already fulfilling income. Sylvia’s husband has a habit of playing poker, and with a shattering loss, he puts the family in danger and the club at risk of closure. Adele, once a famous tennis pro who left the profession due to a scandal that ruined her career, slowly begins to coach women at the tennis club but keeps her identity a secret. Harrison (Hotel Laguna, 2023) excels at creating compelling characters. These women struggle with loneliness and sexism, but Harrison focuses on their resilience and strength and the powerful bonds of female friendship.- Booklist Review  

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Mr. Moonlight: Brian Epstein and the Making of the Beatles by Philip Norman 

There will never be another pop manager like Brian Epstein, the young record retailer from Liverpool behind the 20th century’s greatest romance. Having achieved his much-derided aim of making the Beatles “bigger than Elvis,” Brian went on to make them bigger than any earthly instrument could measure. Only a handful of years older, he nonetheless referred them as “The Boys,” protecting and pampering them like the children he could never hope to have. 

Brian’s achievement in a profession in which he had no experience, and for which nor rulebook existed, remains jaw-dropping. A devout classical music fan, he was nonetheless solely responsible for a new genre of pop that was to change its course, and Britain’s international image, forever—yet, disgracefully, earn him no public honor nor even thanks. 

Mr. Moonlight draws on a cache of exclusive interviews with those closest to Brain, including his mother, Queenie, and brother, Clive, to tell the story of this hugely complex, self-contradictory, and ultimately tragic character. This revelatory narrative explores the unplumbed depths of Brian’s many trials and tribulations—how he almost lost the Beatles to organized crime, the antisemitism and homophobia he had to face even at the height of his success, his complex relationship with John Lennon that led to their reckless “Spanish Honeymoon”—and sheds new light on Brian’s mysterious, lonely death in the throes of the so-called Summer of Love. 

– 

A Year of Marvelous Ways by Sarah Winman 

In this latest from Winman (Still Life), a war-weary young man and a sage older woman come together in a journey of recovery. Francis Drake (not the explorer), a lucky survivor of World War II, finally arrives back in England with a letter entrusted to him by a dying soldier with a plea to deliver it to his father in Cornwall. Making his way there, Drake is sidetracked after catching sight of Missy Hall, his childhood companion and the love of his life. She invites him up to her room, where they spend the night together. But by the next day, she has disappeared again. Now bereft, drunk, and much the worse for wear, Drake washes up on the shores of St. Ophere, a tiny Cornish hamlet where an 89-year-old woman named Marvelous Ways seems to have been waiting for him. With hearty soups and herbal remedies, she nurses him back to health while spinning out tales about her life and lost loves.  

VERDICT Once again, Winman delivers historical fiction that memorably evokes the sweetness and sorrow of times past.–Library Journal Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

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

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

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

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

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

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

Suggested Reading Five: June 10, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

–

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See 

See (Lucy Tan’s Circle of Women) tells the intertwining story of three women in 1870s California during a turbulent time for Chinese immigrants. Dove, whose had her feet bound and is the daughter of an imperial scholar, desires to love and be loved as she travels to be the second wife of an older businessman. Petal, the large-footed daughter of a farmer, is unknowingly sold and forced into sex work to feed her starving family. Her desire for freedom fuels her every breath. Moon, the wife of a respected doctor, is intelligent and beautiful, but her limp, the result of a botched foot-binding, diminishes her value in society’s eyes. Her desire for justice guides the latter half of the narrative, following the devastating events of October 24, 1871, when simmering anti-Chinese sentiment in the United States finally erupts into a violent massacre, resulting in the mass murder and lynching of Chinese immigrants. The events of that night bring Dove, Petal, and Moon even closer; together, they find their voices by demonstrating bravery and fortitude in an environment where women have few rights. VERDICT See offers a stunning piece of historical fiction based in truth. It will touch readers with the characters’ resilience, heroism, and devoted friendship. — Starred Library Journal Review  

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The Queen’s Coronation: A Novel by Jennifer Ryan 

A master of uplifting historical fiction, Ryan (The Underground Library, 2024) presents her first post-WWII novel. Centered on three very different women working at Buckingham Palace during the lead-up to Queen Elizabeth’s coronation in 1953, it offers a glimpse into what it was like to work in the young queen’s orbit. Assistant dresser Caroline finds strength in the queen’s presence. Trapped by both a husband who squanders her money and a secret from her past, Caroline works tirelessly but begins to lose hope. Lucy is a young and beautiful junior assistant who dreams of singing on the London stage, but her optimism is soon overshadowed by her naivety as she navigates London society. Miranda, an American journalist, is undercover, working in the palace to get the scoop on the coronation. Filled with unresolved trauma over losing her husband in the war, Miranda puts on a stony facade to get through each day. Though they couldn’t be more different, their stories intertwine and they lift each other up and find strength together. Fans of The Crown and Downton Abbey will enjoy the dynamics. –Booklist Review 

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The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy by Steven J. Ross 

This well-researched and at times shocking volume relates the surprising number of pro-Nazi groups and figures who emerged during and after World War II in the United States gained followers and influence and made impacts in local and national politics for decades. Ross (history, Univ. of Southern California; Hitler in Los Angeles: How Jews Foiled Nazi Plots Against Hollywood and America) makes the case that the typical narrative of the United States after the war might not be as accurate as most people think. Ross weaves the timelines of these figures together in an easy-to-follow way, showing how they gained power but also highlighting the people and organizations who actively fought against them in public and in spy rings, who each had their own motivations for resisting fascism. Readers will get sucked into the story and want to know what happens next. There are plenty of footnotes for further reading, and the author makes clear how past actions led to today’s events. This is a good read-alike and companion to Rachel Maddow’s Prequel. VERDICT An excellent “hidden history” book that gives additional context to modern political movements. Recommended for all general collections. –Starred Booklist Review  

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Take Me With You: A Novel by Steve Rowley  

Jesse and Norman have been together for 30 years, and lately, the spark has gone out of their marriage. Their recent move to Joshua Tree (not so much a town as a “Census designated place,” as Jesse is fond of pointing out) in the California desert has only compounded the tension. But when Norman abruptly leaves the house in the middle of the night, Jesse doesn’t expect to find him ascending into the sky from their backyard in a beam of light. As an award-winning humor writer, Jesse can get by for a while telling his neighbor and his colleagues at the local community college that his husband was abducted by aliens. But as the days pass, it becomes more difficult to deflect, especially when Norman’s sister shows up on their doorstep with a very big request. And as Jesse goes from spiraling to settling into his new life, will there be room for Norman if he returns? Rowley (The Guncle Abroad, 2024), himself the recipient of a humor-writing prize, adeptly balances the absurdity of Jesse’s circumstances with the sensitive portrayal of a longtime couple at a crossroads. Recommend to readers of humorous but moving fiction, like that of Kevin Wilson (Run for the Hills, 2025) and Rufi Thorpe. – Starred Booklist Review  

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The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden 

Medieval history and Celtic mythology merge in an enchanting tale. Arden, best known for her Winternight Trilogy, here turns from medieval Russia to Europe during the same period. Anne of Brittany–a real person–is 19 when the novel begins in the late 15th century, a sovereign duchess whose father, the duke, has been dead since she was a child. Described as “small and glossy as a cat in a dairy,” she’s desperately trying to avoid marrying Charles VIII, the king of France, which would mean the dissolution of her country. She conceives a plan to conduct a unicorn hunt in the ancient, haunted forest of Broceliande, thinking she will be able to secretly arrange a proxy wedding to Maximilien of Austria, heir to the Holy Roman Empire. While there, she encounters not only an actual unicorn but an evil enchanter who has designs on her kingdom. With the unlikely aid of the chivalrous (and undeniably attractive) Louis of Orleans, who has been sent by Charles’ sister Marguerite to betray Anne, as well as Anne’s spunky younger sister, Isabeau; a clever peasant girl, Elesbed; and a cat named Butter, Anne works feverishly to protect her people from sinister forces both political and supernatural. Arden takes her time immersing the reader in this thoroughly and intricately imagined world, where historical figures bump up against an enigmatic korriganed queen, at least one monstrous sea-dragon, a herd of undead “anaon,” and a whole Breton city that has been trapped in time. This is an alternate history in which the admirable Anne, freed from the confines of textbooks, gets to ask the question, “Shall we not write our own story?” Here, love and duty reach an understanding, and courtly romance makes friends with a steamier variety of physical contact. Fans of jousts, spells, dark magic, and brave women will find plenty of each here. A clever and inspiring reimagining of a little-remembered time and place. – Starred Kirkus Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

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

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

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

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

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

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

Suggested Reading Five: June 3, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

–

Foursome by Christina Baker Kline 

Kline’s (The Exiles) latest is a work of historical fiction that has ties to her own family. Writing about her distant cousins, Adelaide (Addie) and Sarah (Sallie) Yates, who married conjoined twin brothers Chang and Eng Bunker in 19th-century North Carolina, Kline uses older sister Sallie’s voice to drive the novel. With this unique foundation for storytelling, readers get a taste of the hardships the Yates-Bunker families might have endured and their lives as plantation owners with 21 children between them. Issues such as racism, gender roles, motherhood, and identity are touched on, as well as difficult topics such as sexual violence and enslavement. Written with compassion and sensitivity, the book gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at the once perceived scandalous lives of the two Yates-Bunker families. Strong characterizations and imagery quickly move the work along, making this novel hard to put down.  

VERDICT Readers familiar with Darin Strauss’s 2000 novel Chang and Eng will appreciate a version of the story told from the wives’ perspectives. Kline points out the liberties she took in crafting this novel, an emotionally moving read for book groups and anyone interested in witnessing a slice of life of two famous brothers and their families. -Starred Library Journal Review 

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The Jellyfish Problem by Tessa Yang 

Yang’s first novel (after the story collection The Runaway Restaurant) is imaginative, spanning a range of topics and featuring lyrical writing and complex characters. Marine biologist Jo Ness grieves the loss of her best friend and colleague Aldo, who was working with her on a jellyfish guide. She receives a call from Nadia, an old friend she hasn’t seen in years, pleading for her help with a massive jellyfish that is terrorizing a Maine island community. Nadia is nowhere to be found when Jo arrives in Shattering Point, and the locals there each have a different take on the sea monster, which they have named Clementine. With a varied cast of characters, the novel captivates from start to finish and provides a sense of solace as the events unfold. The finale is perfection, sure to leave readers feeling satiated and impassioned, with sticking power that lasts long after the book’s close.  

VERDICT Perfect for fans of Shelby Van Pelt’s Remarkably Bright Creatures or Emily Habeck’s Shark Heart who are looking for the same immersiveness, heartbreak, and comfort those novels evoked. –Starred Library Journal Review  

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Summerland Cove: A Novel by Ellen Baker 

Lindy has the summer of a lifetime planned at her family’s beloved cottage in Summerland Cove, Maine, where she’s spent summers all her life and where she and her husband David met as teenagers. She’s slated big events three weekends in a row: David’s fiftieth birthday party, her parents’ fiftieth anniversary party, and her oldest daughter Hailey’s wedding. But when David doesn’t show up for his own party, everything about the life they’ve created together is thrown into question, as the shattered family sets out looking for him. Has he been in an accident? God forbid, been the victim of a crime? Or is it something more cliché—a midlife crisis, an affair? Surely, he’ll show up for his beloved daughter’s wedding—won’t he? 

The agonizing days tick by and still no David. Lindy’s four nearly grown children are panicked. Lindy struggles to remain calm, even as long-buried details of the family’s past begin to surface, offering distressing clues. Meanwhile, her mother seems to be harboring secrets of her own, her father has grown alarmingly absent-minded, and Hailey wrestles with whether she should get married at all—even if her father does turn up. 

A richly drawn novel of mothers, marriages, and one endearingly messy family, Summerland Cove beautifully evokes the crisp air and rocky beaches of coastal Maine, while poignantly revealing how complicated histories can shape the present in unexpected ways. 

– 

Waiting On A Friend: A Novel by Natalie Adler 

DEBUT Adler’s debut novel is poignant, reminding readers of the fear and anguish that came with the rise of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. It is 1984, and Renata is a 29-year-old bisexual woman living on New York City’s Lower East Side. All around her, friends and neighbors are dying from AIDS, and Renata has a special gift for seeing and communicating with ghosts. When her friend, roommate, and occasional lover Mark dies, Renata’s grief grows because he’s the one ghost she can’t seem to reach. She starts receiving fliers from Manhattan Remediation, a service that claims to be able to dispose of paranormal problems in one’s home. Renata is immediately suspicious about these claims, and the novel goes on to detail her efforts to uncover the company’s fraud and manage her heartache. Despite the book’s tragic plot, there is a certain humor in Renata’s observations, especially of customers at the vintage clothing store where she works. She is a memorable character in a community of sadness, and her communication with ghosts is spellbinding.   

VERDICT Adler’s debut is highly recommended for readers who enjoy vividly drawn literary fiction about the past. 

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What to Make of a Life: Cliffs, Fog, Fire and the Self-Knowledge Imperative by Jim Collins 

Jim Collins, international bestselling author of Good to Great, offers transformative lessons on constructing—and reconstructing—a life through the cliff moments and transitions we all will face repeatedly in our lives. 

What to make of a life? 

It is a question we all wrestle with more than once: How do we find our way in the world? How do we make it past the cliffs, significant events that can radically change a life? How do we keep the inner fire burning bright, long and late? Inspired by relentless curiosity, Jim Collins devoted a decade to studying these questions and to minutely analyzing those moments when life flips from clarity to confusion and casts us into a befuddling fog. 

His exploration follows various lives side-by-side, paired together at cliffs, and analyzes the different choices made and divergent paths taken. Two rock musicians confronting a future without the group that had brought them success. Two public figures tainted by scandal having to make decisions about how to rebuild their lives. Two suffragists achieving their epic goal and so left with the puzzle of what to do next. Two figure skaters seeking new purpose when their Olympic careers come to an end. What emerges from Collins’s extensive studies—of writers, actors, scientists, leaders and many others—is a framework for understanding how individual lives can be built, sustained and constantly renewed. 

By examining the long arc of these remarkable lives, Collins tackles life’s questions. What does it take to: 

Discover a deeply fulfilling role in life—one that you are naturally ‘encoded’ for—and then to find a second one, if the first one ends? 

Overcome a major cliff—a fracture point that forces choices about what’s next and calls for you to re-envision the years to come? 

Make your personal economics work so that you can focus on one big thing that feeds your inner fire? 

Navigate the fog, when you feel uncertain or even outright lost, and build confidence step by step? 

Build personal momentum decade upon decade, so that your most creative and energetic years are spread across an entire lifetime? 

Achieve the imperative to “Know Thyself” and apply self-knowledge to each phase of life 

And for the first time, Collins movingly chronicles his own story to reveal how undertaking this project transformed him, changing his thinking and reshaping his emotions in fundamental ways. Surprising, story-driven, deeply researched, and uplifting, What to Make of a Life is a book like no other, convincingly showing how a richly fulfilled life is within reach of us all. 

–

Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

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

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

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

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

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

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

Suggested Reading Five: April 1, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

–

Final Storm by Fern Michaels 

In an exciting and richly moving new standalone page-turner from New York Times bestselling author Fern Michaels, an acclaimed photographer who has overcome her difficult past is suddenly faced with a test of all her courage and resilience. 

In her award-winning wildlife photographs, Charlotte Gray captures all the beauty and wonder of the natural world. Far better to focus on breathtaking landscapes than to turn the lens on her own painful childhood and the uncaring mother she left behind in Florida. Piece by piece, Charlotte has built a new, independent life, one she’s eager to protect. 

A chance encounter on assignment in Las Vegas sparks an intriguing relationship, and for the first time, Charlotte impulsively follows her heart. But along with love and fresh beginnings comes a trove of secrets about her new husband. And someone in his past is determined to upend Charlotte’s happiness by threatening what she cares about most. 

After everything she’s weathered, Charlotte is about to face the task of rebuilding her life yet again. But this time she’s doing it with hard-won strength, experience, and the wisdom to know when to forgive, when to let go, and how to walk into the sunshine and claim the support and love she deserves . . . 

– 

Game on: An Into Darkness Novel by Navessa Allen 

Book three in the #1 New York Times bestselling Into Darkness Series, following the dark rom-com sensations Lights Out and Caught Up. The game is on for these enemies-to-lovers with laugh-out-loud banter and scorching-hot brat play. 

I hate that woman. 

Tyler Neumann has spent years looking for his father, and not because he wants to meet the man. No, he wants to destroy him. And he’ll manipulate whoever he can to exact his revenge. 

Including Stella McCormick. She’s everything Tyler hates. Her wealth and privilege have protected her for her entire life, and Tyler thinks it’s time she finally paid the price. Whether she’s ready to or not. 

I hate that man. 

Stella might not believe in love at first sight, but loathing at first sight—no question. From the moment she sets eyes on Tyler in her tattoo parlor, she knows he’s the devil planning to make her life hell. 

Forced to play the part of his girlfriend and invite him into her family’s glittering circles, Stella quickly clocks Tyler’s ulterior motives. But love and hate are two sides of the same coin, and soon she doesn’t know which is worse: being blackmailed by a man who wants to ruin her, or that they can’t seem to keep their hands off each other. 

This is an enemies-to-lovers dark romance with morally grey characters. Some themes and scenes may be disturbing to readers. Please check the content warning at the beginning of the book. 

Tropes: Enemies-to-lovers / Forced proximity / Fake dating / Rom-com / Morally grey MMC / Black cat FMC / Blackmail / Kidnapping / Power imbalance / Age gap / Betrayal and redemption / Dark past / Revenge 

 
Reader’s Note: Game On is the third book in the Into Darkness series. If you’d like to start reading the series from the beginning, check out book one: Lights Out. 

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The Keeper by Tana French  

Retired Chicago detective Cal Hooper has now spent three years in the Irish village of Ardnakelty. His work with young Trey is going well, and his relationship with his fiancé Lena is progressing nicely. He’s also close with a group of local men who have accepted him into their complex social circle. But Lena wants nothing to do with their rumor mill and petty squabbles. When Rachel Holohan, girlfriend of the son of the town big shot, is found dead, she is not just mourned; her death stirs up generations of old grudges, power struggles, and stifling anger. As tensions mount and actions become more vicious, an exposed plan to upend the entire fabric of the town sheds new light on Rachel’s death, demanding vengeance and casting suspicions everywhere.  

VERDICT French is an expert at writing suspense and depicting the stifling tensions of small towns, and her final book in the Cal Hooper trilogy (following The Searcher and The Hunter) brings Cal’s story to a pulse-pounding conclusion. His legions of fans will mourn the end of this exceptional series.–Starred Booklist Review  

Reader’s Note: The Keeper is the third book in the Cal Hooper series. If you’d like to start reading the series from the beginning, check out book one: The Searcher. 

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News from Dublin: Stories by Colm Toibin 

Celebrated as “his generation’s most gifted writer of love’s complicated, contradictory power” (Los Angeles Times), Colm Tóibín is a master of short fiction as well as the novel, able to summon an extraordinary intensity of emotion in a brief tale. The eleven stories transport readers across continents and eras. 

In “The Journey to Galway,” a mother who has learned of the death of her son, a fighter pilot in World War I, travels to Galway to inform his wife and their three now fatherless children. “Sleep,” originally published in The New Yorker, explores the rift between two lovers as one of them cannot reckon with his grief and fear after the death of his brother. Death, again, is a central character in the title story, “The News from Dublin,” as Maurice Webster travels to Dublin to try to save his younger brother who is dying of tuberculosis. Maurice must petition the health minister for access to a new experimental drug, and this is the only hope. 

Tóibín’s stories are rich with the complexities of family dynamics, the haunting pull of the past, and the quiet revelations that define our lives. His characters, whether navigating the aftermath of war, or forbidden love, or the desires of a girl in Catalan, or the quiet struggles mundane life, are rendered with illuminating, unforgettable empathy and insight. 

The News from Dublin is an exquisite introduction to Tóibín’s short fiction for new readers who may have discovered Tóibín with the publication of Long Island, and a glorious new collection for longtime fans of this “achingly beautiful writer…with infinite compassion” (The Miami Herald). 

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Son of Nobody by Yann Martel 

The Booker Prize-winning author of Life of Pi (2002) turns his eye to ancient Greece in this inventive novel about a classics scholar who makes a thrilling discovery. Much like the ancient Greek warriors who left home to journey to Troy, Harlow Donne leaves his wife and eight-year-old daughter in Canada to accept a research position at Oxford. Once there, Harlow becomes absorbed by fragments of an epic poem he christens The Psoad, which chronicles the plight of everyman Psoas, referred to as a “son of nobody,” a Greek fighter from Midea who is anything but one of the legendary heroes who take the spotlight in Homer’s Iliad. His attempts at plunder prove fruitless, but Psoas is a skilled fighter, and after he’s rudely insulted by one of King Priam’s 50 sons, Prince Mestor, Psoas vows to kill him. Harlow loses himself in his research just as surely as Psoas loses himself in his quest for vengeance. This tale has an unusual format. Half is the epic poem, the rest unspools in Harlow’s footnotes, which run the gamut from annotating the poem to missives to his faraway daughter. Martel’s brilliant examination of how history is made and of who pays the price for all-consuming obsessions is original, thought-provoking, and utterly absorbing. –Starred Booklist Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

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

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Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

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Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

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

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

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Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

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

Suggested Reading Five: March 18, 2026

Linda Reimer

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

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Everyone in This Bank Is a Thief: A Novel by Benjamin Stevenson 

Stevenson’s hot streak continues with the fabulous fourth case for Ernest Cunningham (after Everyone This Christmas Has a Secret), an amateur sleuth and former writer of instructional texts about how to write whodunits. When Ernest and his fiancée Juliette visit a bank in the small Australian town of Huxley in search of a loan to finance Ernest’s PI business, they’re taken hostage by “a bank robber who doesn’t seem to care about money.” Puzzlingly, the robber locks the doors to the building but allows his captives to roam free as he attempts to fish out a single dollar from a locked vault. Unable to resist investigating, Ernest soon finds that many of his fellow hostages—including a film producer, a priest, numerous healthcare workers, and a security guard—also planned to rob the bank. Then someone in the party dies, piling a locked-room murder mystery on top of the already-curious case of overlapping heists. As always, Stevenson plays scrupulously fair with readers, offering all the evidence needed to solve his devilishly intricate puzzle from the jump. Still, even the most seasoned mystery fans will struggle to beat him to the final reveal. This series continues to impress. –Starred Publishers Weekly Review 

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Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds by James H. McCommons 

The late 19th century was not a good time for North American birds, which were being hunted (for food, sport, and feathers) to the brink of extinction, until bird lovers intervened and called for protection. Journalist McCommons’s (Camera Hunter) account meticulously guides readers through the battles of the feather wars as politicians, socialites, artists, tycoons, gun makers, and game wardens collaborated to preserve birds and their habitats. The stories shared are truly awe-inspiring, as the bird crusade brought together the unlikeliest of allies who triumphed against overwhelming odds. McCommons hopes this account will serve as proof that big problems are not insurmountable. This is a timely message, as the United States once again faces a bird extinction crisis. The chapters are easy to follow, though descriptions of bird slaughter can be graphic. Contemporary photographs are sprinkled throughout the well-researched book for which McCommons visited libraries, museums, national parks, and wildlife refuges. There is an extensive notes section at the book’s end. VERDICT The chronicle of the fight to save birds will have widespread appeal to bird lovers, nature enthusiasts, and readers interested in environmental conservation.–Starred Library Journal Review  

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Love Song by Elle Kennedy 

A Briar universe standalone romance featuring the next generation Off-Campus characters—where one unforgettable summer changes everything. 

After a brutal breakup, college junior Blake Logan escapes to her family’s lake house in Tahoe, determined to shut out the world. Her plan is simple: no men, no drama. Until Wyatt Graham shows up. Four years older and far too good at getting under her skin, Wyatt is the living embodiment of a “bad idea,” and the guy who shattered her pride when she confessed her crush at sixteen. 

With his music career stalled, Wyatt has come to Tahoe for inspiration. The last thing he expects is to find it with Blake. He’s spent years keeping his distance, convinced he’s all wrong for her, but she’s no longer the innocent girl he once knew. She’s confident, captivating, and impossible to ignore. And the slow-burning tension between them? It’s catching fire fast. 

They both know this can’t last, but one reckless kiss turns into another, and soon they’re tangled in something that feels dangerously like more. Just as they finally give in to the pull, tragedy tears them apart, leaving their hearts in pieces. 

But forgetting that one, nearly perfect summer? Not a chance. And when fate brings them together again, Blake and Wyatt must decide if this is a second chance…or the final verse. 

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Meet Me at the Library: A Place to Foster Social Connection and Promote Democracy  by Shamichael Hallman 

America is facing an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, with troubling effects on our mental and physical health. We live in one of the most divisive times in our history, one in which we tend to work, play, and associate only with people who think as we do. How do we create spaces for people to come together—to open our minds, understand our differences, and exchange ideas? 

Shamichael Hallman argues that the public library may be our best hope for bridging these divides and creating strong, inclusive communities. While public libraries have long been thought of as a place for a select few, increasingly they are playing an essential role in building social cohesion, promoting civic renewal, and advancing the ideals of a healthy democracy. Many are reimagining themselves in new and innovative ways, actively reaching out to the communities they serve. Today, libraries are becoming essential institutions for repairing society 

Libraries have a unique opportunity to bridge socioeconomic divides and rebuild trust. But in order to do so, they must be truly welcoming to all. They and their communities must work collaboratively to bridge socioeconomic divides through innovative and productive partnerships. 

Drawing from his experience at the Memphis Public Library and his extensive research and interviews across the country, Hallman presents a rich argument for seeing libraries as one of the nation’s greatest assets.  He includes examples from libraries large and small–such as the Iowa’s North Liberty Library’s Lighthouse in the Library program to bring people together to discuss important topics in a safe and supportive space, to Cambridge Cooks, an initiative of the Cambridge MA Public Library that fosters social connection by bringing people together over shared interest in food. 

As an institution that is increasingly under attack for creating a place where diverse audiences can see themselves, public libraries are under more scrutiny than ever. Meet Me at the Library offers us a revealing look at one of our most important civic institutions and the social and civic impact they must play if we are to heal our divided nation. 

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On Sunday She Picked Flowers by Yah Yah Scholfield 

In their first full-length novel, Schofield (author of the story collection Just a Little Snack) weaves a haunting, surreal Southern gothic meditation on generational trauma and what it takes to escape the bonds of toxic relationships. Time both drips and rushes by as readers follow 41-year-old Jude’s flight from her childhood home and abusive mother to take refuge in an abandoned cottage in the Georgia woods, where she finds freedom, despite the horrors that surround her. When the mysterious Nemoira arrives at her door, Jude takes her in and becomes enamored of her. Through their vivid, intoxicating prose, Schofield creates a visceral tale infused with feminine rage and the inherited trauma from being Black in America that is beautiful, bloody, and gory. VERDICT This evocative work that’s lush as a humid Georgia summer night will stick with readers for a long time. Fans of Toni Morrison’s Beloved, Rivers Solomon’s Sorrowland, or Tananarive Due will find themselves transfixed.–Starred Library Journal Review  

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Happy reading!

Linda Reimer, SSCL

–

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

–

Weekly Suggested Reading Five postings are usually published on Wednesdays, unless Monday is a holiday and then they are published later in the week.

–

Information on the four library catalogs

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

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

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

–

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

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

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

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

–

Kanopy Catalog: https://www.kanopy.com/en

The Kanopy Catalog features thousands of streaming videos available on demand.

The Kanopy Catalog is available for all Southern Tier Library System member library card holders, including all Southeast Steuben County Library card holders!

You can access the Kanopy Catalog through a web browser, or download the app to your phone, tablet or media streaming player (i.e. Roku, Google or Fire TV).

–

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

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

–

Have questions about how to access Internet based content (i.e. eBooks, eAudios)? Feel free to drop by the Reference Desk or call the library and we will assist you! The library’s telephone number is: 607-936-3713.

–

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