Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
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The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
Alix Watson is having a day: she gets fired, her roommate kicks her out, and someone has hacked her bank account and taken the 36 dollars. Desperate, she heads to her other job at the Boston Public Library to beg her boss for extra hours. Instead, she wanders through a door and finds herself in the Astral Library, a seemingly infinite collection of books overseen by the stern Librarian, who has little time for Alix’s questions. Patrons come to the Astral Library to escape into a book–literally–but as the Librarian receives warnings that her book-dwellers are in danger, she lets Alix tag along as she hops into Sherlock Holmes, Charlotte Brontë, and Bram Stoker’s worlds, until it becomes clear that there’s an even bigger threat: the library board wants to modernize, which could mean the end of the sanctuary the Astral Library provides. Quinn’s (The Briar Club, 2024) first foray into fantasy is a bookish delight, with a heroine readers will root for as she finds her purpose and a hint of romance. Give to fans of Matt Haig’s The Midnight Library (2020). – Booklist Review
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Crossroads by C. J. Box
Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett was ambushed at Antler Creek Junction, a crossroads connecting three ranches. He could have been headed to any one of them. Joe was shot in the head and left in his bullet-ridden truck for way too long, until found in critical condition. The ranches are all owned by very shady characters with whom Joe has “history.” The local police have launched an investigation, but their reputation for ineptitude leads his three daughters to make their own dangerous inquiries while their mother, Marybeth, agonizes at Joe’s bedside. They get an assist from his buddy, Nate Romanowski, who’s just itchin’ to identify the culprits and rip their ears off. Fans who know him will understand that he really means it. Readers will be happy to be back with the Pickett family in Twelve Sleep County despite the circumstances. Given their chance to shine, the now all-grown up “girls” are amazing. Box again delivers an entertaining narrative set against an epic Western landscape in the twenty-sixth installment of an equally epic series. – Booklist Review
Reader’s Note: As noted, Crossroads is the twenty-sixth book in the Joe Pickett series, to binge read from the beginning – check out book one: Open Season.
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I Told You So! Scientists Who Were Ridiculed, Exiled, and Imprisoned for Being Right by Matt Kaplan
Having written extensively about science during the COVID-19 pandemic, paleontologist Kaplan (The Science of the Magical) was perplexed when he met scientists who were hesitant to share ideas for combating the disease. Making the case that there is a scholarly hierarchy that dictates which scientists are heard and respected, his new book shows evidence of a long history of good ideas being discounted because the scientists proposing them were low on the ladder. For instance, in COVID research, there is Kati Karik , a Hungarian American biochemist whose research into mRNA was nearly overlooked because of her nationality and gender but was eventually instrumental in the development of COVID vaccines; she later received a Nobel Prize for her work. There’s also Ignaz Semmelweis, a Hungarian doctor in 19th-century Austria who discovered that postpartum infections could be prevented by having doctors disinfect their hands between patients; this simple intervention wasn’t made standard until years after his death. Kaplan explains also how good mentors or champions can be instrumental to promoting a scientist’s theories.
VERDICT This engaging historical exploration of overlooked scientists and their discoveries is highly recommende. – Library Journal Review
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It’s Never Too Late: A Memoir by Marla Gibbs
In this memoir, 94-year-old Emmy-nominated actress Gibbs (born Margaret Bradley in Chicago in 1931) gives a no-holds-barred account of her professional triumphs and personal difficulties. Early in the actress’s life, her mother left the family, resulting in Gibbs and her older sister being primarily raised by their spiteful grandmother, who constantly insulted them. Later, as a single mother, she married a childhood friend, Jordan “Buddy” Gibbs, who soon became abusive. After years of torment, she left with her three children for Los Angeles, where her youngest sister lived. There, Gibbs took acting classes as a way to bond with her teen daughter, Angela. The leisure activity eventually led to the role that changed her life: playing George Jefferson’s housekeeper, Florence Johnston, on the 1975-85 TV sitcom The Jeffersons. In this memoir, there is a chapter devoted to each of Gibbs’s main TV roles, on The Jeffersons and the 1985-90 sitcom 227 (which she both starred in and co-produced); these sections are filled with Gibbs’s admiration for her costars and as well as takes on behind-the-scenes drama with producers. The memoir’s narrative about Gibbs’s personal life, may cause minor confusion, as events are not always presented in chronological order. However, her positive and spiritual disposition shines throughout the book.
VERDICT Gibbs tells it like it is and what she really thinks, akin to a grandmother who’s been there and then some. Her memoir is a treat.
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We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America by Norah O’Donnell with Kate Andersen Brower
A vivid portrait of the unsung American women from 1776 to today who changed the course of history in their fight for freedom and helped shape a more perfect union
“This terrific book reveals the central, though often hidden role that women have played at every stage of our country’s history.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin
Over a decades-long, distinguished career, award-winning journalist Norah O’Donnell has made it her mission to shed light on untold women’s stories. Now, in honor of America’s 250th birthday, O’Donnell focuses that passion on the American heroines who helped change the course of history.
We the Women presents a fresh look at American history through the eyes of women, introducing us to inspiring patriots who demanded that the country live up to the promises made 250 years ago in the Declaration of Independence: “that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” Since the signing of that document, the pressing question from women has been: Why don’t those unalienable rights apply to us?
Through extensive research and interviews, as well as historical documents and old photos, O’Donnell curates a compelling portrait of these fierce fighters for freedom. From Mary Katherine Goddard, who printed the first signed Declaration of Independence, to the Forten family women, who were active in the abolition and suffrage movements and were considered the “Black Founders” of Philadelphia, to the first women who served in the armed forces even before they had the right to vote, O’Donnell brings these extraordinary women together for the first time, and in doing so writes the American story anew.
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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.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 