Suggested Reading Week of April 9, 2018

Hi everyone, in anticipation of the coming of warmer weather and an increase in people driving to and from vacation locations, and people just plain driving more in the warmer weather because it is fun, we’ve recently purchased a bunch of new audiobooks both the downloadable kind, accessible through the STLS Digital Catalog, and the traditional kind on CD.

So this week I’m going to suggest ten digital audiobooks and ten audiobooks on CD for your listening pleasure!

 (Just click on the photo of the audiobook you’re interested in to check it out or request it)

We’ll jump back into book recommendations next week with titles that include the new Madeleine Albright and James Comey books coming out April 10 and April 17 respectively.

Now, on to the audiobooks!

Digital (Downloadable) Audiobooks:

The Bishop’s Pawn: Cotton Malone Series, Book 13 written by Steve Berry & read by Scott Brick & Kevin R. Free:

In this audiobook, Steve Berry and Macmillan Audio team up again to bring listeners an expanded, annotated Writer’s Cut edition of The Bishop’s Pawn. This Writer’s Cut edition features fascinating behind-the-scenes commentary read by the author. Critically-acclaimed and award-winning narrator Scott Brick returns to tell the thrilling first case of Cotton Malone — eponymous hero of Berry’s iconic New York Times bestselling series.

History recalls that the ugly feud between J. Edgar Hoover and Martin Luther King, Jr. — marked by years of illegal surveillance and the accumulation of secret files — ended on April 4, 1968, when King was assassinated by James Earl Ray. But that may not have been the case.

Now, fifty years later, former Justice Department agent, Cotton Malone, must reckon with the truth of what really happened that fateful day in Memphis.

It all turns on an incident from eighteen years ago, when Malone, as a young Navy lawyer, was trying hard not to live up to his burgeoning reputation as a maverick. When Stephanie Nelle, a high-level Justice Department lawyer, enlists him to help with an investigation, he jumps at the opportunity. But he soon discovers that two opposing forces, the Justice Department and the FBI, are at war over a rare coin and a cadre of secret files containing explosive revelations about the King assassination — information that could ruin innocent lives and threaten the legacy of the civil rights movement’s greatest martyr.

Malone’s decision to see it through to the end — from the raucous bars of Mexico, to the clear waters of the Dry Tortugas, and ultimately into the halls of power within Washington D.C. itself — not only changes his own life, but the course of history.
Steve Berry always mines the lost riches of history; in The Bishop’s Pawn he imagines a gripping, provocative thriller about an American icon.

The Crow Trap: Vera Stanhope Series, Book 1 written by Ann Cleeves & read by Anne Dover: 

Three very different women come together to complete an environmental survey. Three women who, in some way or another, know the meaning of betrayal…For team leader Rachael Lambert the project is the perfect opportunity to rebuild her confidence after a double-betrayal by her lover and boss, Peter Kemp. Botanist Anne Preece, on the other hand, sees it as a chance to indulge in a little deception of her own. And then there is Grace Fulwell, a strange, uncommunicative young woman with plenty of her own secrets to hide…

When Rachael arrives at the cottage, however, she is horrified to discover the body of her friend Bella Furness. Bella, it appears, has committed suicide—a verdict Rachael finds impossible to accept.

Only when the next death occurs does a fourth woman enter the picture—the unconventional Detective Inspector Vera Stanhope, who must piece together the truth from these women’s tangled lives in The Crow Trap.

Doing Harm: The Truth about How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick written by Maya Dusenbery & read by Dara Rosenberg:

Editor of the award-winning site Feministing.com, Maya Dusenbery brings together scientific and sociological research, interviews with experts within and outside the medical establishment, and personal stories from women across the country to provide the first comprehensive, accessible look at how sexism in medicine harms women today.

Dusenbery reveals how conditions that disproportionately affect women, such as autoimmune diseases, chronic pain conditions, and Alzheimer’s disease, are neglected and woefully under-researched. “Contested” diseases, such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, that are 70 to 80 percent female-dominated are so poorly understood that they have not yet been fully accepted as “real” conditions by the whole of the profession. Meanwhile, despite a wealth of evidence showing the impact of biological difference between the sexes in everything from drug responses to symptoms to risk factors for various diseases-even the symptoms of a heart attack-medicine continues to take a one-size-fits-all approach: that of a 155-pound white man.

In addition, women are negatively impacted by the biases and stereotypes that dismiss them as “chronic complainers,” leading to long delays-often years long-to get diagnosed. The consequences are catastrophic. Offering a clear-eyed explanation of the root causes of this insidious and entrenched bias and laying out its effects, Doing Harm will change the way we look at health care for women.

Faith: A Journey For All written and read by Jimmy Carter:

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

In this powerful reflection, President Jimmy Carter contemplates how faith has sustained him in happiness and disappointment. He considers how we may find it in our own lives.

All his life, President Jimmy Carter has been a courageous exemplar of faith. Now he shares the lessons he learned. He writes, “The issue of faith arises in almost every area of human existence, so it is important to understand its multiple meanings. In this book, my primary goal is to explore the broader meaning of faith, its far-reaching effect on our lives, and its relationship to past, present, and future events in America and around the world. The religious aspects of faith are also covered, since this is how the word is most often used, and I have included a description of the ways my faith has guided and sustained me, as well as how it has challenged and driven me to seek a closer and better relationship with people and with God.”

As President Carter examines faith’s many meanings, he describes how to accept it, live it, how to doubt and find faith again. A serious and moving reflection from one of America’s most admired and respected citizens.

The Fallen: Amos Decker Series, Book 4 written by David Baldacci and read by Kyf Brewer & Orlagh Cassidy:

Amos Decker is the Memory Man. Following a football-related head injury that altered his personality, Decker is now unable to forget even the smallest detail–as much a curse as it is a blessing. And in #1 New York Times bestselling author David Baldacci’s gripping new thriller, Decker’s life might be about to change again…

Something sinister is going on in Baronville. The rust belt town has seen four bizarre murders in the space of two weeks. Cryptic clues left at the scenes–obscure bible verses, odd symbols–have the police stumped.

Amos Decker and his FBI colleague Alex Jamison are in Baronville visiting Alex’s sister and her family. It’s a bleak place: a former mill and mining town with a crumbling economy and rampant opioid addiction. Decker has only been there a few hours when he stumbles on a horrific double murder scene.

Then the next killing hits sickeningly close to home. And with the lives of people he cares about suddenly hanging in the balance, Decker begins to realize that the recent string of deaths may be only one small piece of a much larger scheme–with consequences that will reach far beyond Baronville.

Decker, with his singular talents, may be the only one who can crack this bizarre case. Only this time–when one mistake could cost him everything–Decker finds that his previously infallible memory may not be so trustworthy after all…

Memento Park: A Novel written by Mark Sarvas & read by David Ledoux:

A son learns more about his father than he ever could have imagined when a mysterious piece of art is unexpectedly restored to him

After receiving an unexpected call from the Australian consulate, Matt Santos becomes aware of a painting that he believes was looted from his family in Hungary during the Second World War. To recover the painting, he must repair his strained relationship with his harshly judgmental father, uncover his family history, and restore his connection to his own Judaism. Along the way to illuminating the mysteries of his past, Matt is torn between his doting girlfriend, Tracy, and his alluring attorney, Rachel, with whom he travels to Budapest to unearth the truth about the painting and, in turn, his family.

As his journey progresses, Matt’s revelations are accompanied by equally consuming and imaginative meditations on the painting and the painter at the center of his personal drama, Budapest Street Scene by Ervin Kálmán. By the time Memento Park reaches its conclusion, Matt’s narrative is as much about family history and father-son dynamics as it is about the nature of art itself, and the infinite ways we come to understand ourselves through it.

Of all the questions asked by Mark Sarvas’s Memento Park—about family and identity, about art and history—a central, unanswerable predicament lingers: How do we move forward when the past looms unreasonably large?

Night Moves: Alex Delaware Series, Book 35 written by Jonathan Kellerman & read by John Rubinstein:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The master of the psychological thriller makes all the right moves in this new novel of spellbinding suspense.

Even with all his years of experience, LAPD homicide detective Milo Sturgis knows there are crimes his skill and savvy cannot solve alone. That’s when he calls on brilliant psychologist Alex Delaware to read between the lines, where the darkest motives lurk. And if ever the good doctor’s insight is needed, it’s at the scene of a murder as baffling as it is brutal.

There’s no spilled blood, no evidence of a struggle, and, thanks to the victim’s missing face and hands, no immediate means of identification. And no telling why the disfigured corpse of a stranger has appeared in an upscale L.A. family’s home. Chet Corvin, his wife, and their two teenage children are certain the John Doe is unknown to them. Despite that, their cooperation seems guarded. And that’s more than Milo and Alex can elicit from the Corvins’ creepy next-door neighbor—a notorious cartoonist with a warped sense of humor and a seriously antisocial attitude.

As the investigation ensues, it becomes clear that this well-to-do suburban enclave has its share of curious eyes, suspicious minds, and loose lips. And as Milo tightens the screws on potential persons of interest—and Alex tries to breach the barriers that guard their deepest secrets—a strangling web of corrupted love, cold-blooded greed, and shattered trust is exposed. Though the grass may be greener on these privileged streets, there’s enough dirt below the surface to bury a multitude of sins. Including the deadliest.

The Origins of Totalitarianism written by Hannah Arendt & read by Wanda McCaddon:

A recognized classic and definitive account of its subject, The Origins of Totalitarianism traces the emergence of modern racism as an “ideological weapon for imperialism,” beginning with the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe in the nineteenth century and continuing through the New Imperialism period from 1884 to World War I.

In her analysis of the institutions and operations of totalitarian movements, Arendt focuses on the two genuine forms of totalitarian government in the twentieth century: Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia, which she adroitly recognizes as two sides of the same coin rather than opposing philosophies of the Right and Left. From this vantage point, she discusses the transformation of classes into masses, the role of propaganda, and the use of terror essential to this form of government. In her brilliant concluding chapter, she discusses the nature of individual isolation and loneliness as preconditions for total domination.

Red Alert: An NYPD Red Mystery written by James Patterson and read by Marshall Karp & Edoardo Ballerini:

The richest of New York’s rich gather at The Pierre’s Cotillion Room to raise money for those less fortunate. A fatal blast rocks the room, stirring up horrifying memories of 9/11. Is the explosion an act or terrorism–or a homicide?

A big-name female filmmaker is the next to die, in a desolate corner of New York City. Detectives Zach Jordan and Kylie MacDonald of the elite NYPD task force investigate, and the intimate details of the director’s life remind them of their own impossible situation–their personal relationship seems as unsolvable as the murders.

The crimes keep escalating as a shadowy killer masterfully plays out his vendetta–and threatens to take down NYPD Red in the bargain.

Twisted Prey: Prey Series, Book 28 written by John Sandford & read by Richard Ferrone:

Lucas Davenport confronts an old nemesis, now a powerful U.S. senator, in the thrilling new novel in the #1 New York Times-bestselling Prey series.

Lucas Davenport had crossed paths with her before.

A rich psychopath, Taryn Grant had run successfully for the U.S. Senate, where Lucas had predicted she’d fit right in. He was also convinced that she’d been responsible for three murders, though he’d never been able to prove it. Once a psychopath had gotten that kind of rush, though, he or she often needed another fix, so he figured he might be seeing her again.

He was right. A federal marshal now, with a very wide scope of investigation, he’s heard rumors that Grant has found her seat on the Senate intelligence committee, and the contacts she’s made from it, to be very…useful. Pinning those rumors down was likely to be just as difficult as before, and considerably more dangerous.

But they had unfinished business, he and Grant. One way or the other, he was going to see it through to the end.

Audiobooks on CD:

City of Endless Night written by Douglas J. Preston and read by Luke Daniels:

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“A consistently exciting and never predictable series.”–Associated Press
When Grace Ozmian, the beautiful and reckless daughter of a wealthy tech billionaire, first goes missing, the NYPD assumes she has simply sped off on another wild adventure. Until the young woman’s body is discovered in an abandoned warehouse in Queens, the head nowhere to be found.

Lieutenant CDS Vincent D’Agosta quickly takes the lead. He knows his investigation will attract fierce scrutiny, so D’Agosta is delighted when FBI Special Agent A.X.L. Pendergast shows up at the crime scene assigned to the case. “I feel rather like Brer Rabbit being thrown into the briar patch,” Pendergast tells D’Agosta, “because I have found you here, in charge. Just like when we first met, back at the Museum of Natural History.”

But neither Pendergast nor D’Agosta are prepared for what lies ahead. A diabolical presence is haunting the greater metropolitan area, and Grace Ozmian was only the first of many victims to be murdered . . . and decapitated. Worse still, there’s something unique to the city itself that has attracted the evil eye of the killer.

As mass hysteria sets in, Pendergast and D’Agosta find themselves in the crosshairs of an opponent who has threatened the very lifeblood of the city. It’ll take all of Pendergast’s skill to unmask this most dangerous foe-let alone survive to tell the tale.

The Great Alone written by Kristin Hannah and read by Julia Whelan:

An instant #1 New York Times bestseller!

“A TOUR DE FORCE.” ―Kirkus (starred review)

Alaska, 1974.

Unpredictable. Unforgiving. Untamed.

For a family in crisis, the ultimate test of survival.

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if means following him into the unknown.

At first, Alaska seems to be the answer to their prayers. In a wild, remote corner of the state, they find a fiercely independent community of strong men and even stronger women. The long, sunlit days and the generosity of the locals make up for the Allbrights’ lack of preparation and dwindling resources.

But as winter approaches and darkness descends on Alaska, Ernt’s fragile mental state deteriorates and the family begins to fracture. Soon the perils outside pale in comparison to threats from within. In their small cabin, covered in snow, blanketed in eighteen hours of night, Leni and her mother learn the terrible truth: they are on their own. In the wild, there is no one to save them but themselves.

In this unforgettable portrait of human frailty and resilience, Kristin Hannah reveals the indomitable character of the modern American pioneer and the spirit of a vanishing Alaska―a place of incomparable beauty and danger. The Great Alone is a daring, beautiful, stay-up-all-night story about love and loss, the fight for survival, and the wildness that lives in both man and nature.

Journey to Munich written by Jacqueline Winspear and read by Orlagh Cassidy:

Working with the British Secret Service on an undercover mission, Maisie Dobbs is sent to Hitler’s Germany in this thrilling tale of danger and intrigue—the twelfth novel in Jacqueline Winspear’s New York Times bestselling “series that seems to get better with each entry” (Wall Street Journal).

It’s early 1938, and Maisie Dobbs is back in England. On a fine yet chilly morning, as she walks towards Fitzroy Square—a place of many memories—she is intercepted by Brian Huntley and Robert MacFarlane of the Secret Service. The German government has agreed to release a British subject from prison, but only if he is handed over to a family member. Because the man’s wife is bedridden and his daughter has been killed in an accident, the Secret Service wants Maisie—who bears a striking resemblance to the daughter—to retrieve the man from Dachau, on the outskirts of Munich.

The British government is not alone in its interest in Maisie’s travel plans. Her nemesis—the man she holds responsible for her husband’s death—has learned of her journey, and is also desperate for her help.

Traveling into the heart of Nazi Germany, Maisie encounters unexpected dangers—and finds herself questioning whether it’s time to return to the work she loved. But the Secret Service may have other ideas. . . .

My Not So Perfect Life written by Sophie Kinsella & read by Fiona Hardingham:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Part love story, part workplace drama, this sharply observed novel is a witty critique of the false judgments we make in a social-media-obsessed world. New York Times bestselling author Sophie Kinsella has written her most timely novel yet.

Everywhere Katie Brenner looks, someone else is living the life she longs for, particularly her boss, Demeter Farlowe. Demeter is brilliant and creative, lives with her perfect family in a posh townhouse, and wears the coolest clothes. Katie’s life, meanwhile, is a daily struggle—from her dismal rental to her oddball flatmates to the tense office politics she’s trying to negotiate. No wonder Katie takes refuge in not-quite-true Instagram posts, especially as she’s desperate to make her dad proud.

Then, just as she’s finding her feet—not to mention a possible new romance—the worst happens. Demeter fires Katie. Shattered but determined to stay positive, Katie retreats to her family’s farm in Somerset to help them set up a vacation business. London has never seemed so far away—until Demeter unexpectedly turns up as a guest. Secrets are spilled and relationships rejiggered, and as the stakes for Katie’s future get higher, she must question her own assumptions about what makes for a truly meaningful life.

Sophie Kinsella is celebrated for her vibrant, relatable characters and her great storytelling gifts. Now she returns with all of the wit, warmth, and wisdom that are the hallmarks of her bestsellers to spin this fresh, modern story about presenting the perfect life when the reality is far from the truth.

Overload: Finding the Truth in Today’s Deluge of News written by Bob Schieffer & read by David De Vries:

In this 2016 election post-mortem, veteran reporter Schieffer (This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You on TV) interviews journalists at media organizations of all types, including NBC, the New York Times Company, Politico, and NPR, to find out how Americans are receiving and interpreting the overwhelming deluge of news—both real and fake. Schieffer shows how powerful events such as J.F.K.’s assassination, which was one of the first major news stories reported in real time on television, and the September 11 attacks, which saw the proliferation of misinformation on the internet, altered how news was presented and consumed for better or worse and set the stage for Donald Trump’s tumultuous 2016 campaign. The 24-hour news cycle and web-enabled communication technology enabled fake news sites to flourish (and profit) while traditional outlets often struggled to keep up. Schieffer maintains a optimistic outlook as he shows the rapid changes in news media. He notes how organizations are adopting new formats, such as podcasts, and revitalizing old-school ones, such as newsletters. Schieffer also highlights successes of smaller and equally vital outlets like the Texas Tribune, which successfully shifted to a fully free-access model, and the Root, an online magazine focusing on African-American culture that helped bring national attention to stories such as the killings of Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. This vital, impressive study adroitly sums up the current and ever-evolving state of news coverage and the vital need for journalism and educated readers alike. (Publishers Weekly, Starred Review)

About the Author: Bob Schieffer, one of America’s pre-eminent television journalists and former host of CBS’s Face the Nation, is the author of This Just In: What I Couldn’t Tell You on TV (Penguin, 2003), Face the Nation: My Favorite Stories from the First 50 Years of the Award-Winning News Broadcast (Simon & Schuster, 2004), and Bob Schieffer’s America (Penguin, 2009). He is a member of the Broadcasting Hall of Fame and in 2009 was named a Living Legend by the Library of Congress. He resides in Washington, DC.

Proof of Life: A J. P. Beaumont Novel written by J. A. Jance & read by Alan Sklar:

Be careful what you wish for . . .

Before he retired, J. P. Beaumont had looked forward to having his days all to himself. But too much free time doesn’t suit a man used to brushing close to danger. When his longtime nemesis, retired Seattle crime reporter Maxwell Cole, dies in what’s officially deemed to be an accidental fire, Beau is astonished to be dragged into the investigation at the request of none other than the deceased victim himself. In the process Beau learns that just because a long-ago case was solved doesn’t mean it’s over.

Caught up in a situation where old actions and grudges can hold dangerous consequences in the present, Beau is forced to operate outside the familiar world of law enforcement. While seeking justice for his frenemy and healing for a long fractured family, he comes face to face with an implacable enemy who has spent decades hiding in plain sight.

Sticky Fingers: The Life and Times of Jann Wenner and Rolling Stone Magazine written by Joe Hagan & read by Dennis Boutsikaris:

A delicious romp through the heyday of rock and roll and a revealing portrait of the man at the helm of the iconic magazine that made it all possible, with candid look backs at the era from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and others.

The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone’s founder, editor, and publisher, and the pioneering era he helped curate, is told here for the first time in glittering, glorious detail. Joe Hagan provides readers with a backstage pass to storied concert venues and rock-star hotel rooms; he tells never before heard stories about the lives of rock stars and their handlers; he details the daring journalism (Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, P.J. O’Rourke) and internecine office politics that accompanied the start-up; he animates the drug and sexual appetites of the era; and he reports on the politics of the last fifty years that were often chronicled in the pages of Rolling Stone magazine.

Supplemented by a cache of extraordinary documents and letters from Wenner’s personal archives, Sticky Fingers depicts an ambitious, mercurial, wide-eyed rock and roll fan of who exalts in youth and beauty and learns how to package it, marketing late sixties counterculture as a testament to the power of American youth. The result is a fascinating and complex portrait of man and era, and an irresistible biography of popular culture, celebrity, music, and politics in America.

Two Kinds of Truth written by Michael Connelly and read by Titus Welliver:

Harry Bosch, exiled from the LAPD, is working cold cases for the San Fernando Police Department when all hands are called out to a local drugstore, where two pharmacists have been murdered in a robbery. Bosch and the tiny town’s three-person detective squad sift through the clues, which lead into the dangerous, big-business world of prescription drug abuse. To get to the people at the top, Bosch must risk everything and go undercover in the shadowy world of organized pill mills.

Meanwhile, an old case from Bosch’s days with the LAPD comes back to haunt him when a long-imprisoned killer claims Harry framed him and seems to have new evidence to prove it. Bosch left the LAPD on bad terms, so his former colleagues are not keen on protecting his reputation. But if this conviction is overturned, every case Bosch ever worked will be called into question. As usual, he must fend for himself as he tries to clear his name and keep a clever killer in prison.

The two cases wind around each other like strands of barbed wire. Along the way, Bosch discovers that there are two kinds of truth: the kind that sets you free and the kind that leaves you buried in darkness.

Tense, fast-paced, and fueled by this legendary detective’s unrelenting sense of mission, Two Kinds of Truth is proof positive that “Connelly writes cops better than anyone else in the business” (New York Post).

The Wanted written by Robert Crais and read by Luke Daniels: 

Investigator Elvis Cole and his partner Joe Pike take on the deadliest case of their lives in the new masterpiece of suspense from #1 New York Times-bestselling author Robert Crais.

It seemed like a simple case—before the bodies started piling up…

When single-mother Devon Connor hires Elvis Cole, it’s because her troubled teenage son Tyson is flashing cash and she’s afraid he’s dealing drugs. But the truth is devastatingly different. With two others, he’s been responsible for a string of high-end burglaries, a crime spree that takes a deadly turn when one of them is murdered and Tyson and his girlfriend disappear.

They stole the wrong thing from the wrong man, and, determined to get it back, he has hired two men who are smart and brutal and the best at what they do.

To even the odds, Cole brings in his friend Joe Pike, but even the two of them together may be overmatched. The police don’t want them anywhere near the investigation, the teenagers refuse to be found, and the hired killers are leaving a trail of bodies in their wake. Pretty soon, they’ll find out everything they need to know to track the kids down—and then nothing that Elvis or Joe can do may make any difference. It might even get them killed.

What Unites Us written and read by Dan Rather: 

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“I find myself thinking deeply about what it means to love America, as I surely do.” —Dan Rather

At a moment of crisis over our national identity, venerated journalist Dan Rather has emerged as a voice of reason and integrity, reflecting on—and writing passionately about—what it means to be an American. Now, with this collection of original essays, he reminds us of the principles upon which the United States was founded. Looking at the freedoms that define us, from the vote to the press; the values that have transformed us, from empathy to inclusion to service; the institutions that sustain us, such as public education; and the traits that helped form our young country, such as the audacity to take on daunting challenges in science and medicine, Rather brings to bear his decades of experience on the frontlines of the world’s biggest stories. As a living witness to historical change, he offers up an intimate view of history, tracing where we have been in order to help us chart a way forward and heal our bitter divisions.

With a fundamental sense of hope, What Unites Us is the book to inspire conversation and listening, and to remind us all how we are, finally, one.

Have a great week!

Linda, SSCL

You can request physical items, i.e. print books, DVDs & CDs, online via StarCat:

or by calling the library at: 607-936-3713 x 502.

Have a great day!

Linda, SSCL

Online Catalog Links:

StarCat

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

The Digital Catalog (OverDrive)

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

Freegal Music Service

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

RBDigital

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

About Library Apps:

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

Tech Talk is a Southeast Steuben County Library blog.

Weekly Recommended Listens: February 2017: Week 4: Sixties Rock: Twangy Guitars Concluded

Here’s our weekly recommended music posting! We’re continuing our 2017 look at Sixties Rock by finishing out our February spotlight on Twangy Guitar players and early sixties instrumental rock.

And this week I’ve got a couple of what I’d describe as “digging deeper for music gems” artists and various artist albums. The bands and artists spotlighted this week are less well-known than the twangy guitar players whose music we’ve listened to in the previous three weeks of this month. And some of the suggested albums are various artist collections. So the music is fun but I’m going to eliminate the Brief Artist Bios section for this week. If you want to know more about the band/artists discussed you can check out a number of cool rock encyclopedia books at the library or click on one of the links in the References section.

So here are our five music sections for this week:

I. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week

II. CD Music Recommendations Of The Week

III. Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups

IV. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week (a print book that focuses on a musician, musicians, songwriters or other musical genres, styles etc. from any musical era)

V. References (for those who’d like to know a bit more about the artists of the week).

And here are our recommendations of the week!

I. Freegal Music Recommendations Of The Week:

1. Surfin’ With The Astronauts by The Astronauts:

astronauts

This album contains the Astronauts only hit, the instrumental Baja, and a number of other fun party songs including: Surfer’s Stomp, Susie-Q, Pipeline and Surfin’ USA. And for this listener’s proverbial money – this guitar-centric group has a slightly more mellow sound than some of the other rock instrumentalists of the era.

So if you’re looking for a mellow listen for the weekend – this is the album for you!

Here’s a link to the album:

https://goo.gl/Xbr5Dk

2. Raunchy! Vol. 2: Rockin’ Into the Sixties

by various artists:

raunchy

Just a quick FYI note, the title of this album is actually misspelled within the Freegal Music Catalog! They left out the “n” in the word raunchy. So if you search for this album by copying and pasting the title, instead of clicking on the link below, you’ll have to take out the “n” and type the title in as “Rauchy! Vol. 2: Rockin’ Into the Sixties! (We’ve asked Freegal to fix the typo but that may take a while…)

Now on to the album! This is an album  full of fun songs! It includes songs by some super well-known players including Duane Eddy, Sandy Nelson, The Ventures and the Shadows, and a number of artists that are less well known in the U.S., but that recorded some really cool songs nevertheless, including: Rock organic-centric tunes like Gonzon by James Booker, which also features a neat flute solo, Big Guitar by the Owen Bradley Quintet, the Jazzy Topsy II by Cozy Cole, Guitar Boogie Shuffle by The Virtues, Bongo Rock by Preston Epps, Rockin’ Crickets  by Hot Toddys, The Enchanted Sea by The Islanders and Teensville by Chet Atkins.

This is a really great collection of early sixties rock instrumentals with a few pop instrumental hits of the era thrown in too. The album contains more than 40 songs and I liked it so much upon listening to it – that I bought a copy of it! Highly recommend – in fact, I’d say if you only listen to one album I’ve suggested this week – let this be the one!

Here’s the link to stream the album:
https://goo.gl/Wrofqt

3. Space Hunters In The Wild West by Spacemen:

space-hunters

In looking for information on this group online – I found only one reference that indicated they are a modern group from Sweden! But they play classic American guitar-centric instrumental tunes as if they just stepped out of 1962!

As the title of the album would lead one to suspect, most of the songs on this album have a western theme. Here are a selection of song titles: Western Express, Brave Buffalos, Smiling Poney, Lonesome Cowboy and Country Woman.

The guitar playing on this album is bright, shiny and upbeat -fast-paced songs do indeed predominate – check it out!

Here’s the link:
https://goo.gl/qenTCT

Freegal Notes:
To access Freegal Music from a desktop or laptop simply click on the following link:
http://stlsny.freegalmusic.com/

The Freegal Music Catalog homepage will display —

it looks like this:

freegal-home-page

The Freegal Music app can be found in your app store and it looks like this:

freegal-music-app

Freegal Wild Card Pick Of The Week:

Cold Spring Harbor

by Billy Joel: 

cold-spring-harbor

This is Billy Joel’s first album from 1971!

And Joel is pretty popular, so I’m not going to say much about this album — except to note that if you’d like to listen to Billy Joel’s seventies albums in sequence and hear how his music has evolved over the years you can – they are all in the Freegal Music Catalog ready for you to stream!

And here are the songs on Cold Spring Harbor:

1. She’s Got a Way
2. You Can Make Me Free
3. Everybody Loves You Now
4. Why Judy Why
5. Falling of the Rain
6. Turn Around
7. You Look so Good to Me
8. Tomorrow Is Today
9. Nocturne
10. Got to Begin Again

Here’s the link to stream the album:

https://goo.gl/WtGYcA

III. Compact Discs Recommendations:
As with the Freegal music recommendations for this week – the CD recommendation is a various artists collection of early sixties rock instrumentals with a few pop instrumentals thrown in for good measure.

Complete Pop Instrumental Hits of the Sixties, Vol. 1: 1960

pop-inst-cd-frontback

This three disc set is part of a series and includes more than 80 songs including songs by: The Bill Black Combo, Bill Haley, Chet Atkins, Nat King Cole, The Ernie Fields Orchestra,The Champs, The Fireballs, Duane Eddy and many more!

Here’s a link to the request page:
https://goo.gl/4lJ4zP

Wild Card CD Picks Of The Week:

Since I’ve only suggested one CD, for those who like CDs, I’m going to suggest two wild cards picks for this week: Scorched by Mark Anthony Turnage, who plays both Jazz and Classical music, and, a great folk music, various artist collection titled Live at the Caffé Lena.

1. Scorched by Mark Anthony Turnage:

mark-anthony

Here is the entire stellular review of this LP from the AllMusic site, written by Rick Anderson:

Commissioned by the Society of Friends and Patrons of the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra and recorded at its premiere performance in September of 2002, Scorched is an extended suite of large-scale reconceptions of guitarist John Scofield’s jazz compositions, scored for big band, symphony orchestra, and guitar trio. English composer Mark-Anthony Turnage has been working in the borderland between jazz and classical music since his early days at the feet of Gunther Schuller, and his orchestral elaborations on Scofield’s original themes are surprisingly insightful and exciting. Scofield himself leads the trio, which also includes the legendary drummer Peter Erskine and electric bassist John Patitucci. Turnage avoids the standard classical-jazz crossover error of trying to make an ensemble this large actually swing; instead, he creates interest with dense but agile harmonic movement and crisp rhythmic change-ups; when Scofield and his crew take over periodically in a more standard jazz idiom, the effect is one of bracing contrast. The big-band-and-orchestra generally alternates with the trio rather than plays alongside it, but there are some thrilling moments of interplay, such as at the end of “Fat Lip 2” and the brilliant “Make Me 2.” Scofield’s solo playing on the contemplative “Cadenza” is another particular treat. Very highly recommended.

Here’s a link to the request page:

https://goo.gl/aurrDH

2. Live at Caffe Lena: Music From America’s Legendary Coffee House 1967-2013 by various artists:

lena-cd-frontlena-cd-back

The Caffe Lena is located in Saratoga Springs, New York and was on the New York City area folk musicians tour circuit in the early 1960s. In fact, one of the first places Bob Dylan played, after he relocated from Minnesota to New York City in 1960, was the Caffe Lena. Folk artists both well-known, emerging and just great solid players and songwriters you never hear on the radio have played there over the years including the previously mentioned Dylan, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie, David Bromberg and many, many others.

I was fortunate enough to see Bill Staines there a number of years ago when the “Lena” of Caffe Lena, founder and manager Lena Spencer was still alive, she was quite nice and it was great fun – it felt almost like sitting in my living room with friends listening to another friend play folk music!

Here’s a description of the album: Live At Caffé Lena: Unreleased performances by Dave Van Ronk, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Kate McGarrigle, Rick Danko, Anais Mitchell, Sleepy John Estes, Arlo Guthrie, Sarah Lee Guthrie, and more.

Nestled in the quaint upstate town of Saratoga Springs, New York is Caffè Lena, the oldest continuously operating folk music coffeehouse in the US. Opened by Lena Spencer in 1960, this tiny room has played host to influential artists across diverse genres of music; traditional folk, blues, singer-songwriters, jazz and bluegrass. Luckily, many performances were caught on tape through the years, offering the listener a thrilling seat inside this hallowed venue. ‘Live At Caffè Lena’, a 3-CD box set, the result of years of investigative research, contains 47 tracks, all released for the very first time, alongside previously unpublished photographs. Images include selections from the archive of esteemed photographer Joe Alper, who captured many iconic, intimate portraits from the folk era of the 1960s.

‘Live At Caffè Lena’ documents an important folk universe that was and is still happening in upstate New York, a story heretofore largely untold. The release of this collection comes at an auspicious time in light of renewed interest in the New York folk scene of the 60s as depicted in the forthcoming Coen Brothers film, ‘Inside Llewyn Davis.’ The film is loosely based on Dave Van Ronk’s 2005 memoir ‘The Mayor of Macdougal Street.’ Van Ronk, a Caffè Lena regular, served as a mentor to many artists, some who would go on to eclipse his fame. His 1974 recording of “Gaslight Rag “featured on the box set references the Gaslight Café, a famed Greenwich Village venue that along with Caffè Lena was a catalyst for the folk music revival.

Caffè Lena embodied the spirit of the folk boom, the era and its artistry, building a reputation as a hotbed of creativity and connection. It was also a safe haven and nurturing space for artists, its atmosphere cultivated personally by Lena Spencer herself. She would graciously house wayward artists, sometimes for months at a time. But she was not merely a host. She championed artists, from Bob Dylan as early as 1961 all the way through the 80s until her passing. Her passion for identifying and promoting talent is evident throughout this 3-CD set. That Caffè Lena is still open for business tonight is a testament to her legacy.

‘Live At Caffè Lena’ is an important visual and audio document – 40+ years of our collective music history unearthed from dozens of “lost” tapes – night after night, show after show, through the decades – captured on tape in a tiny room in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Here’s a link to the request page:
https://goo.gl/QfifTD

IV: Videos Of This Weeks’ Artists/Groups:

The Astronauts live in 2012 playing Baja

And a link to a “video” which features a photo of the group in their heyday accompanied by the original recording of Baja:

Santo and Johnny – Sleepwalk 

Dave “The Baby” Cortez – The Happy Organ 

V. Wild Card Print Book Recommendation Of The Week:

women-in-rock-front-cover women-in-rock-back-cover

The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock: Trouble Girls

by Barbara O’Dair:

Granted this book was published in 1997, so you won’t find women who’ve gome up in teh rock world in the last twenty years discussed within its pages; however, it is a great read if you want to know about women in rock from the days of Rockabilly to the 1990s — for those eras this book offers a solid look at women in rock.

And here’s the official description of the book:

An impressive collection of 56 essays by 44 female writers about the role of women in popular music. Divided into six sections, the book opens with “The Pioneers of Rock & Roll: Blues, Jazz, Gospel, Rhythm & Blues, and Country” and features such artists as Billie Holiday, Mahalia Jackson, and Patsy Cline. Subsequent chapters cover solo artists and girl groups of the ’50s and ’60s; the ladies of rock in the ’60s and ’70s; and the pop singers and punksters of the ’70s. Sarah McLachlan, Bjork, Madonna, Salt-n-Pepa, k.d. lang, Janet Jackson, and Selena are just a few of the “Divas and B-Girls” spotlighted in another chapter. The volume wraps up with “Oh You Pretty Things!: Toward the Millennium” and includes the Go-Go’s, Ani DiFranco, performance artist Laurie Anderson, and Riot Grrls like Bikini Kill. O’Dair and her troupe of well-credentialed writers have produced a comprehensive, well-written, and visually appealing volume that has an excellent index, bibliography, and discographies with each chapter.

A must-have for libraries wanting vibrant, accessible material that will appeal to adolescent readers, especially women. Review by John Lawson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA

Here’s a link to the request page:
https://goo.gl/Kl3Atl

VI. References :

General References: 

Santelli, Robert. Sixties Rock: A Listener’s Guide. Contemporary Books. Chicago. 1985.

Whitburn, Joel. The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Books. New York. 2009.

Artist/Group References:

The Astronauts: Biography by Richie Unterberger

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-astronauts-mn0000753852/biography

Caffe Lena “Good Folk Since 1960” – Official Website:

Home

Billy Joel: Biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

http://www.allmusic.com/artist/billy-joel-mn0000085915

Mark-Anthony Turnage: Biography by Allen Schrott
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/mark-anthony-turnage-mn0000817980/biography

Santo & Johnny: Biography by Jason Ankeny
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/santo-johnny-mn0000299277/biography

Have a great day!
Linda, SSCL

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

*You must have a library card at a Southern Tier Library System member library to enjoy the Freegal Music Service. Your card can be from any library in the system, and the system includes all public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Schuyler and Allegheny Counties and including our own Southeast Steuben Count Library in Corning, New York. Library cards are free and at our library you can obtain one by visiting the Circulation Desk and presenting staff with a form of ID that features both your name and your current address.