P.S. Some of the print books & physical media items may not yet appear in StarCat. So, if you see any title you’d like to check out, but it isn’t 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.
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.
Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring ten 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 the songs:
This week we’re turning our listening spotlight on female guitarists, with an emphasis on players who made their debut before 1970.
Can’t Find My Way Home by Ellen McIlwaine
Found on the Album: Up From The Skies: The Polydor Years (1998)
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Hard Headed Woman by Wanda Jackson
Found on the Album: There’s A Party Goin’ On (1961)
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I Love Paris by Mary Osborne
Found on the Album: A Girl And Her Guitar (1959/2006)
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Joy ‘Round My Brain by Mimi & Richard Farina with Pete Seeger
Found on the Album: Memories (1968) by Mimi & Richard Farina
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Keep It To Yourself by Memphis Minnie
Found on the Album: Rough Guide To Memphis Minnie – Queen of the Country Blues (2022)
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Last Kind Words by Geeshie Wiley
Found on the Album: Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas (2022)
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Mercy by Lorrie Collins
Found on the Album: N/A
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One Dime Blues by Etta Baker
Instrumental Music of the Southern Appalachians (1956/2016) by Various Artists
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Walking Blues by Bonnie Raitt
Found on the Album: Bonnie Raitt (1971)
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Wildwood Flower by Maybelle Carter
Found on the Album: Can The Circle Be Unbroken: Country Music’s First Family (2000)
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You’ll Lose A Good Thing by Barbara Lynn
Found on the Album: You’ll Lose A Good Thing (1963)
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Second The videos:
A new title available through one of the usual U.S. streaming services, followed by a Kanopy title that you can check out with your library card and stream on-demand.
Bridgerton, Season 4, Part 1 (2026) (Netflix)
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Kanopy Streaming Pick of the Week (A title available to library card holders)
Hannah Arendt Facing Tyranny (A PBS American Masters Documentary) (2025)
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.
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.
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).
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.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
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A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James
Violet Esmie doesn’t want to go home again. Eighteen years ago, Violet’s youngest brother, Ben, disappeared. One minute Violet, her sister Dodie, and her brother Vail were playing hide-and-seek with Ben, and the next minute no trace of him could be found. Soon after this traumatic event, Violet, Dodie, and Vail all left their upstate New York hometown with no intention of ever coming back. However, all three Esmie siblings are now returning to Fell, and the reason is eerie. Ben’s ghost has written a message that says, “Come Home.” Adeptly alternating viewpoints between Violet, Dodie, and Vail, St. James (Murder Road, 2024) perfectly captures the mix of annoyed snarkiness, edgy rivalry, and unconditional love that can exist among siblings while simultaneously dialing up the supernatural spookiness that has infected each of their lives in different ways. From the book’s chillingly creepy setting, which previously appeared in The Sun Down Motel (2020), to a nerve-jangling plot that effectively borrows from a mix of genres to the writing itself, which shimmers with a dazzlingly sharp sense of wit, everything about St. James’ latest is done to perfection. – Starred Booklist Review
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Catch Her If You Can by Tessa Bailey
#1 New York Times bestselling author Tessa Bailey is back with an all-new marriage of convenience, friends-to-lovers sports romance about a baseball catcher and the burlesque club owner he can’t get out of his head.
Madden Donahue, the newest catcher for the Yankees, has been in love with Eve Mitchell since high school, but for some mysterious reason, the burlesque club owner always turns him down. That never stopped him from being her self-appointed protector. Case in point, now that Eve’s sister has left Eve with her two children indefinitely, Madden steps in with a proposition—marry him for the much needed health benefits.
Eve has secretly harbored feelings for Madden all along, but there’s one problem—her best friend Skylar called dibs on him when they were fourteen. Eve has always put their friendship above all else, and she’s not willing to risk losing Skylar over a man. Raised by the local strip club owner, Eve is woefully short on friends and treasures the ones she has. But with Skylar happily paired off, Eve finds herself accepting Madden’s proposal—on the condition that their marriage remains strictly private. She’s not about to let her unique profession and maligned reputation destroy Madden’s shiny new career.
Madden won’t let Eve get away that easily, though. What starts as a marriage of convenience soon ignites into something much hotter, and now it’s up to Madden to convince Eve that their connection is far more than a business arrangement. As the passion builds, can their fake marriage become the real deal?
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Heart of a Stranger: An Unlikely Rabbi’s Story of Faith, Identity, and Belonging by Angela Buchdahl
In Heart of a Stranger, Rabbi Angela Buchdahl reflects on a life shaped by complexity, heritage, and faith. Born to a Korean Buddhist mother and a Jewish American father, she explores how two different family histories have been united through shared values of resilience, tradition, and hope. Her mother’s story, marked by war, stands alongside her father’s Jewish heritage, forming a foundation both rich and complex. The book blends personal narrative, historical reflection, and Jewish teachings. Each chapter pairs a family story with spiritual insight, drawing on Hebrew terms and the rhythm of sermon-like meditations. Buchdahl traces her path into the Jewish faith and the challenge of embracing multiple identities. From misadventures in keeping kosher to balancing motherhood with leading a major synagogue, she writes with clarity and purpose. She calls for unity within Jewish communities despite their differences, honors her Korean roots, and faces questions of race, identity, and belonging with honesty and humility. Her story shows the courage required to embrace complexity and hold difficult truths with compassion. – Booklist Review
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My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.
My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.
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Twelve Months by Jim Butcher
It has been three weeks since the devastating magical attack on Chicago (Battle Ground, 2020), leaving the city in complete disarray and wizard Harry Dresden’s life in shambles. He is mourning the loss of a loved one, has been banished from the White Council of Wizards–although he is not as upset about that–and has been forced by the ruthless Queen Mab into an engagement to the provocative leader of the White Vampires. Harry is grieving and exhausted but nevertheless providing food and shelter for neighbors left homeless by the battle. He is not sure how, or even if, he will recover. What he needs is time, but Mab has given him the impossible task of resolving a conflict with the sovereign of another magical nation, the same king who wants Harry’s brother dead. And an overzealous new White Council warden is out for Harry’s literal head. His friends and, oddly, his new fiancee are trying to help, offering support, a new apprentice, and a Valkyrie bodyguard, but the heartbreak and anguish may still be too much. Series fans will be intrigued by the new characters and changes in Harry’s life as Butcher deftly explores the impacts of loss and grief. – Starred Booklist 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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
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Future Saints by Ashley Winstead
Winstead (In My Dreams I Hold a Knife) focuses on the demise of a women-led rock band in her latest. Told through the perspective of the bandmates, manager, and fans, this emotionally charged novel opens as the Future Saints perform at a nearly empty venue. The members of the Future Saints are on the cusp of giving up on everything–the music, their fans, and themselves–when lead singer Hannah closes the show with a new song that sets the internet on fire with its grief and honesty. The Future Saints are rocketed to a level of popularity that flummoxes the bandmembers as well as their new manager, Theo. As poor choices are made, captured for social media, and regurgitated within the band itself, they begin writing new music that captures their changed situation as well as their sadness at the death of their former manager, Ginny, who was also Hannah’s sister. Hannah ultimately confronts her grief in a dramatic way, bringing the story full circle and allowing catharsis. The novel’s satisfying epilogue places each character in the future where they need to be. VERDICT Fans of Stephanie Clifford’s The Farewell Tour will enjoy. – Library Journal Review
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George Falls Through Time: A Novel by Ryan Collett
George’s life in present-day London keeps hitting new lows. He already lost his job and boyfriend, he’s about to lose his flat, and now, having taken a dog-walking gig, he has lost two of the six dogs that he was walking in the park. While a panicked George searches for the missing dogs, he observes the London he knows falling away. Somehow, he has traveled through time, and the only thing he can find out is that he’s in the 28th year of a King Edward’s reign (1300 CE). Time-travelling is brutally hard when you’re going backward: the language is foreign to George, and dragons, apparently, are known to exist in this world, which he can’t quite believe. He is thrown into prison, eventually escaping with the help of a man named Simon. Then George is brought before the king, who presents him with a plastic Coca-Cola bottle and demands an explanation. VERDICT Collett’s (The Disassembly of Doreen Durand) time-travel novel is a marvelously lovely queer retelling of the story of St. George and the dragon. Readers who loved Kaliane Bradley’s The Ministry of Time will enjoy this too. – Library Journal Review
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Greatest Sentence Ever Written by Walter Isaacson
Thirty-five words. That’s the length of the second sentence of the Declaration of Independence, the one that begins with “We hold these truths to be self-evident” and ends with “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” In between, there is talk of equality and sacrosanct rights. It’s a lot to pack into a single sentence, but award-winning biographer Isaacson cogently honors the wisdom it took to create it. Its authors–Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams–struggled over concerns such as, who, precisely, should be included in “We” and whether “inalienable”” would be a better choice than “unalienable.” Glimpses into such behind-the-scenes polishing of the most important of our country’s foundational documents would be fascinating in and of itself, but as the Declaration’s 250th anniversary draws near, Isaacson’s granular analysis serves as a more potent lesson. Our nascent nation was freeing itself from Britain’s tyrannical rule, the facts of which are specifically enumerated in the body of the Declaration. Re-reading these grievances through the lens of today’s politically fraught atmosphere is a chilling but necessary exercise. In Isaacson’s expert hands, those 35 words, and the ones that come after them, gain a new level of clarity and relevance, and inspire deepened appreciation. – Booklist Review
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The Infamous Gilberts: A Novel by Angela Tomaski
DEBUT Margaret Gilbert has long lived with her three daughters and two sons in Thornwalk, a once-stately English manor, until, in 2002, the keys to the manor are about to be handed over to a new owner who plans to transform the estate into a luxury hotel. But first, Maximus, who lives in a cottage on the property, walks readers through a more than 60-year history of the Gilbert family and their home. Tomaski’s sad, sometimes funny debut novel thrives on its personalities. There’s Hugo, the eldest Gilbert son, who plans to take over the family’s failing business after their father dies; Jeremy, the wanderer who disappears for long stretches at a time; and the three Gilbert daughters dreaming of love, whose poor choices as they try to marry into wealth cloud and complicate the family’s fate. Tomaski offers strong characterization as each Gilbert reveals the weaknesses and gullibility that will ultimately contribute to the family’s downfall as they struggle with the implications of marrying for money versus clinging to the hope of regaining lost love.
VERDICT Readers of Tomaski’s immersive multigenerational saga will be pulled into the lives of the Gilbert family. Recommended for fans of big English novels about people who cannot help themselves. -Library Journal Review
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No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done: A Novel by Sophie Hannah
The twistiest murder mystery you are ever likely to read? A story about a family that does the unthinkable?
Both? Or something else altogether?
You think it will never happen to you.
The doorbell. The policeman. The words that turn your world inside out: I’m afraid there’s been an incident…
For Sally Lambert, those words mean only one thing—danger. Not just for her family, but for Champ, their loyal and beloved dog. A single accusation, a neighbor’s grudge, and suddenly the Lamberts are trapped in a nightmare with no escape.
Unless they make one.
Most people would never run. Most people would never leave behind everything they know to protect an animal who can’t defend himself. But for Sally, Champ is more than a dog—he’s one of her children. And most people aren’t the Lamberts.
No one has ever done this before. No one has ever gone this far. But the Lamberts have never been quite like any other family…
New York Times bestselling author Sophie Hannah spins an unexpected tale of suspense in No One Would Do What the Lamberts Have Done, an unsettling reflection on how far we’ll go for those we love.
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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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring ten 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 The Songs:
Around The Clock by Jimmy Witherspoon
Found on the Album: Blues Around The Clock (1995)
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Delilah by Clifford Brown with Max Roach
Found on the Album: The Emarcy Master Takes (Vol. 1) (2009)
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Dust My Broom by Elmore James
Found on the Album: Shake Your Moneymaker: The Best of the Fire Sessions (2001)
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Make My Getaway by Big Bill Broozny
Found on the Album: Big Bill Broonzy Sings (1956)
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The Joint Is Jumpin’ by Fats Waller
Found on the Album: The Very Best of Fats Waller (2000)
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Match Box Blues by Blind Lemon Jefferson
Found on the Album: Legend (2018)
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Moonshine Blues by Ma Rainey
Found on the Album: Blues Greats (2009)
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Telephoning Blues by Victoria Spivey
Found on the Album: Victoria Spivey Vol. 3 1929-1936 (2005)
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What’s Your Story, Morning Glory? By Mary Lou Williams
Found on the Album: My Mama Pinned A Rose On Me (2005)
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Women Be Wise by Sippie Wallace
Found on the Album: Women Be Wise (1994)
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Second The Videos:
Two recommendations a week; one title available through one of the usual U.S. streaming services, followed by a Kanopy title that you can check out with your library card and stream on-demand.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
–
The Cyclist by Tim Sullivan
Reader’s Note: The second book in the DS George Cross Mysteries Series, after The Dentist.
DS George Cross has unique and unmatchable talents. He uses a combination of logic, determination and exacting precision to get answers where others have failed for families who have long given up hope. So when a ravaged body is found in a local demolition site, it’s up to Cross to piece together the truth from whatever fragments he can find.
From the faint tan lines and strange scars on the victim’s forearms, Cross meticulously unravels the young man’s life, delving into the world of amateur cycling, an illicit supply of performance enhancing drugs, jealousy, ambition and a family tearing itself apart.
Cross’s relentless pursuit of the truth and eccentric methods earn him few friends. But just as the police seem to be nearing a conclusion, he doubles back. Could it be the biggest mistake of his career?
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Damaged People: A Memoir of Fathers and Sons by Joe McGinniss Jr.
The son of a prominent writer contemplates difficult father-son relationships and the possibilities of healing. The author of political exposes (The Selling of a President 1968) as well as more sensationalistic works (the true-crime account Fatal Vision), McGinniss lived a “writer-as-rock-star” life, chasing stories, women, and fame. He was also cynical, depressive, an addict and alcoholic as well as an absent father allergic to anything that limited his freedom. His son, also named Joe McGinniss, builds the sober, intact household his father could not provide. But Jr., too, is a writer, and a keen observer of his own attachment-avoidant impulses. When his own son, Jayson, arrives, the younger McGinniss finds himself parenting in his father’s likeness: too stern, too angry, and more than a little scared of his own inadequacy. As the old man succumbs to late-life psychosis, his son must excavate his own trauma to halt the damage he has already started inflicting on teenage Jayson. The resulting memoir becomes an act of narrative therapy, as well as a raw and often poignant tribute to a difficult dad.
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First Do No Harm: A Lydia Chin/Bill Smith Mystery by S J Rozan
Reader’s Note: First Do No Harm is the sixteenth book in the Lydia Chin & Bill Smith Mystery Series. If you’d like to binge read the series from the beginning, check out book one: China Trade.
About First Do No Harm: In the newest in the Lydia Chin and Bill Smith mystery series from S. J. Rozan since The Mayors of New York (2023), Dr. Elliott Chen asks his sister, private investigator Lydia, to investigate when Sophia Scott, a nurse helping to negotiate with management to prevent a nurses’ strike, is murdered. Lydia and her partner Bill find themselves in a maze of basement rooms in which it becomes evident that the institution is riddled with “scams and grifts . . . lying and covering up” and that there were many motives for the murder. Nurse Scott was definitely not a model employee. It’s a mad tangle and plays out in a brutally hot New York City August when air conditioning comes and goes at an annoying rate, reflecting the confounding case. Amidst the pervasive fragrance of legendary Manhattan curbside hot dogs, the two foodies find sanctuary in a few of the city’s amazing eateries. Throughout 16 books in a series that started in 1994, Rozan’s characters have bonded and grown, and readers are treated to a seemingly effortless flow of banter and deduction. They are in a class by themselves. – Starred Booklist Review
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May Contain Murder by Orlando Murrin
Reader’s Note: The second book, after Knife Skills for Beginners, in the Chef Paul Delamare Mystery Series.
About May Contain Murder: For fans of Nita Prose, Benjamin Stevenson, and Jessa Maxwell, this delightfully witty and tightly-written new locked room culinary mystery from the MasterChef semi-finalist, cookbook writer, and bestselling author of Knife Skills for Beginners features a charming chef, delicious original recipes, and a killer cruise aboard a luxurious superyacht.
“If it weren’t for all the terrible things that have been happening, I’d consider myself the luckiest man alive . . .” While his flooded house undergoes repairs, chef-turned-writer Paul Delamare has been offered an accommodation upgrade—an all-expenses-paid trip aboard a private superyacht in the company of Xéra, one of his dearest friends. Paul will help Xéra work on her memoirs as Maldemer glides its sumptuous way to the Caribbean. The scenery is stunning, the luxury is unparalleled, and the food…well, at least the dishes that Paul is roped into preparing are delicious. The hired chef, meanwhile, seems completely out of her depth. She’s not the only one. Much as Paul adores Xéra, a Parisian socialite who he was introduced to by his late lover, Marcus, he has little in common with the other guests, a motley crew consisting of Xéra’s new husband and his grasping family. When Xéra’s priceless new necklace goes missing, Paul falls under suspicion. But there’s far worse in store, as one of the passengers is found dead in mysterious and grisly circumstances. The stormy weather matches the threatening mood onboard, and as Maldemer veers off course, every semblance of order goes with it. Above and below deck there are secrets and dangerous alliances. And as he untangles the truth, it becomes clear that Paul’s sharing close quarters with a killer eager to make this his final voyage . . .
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The Mysterious Death of Junetta Plum by Valerie Wilson Wesley
1926: Harriet Stone, a liberated, educated Black woman, and Lovey, the orphaned, biracial, 12-year-old she is bound to protect, are Harlem-bound, embarking on a new, hopefully less traumatic chapter in their lives. They have been invited to move from Connecticut by Harriet’s cousin, Junetta Plum, who runs a boarding house for independent-minded single women.
It’s a bold move, since Harriet has never met Junetta, but the fatalities of the Spanish flu and other tragedies have already forced her and Lovey to face their worst fears. Alone but for each other, they have little left to lose—or so it seems as they arrive at sophisticated Junetta’s impressive brownstone.
Her cousin has a sharp edge that makes Harriett slightly uncomfortable. Still, after retiring to her room for the night, she finally falls asleep—only to awaken to Junetta arguing with someone downstairs. In the morning, she makes a shocking discovery at the foot of the stairs.
What ensues will lead Harriet to question Junetta’s very identity—and to wonder if she and Lovey are in danger as well. It will also tie Harriet to five strangers. Among them, Harriet is sure someone knows something. What she doesn’t yet know is that one will play a crucial role in helping her investigate her cousin’s murder . . . that she will be tied to the others in ways she could never imagine . . . and that her life will take off in a startling new direction . . .
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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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Hi everyone, here is our weekly Suggested Listening and Viewing post; featuring ten 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!).
This week we’re offering ten pop/rock & blues classics from the early to mid twentieth century. Enjoy!
First the songs:
No Particular Place to Go by Chuck Berry
Found on the Album: 20th Century Masters: The Best Of Chuck Berry – The Millennium Collection (1999)
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Today I Sing The Blues by Aretha Franklin
Found on the Album: Aretha (1961)
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Oh, Boy! by Buddy Holly
Found on the Album: The Chirping Crickets (1957)
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Bye Bye Love by The Everly Brothers
Found on the Album: The Very Best Of The Everly Brothers (1964)
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Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right by Bob Dylan
Found on the Album: The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)
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Ruby Baby by Dion
Found on the Album: Ruby Ruby (1963)
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Wild Is The Wind by Nina Simone
Found on the Album: Wild Is The Wind (1966)
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St. Louis Blues by Bessie Smith
Found on the Album: Smith, Bessie: St. Louis Blues (1924-25) (2003)
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Make Someone Happy by Dinah Washington
Found on the Album: The Complete Roulette Collection (2011)
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5-10-15 Hours by Ruth Brown
Found on the Album: Rockin’ In Rhythm – The Best Of Ruth Brown (2005)
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Second The videos:
A new title available through one of the usual U.S. streaming services, followed by a Kanopy title that you can check out with your library card and stream on-demand, via the Kanopy app or through the Kanopy website found at https://www.kanopy.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.
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.
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).
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.
Hi everyone, here are our five suggested reads of the week!
An Arcane Inheritance by Kamilah Cole
Ellory Morgan feels a bit isolated as an older-than-average freshman at the prestigious Warren University, arriving with a handful of community college credits and a Godwin Scholarship, which entails a full ride with high expectations and a work-study job. She immediately goes head-to-head with Hudson Graves, whose family donated the campus library, as the two of them are both brilliant Black students from vastly different backgrounds in a wealthy, white academic environment. Their paths continue to cross, with inexplicable incidents of both déjà vu and possibly magic drawing their analytical minds towards the puzzle of mysterious disappearances across the history of their campus. With their friends’ help, they use a cross-section of magical heritage and institutional knowledge to delve into the mysteries, drawing them into a seance with the library ghost and other strange occurrences. As the plot untangles, a surprising twist has Ellory making life-or-death decisions for her friends. Cole’s adult debut is an unusual dark academia tale that diverges from an obvious enemies-to-lovers conclusion to build a richer story. – Booklist Review
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The First Time I Saw Him by Laura Dave
Dave’s latest takes place five years after the events of The Last Thing He Told Me, in which Hannah Hall and her stepdaughter Bailey had to run for their lives after Hannah’s husband Owen disappeared. They’ve now settled into a new life, with Bailey a recent college graduate and Hannah a successful artist. They even both have a good relationship with Hannah’s grandfather, whom they have grown to love and trust. Then unexpected events cause Hannah and Bailey to flee once again for their safety. Twists and turns will keep readers guessing throughout the novel at how it will all end. Chapters jump back and forth between past and present, but with smooth transitions that flow with the story. The characters’ love and concern for each other show through their thoughts and actions, and even minor characters show their loyalty by keeping long-ago promises. VERDICT This sequel is sure to be a hit, with fans of the first novel or its Apple TV+ series adaptation lining up to read it. A definite buy for most collections. – Library Journal Review
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Pride And Pleasure: The Schuyler Sisters in an Age of Revolution by Amanda Vaill
Vaill examines the lives of Angelica Schuyler Church and Elizabeth “”Eliza”” Schuyler Hamilton, the unconventional eldest daughters of the prominent Schuyler family. Following their wealthy childhoods in upstate New York, Angelica and Eliza socialized with prominent figures during the American Revolution. Eliza married Alexander Hamilton, and Vaill recounts their relationship and how Eliza helped Hamilton create several of the nation’s founding documents. Angelica married a businessman, moved to England, and became a witness to the wider effects of unrest in Europe. Vaill relates the main events of the Revolutionary War and other volatile events while interweaving Angelica and Eliza’s experiences. After Hamilton is killed in a duel, Eliza immersed herself in charity work and fought to preserve his legacy. Vaill speculates on the women’s feelings and motivations where sources are scarce as well as on the suspiciously close relationship between Angelica and Hamilton. A detailed and fascinating story of two strong women. – Booklist Review
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The Shop On Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz
For four generations, the Wells and the Harpers have feuded over the proper professional use of psychic powers. Eventually, a tenuous pact to agree to disagree was reached. Now Sophy Harper and Luke Wells are going to test that pact when Luke’s Uncle Deke disappears, and Luke hires Sophy to “read and clean” the scene of the crime. However, while doing so, Sophy discovers that not only did her beloved Aunt Bea disappear with Deke but all the rumors of “No-Talent” Luke’s lack of physic powers are untrue. Luke seems to have a few psychic tricks up his sleeve, and he is to be the one man who isn’t scared off by Sophy’s own unique talents. Krentz’s (It Takes a Psychic, 2025) latest paranormally imbued romantic-suspense novel, which stands on its own while simultaneously referencing other titles in the Jayneverse, delivers everything her readers crave including a super-cool librarian heroine with an intriguing side hustle, plenty of snappy dialogue, simmering sexual chemistry, and a clever canine who almost steals the show. – Starred Booklist Review
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The Storm by Rachel Hawkins
In 1984, Landon Fitzroy is found dead on the beach in St. Medard’s Bay after a hurricane has roared through town. His death is initially thought to be an accident, a horrible caseof wrong place, wrong time. When Landon’s affair with local teen Lo Bailey is discovered, Lo is accused of murder and of using the storm to cover up her crime. After she is acquitted, Lo escapes the gossip and leaves town. Forty years later, Geneva Corliss is the current owner of her family’s struggling hotel, The Rosalie Inn. When August, a writer, reserves a room to work on a book about the Fitzroy case, Geneva thinks the publicity may help her save the inn. Unexpectedly accompanying August is Lo, and as another hurricane makes its way toward the town, the truth about what happened in 1984 will be uncovered. Hawkins uses her mastery of multiple time lines and characters to great effect in this quick and enjoyable read, and the pulpy nature of the story will appeal to fans of Sally Hepworth and Laura Dave. – Booklist
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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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
Happy Friday everyone & best wishes for a happy, healthy & prosperous 2026!
As is now the post-holiday season, the library is open our usual hours today and tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. today (Friday) and 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Saturday.
This week’s Suggested Listening & Viewing blog post has been cancelled due to a challenge pitched the library’s way by YouTube itself. It seems that YouTube thinks the new library IP address might be malicious, and so it is blocking anyone using YouTube at the library to access videos without signing in.
So instead of sharing the music and trailer clips I was going to share, I will share information about how you can access digital library content, some of which, for example anything in the Hoopla or Kanopy catalogs, offers on-demand access.
And I should note, you can probably access YouTube as a guest, without logging in at your location if you’ve done it before – or have used your internet service for a long time. As you may know, you can search for songs, music playlists (i.e. New Years Jazz, New Year’s Easy Listening etc.) or ambience videos (i.s. Winter Fireplace, Coffee Shop Jazz, relaxing ambience, snow falling background music etc). Just go to https://www.youtube.com/ and type whatever your subject in the search box.
Having said that, let’s jump in!
The library has four catalogs you can access online; and you can look at all four without a library card; however, to actually do anything in any catalog, except look that is, you have to have a library card.
1. StarCat: The catalog of physical library materials for the entire Southern Tier Library System; where you can go to see what items you have checked out and place holds for items. StarCat can be accessed through the library’s website found at https://ssclibrary.org/ or you can go directly to the catalog by clicking/tapping on the following link: https://starcat.stls.orgStarCat does not feature a companion app.
2. Hoopla: This catalog, the only one of the four listed that is only accessible to SSC Library patrons (meaning you need a library card from our library that starts with the numbers 10014)* features the following digital content: audiobooks, eBooks, comics, TV shows, movies and albums. All content is available on-demand – so you don’t have to wait for it. Hoopla features a companion app, which you can access from the store on your mobile device or smart tv. You can also access Hoopla through a web browser on a computer by going to the following webpage: https://www.hoopladigital.com/
3. Kanopy: This catalog features streaming videos for the whole family. Kanopy is an on-demand catalog. You can download the Kanopy app through the app store on your mobile device or smart V, or access it online via the following link: https://www.kanopy.com/en/catalog
4. Libby (formerly OverDrive): Libby features eBooks, digital audiobooks and digital magazines. The eBooks and audiobooks are available in the one copy/one user lending model; which means they may be checked out just like print books one-cop-per-one-patron at a time. The magazines are available in the simultaneous access/on demand lending model. You can access Libby by downloading the app from your app store, or by going to the Digital Catalog online, and it is available in two web browser formats the newer one is: https://libbyapp.com and the older one, which long time library patrons will recognize is https://stls.overdrive.com/
Have a great weekend everyone!
Linda Reimer, SSCL
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*Hoopla is the lone catalog of the four mentioned, that is paid for solely by the Southeast Steuben County Library; and that is why it is available only to Southeast Steuben County Library cardholders.
The other three catalogs, StarCat, Libby & Kanopy, are paid for by the 48-member Southern Tier Library System, which our library is a member of – and those catalogs can be logged into by anyone with a card from any of the Southern Tier Library System member libraries, which includes all the public libraries in Steuben, Chemung, Yates, Allegheny and Schuyler Counties.
P.S. Some of the print books & physical media items may not yet appear in StarCat. So, if you see any title you’d like to check out, but it isn’t 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.
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.
Tech & Book Talk at SSCL 