Welcome hi everyone i'm linda reimer one of the librarians at the southeast demand county library welcome to library connections our weekly readers viewers and listeners advisory video cast enjoy Opening library connections number 68 this is the friday september 3rd 2021 edition of library connections library connections videos premiere on facebook fridays at 1pm and may also be found on the southeast duban county library's youtube channel where you can access them on demand and jumping in with the top five fiction bestsellers of the week from the new york times at number one we have the new louise penny mystery the madness of crowds this is the 17th book in the chief inspector gamache series gamash is tasked with providing security for a statistics professor whose views are repulsive to him at number two billy summers by stephen king a killer for hire who only takes out bad guys seeks redemption as he does one final job at number three it ends with us by colleen hoover a battered wife raised in a violent home attempts to halt the cycle of abuse at number four the last thing he told me by laura dave hannah hall discovers truths about her missing husband and bonds with his daughter from a previous relationship and rounding out the top five the people we meet on vacation by emily henry opposites poppy and alex meet to vacation together one more time in hopes of saving their relationship Nonfiction Top 5 and on to the top five non-fiction bestsellers for this week at number one american marxism by mark levin the fox news host gives his take on the green new deal critical race theory in social activism at number two the body keeps the score by bessel van der kulk how trauma affects the body and mind and innovative treatments for recovery and number three the long slide by tucker carlson a collection of previously published essays from 1995 to 2016 by the fox news host at number four hero of two worlds by mike duncan an overview of the marquis de lafayette's career on both sides of the atlantic during the age of revolution and at number five dopamine nation by anna lembick the medical director of stanford addiction medicine explores the neuroscience and behaviors that inform the relationship between pleasure and pain The Emperor of Ocean Park our first reading recommendation for this week is the terrific novel the emperor of ocean park by stephen l carter this suspenseful tale of ambition revenge and the power of familial obligations is set in the privileged environs of an ivy league law school martha's vineyard and washington dc oliver garland is the demanding but emotionally distant patriarch of an elite affluent african-american family used to special privileges and close relationships with the powerful in government business and the criminal underworld oliver's death sparks renewed interest in his political career as a petrolic conservative embittered by a failed bid for the u.s supreme court and there is also concern in many quarters about arrangements that he made in the event of his demise garland's son talcott a law professor is very reluctantly drawn into the intrigue if he pursues the enticing mystery set motion by his father tal risks his marriage his career and possibly even his life and in the course of discovering his father's shortcomings tal must own up to his own legal minds and power brokers debate race class economics feminism abortion rights morality and religion as they jockey for position in the academy and on the bench and they either foil or further tells efforts to solve the mystery of his and his father's lives so if you're looking for a top-notch legal thriller check out the emperor of ocean park The Guide our second recommended read for this week is the new novel the guide by peter heller jack the rustic if ivy leak educated hero of this captivating thriller from edgar finalist heller takes a job as a seasonal fishing guide at colorado's posh kingfisher lodge in an effort to escape his traumatic past and the tedium of his father's ranch once there he's quickly warned about the trigger-happy old man who lives on the property next door and soon strange things about the kingfisher are enough to get jack wary of the whole scene including strict rules guests who don't fish and lots of cameras out on the river with a celebrity client singer allison k jack gets a warning shot from the warned about neighbor prompting the pair to investigate and unravel a truly heinous crime heller's lush descriptions of fishing and river country are matched with a riveting surprising mystery that captures the difference between the filthy rich and everyone else the novel's speculative approach to the lingering effects of covet 19 is frightening in its subtlety and it's one of the book's special charms readers looking for a credible couple and a story of redemption will love this that's the bookless review What Strange Paradise our third reading recommendation for the week is the new novel what strange paradise by omar l akig the story tells the tale of an eight-year-old immigrant named amir yutu amir has recently moved to egypt from war-torn syria after his family sold everything to gain passage but when amir's uncle mysteriously boards a ramshackle boat in the dark of night the boy follows he's bound for the greek isle of coasts the only one on the boat who will survive the trip and it's hardly paradise once he lands a retired colonel bent on chasing down refugees sets his sights on poor amir fortunately the boy finds an ally in teen vanna hermes and through another kind soul on the island the kids now have a new mission keep amir safe for two days until he can get on a ferry to the mainland ella kidd author of the international bestseller american war from 2017 expertly contrasts the well-paced story of amir's predicament with the ill-fated journey that brought him to greece the ragtag bunch of strangers on the boat forms an incredibly well drawn portrait of humanity as everyone bonds together initially even with dollops of humor thrown in but somewhere along the journey they passed the point where human goodness gave way to the calculus of survival a suspenseful and heartbreaking painting of the refugee crisis as experienced by two children caught in the crosshairs and that's the book list review Agatha of Little Neon our first audiobook recommendation for this week is a neat new novel by claire lechette it's called agatha of little neon and as you may well have guessed by the cover agatha is a nun the audio is narrated by hillary huber agatha has lived every day of the last seven years with her sisters they work together laugh together and pray together their world is contained within the little house they share the four of them are devoted to mother roberta and to their quiet purposeful life but when the parish goes broke the sisters were forced to move they landed in wood socket a former mill town with quite the name try saying wound socket ten times fast but i digress let me try that again they land in wound socket a former mill town now dotted with wind turbines they head up a halfway house where they live alongside cast offs like the jawless tim gary and the headstrong lawnmower jill agatha is forced to venture out into the world alone to teach math at a local all girls high school where for the first time in years she will have to reckon with what she sees and feels all on her own which begs the question who will she be if she isn't with her sisters have her sisters and the church really been her home for the last seven years or has she just been hiding disarming delightfully deadpan and full of searching agatha of little neon offers a view into the lives of women and the choices they make it is a novel about female friendship and devotion the roles made available to us and how we become ourselves and if you want a neat tale check out agatha of little neon The Almost Legendary Morris Sisters our second audiobook recommendation for this week is the neat new non-fiction title the almost legendary morris sisters a true story of family fiction and it's written by julie clem a new york times bestselling author and it's also narrated by the author so having said that let's get into the meat and potatoes of the book and what it's about ever since she was young julie clam has been fascinated by tales of the morris sisters cousins of her grandmother according to family lore early in the 20th century the sister's parents decided to move the family from eastern europe to los angeles so their father could become a movie director on their way their pregnant mother went into labor in st louis where the baby was born and where their mother died subsequently the father left the children in an orphanage and promised to send for them once he settled in california a promise he never kept one of the morris sisters later became a successful wall street trader and advised franklin delano roosevelt the sisters lived together in new york city none of them married or had children and one is even said to have had an affair with j.p morgan the stories of these independent women intrigued clem but as she delved into them to learn more she realized that the tales were almost completely untrue the almost legendary morris sisters is the revealing account of what clown discovered about her family and herself as she dug into the past and if you're a fan of tv series like finding your roots and who do you think you are this is a cool book to check out Being Better Stoicism in our third audiobook recommendation for this week and i should note even though it is in the video here all of our audio books each week are available for instant checkout through hoopla so if it sounds good to you know that the audios can be checked out immediately so having said that on to our third audiobook this one's called being better stoicism for a world worth living in and obviously it's a non-fiction self-help type book it's co-authored by kai whitting and leonidas constance the audio is narrated by liam gerard the book offers practical answers to the urgent moral questions of our time taken from the ancient philosophy of stoicism twenty-three centuries ago in a marketplace in athens zeno of cytium the founder of stoicism built his philosophy on powerful ideas that still resonate today all human beings can become citizens of the world regardless of their nationality gender or social class happiness comes from living in harmony with nature and most important humans always have the freedom to choose their attitude even when they cannot control external circumstances in our age of political polarization and environmental destruction stoicism's empowering message has taken on new relevance in being better winning in constance applies stoic principles to contemporary issues such as social justice climate breakdown and the excess of global capitalism they show that stoicism is not an ivory tower philosophy or a collection of silicon valley life hacks but instead it's a vital way of life that helps us live simply improve our communities and find peace in a turbulent world Streaming Recommendations moving along to our streaming recommendations our first recommendation is the new netflix tv series the chair it was created by amanda pete and annie julia wyman and stars sandra oh jay dupless and holland taylor briefly the chair is set at a major university where the first woman of color has just become the english chair and tries to meet the dizzying demands and high expectations of her failing department the atlantic praised the chair up and down saying that it is netflix's best drama in years and that the near perfect show elegantly skewers the subject of free speech on campus so the chair is a little bit different just like agatha of neon so if you want something that's good drama and a little different check out the chair our second streaming recommendation for this week is the 2016 film let me down hard it's directed by william division and stars harry chomberry margot crouppe and paul diameter you can stream it from hoopla amazon and google play the film tells the tale of jack ansley jack was a rock star with a hit record a rabid following and money to burn he also had an ego the size of his tour bus and a soul-crushing temper to match until one night it all evaporated right in front of his eyes now 15 years later he finds himself back in asbury park new jersey the place he couldn't escape from fast enough and to the tattered remains of the family he'd left behind jack is now at a point in his life that with every opportunity exhausted this one hit rock and roll wonder has come home to his once broken city itself on the rebound to seek redemption and if you want to know if jax finds his redemption you'll have to check out let me down hard you can stream it for free through hoopla as i mentioned and through several other streaming platforms our third streaming recommendation for this week is the classic film the taking of pelham one two three the movie was directed by joseph sargent and stars walter matthau robert shaw and martin balsam you could stream it from amazon google and apple the taking of pelham one two three is one of the greatest of all gritty gotham movies our critic called it a movie that really catches the mood of new york and new yorkers this darkly funny white knuckle thriller from the director joseph sargent concerns four armed men who take a subway car hostage demanding a million dollar ransom for the lives of the passengers abroad robert shaw is coolly ruthless as the leader of the gang while walter matthau is at his hang dog best as the cynical transit cop hot on their trail that overview is from the new york times in on a viewer's note the 1998 version of this film because there are several versions but the 1998 version stars lorraine braco and edward james ole miss and is available for instant viewing through hoopla so if you have some extra time this weekend and you like action movies and gritty gotham thrillers you might check out a couple of versions of the taking of pelham one two three hoopla recommendation and finally our hoopla recommendation for this week is the great set the rolling stones in mono from 2016. i'm tempted to call it a box set because back in the days where cds and vinyl were popular you would get multi-disc and album sets in a box thus box sets but of course this is digital but keeping with the fact that it's a long weekend this is a big set it's 149 songs recorded between 63 and 69 and during the era when the rolling stones began calling themselves the world's greatest rock and roll band and as you may know about the 60s during that era most rock and pop recordings were recorded in mono and if they did a stereo version they did it as an afterthought so mono was the forum of the day and i think that's because they didn't have the stereo stuff we have now when i say stuff i mean equipment they didn't have stereos in cars or home stereos like we do today but they were starting to trickle in that's why they did secondary versions of stereo tracks for some songs and some albums but in the 60s really mono reigned as it does on all the 149 songs of this terrific collection so if you have time this weekend check out the rolling stones in mono available from hoopla if you have questions about this weekly video cast send me an email my email address is rhymerl stls.org and i'll get back to you that's r e i ms and mary erl stls.org in a note about library hours currently we're open monday through friday from 9 a.m to 7 p.m on saturday from 9 a.m to 2 p.m and we're closed on sundays the library's website which offers a whole host of information about the library upcoming programs and services can be found at ssclibrary.org starcat and its companion app bookmine starcat is the catalog of physical library materials available to all card holders of the public libraries in the southern tier library system better known as stls the system encompasses all the public libraries in steven shimon yates skylar and allegheny counties you can find starcat online at starcat.stls.org or you can download the bookmine app from your app store and bookmine is spelled b-o-o-k like my n-e the digital catalog and its companion app libby through the digital catalog and the libby app you can check out e-books downloadable audiobooks and a handful of streaming videos the digital catalog is found online stls.overdrive.com alternately you can download the libby app that's libby to your mobile device and you can also check out ebooks and send them to your dedicated e-reader like a kindle paperwhite through either the digital catalog online or the app if you wish to do so hoopla the hoopla catalog features e-books comic books full-length albums downloadable audiobooks and streaming videos including both tv shows and movies all hoopla items are available for instant checkout for southeast demand county library card holders with a maximum of six checkouts per month you can find the hoopla catalog online hoopladigital.com or download the hoople app to your mobile device or smart tv communicating with the library if you have questions about library materials or services or anything else library wise you are welcome to go the traditional route and simply give us a call the library's phone number is area code 607 936 seven one three again that's area code six zero seven nine three six three seven one three you can also connect with the library via social media the library has pages on facebook twitter youtube and instagram library blogs we have five of them we have the book club for adults blog which is found at ssclbook.club and offers information on you guessed it the monthly book club for adults we have the corning ny history blog which offers weekly postings showing photos of our area way back in the day we have the creation stationary blog which is the companion blog to the library's maker space so there's creative postings there we have story musings a blog hosted by the library's resident author and head of adult services michelle wells that one's found at storymusing.blogspot.com and then tech and book talk a readers viewers and listeners advisory blog with occasionally helpful how-to tech tips thrown in that's found at sscltec.com and briefly here are references of the week and that's the program for this week i'll be back next week with a new edition of library connections and i have to say i'm thrilled with this cooler weather got my sweaters out as you can tell have a great holiday weekend