Introduction hi everyone i'm linda reimer one of the librarians at the southeast debent county library welcome to library connections our weekly readers viewers and listeners advisory video cast enjoy library connections number 18 hosted by sscl librarian linda rimer this video cast is being recorded on thursday september 3rd 2020. kicking things off with the top five books on the fiction bestseller list for this week courtesy of the new york times at number one thick as thieves by sandra brown arden maxwell returns home to uncover the truth about her father's involvement in a heist that went wrong 20 years ago at number two squeeze me by carl hyacin a dead dowager hungry pythons and occupants of the winter white house shake up the palm beach charity ball season at number three the vanishing half by britt bennett the lives of twin sisters who run away from a southern black community at age 16 diverge as one returns and the other takes on a different racial identity but their base intertwined at number four where the crawdads sing by delia owens in a quiet town on the north carolina coast in 1969 a young woman who survived alone in the marsh becomes a murder suspect and at number five emerald blaze by iona andrews the latest installment in the hidden legacy series catalina baylor overcomes heartbreak to team up with alessandro segreto sounds intriguing and on to the top five books on the non-fiction bestseller list for this week at number one his truth is marching on by john meacham the pulitzer prize-winning biographer creates a portrait of representative john lewis the late civil rights leader and congressman for georgia's fifth congressional district at number two hoax by brian stetler the cnn anchor and chief media correspondent examines the inner workings of fox news and its relationship with president trump at number three cast by isabel wilkerson the pulitzer prize-winning journalist examines aspects of caste systems across civilizations and reveals a rigid hierarchy in america today at number four untamed by glennon doyle the activist and public speaker describes her journey of listening to her inner voice and at number five live free or die by sean hannity the fox news host offers his assessment on what is at stake in the 2020 election Recommended Reads jumping right in with our first recommended read of the week this is the first book in historical mystery series it's called billy boyle it's written by james r ben what's a 22 year old irish american cop who's never been out of massachusetts before doing it beardsley hall at english country house having lunch with king harkin of norway the olympia wanders himself back home at southie he barely made detective when war was declared unwilling to fight and perhaps die for england he was relieved when his mother mangled a job for him on the staff of the general married to her distant cousin but the general turns out to be dwight d eisenhower whose headquarters are in london which is undergoing the blitz and uncle like wants billy to become his personal investigator billy is dispatched to the seat of the norwegian government in exile operation jupiter the impending invasion of norway is being planned but it is feared there is a german spy amongst the norwegians billy doubts his own abilities with good reason a theft and two murders test his investigative powers but billy proves to be a better detective than he or anyone else expected and that's the first recommended read of the week moving on to our second recommended read of the week this one too is a mystery it's called line of sight written by james quayley crime reporter quailly makes his impressive fiction debut with a hard-hitting crime novel set in newark new jersey p.i russell avery a once idealistic white journalist bounced from his newspaper job now fixes things for screwed up cops when keone jackson a black social justice activist who serves as avery's conscience spurs him into probing the shooting death of black teenager kevin mathis a suspected drug dealer avery plunges into a miasma of police corruption and reconnects with former girlfriend dina a reporter bent on unmasking the crooked cops the deeper he investigates the more avery becomes convinced that he's been looking for heroes and villains in a city that breeds only survivors and where protecting and serving are too often reduced to doing evil so that good may result this scalding expose of human failures in which friendships go tragically sour powerfully updates raymond chandler's mean streets quailly is definitely a writer to watch and that's the publisher's weekly review Audiobook Recommendation moving along to our first audiobook recommendation of the week this one's fiction it's called the ant who wouldn't die written by sharon stu mokapadie and read by deepta guppa and jarrah jane nicubi and apologies to the author of readers if i'm not spot on with those pronunciations i did do some online searching to try and determine how to pronounce particularly the author's name but came up empty so no disrespect intended this book is getting good reviews in print and getting back to it the ant who wouldn't die is a laugh out loud took at your heartstrings tale of love family and freedom centered around three generations of bengali women samwata has just married into the dynastic but declining mitcher family at 18 she expects to settle into her role as a devout wife in this traditional multi-generational family but then simlato watering the halls of the grand de king mitra mansion stumbles upon the body of her great aunt in law pamisha a child bride widowed at 12 panisha has finally passed away at the ripe old age of 70 which seems a bit young to me by 21st century standards but i'm digressing getting back to pamisha she has passed but she isn't ready to let go just yet pimiesha has long harbored a grudge against demetrius for keeping her in perpetual widowhood and never allowing her to fall in love now her ghost intends to meddle in their lives making as much mischief as possible pamisha gives a lotta the keys to her mysterious box of gold to keep it out of the mitch's hands however the selfless zomwata witnessing her new family waste away their wealth to the brink of bankruptcy has her own ideas and the third female protagonist is bashan who is a book-loving scooter-riding rebellious teenager who wants absolutely nothing to do with the many suitors that ask for her hand she yearns for freedom and wants to go to college but when her poor neighbor returns from america she finds herself falling in love perhaps pernicious yearning spirit lives on in her own heart the ant who wouldn't die is a frenetic funny and fresh novel about three generations of mutual women who are surprising at every turn and defy all expectations they may be guarding a box of gold but they are the true treasures in this gem of a novel and remain along to our second audiobook recommendation of the week this one too is a mystery i seem to be on a mystery kick this week this is getting great reviews it's called winter counts written by david heska and wandly wendon and read by darrell dennis virgil wounded horse the half lakota half white narrator of wunden's gorgeous debut serves as a fists for hire enforcer on south dakota's rosebud indian reservation ever since virgil's sister died in a car accident three years earlier her son nathan has been living with him and back when virgil was an alcoholic his erratic behavior drove away the love of his life marie short bear but now he's sober and after nathan ends up in the hospital from an overdose of heroin marie returns to help virgil takes on the bad guys responsible for bringing heroin to the reservation to complicate matters marie faces a decision about medical school in new mexico right as she and virgil are falling back in love the novel twists delicately around various personal conflicts while artfully addressing issues related to the politics of the reservation winden combines funny complex and unforgettable characters with strong poetic prose including this little gem this was the winter of my sorrow one i had tried to elude but which had come for me with a terrible cruelty this is crime fiction at its best and that is the start publisher's weekly review Streaming Recommendations moving along to our first streaming recommendation for the week it's called lovecraft country available through hbo's streaming service it's based on matt rock's novel of the same name lovecraft country follows atticus freeman as he meets up with his friend leticia and his uncle george to embark on a road trip across 1950s jim crow america in search of his missing father this begins a struggle to survive and overcome both the racist terrors of white america and the terrifying monsters that could be ripped from the pages of a lovecraft paperback lovecraft country is executive produced by showrunners michy green jj abrams and others there's quite a few people that have gone into creating this so if you like terror slash horror films that are well crafted check this one out our second streaming recommendation for this week is called game night with justin bateman it's a comedy with the dash of two of drama and it's available through amazon prime video two words nine letters game night is a riot an energetic consistently clever comedy that playfully toys with the expectations of a savvy audience weaned on such fair filled with knowing pop culture references and deriving laughs from every key character it's the kind of smart fast-paced entertainment that makes a pretty delicate juggling act look positively easy introducing its central characters in a rapid fire pre-credit sequence max and annie are shown meeting being cute bonding over their shared love of games and all sorts of competitions soon enough they're married and happily hosting a regular game night their lighthearted bliss however is thrown for a loop when max's wealthy brother brooks pops back into town promising to host a game night that will be taking it up a notch what starts out as an elaborate stage mystery soon bleeds into reality running a foul of gun-toting killers even if the couple and their friends caught up as they are in the competition in various personal tics are hilariously slow to catch on and that's from the cnn review so if you're looking for a comedy that's a good one to check out our third streaming recommendation for this week is a blast from the past suggestion it's the 1997 film anaconda starring jennifer lopez ice cube owen wilson eric stoltz carrie werner jonathan hyde and john voigt the plot is as follows a group of filmmakers looking for a lost native tribe instead find a man-eating monster in this thriller terry flores is a documentary filmmaker on assignment to make a film about the shirishma indians of the amazon a mysterious tribe known as the people of the mists as terry and her crew cameraman danny sound recordist gary anthropologist steve production manager denise and host warren head down the river they discover a man who spoke has sunk and desperately needs rescue paul cerrone the mysterious stranger that they save from the waters claims to know something of the sharashma people and says he will take the crew to them instead he guides the group to the hiding place of the fearsome anaconda a gigantic snake that swallows a man whole vomits him up and eats him again the snake is worth a fortune if captured the kind of creatures so dangerously captured at all watch the film to find out as a final bonus streaming recommendation i'm going to recommend a brand new documentary it's called all in the fight for democracy and it's an amazon studios production that just came out it's available of course through amazon prime video in anticipation of the 2020 presidential election this documentary examines the often overlooked yet insidious issue of voter suppression in the u.s with the perspective and expertise of stacy abrams the former minority leader of the georgia house of representatives the documentary offers an insider's look into laws and barriers to voting that threaten fundamental rights and if you leave in steven county and have questions about how to vote how to get an absentee ballot or anything about voting you can visit the savannah county website found at www.stubencony.org once you're there you click on the board of elections link which is found under the departments and services menu you can also call the steve county board of elections their office hours are 8 30 a.m to 4 30 p.m monday through friday and the phone number is area code 607-664-2260 if you live in a county other than steven you can google your county and board of elections to find your county board of elections website where you'll find information on how to vote and the contact information for your board of elections Odd Duck and on to our odd duck recommendation of the week this week i'm going to recommend a book this is called consequential strangers turning everyday encounters into life-changing moments written by melinda blau and karen fingerman phd this is a book that's available through the southeast of bend county library we actually have it at our annex at the moment and it was very highly recommended during one of our weekly volunteer and staff chat sessions that is something we do through zoom weekly we catch up with our volunteers library volunteers they meet with us once a week us being the southeast of ben county library staff that is available at the time it's really quite nice we talk about books we've read videos we've watched we read a little bit of poetry and this was a recent title that was very highly recommended and let me tell you what it's about our barista our mechanic our co-worker they populate our days but we often take them for granted yet these are the people who bring novelty and information into our lives allow us to exercise different parts of ourselves and open us up to new opportunities in their unprecedented examination of people on the periphery psychologist karen fingerman who coined the term consequential strangers collaborates with journalist melinda blau to expand on and make her own groundbreaking research come alive drawing as well from blau's more than 200 interviews with specialists in psychology sociology marketing and communication the book presents compelling stories of individuals and institutions past and present a rich portrait of our social landscape on and off the internet it presents the science of casual connection and chronicles the surprising impact that consequential strangers have on business creativity the work environment our physical and mental health and the strength of our communities now that's the overview from barnes noble and i know this sounds like from the overview that you got to be there in person to connect with other people which is ideal but at the moment it may not be practical for so many of us being home based or homebound during the pandemic but you could still touch base with other people go for a walk around the block and i bet you'll run into somebody walking their dog you can start out a conversation by saying hey what a beautiful dog and go from there you can of course use the internet social media you might also drop a letter to someone that you haven't talked to for a while but there are ways to connect and we need to keep doing that even during the pandemic and moving right along to our cute cat photos for the week this week's cute cat photos have a theme office assistance is the theme you'll notice piper shown there with me in the background he's right in front of my keyboard and then i got up to leave the room for a minute came back and winston had decided my chair was the best place to be and of course i had to explain to him that my chair was where i needed to be if i needed to work which i did so i put him down and he went around and then the next thing i knew this is what i saw in front of me winston deciding that if he could sit in my chair he'd sit right in front of me so thankfully i have a keyboard that is wireless so i could type for a few minutes while he got his attention and uh just basically was cute because he is cute and yes i'm one of those cat people okay if you have questions about this weekly video cast please let me know send me an email rhymerl stls.org is my email and i'll get back to you library resources you can access from home page one clockwise from the top left hand corner we've got the library's website ssclibrary.org you can find out all about the library our materials and services digital and print through our website second photo top right hand corner reference desk online if you wish to submit a reference question through our website you can also call the library and i'll have the phone number up in just a minute here moving down to the bottom right hand corner of the page the sscl schedule and appointment page because you still have to schedule an appointment to return books pick books up if you have something quickly that needs to be photocopied or faxed you could just call the library and come in to the parking lot and a staff member can meet you and take care of that name for you starcat seen at the bottom left-hand corner is the catalog of physical materials print books dvds etc library resources you can access from home page too you see here before you the digital catalog at left and rb digital at right the digital catalog features ebooks and downloadable audio books with just a handful of streaming videos the rv digital catalog consists of more than three thousand on-demand magazines no waiting you can get them whenever you desire just need a library card there are two apps for the digital catalog libby for newer devices and overdrive for older devices and just one for rb digital and you can see what the apps look like there the library has several blogs as well which i urge you to check out there's some great entertainment value there there's a local history blog there's a makerspace blog we've got story musings the sscl blog hosted by the library's resident author and head of adult services michelle wells and also tech and book talk which is what it sounds like a little bit of tech information and a lot about books and other materials you would enjoy dvds music that kind of thing if you have questions about library services during the pandemic or if you'd like to make an appointment to browse pick up or return items you can do it through our website but you can also go the traditional route and simply give us a call the library's telephone number is the same as it's been for years and years area code 607 607-936-3713 and currently it's september 2020 right now the annex hours are 9 a.m to 5 p.m monday through friday social media just a weekly reminder you can connect with the library and post questions via social media the library has pages on facebook twitter youtube and instagram in relation each video in this series is available on demand by the library's youtube page after it has first been shown on facebook live there are references for this week should anyone wish to check out the articles you can of course just click pause on the video and copy down the information search for it Tech Tip of the Week on to the tech tip of the week hi everyone welcome to the tech tip of the week this week i'm going to talk about a cool app that's available for android ios and windows so that's a google or apple or windows mobile device it's called star walk 2 and it's a really cool app it is not free it does cost 2.99 but if you download this app to your phone or mobile device you do have to have an internet connection but your internet might actually reach outside your house and then you go into your front yard at any time of the day or night actually but this is better at night i'll open the app and you'll see what i mean it shows you what the stars look like depending upon how you hold your phone so i'm going to tilt my phone back so that it's looking straight up at the sky and here where i am in corning new york and it shows me leo and if i move it i'm gonna go over a little bit i'll say links it shows you where the stars are so it is like a star walk it's like a map to the stars because if you're anything like me i like to look up at the stars but i honestly can never tell where ursa ursa major is or any of the other stars except for the big dipper but with this app you can learn about them and see right where they are and it's really cool so i urge you to check it out again it's called star walk 2 and it looks like the app you see right here in the top left hand corner and that's the tech tip of the week and that's the program for this week i'll see you next week with another edition of library connections stay safe