March has brought a massive book shipment to the Syracuse Public Library! If you are a fan of Shelley Shepard Gray, we have several books by her now available or coming very soon. Other notables include the latest from C. J. Box, Danielle Steel, Harlan Coben and more. Lovers of nonfiction will also be pleased as it includes varied subjects from cookbooks to sports stories to haikus to botany.
Biographies/Memoirs
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New month, new books at the Syracuse Public Library. In February, we've welcomed some new exciting biographies, including on Edgar Allen Poe! In terms of fiction, there is a genre for everyone.
Biographies and Memoirs
There is always something new to watch at the Syracuse Public Library, with DVDs arriving all the time. The best part? They are free with your library card! Avoid rental and streaming fees -- check them out at the library! Titles in red with asterisks beside them are brand-new during the month of February.
 The Adult Book Club will read “Remarkably Bright Creatures” by Shelby Van Pelt in February. After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her 18-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over 30 years ago.
Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors — until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova. Discussions will occur at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in the downstairs meeting room and at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 21, via Zoom. Books are available at SPL or digitally through the Libby app! For information about the adult book club or to receive a Zoom invitation, contact Becky at bbrower@syracuse.lib.in.us. 
Have you made the switch to Libby yet? If not, you will want to before April 2023 when the OverDrive is being discontinued. OverDrive Inc. removed the OverDrive app from the Apple App Store, Google Play and the Microsoft Store on Feb 23, 2022, and now it plans to fully discontinue the legacy OverDrive app at the end of April 2023. At that time, users who try to access their library’s collection in the OverDrive app will need to upgrade to Libby. OverDrive stated in a its FAQs about the switch, "We believe that Libby is the best reading experience for all users. With valuable partner and user feedback, we’re constantly enhancing the app and adding new features to engage your readers. Discontinuing the OverDrive app will allow our development teams to focus their efforts on Libby." OverDrive app users currently see the following message in the app: In early 2023, the OverDrive app will be discontinued. Upgrade to Libby today. This change is only for the app. Patrons will still be able to visit the Indiana Digital Library's OverDrive website at https://idl.overdrive.com/. Kindle UsersKindle Fire users can download Libby onto their device manually, as Libby is not currently available to download directly from the Amazon Appstore. OverDrive has requested information and a timeline for approval from Amazon but has not yet received an update. Users can also deliver Kindle Books to a Fire tablet from a device that supports libbyapp.com (US only). The OverDrive app will also remain available for Kindle Fire users to download and access until further notice. What About My OverDrive Wish List?Yes, when a user sets up the app, Libby prompts them to sync their OverDrive wish list using an in-app notification.
Learn more about wish list syncing on Libby Help. 
The Adult Book Club will read “All By Myself, Alone” by Mary Higgins Clark in Janurary. Fleeing a disastrous and humiliating arrest of her husband-to-be on the eve of their wedding, Celia Kilbride, a gems and jewelry expert, hopes to escape from public attention by lecturing on a brand-new cruise ship — the Queen Charlotte.
On board she meets eighty-six-year-old Lady Emily Haywood, “Lady Em,” as she is known throughout the world. Immensely wealthy, Lady Em is the owner of a priceless emerald necklace that she intends to leave to the Smithsonian after the cruise. Three days out to sea Lady Em is found dead — and the necklace is missing. Discussions will occur at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 17, via Zoom and at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 19, in the downstairs meeting room. Books are available at SPL. Patrons can access a digital e-book and audiobook on the Libby app. For information about the adult book club or to receive a Zoom invitation, contact Becky Brower at bbrower@syracuse.lib.in.us. 
Get your hands a little dirty at the In the Garden group's January meeting, where members will do some winter sowing. Join In the Garden at 1 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in the downstairs meeting room to try your hand at winter sowing with native seeds! Bring translucent gallon jugs (such as those used for distilled water) and potting soil for the project. The Syracuse Public Library will provide native seeds (you can bring seeds if you want to), duct tape and permanent markers. Not interested in doing winter sowing this year? You are still invited to attend and watch the process. You'll also learn about what In the Garden has planned for 2023. Recommended ReadingWhile at the library, don't forget to pick up 2023's recommended reading: "The Triumph of Seeds" by Thor Hanson; "The Book of Eels" by Patrik Svensson; and "The Invention of Nature" by Andrea Wulf. These books tell a story about the natural world while crafting a tale about how that story became important to the author. Hanson shares the love of seeds with his young son; Svensson gets to know his father through eel fishing; and Wulf follows the arduous trek of Alexander Von Humboldt in South America. Another recommended book that will amaze and has many examples is "An Immense World: How Animal Senses Reveal the Hidden Realms Around Us" by Ed Yong. Contact InformationFor information about In the Garden or any of the recommended books, contact Becky Brower, bbrower@syracuse.lib.in.us.  
The 2023 Reading Challenge launches Jan. 1, so “Join the Search Party” on its quest to find 2023’s best books. Guess how many books you will read from Jan. 1 through Oct. 10 and sign up with Becky Brower; there is a 15 book goal minimum this year. Finally (and most importantly), start reading!
Record your finished books however you like. A nice notebook? Perfect! A detailed spreadsheet with excess information? Yes! Outsourced to your Goodreads account? That’s working smarter! The scrap-piece-of-paper method? You do you, chaotic neutral! Strive to meet your goal by the Oct. 10 end date, and then attend the challenge party. Stay tuned for more details. To sign up digitally, email SPL at syracusepublib@gmail.com.  The Syracuse Public Library is always getting the latest books in. Here are some of the new titles that have arrived so far this fall and winter. A few titles will have release dates on them; if you'd like to be added to any books hold list, let the library know!
Fiction
Nonfiction
Biographies
Large Print
Audiobooks
By Sarah WrightGrab your crumpets because we're about to dive into century-old "tea" with "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs: Sixty Years of Mutual Distrust" by Coryne Hall. There's seldom more juicier tea than that belonging to royalty, and the pairing of the British royal family and the Romanovs makes for the best. Hall pulls extensively from diaries and letters from all parties, so it's almost as if these larger-than-life figures are speaking from beyond the grave to the reader. And oh the tea, these letters and diary entries spill from young love to scandal to illuminating inner thoughts (some quite petty) and startlingly accurate prophecies. I found "Queen Victoria and the Romanovs" to be a fast and intimate read. I was captivated by the historical what-if of the young Queen Victoria's romance with the future Tsar Alexander II, which seemingly ran hotter than what is portrayed in ITV's "Victoria" (SPL has this TV show available for checkout; I highly recommend it.) and caused Tsar Nicholas I to recall his son to Russia. Despite this earlier positive interaction, family dynamics and imperialistic ambitions would see Queen Victoria and the Romanovs at odds for most of her reign. Really this book has everything, including a good dose of humor. I personally loved learning that the future Tsar Nicholas II accidentally became locked in a bathroom at Balmoral Castle during a visit to Queen Victoria and his fiancée, the future Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna. Alix had to rescue him. If you love royal history, this book is for you! SynopsisDespite their frequent visits to England, Queen Victoria never quite trusted the Romanovs. In her letters she referred to ‘horrid Russia’ and was adamant that she did not wish her granddaughters to marry into that barbaric country. ‘Russia I could not wish for any of you,’ she said. She distrusted Tsar Nicholas I but as a young woman she was bowled over by his son, the future Alexander II, although there could be no question of a marriage. Political questions loomed large and the Crimean War did nothing to improve relations. This distrust started with the story of the Queen’s ‘Aunt Julie’, Princess Juliane of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and her disastrous Russian marriage. Starting with this marital catastrophe, Romanov expert Coryne Hall traces sixty years of family feuding that include outright war, inter-marriages, assassination, and the Great Game in Afghanistan, when Alexander III called Victoria ‘a pampered, sentimental, selfish old woman’. In the fateful year of 1894, Victoria must come to terms with the fact that her granddaughter has become Nicholas II’s wife, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Eventually, distrust of the German Kaiser brings Victoria and the Tsar closer together.  AuthorSPL's communication specialist, Sarah loves all things history. Most of what she reads nowadays is nonfiction, with some of her favorite topics being the Great War (and other military history), Romanovs, Tudors, shipwrecks, and the '20s. |
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