New tool available to DCDL patrons

0

The Delaware County District Library now has a new way for readers to discover the newest and hottest titles on the market. “Booklist Reader” is a digital magazine that features diverse readers’ advisory recommendations for readers and listeners of all ages. The magazine is filled with high-interest, themed lists that showcase books you can check out and read now.

This exclusive benefit to DCDL readers can be found on the Research page of the library’s website. Simply visit www.delawarelibrary.org/research and scroll down to “Booklist Online.” The website will take you directly to the most current issue (September’s is hot off the – digital – presses!) or you can scroll down to view the archives.

“Booklist” has been around for quite some time. In fact, it is a book-review magazine that has been published by the American Library Association for more than 100 years. Up until now, it has primarily been used by librarians to help with purchasing and shelving decisions. “Booklist Reader” now adds to the “Booklist” family that already is comprised of two print magazines, a website and database, e-newsletters, webinars, and other resources.

If you’re looking for a particular article, or don’t want to view the entire magazine digitally, you can ask a Delaware Library staff member to email or print an article for you. This month, articles feature “Top 10 Mysteries & Thrillers in Adult, Youth & Audio,” “Read-alikes: Women as Spies,” “Adult True Crime for Teens,” and “Narrators of Hispanic Heritage.” I’m particularly fond of the final page of recommendations which touts “Notable Chicken Books” for children.

As with all things in the library, every book mentioned may not be for you. I certainly have my “love this” and “absolutely not” books that I gravitate toward and away from. “Booklist” has a large team of book reviewers, from contractors to journalists, subject specialists to editors. It is our hope that this is one more tool DCDL patrons can use to find their next favorite read.

This week’s recommendations come from the “Booklist Reader” list titled “Music-Loving Sleuths,” which was assembled and written by Bill Ott. Please enjoy his recommendations below.

• “Death in D Minor” by Alexia Gordon. Begin the Gethsemane Brown mystery series with this one, then move up the key signatures. This charming cozy series features Black classical musician Gethsemane Brown, who moves to Ireland and secures lodging in a cottage formerly owned by her favorite composer. There’s a hitch: the composer’s ghost is in residence and needs Gethsemane’s help to clear him of a decades-old murder.

• “Sleepyhead” by Mark Billingham. Alison Willetts is unlucky to be alive. She has survived a stroke, deliberately induced by a skillful manipulation of pressure points on the head and neck. She can see, hear and feel and is aware of everything going on around her, but is completely unable to move or communicate. In leaving Alison Willetts alive, the police believe the killer made his first mistake. Then DI Tom Thorne discovers the horrifying truth; it isn’t Alison who is the mistake, it’s the three women already dead. The London DI is a hard-bitten, hard-drinking cop, but he’s also a country fan who finds plenty of parallels to his work in his favorite twangy tunes.

• “Solo Hand” by Bill Moody. When his ex-wife asks him to help out her lover, who is being blackmailed by someone who has compromising photos of him, former jazz pianist Evan Horne is forced to become involved to clear his own name. In the series, Horne becomes the go-to guy for crimes connected to jazz history. The novels in the series concern mysteries involving the careers and sometimes deaths of such jazz luminaries as Wardell Gray, Clifford Brown, Miles Davis, Charlie Parker and Chet Baker.

• “Little Elvises” by Timothy Hallinan. Bullied into proving the innocence of a music industry mogul who has been accused of murdering a tabloid journalist, Los Angeles burglar-turned-private investigator Junior Bender finds the case complicated by the victim’s attractive widow. There’s always a backbeat somewhere in this toe-tappingly entertaining comic mystery series.

• “Rhode Island Red” by Charlotte Carter. Carter writes gritty, jazz-infused mystery stories. Her most popular series follows Nanette Hayes, a street saxophonist-detective, as she investigates crime in New York City. In between chasing down clues and running from danger, Nanette usually finds time to start up a steamy romance. In “Rhode Island Red” Nanette enjoys earning her living playing the saxophone for spare change on New York’s funky, mean streets, until an undercover cop is killed in her apartment, and she becomes the prime suspect.

https://www.delgazette.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/40/2022/09/web1_Fowles.jpg

By Nicole Fowles

Glad You Asked

If you have a question that you would like to see answered in this column, mail it to Nicole Fowles, Delaware County District Library, 84 E. Winter St., Delaware, OH 43015, or call us at 740-362-3861. You can also email your questions by visiting the library’s web site at www.delawarelibrary.org or directly to Nicole at [email protected]. No matter how you contact us, we’re always glad you asked!

No posts to display