Award Winning Mystery Fiction is at Your Fingertips!

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards – commonly referred to as the “Edgars” – are presented by the Mystery Writers of America to honor the best examples of the genre, covering a wide range of styles and protagonists from quirky amateur sleuths to gritty detectives. If you love crime fiction, mysteries, or thrillers, the books they recognize for distinction are well worth exploring. As with the recent LBPD guide to Hugo and Nebula Award-recognized novels, we have compiled every Edgar Award winner or nominee for Best Novel which is currently available as an audiobook in the NLS Collection.

While a great many of these books are standalone works, many more are part of a larger series. In these cases the larger series context is also provided, to have the option of starting from the beginning. Some authors such as Stuart Woods or Michael Connelly have gone even further and created literary universes, with multiple different series protagonists making regular appearances in each other’s books, and we now have chronological reading lists reflecting these as well. From classics like the Philip Marlowe books by Raymond Chandler, through to popular recent series by Louise Penny or C. J. Box, there is a mystery world for every taste. Contact us to learn more and start exploring!

New Music Additions to BARD

Happy New Year from the NLS Music Section, and welcome to our latest additions to BARD! Our newest braille transcription is Ray Charles: A Man and His Soul (BRM38001), a collection of beloved renditions for voice and piano, sure to provide hours of enjoyment for admirers of this jazz master. For our music appreciation talking books, we’ve just added fascinating lectures, concerts, and interviews from our colleagues in the Library of Congress Music Division and the American Folklife Center. For those who play the recorder, we’ve recently digitized more method books and repertoire in braille for you to explore. And last but not least, this month we’ve continued to add to BARD more braille scores for the Lyric Pieces for piano—a treat for lovers of Edvard Grieg!

Piano by Ear—Bill Brown:

Morning Mood, op. 46, no. 1. “Morgenstemning” from Peer Gynt Suite by Edvard Grieg. Late intermediate lesson (DBM04709)

Prelude no. 2 in Cm, BWV 847 by J.S. Bach. Late intermediate lesson (DBM04710)

Prelude no. 3 in C sharp, BWV 848 by J.S. Bach. Late intermediate level (DBM04711)

 

El Palacio Magazine: From NM’s Department of Cultural Affairs

A new magazine is available. El Palacio is the oldest museum magazine of its kind, first published in 1913 by the Museum of New Mexico. The magazine covers the art, culture, and history of the Southwest as reflected in the exhibits, public programs, and scholarship of the department’s museums. Make a request for a subscription from your reader advisor.

 

New From Our Recording Studio

 DBC10430 – Father Divine’s Bikes

By Steve Bassett; read by George Kuch

Written and produced by a patron of the New Mexico Library for the Blind and Print Disabled. This book exposes the dark underbelly of 1945 Newark, New Jersey: a city that boomed during World War II but finds itself unable to cope with the peace that brings joblessness, despair and crime. Some violence.

 DBC10480 – Behind the Mountains

By Oliver La Farge; read by Joh Pen La Farge

Depicts the colorful and true accounts of Oliver La Farge’s wife Consuelo Baca, and her family’s large sheep ranch in the mountains of Rociada, New Mexico. Full of poignant and lively family anecdotes and an afterword by the couple’s son John Pen La Farge, who also narrates the book.

DBC10458 – The First Migrants

By Jacob K. Friefeld; read by Ken Collins

Explores the narrative histories of Black homesteaders in the Great Plains and the larger themes which characterize their shared experiences. Some violence.

 DBC10483 – My Name Is Georgia

By Winter Jeanette; read by Ellen Humphreys

DBC10484 – Through Georgia’s Eyes

By Julie Paschkis; read by Ellen Humphreys

These two children’s books present a brief biography of the famed artist who lived in New Mexico

 

New Recordings From Network Libraries

DBC26595 – Outback Nevada: Real Stories from the Silver State

By John M. Glionna; read by Mark Crowder

Outback Nevada explores the far-flung corners of the seventh-largest state in the nation and introduces its readers to the humanity, courage, strength, and charm of these little-known Americans. Each story is part of the vast collection published by the author during his decades of work as a journalist for the Los Angeles Times, the Las Vegas Review-Journal and other publications. Adult. Some strong language. Some violence.

DBC11665 – Legends, Lore and Secrets of New England

By Thomas Nicholson D’Agostino; read by Ric Corn

New England’s history is marked by witch executions, curses and an untold number of cemeteries hiding mysteries beneath their stones. In this harsh landscape, the truth is often stranger than fiction. Authors Thomas D’Agostino and Arlene Nicholson uncover the history behind the region’s best-kept secrets and lore. As you listen to these stories of New England’s legends, tread lightly – you just might find a story that will follow you home! Adult. Unrated.

DBC29080 – Murder Well-Bred

By Carolyn Banks; read by Karen Watkins

San Miguel de Allende is a quaint colonial town in the mountains of Mexico, the perfect place for a quiet respite. Business, not a vacation, brings Robin Vaughan to the town along with her husband, Jeet. As the food critic for an Austin, Texas newspaper, he plans to check out San Miguel’s cuisine while Robin heads for a horse farm outside the town to interview its owner for a free-lance magazine article. Three murders later, Robin finds herself face to face with a killer.

DBC30651 – Heirs of the Founders: The Epic Rivalry of Henry Clay, John Calhoun and Daniel Webster

By H. W. Brands; read by Eric Martin

From New York Times – bestselling historian H. W. Brands comes the riveting story of how, in nineteenth-century America, a new set of political giants battled to complete the unfinished work of the Founding Fathers and decide the future of our democracy. In the early 1800s, three young men strode onto the national stage, elected to Congress at a moment when the Founding Fathers were beginning to retire to their farms. Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, a champion orator known for his eloquence, spoke for the North and its business class. Henry Clay of Kentucky, as dashing as he was ambitious, embodied the hopes of the rising West. South Carolina’s John Calhoun, with piercing eyes and an even more piercing intellect, defended the South and slavery. Together these heirs of Washington, Jefferson and Adams took the country to war, battled one another for the presidency and set themselves the task of finishing the work the Founders had left undone.

DBC29087 – Noon Train

By Charles R. Checkley; read by Elayne Karickhoff

When stranger Carl “Smith” steps off the noon train in the west Texas town of Hadleyville, he enters into a nest of intrigue, mystery, and murder. Three of the most prominent businessmen in town have recently disappeared and the latest two town deputies have been murdered. Carl is a detective for the Atchison, Topeka & the Santa Fe Railroad, but he’s in town on his own time hoping to solve a personal mystery.

DBC29850 – The Last Supper Club: a Waiter’s Requiem

By Matthew C. Batt; read by John Schmidt

A witty and humble tribute to the sometimes profane, sometimes profound world of waiting tables. During a year on sabbatical from his university position, Matthew Batt realized he needed money, fast, and it just so happened that one of the biggest breweries in the Midwest was launching a restaurant and looking to hire. So it was that the forty-something tenured professor found himself waiting tables at a high-end restaurant situated in a Minneapolis brewery. And loving it. Telling the story of Batt’s early work in restaurants, from a red sauce joint possibly run by the mob to an ill-conceived fusion concept eatery. The Last Supper Club then details his experiences at the fine dining restaurant, a job that continued well past his sabbatical that lasted, in fact, right up to the restaurant’s sudden and unceremonious closing three years later, shortly after it was named one of the best restaurants in the country by Food & Wine. Adult. Strong language.

DBC18781 – Brujerías: Stories of Witchcraft and the Supernatural in the American Southwest and Beyond

By Nasario Garcia; read by Derek Rodrigues

A collection of bilingual oral stories (Spanish/English) of witchcraft and the supernatural (including tales of sorcerers, witches, La Llorona, the vanishing hitchhiker, and apparitions) from old-timers and young people whose ages range from seventeen to ninety-eight and who live in Latin America and the American Southwest

What is the LBPD Staff Reading?

Three gentle books to inspire & uplift from Ursula:

DB113663 – Us: Getting Past You and Me to Build a More Loving Relationship by Terrence Real

Presented as a book about romantic relationships, this book is so much more. The author argues that our society has become increasingly individualized, leading to greater degrees of loneliness and separation from others. His core message centers around how to truly connect with each other in our modern world. This book is helpful not only in connecting more deeply with loved ones, coworkers, and strangers, but also in connecting us back to ourselves.

DB123056–The Light We Give by Simran Jeet Singh

This is an incredible memoir of a self-described “turban-wearing, brown-skinned, beard-loving Sikh” man from South Texas. It can be tough to grow up different, especially in the South, and it becomes even tougher for the author in the wake of 9/11. Despite unwavering support from his family and community, he and his brothers encounter prejudice daily. Instead of giving in to anger and distrust, however, Singh renews his inner compassion and deep love for humanity. This book is a powerful exploration of how we can move from a fear of uncertainty into hope and positive change.

DB084150–How to Relax by Thich Naht Hahn

Even if you already know how to relax, this is a wonderful book full of brief, but powerful snippets of wisdom on how to stay present and at peace. This is a great book to read if you want to feel less stressed in just a few minutes.

Jeremy- “I have recently started a new book club and the first title we selected is Philip K. Dick’s Ubik (DB035967). A wild and visionary tale of sci-fi espionage with consumer grade immortality, the story has all of Dick’s defining traits: questioning what’s real, with absurd humor, and a gonzo vision of the future. “