Talking Book Topics September–October 2018 Volume 84, Number 5 Need help? Your local cooperating library is always the place to start. For general information and to order books, call 1-888-NLS-READ (1-888-657-7323) to be connected to your local cooperating library. To find your library, visit www.loc.gov/nls and select “Find Your Library.” To change your Talking Book Topics subscription, contact your local cooperating library. Get books fast from BARD Most books and magazines listed in Talking Book Topics are available to eligible readers for download on the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) site. To use BARD, contact your local cooperating library or visit nlsbard.loc.gov for more information. The free BARD Mobile app is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore. About Talking Book Topics Talking Book Topics, published in audio, large print, and online, is distributed free to people unable to read regular print and is available in an abridged form in braille. Talking Book Topics lists titles recently added to the NLS collection. The entire collection, with hundreds of thousands of titles, is available at www.loc.gov/nls. Select “Catalog Search” to view the collection. Talking Book Topics is also online at www.loc.gov/nls/tbt and in downloadable audio files from BARD. Overseas Service American citizens living abroad may enroll and request delivery to foreign addresses by contacting the NLS Overseas Librarian by phone at (202) 707-9261 or by email at [email protected]. Page 1 of 87 Music scores and instructional materials NLS music patrons can receive braille and large-print music scores and instructional recordings through the NLS Music Section. To learn more, email [email protected], call 1-800-424-8567 ext. 2, or visit www.loc.gov/nls/music/index.html. Publication feedback? Share your thoughts about this publication by writing us at: NLS Publications and Media Section Library of Congress Washington, DC 20542 or email us at [email protected]. Library of Congress, Washington 2018 Catalog Card Number 60-46157 ISSN 0039-9183 Contents Talking Book Topics September–October 2018 Contents In Brief Books for Adults Adult Fiction Adventure Family Fantasy General Gothics Historical Fiction Holidays Human Relationships Humor Legal Themes Page 2 of 87 Literature Mystery and Detective Occult and Horror Political Themes Psychological Themes Religious Themes Romance Science Fiction Short Stories Spies and Espionage Sports and Recreation Suspense War Stories Westerns Adult Nonfiction Adventure Arts Astronomy Biography Business and Economics Career and Job Training Drama and Theater Government and Politics Language Legal Issues Literature Marriage and Sex Medicine and Health Music Nature and the Environment Page 3 of 87 Occult and Astrology Philosophy Poetry Psychology and Self-Help Religion Science and Technology Social Sciences Sports and Recreation Stage and Screen U.S. History Women's Concerns World History Books for Children Children’s Fiction Adventure Animals and Wildlife Family Fantasy Friendship Growing Up Historical Fiction Holidays Humor Mystery and Detective School Science Fiction Children's Nonfiction History Nature and the Environment Sports and Recreation Page 4 of 87 Foreign Language Books Español Audio Magazines In Brief NLS on the Move: The latest on our new initiatives In July 2017, NLS launched a newsletter called NLS on the Move to keep the staff in our national network of cooperating libraries updated on the progress of pilot projects and other new initiatives. Selections from this newsletter that may be of interest to NLS patrons are reprinted in Talking Book Topics and Braille Book Review. From NLS on the Move, originally published June 28, 2018 Takeaways from the 2018 national conference More than 150 network library and NLS staff made it to Nashville last week for our national conference. Days at the Hilton were filled with talk about the future of NLS—a future in which we will be taking advantage of all sorts of technology to expand access to braille and talking books. Here are four takeaways from the conference. • Plans are moving ahead for development of a portable braille eReader for NLS patrons that will be optimized for reading books and magazines. It likely will have 20 eight-dot cells, weigh less than two pounds, and be WiFi- and Bluetooth-enabled. You may recall that last summer, NLS and the Perkins Library launched a pilot project to test the effectiveness of distributing and reading braille files on eReaders. Currently, about 70 Perkins patrons are participating in the pilot. “They love the braille displays,” NLS Consumer Relations Officer Judy Dixon said. • The next-generation NLS talking-book player—still a few years away— will have Internet connectivity, allowing users to easily download books from BARD via WiFi or cellular networks. The ongoing MOCA pilot has given us valuable information, but as Engineering Section Head John Brown said, “There will be tons of testing to get there because there’s a lot Page 5 of 87 we don’t know about these things.” NLS is also looking at the feasibility of having a voice interface for the player. • When it comes to outreach via social media, more is better. Craig Hayward of the North Carolina Regional Library said every channel of communication you use—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat—hits a different audience. Sue Walker of the Idaho Talking Book Service said it’s important to show the general community that you’re using the most current tools to spread your message. And Chancey Fleet of the New York City Regional Library said that, in addition to your core community of patrons, don’t forget to share with your friends and allies in accessibility. • Duplication-on-Demand (DoD), which allows NLS network libraries to place books on cartridges as they’re requested rather than keeping pre- loaded cartridges on hand, is proving to be popular with libraries that are trying it. Six libraries are now using it, and eight more are in the process of implementing it. Barbara Penegor of the Kentucky Talking Book Library said 92 percent of her library’s circulation is DoD now. A big benefit of DoD: It frees up staff who had been mailing and shelving talking-book cartridges to become reader advisors or work on outreach and other projects. Newsstand The following announcements may be of interest to readers. The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped reserves the right to publish announcements selectively, as space permits. The items mentioned, however, are not part of the NLS program, and their listings do not imply endorsement or support. Prices and details about listed items were correct at the time of compilation but are susceptible to change. Discounted computers available from Computers for the Blind Eligible persons may purchase a desktop pre-installed with JAWS, Fusion, or ZoomText for the discounted price of $70 thanks to new grant funds received by Computers for the Blind, a non-profit based in Texas. To receive a discounted computer, adult individuals must be on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) due to blindness. Legally blind children or youth are also eligible. In addition, $125 laptops are available for blind college students currently enrolled in on-campus classes. For more information visit www.computersfortheblind.org or call (214) 340-6328 from Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Central Time. Page 6 of 87 New iOS app assists in navigating airports The developers of BlindSquare, a paid iOS app designed to help blind users with orientation and mobility, have released a free version, BlindSquare Event, that assists users in navigating airports. The BlindSquare Event app enables travelers at BlindSquare-enabled airports to access flight information and locate features of interest in and around the airport. Once activated at an airport, the app will continue to work outside the airport for seven days. For more information visit https://bit.ly/AirportsEnabled and http://bit.ly/BsqAirportFAQ. Books for Adults Books listed in this issue of Talking Book Topics were recently sent to cooperating libraries. The complete collection contains a wide range of fiction and nonfiction books, including biographies, classics, westerns, mysteries, romances, and others. Registered users may also immediately download all titles and magazines from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD) service at https://nlsbard.loc.gov. The free BARD Mobile app is available from the App Store, Google Play, and Amazon’s Appstore for reading talking books on your personal smart phone or tablet. To learn more about the collection or to sign up Page 7 of 87 for BARD, contact your local cooperating library. Regional library telephone numbers and email addresses are listed on the last pages of this magazine. Books within the headings Adult Fiction and Adult Nonfiction are listed alphabetically by subject category, author last name, and title. For example the title War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy would be listed in Adult Fiction under the Classics subject category and by the last name Tolstoy. Note: A notice may appear immediately following the book description to indicate occurrences of violence, strong language, or descriptions of sex. The word “some” before any of these terms indicates an occasional or infrequent occurrence, as in “some strong language.” Commercial audiobooks for which NLS does not have access to the print book may display the notice “unrated,” which means that the book may or may not contain violence, strong language, or descriptions of sex. Adult Fiction Adventure Siege of Shadows: Effigies, Book 2 DB90255 13 hours 52 minutes by Sarah Raughley read by Erin Jones After Saul reappears and the threat of monstrous Phantoms bringing death and destruction to the world grows, Maia and the other Effigies hope to defeat him by discovering the source of their power over the four classical elements.