MADreads

Screwball romance done right
A review of One Good Earl Deserves a Lover: the Second Rule of Scoundrels by Sarah MacLean

 Four seasons and four scoundrels and how they find love are the subjects of Sarah MacLean's Rule of Scoundrels series. The series focuses on four aristocrats whose scandals have exiled them from society and who are now owners of an exclusive gaming establishment, The Fallen Angel. Each finds a love powerful enough to bring them back into the light.  The first book in the series was Bourne & Penelope's story. This time around the love story is about Penelope's smart sister ...read more

Reviewed by Kathy K. - Central on February 2, 2013 | 0 comments

Penny has a new song!
A review of Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes

 In Penny and Her Song by Kevin Henkes, Penny wants to share her new song with Mama, but she can’t, because she might wake the babies. She wants to share it with Papa, but she can’t, because she might wake the babies. She tries to sing it to herself but needs a better audience. She tries to sing to her glass animal toys, but gets distracted. Will she ever get a chance to share her beautiful new song? Yes! Finally after supper, she sings the song all the way through to her whole family. ...read more

Reviewed by Tracy on February 1, 2013 | 0 comments

Learning your A, C, G, and Ts
A review of The Violinist’s Thumb, and Other Lost Tales of love, War, and Genius, as Written by Our Genetic Code by Sam Kean

 Curling tongues. Attached ear lobes, widow’s peaks, blue eyes or brown. They’re all familiar tropes from high school biology class, proof of the genetic family inheritance we’re all saddled with, for good or bad. DNA continues to amaze with its ability to create all of humanity with just its mix of four repeating amino acids: adenine, thymine, cytosine and guanine. But the story of DNA’s amazing versatility comes more fully to life in Sam Kean’s irreverent and informative The Violinist’s ...read more

Reviewed by Katie H. on January 31, 2013 | 0 comments

Marbles on meds
A review of Marbles: Mania, Depression, Michelangelo, and Me: A Graphic Memoir by Ellen Forney

 Ellen Forney is a Seattle artist diagnosed with bipolar disorder. This graphic novel chronicles her diagnosis, her interpretation of her manic and depressive episodes and her struggle to decide whether or not to be medicated. One of Ellen's first concerns with medication was how it would affect her art, but as her disease progressed, her concerns focused in a different direction: whether or not medication would actually help her get better. Wow. This book is heavy. It's exhausting. It's ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on January 30, 2013 | 0 comments

Read about someone else for a change
Recommended biographies

Like reading about other people and their lives? Then here is a list for you.  These titles are from various"best of" lists, including the New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year.  Below are a few from a new library booklist-- ...read more

Reviewed by Kathy K. - Central on January 29, 2013 | 0 comments

A life worth living?
A review of Me Before You by Jojo Moyes

 "The thing about being catapulted into a whole new life - or at least shoved up so hard against someone else's life that you might as well have your face pressed against their window - is that it forces you to rethink your idea of who you are. Or how you might seem to other people." This is the realization that Louisa Clark comes to after her comfortable, if boring, life is upended by the loss of her job at The Buttered Bun restaurant. Louisa is twenty-six and lives with her parents ...read more

Reviewed by Jane J - Central on January 28, 2013 | 0 comments

Beware: this book will make you crave PIE!
A review of Pie by Sarah Weeks

 Alice’s beloved Aunt Polly made amazing pies. She loved to bake them so much that she opened up a pie shop and gave the pies away for free! Everyone in town had a favorite flavor of Polly’s pies, and as word of them spread, people traveled from all over to taste her renowned baking. Sadly, Aunt Polly dies unexpectedly and perplexes everyone by leaving her secret pie crust recipe to her cat, Lardo. Her will also bequeaths Lardo himself (a rather grumpy cat) to her favorite niece, Alice. How do ...read more

Reviewed by Carissa - Alicia Ashman on January 25, 2013 | 0 comments

A tale of two solos
Two Very Different Books with the Same Title

I recently was chatting with a fellow reader about favorite books, and he happened to mention that he was rereading one of his favs: Going Solo. I immediately thought of Roald Dahl’s autobiography by that name, but in fact he was referring to Eric Klinenberg’s study of the growing trend towards single member households. Dahl’s book, one of my all-time favorites, recounts his earliest single years in East Africa and his RAF service in the Mediterranean theaters during World War II ...read more

Reviewed by Katie H. on January 24, 2013 | 0 comments

Creepy crawlies and boop-oop-a-doop
A review of The Diviners by Libba Bray

 I'm going to be completely honest about this: I had been looking forward to reading The Diviners for most of 2012 but when it first showed up on the hold shelf for me and I discovered it was 578 pages, I paused a little. OK, I paused a lot, like, for 28 days, and then had to bring the book back to the library without even having started it.  So I placed it on hold again and decided to dedicate myself to it when it next arrived. That time is now. Here's the scoop: Evangeline (Evie ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on January 22, 2013 | 0 comments

Ghosts need their quiet places, too
A review of The Hungry Ghost of Rue Orleans by Mary Quattlebaum

 Fred the ghost is happy in his leaky, creaky, dusty old house. He tends his cactus, gobbles air, and is perfectly content. But when Pierre and his daughter Marie arrive, declaring the house their new restaurant, Fred loses his quiet corner of the universe. Walls are painted, cobwebs swept away, and suddenly, Fred’s house is…CLEAN. Then came the noise. The horrible clanking of silverware and dishes disrupting Fred’s peace. After throwing a fit of ghostly proportions, sending food flying, Fred is ...read more

Reviewed by Jill O on January 18, 2013 | 0 comments
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