MADreads

Zombie in love
A review of Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion

 What will the inevitable zombie apocalypse look like? How will it happen? How will humanity--the Living--survive? How does it feel be be a zombie? And how--in this post-apocalyptic world-- would a zombie find love? That last question has never, in all my feverish wonderings, occurred to me. And yet, I give you...Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion. The main protagonist of our story is a zombie. You got it, a flesh-eating, brain-chomping, reeking member of the undead, or the Dead, in this ...read more

Reviewed by Tina - Central on March 5, 2013 | 1 comment

On the trail of the Storm King
A review of Storm Kings: The Untold History of America’s First Storm Chasers by Lee Sandlin

It is hard to believe now, as snow swirls outside and plows ply the streets (or not), that in a few short weeks the sirens will start again. Every Midwesterner knows its keening sound, a reminder that tornado season is upon us once again. Tornadoes remain something of an enigma today, even as technology and YouTube videos make the prediction and experience of storms more routine. But our knowledge of tornados is a very recent phenomenon, as Lee Sandlin chronicles in Storm Kings: The Untold ...read more

Reviewed by Katie H. on March 4, 2013 | 0 comments

There are no words
A review of Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole

 Very rarely does a title totally sum up a book, but for Henry Cole's Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad, that's the case--literally! When I picked up this picture book, I had no idea that those words would be the only ones I would read until the (fascinating) author's note at the very end. But, far from being disappointed, I was moved and haunted by my time with Unspoken. The gorgeous charcoal illustrations remind me strongly of the wonderful inventions of author and ...read more

Reviewed by Abby on March 1, 2013 | 0 comments

Silent no more
A review of The Perfect Ghost by Linda Barnes

 Though she'd already been writing for while, Linda Barnes broke out in the late 80s when she became part of the wave of women mystery writers that included Marcia Muller, ...read more

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

Don't eat that!
A review of Peanut by Ayun Halliday

 Starting a new high school is not easy. Starting a new high school under false pretenses is even harder. Starting a new high school while faking a peanut allergy? Oh, that's not going to end well. Sadie Wildhack fakes a peanut allergy in order to make friends at her new high school and it totally backfires. Even though peanut allergies may be life threatening, they're just not glamorous enough to sway jaded high school students into providing a)sympathy b)respect c)friendship. Or are they? The ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on February 27, 2013 | 0 comments

Best of other worlds
Nebula Award Nominees Announced by

Nominees have been announced for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards. Winners will be announced in May. There are several familiar names in the group. Though I haven't yet read their current nominated books, I've really loved earlier books by N. K. Jemisin and Mary Robinette Kowal. And Tina Connolly has been on my radar for a while now so I'm going to move that book up in my TBR list. Novel  ...read more

Reviewed by Jane J - Central on February 26, 2013 | 0 comments

“The party, the party, she is always right”
A review of The Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956 by Anne Apple Applebaum

 As I read Anne Applebaum’s scrupulously researched and weighty Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1944-1956, I tried to figure out how a book covering such a bleak, hopeless period in history could be such a compelling read. To say that Iron Curtain is possibly the most depressing book I’ve read would be a fairly accurate statement (although Elie Wiesel’s Night and Joyce Carol Oates’ We Were the Mulvaneys come fairly close).  Drawing on ...read more

Reviewed by Katie H. on February 25, 2013 | 0 comments

Lessons from an elephant
A review of Masterwork of a Painting Elephant by Michelle Cuevas

 Birch, a former circus elephant, has been raising Pigeon Jones since he was abandoned by his parents. While the two live a happy life together, they both want more -- Pigeon to know about his parents and Birch to gain fame as an artist and find his lost love. Beautiful storytelling combines the wisdom of Pooh, experiences of The Little Prince, and the lessons of Aesop all  into one. This one's not just for children. ...read more

Reviewed by Jody on February 22, 2013 | 0 comments

Little ballerinas with big troubles
A review of The Painted Girls by Cathy Marie Buchanan

 Ballerinas.  Belle époque Paris.  Poverty.  Prostitution.  Edward Degas.  Sisterhood.  Painted girls. Cathy Marie Buchanan lovingly creates a portrait of what life might have been like for Marie van Goethem, the subject of Edward Degas's sculpture Little Dancer Aged Fourteen.  Marie and her sisters struggle to subsist while dancing and performing at the Paris ...read more

Reviewed by Molly - Central on February 21, 2013 | 0 comments

Looking forward to love
Forthcoming New Romance Titles

Hey all you romance readers out there, here's a heads up on some upcoming romances to keep an eye out for. I just finished perusing the spring announcements in Publishers Weekly. There are a few on the Top 10 list that I'm putting on my own to read list. Some are by old favorites authors and some ...read more

Reviewed by Kathy K. - Central on February 20, 2013 | 0 comments
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