http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads Book news and reviews from Madison Public Library Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:15:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Chill October night A vampire writes in non-verse A nip in the air? How do you like my haiku? I felt compelled to write it only because it seems appropriate to at least try to use the form when reviewing a book written in haiku.  Vampire Haiku by Ryan Mecum, uses the form ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/11/05/bloody-poet/ If you like big rambly family stories, Sing Them Home by Stephanie Kallos is just that.  It takes place in Emlyn Springs, Nebraska, a town of people of Welsh descent, where the Jones family lives - a place smack dab in the middle of tornado country.  As a matter of fact, ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/11/04/what-the-wind-can-do/ Alexia Tarabotti is a hopeless case.  Half-Italian, outspoken and--at the advanced age of 25--too old for marriage, she's hardly presentable in fashionable Victorian society.  Of course, it doesn't help Alexia's tactfulness that she's entirely soulless, a preternatural being in a London filled with werewolves, vampires and ghosts living side-by-side with ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/11/03/to-protect-queen-and-treacle-tart/ Well, I’m not 100% sure about that, but I can tell you which books at the Madison Public Library have been checked out the most times over the last 15 years.  Our library automation department can run these really cool reports that tell us which books might need to be ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/30/whats-everyone-really-reading-in-madison/ Another attention-grabbing, yet misleading review title, the book is not (entirely) about monkey prostitution, but I did want to see if I could coax yet another comment out of Gerard. Super Freakonomics : Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance is Steven D. Levitt and Stephen ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/29/teaching-prostitution-to-monkeys/ Want to read a scary book?  How would it be if it was set in small town Maine?  Sounds familiar?  Well you're wrong, it's not this guy. It's a couple of books written by someone relatively new to the horror scene, Sarah Langan. The Keeper & The Missing both take place ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/28/halloween-spooky-spectacular/ Sometimes you really do need to give a book a little more time.   The prologue of Confections of a Closet Master Baker: One Woman's Sweet Journey from Unhappy Hollywood Executive to Contented Country Baker by Gesine Bullock-Prado really lost me.  I understand that the author was trying to set up ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/26/what-exactly-is-a-krampus-id-rather-read-about-croissants/ This book made me pretty angry. It's not that I disagree with Jessica Valenti's arguments in The Purity Myth:  How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women.  It just bothers me that women, teenagers, and even younger girls are being manipulated and actively lied to by their parents, teachers and ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/23/virgins-and-lesser-humans/ Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham looks initially imposing.  A chick lit novel at over 600 pages?  A reader could be forgiven for thinking they just don't have the time.  Fear not, fans of Bridget Jones, this tome is an epistolary novel written in - mostly short - emails to and ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/22/shes-got-mail/ After working in the library business for awhile I noticed several types of readers.  Avid (first on holds list when books are ordered) Fairweather (everyone is reading this book so I should be too) Picky (I ONLY read romance) and the ones that I'm writing this review for, the Book Groupers. ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/10/21/perfect-for-the-hip-and-trendy-wine-drinking-book-group/