http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads Book news and reviews from Madison Public Library Tue, 06 Jan 2009 19:02:44 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en How far away is our society from televising survival games that culminate in the last man standing?  Watch a little cable TV, and you'll quickly realize that depravity and debauchery abounds and that sanctioned killing (voluntary of course, just sign here on the dotted line) can't be far off.  Suzanne ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/01/06/survivor-girl/ Susanne Alleyn has written two books so far in her series set in post-revolutionary France featuring police agent and investigator Aristide Ravel.  In a world turned upside down with "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" gone bad and with Madame Guillotine waiting around the corner, trust and confidence in one's fellow citizens is ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/01/05/intricate-and-detailed/ Every so often, newspapers and television reports will break stories revealing shocking hazing at college fraternities or reports of sexual assults on campus, prompting outrage, questions and calls for reform.  On a lesser level, parents worry about 'hookup' cultures among college-aged men, or shake their heads in disbelief when confronted ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2009/01/02/where-the-guys-are/ As a heavy user of the Overdrive audiobook collection, I am always checking the listings for good books to download, and the book The Soloist: A Lost Dream, An Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music, by Steve Lopez, definitely fits the criteria.  ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/30/soon-to-be-a-major-motion-picture/ - these are the well-known lyrics of the folk song Scarborough Fair.  Nancy Werlin weaves the tasks featured in a variation of verse two of the song into the suspenseful plot of Impossible.  Seventeen-year-old Lucy Scarborough must break the curse of the Elfin Knight by completing the following: make ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/29/parsley-sage-rosemary-and-thyme/ Alan's War: The Memories of G.I. Alan Cope is an engaging and unusual war memoir. It is the story about a military experience that caused a boy to become a man -- a long and sometimes surreal process. But there are no dramatic combat scenes or brutal battles, instead ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/26/war-its-like-this/ If I was going to Hawaii for a January getaway (wishful thinking) I probably wouldn't lug along Wally Lamb's new 740-page novel The Hour I First Believed for the ride. However if you're trapped by a Wisconsin snowstorm for a few days (more realistic thinking) this might be one to ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/26/dont-bring-this-one-on-the-plane/ Michael Pollan's recent bestseller The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals is one of those scary looking, thick nonfiction books. You know the kind: you're quite proud of yourself when you checkout or buy this big, hefty book because it's going to make you smarter, but then ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/23/the-best-non-cookbook-food-book-of-2008/ It's not often that I don't finish a book. But I put this one down one day and never got back to it. I wanted to like it. I've read some of Edwidge Danticat's fiction and loved her lyrical language and her sense of place. But ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/22/sister-i-couldnt-finish/ The time when everyone publishes an end-of-the-year list. If the New York Times can do it, why not me? I've really only been keeping track of my reading since July 1, so here are many of the books I've read since then. Brown, Wayne. Landscape with Heron. Insightful vignettes, newspaper columns, ... http://www.madisonpubliclibrary.org/madreads/index.php/2008/12/21/its-the-most-wonderful-time-of-the-year/