MADreads Reviews

Retired United States Navy Admiral William H. McRaven offers the most practical advice. Take it. Follow it. Make it your own. The Navy SEAL says so. 

So many exciting twist and turns! An endearing adventure all the way to the end. I was awed at the varied facets the main character endured from the very beginning, like witnessing her mother's detainment after her first flight to the United States to her less than celebratory introduction to meeting her new family members. I enjoyed her innocence of learning Western culture through the eyes of her cousins and new friends.

Antoinetter Portis' book Now is a beautiful and poignant look at childhood and all of its favorite things. Childhood is about discovering new favorite things, often that change daily and grown-ups will smile at the familiar shift from one favorite to the next like, "This is my favorite song, because it's the one I am singing." But to me this book is a light handed introduction to mindfulness and a guide to living in the moment.

Once again, I find myself captivated by a book that begins with a sad and messed up family, careens through tragedy and ends up with glimmers of light at the end of the tunnel.

The world had been pretty dark and depressing lately (especially if you're a woman) which has made me look for truly heroic characters in the books I'm reading. Happily for me K. B. Wagers' third in the Indranan War trilogy came out recently and I could once again dive into the adventures of Hail Bristol and her loyal band of supporters who are trying to save the empire.

Brunonia Barry is back with another novel set in Salem with some crossover characters from The Lace Reader and The Map of True Places.

Haggis (a Scottish Terrier) and Tank (a Great Dane) are two very imaginative doggy friends.  They spend most of their time in a back yard, but sometimes they go on adventures in their minds.  In “All Paws on Deck” Tank decides to deck out their little red wagon as a pirate ship.  They sail off into a land of make-believe and have many adventures together!  The format for this book falls right between graphic novel (there are lots of full-color illustrations with speech bubbles) and chapter book (there are also blocks of text, though never more than a quarter of the space on a page is filled

This is the time of year for top 10 lists.  Booklist puts out various top 10 lists throughout the year, including Top 10 Sci-Tech: 2017.  Are you looking for a good science or technology book to read?  Then check ou the below titles.  They cover a wide range of topics including space, animals, microbes, techology, and the universe.

Compared to the bustling streets of 1920s Bombay, the secluded zenana of an observant Muslim household would seem the least likely site for a murder. Yet for the three newly widowed wives of a wealthy factory owner, simply keeping men out does nothing to keep motives and means of killing from lurking among them.

What was the last book you read that just made you happy? If one doesn't immediately pop into your head, I suggest checking out In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan. Though it started a little slow for me, pretty soon I was so in love with the characters and so invested in them that I didn't want it to end.

Mary Balogh is a hit or miss author for me. I always admire her writing, but she doesn't always grab me emotionally. Her newest is definitely a hit. A lovely, warm story that strikes all the right notes.

Though the big weekend of Wisconsin Book Festival events is past, the Book Fest goes on year round. Next up is a visit from the incredible Alexander McCall Smith. He's here to talk about the latest in the Precious Ramotswe series, The House of Unexpected Sisters:

Listen Slowly by Thanhha Lai, audio edition Harper Collins Audio, 2015 read by Lulu Lam

Lady Arianna Hadley has led a colorful, and hard, life because of the choices her father made. After his murder Arianna takes on a disguise and the role of French chef in an aristocratic household, so she can support herself. Her specialty is making incredible creations from the newest food fad in Regency England, chocolate. Her precarious existence is threatened when the Prince Regent takes ill after consuming one of her desserts.

Written by Iranian-American author and filmmaker Laleh Khadivi, A Good Country is an unnerving, yet somehow beautiful, slow burn of a novel. Khadivi’s prose has a loose and languid long-windedness -- where description and dialog bleed together -- that mimics with stunning naturalism the druggy bleariness of its main character’s day-to-day existence.

Nicole Georges had a messed up childhood with a mom who didn’t parent very well and a drunk step-dad who was cruel to her gerbil. Nicole loved animals and had a whole menagerie, but like her mom, she didn’t give her charges what they needed most, and they suffered. As a teenager she adopted Beija, a sharpei/corgi mix, to give to her boyfriend in an attempt to heal his unhappy past. Unsurprisingly his parents didn’t go along with the plan. So Nicole was stuck with  Beija, who was prickly, growly, and disliked men and children.

The National Book Award was established in 1950. It is an American literary prize administered by the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization. Every year, the Foundation selects a total of twenty Judges, including five in each of the four Award categories: Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and Young People’s Literature. First there is a long list, then a finalist list, and then the winners for each category are announced in November.

I've seen the movie Chicago - which is about the fictional Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly who get away with murder - and had been aware that it was based on real goings-on in 1920's Chicago.

Let’s face it; some kids prefer to read non-fiction. These are the kids who are fascinated with almanacs and world records books. If you’ve got one of these kids in your house, check out the new DK findout! non-fiction series for kids. Aimed at ages eight to twelve, the series titles cover high-interest topics and each installment includes quizzes, photographs, illustrations, and sidebars with expanded explanations, fast facts and interviews with experts.

Wendy Davies is driving along a lake road with her two younger brothers Michael and John when their car skids off a bridge and into the water. One of Wendy's brothers is missing after the accident - he's just plain vanished.  \Did Michael survive the crash and wander away? Has he drowned in the lake? Wendy blames herself for the accident. Her family is in crisis. It's all confusing and impossible to come to terms with. What follows is the torturous response to the accident:  the journal that Wendy keeps for her therapist.