MADreads
A review of
Misfit City Vol. 1
by
Kirsten
Smith
This graphic novel series is set in Cannon Cove, where a popular adventure movie called The Gloomies was filmed in the 1980s. Decades later, fans of the movie continue to visit and annoy the residents who cater to the tourism with mild resentment. Then a cool group of teen "misfits" who begrudgingly live in the sleepy coastal town discover something unexpected, mysterious and adventurous: a pirate map belonging to the legendary Black Mary!
Wilder, Macy, Dot, Karma and Ed get into
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Reviewed by Molly - Central on
April 23, 2018
A review of
The Call
by
Yannick
Murphy
The Call is an elegantly simple (or simply elegant) little novel. The simple arises out of the structure the author uses to tell her story. Each journal like entry begins with the Call, followed by the Action, the Result, What the kids said when I got home, What my wife cooked for dinner, etc. The elegant develops as each journal entry deepens the characterizations and the story until you feel like you live in the cozy, creaking house with them.
David Appleton is a large animal vet in
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Reviewed by Jane J on
April 19, 2018
New Titles
Winter may be retaining its grip on us with white knuckle intensity, but yet another sign of spring is here with the appearance in LINKCat of May’s big titles. And what a lot of titles there are. To the highlights:
--Nonfiction readers are in luck with an embarrassment of choices come May. Local favorite Michael Pollan delves deep into the science of LSD, magic mushrooms and other psychedelic drugs in How to Change Your Mind, a mind-bending blend of science, medicine, history and
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Reviewed by Katie H. on
April 18, 2018
A review of
Murder on Black Swan Lane
by
Andrea
Penrose
A very promising beginning to a new series set in Regency London. The rise of science...the lure of alchemy...ghastly murder in a church...an Earl a suspect! From the backstreets of the stews to club of the aristocracy the reader is lured into an unexpected conspiracy and danger. For readers who like Amanda Quick or the Sarah Tolerance series by Madeleine Robins (
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Reviewed by Liz - Sequoya on
April 17, 2018
A review of
It's Not Like it's a Secret
by
Misa
Sugira
I tried it, and I liked it! I’m not usually into angsty teen romance novels, but Sugiura provides plenty of layers to this one. Sana is discovering her sexual identity (lesbian), she is discovering her father’s infidelity (he is having an affair of sorts), and at the same time she is struggling with her peers’ racism (she is of Japanese descent), and her own racism (she falls for a Latina girl at her high school and stumbles with her own preconceived beliefs). All of this is a lot for a coming
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Reviewed by Karen on
April 13, 2018
A review of
The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family from a Lifetime of Clutter
by
Margareta
Magnusson
The title of this book might put you off, but the topic is real and it is important. There is a kind of decluttering in Sweden called dostadning. Do means "death" and stadning means "cleaning." The author, Margareta Magnusson, suggests ways in which we can prepare our homes and possessions to make the most of them while we are still living and to ease the burden on others after we have died. She promotes minimalist living and choosing clothing, furniture and artifacts with care, especially as
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Reviewed by Molly - Central on
April 12, 2018
A review of
Hello Stranger
by
Lisa
Kleypas
In her latest in the Ravenals series, Kleypas has loosely based the heroine on a real historical figure, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, the first (and only, for many years) female doctor in England. Kleypas' Dr. Garrett Gibson is also the lone female physician of her time and she does work in London and those are broadly the only things they have in common.
Though Garrett's skills are in evidence throughout the novel, this is a romance, so it's not really about that. On her way home one night
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Reviewed by Jane J on
April 10, 2018
A review of
Bear & Hare, Where’s Bear?
by
Emily
Gravett
The Bear & Hare books are such fun to share with young readers! Toddlers and preschoolers will enjoy the humor and charm of each one – and you will, too! To practice counting and have a first introduction to hide-and-seek, check out Bear & Hare, Where’s Bear? (Simon & Schuster, 2016). The pacing is perfect – and the illustrations are very silly. Readers get to practice counting from 1 to 10 several times as bear and hare take turns hiding. When Hare can’t find Bear at the very end,
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Reviewed by Tracy on
April 6, 2018
A review of
Wolf in the Snow
by
Matthew
Cordell
Winner of the coveted 2018 Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children, Wolf in the Snow artistically explores themes of moving beyond fear and mistrust of “the other” to a place of caring and helping. Cordell’s watercolor illustrations depict a little girl and a wolf cub who find each other in a blizzard that renders each of them lost
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Reviewed by Karen on
April 5, 2018
A review of
Game, Set, Match: Billie Jean King and the Revolution in Women’s Sports
by
Susan
Ware
Unusually for me, I was reading two non-fiction books concurrently, this one and The Taste of Empire. Like that one, this one good and interesting. Yes, it is about Billie Jean King but it is more than that. The author is looking at King's rise to the top of "women's" tennis, the ebb and flow of the feminist movement, and the impact of Title IX funding on sports, especially women's sports. Back when I was growing up in the 50’s and 60’s there were no organized sports for females. I was
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Reviewed by Liz - Sequoya on
April 3, 2018
