Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors
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.
The end of the year is closing in upon us, and so too is the publishing year. But there are still plenty of great titles coming to shelves this fall, so let’s get to the highlights:
If you’ve read the wonderful children’s novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian you know the PG version of Alexie’s life story growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation in Wellpinit, Washington. You Don’t Have to Say You Love Me is the adult version, and it’s beautiful, haunting, devastating, and raw. When his mother Lillian died in 2015 he began writing this book. She was a complex woman: brilliant, an amazing quilter, cruel at times, and damaged by growing up Native in these United States. Unlike her son, she did not attain her dreams. I k
Billed as a counting book, Cyrus brings much more to this artful picture book. We count bricks by ones, fives, tens and twenties. Readers also learn how bricks and mortar are made, and are treated to the math, science, design and artistry involved in bricklaying. The rhyming text invites repeated read-alouds. And the photo-realistic illustrations are worth multiple visits as well, with a racially diverse cast of characters that range in age from children to grandparents, all sporting hardhats and coveralls and fully involved in the building.
Going back over time, I calculate that I've read and written about at least six different cat comics or children's graphic novel series on MADreads. This does not include a childhood spent reading Garfield. This does not include my recent (personal) purchasing and reading of the new "Grumpy Cat/Garfield" comic series. Who knew that Grumpy Cat and Garfield knew each other?!?!? It's an amazing world!! I guess what I'm trying to say is that there's a wealth of this kind of material out there and I celebrate it. All of it.
