MADreads Reviews

How often are two siblings really good at the same thing? There’s Venus and Serena Williams, Orville and Wilbur Wright, the Bronte sisters... it’s not unheard of, but it’s not super common either. Anyway, after reading An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green, I would definitely add John and Hank Green to the list of talented siblings. I’ve been a John Green fan for a long time and I knew that he and his brother Hank made great YouTube videos, but I didn’t have super high expectations for Hank’s debut novel.

Have you ever had a truly special pet? Not just a pet that you love and care for, but a pet who profoundly changes you? Naturalist and National Book Award finalist Sy Montgomery refers to "a lifetime dog" even though she's known three or four of these and many more animals that she considers notable. I, too, have had three of these "lifetime" pets in my world, plus a few that were honorable mention. 

Veronica Speedwell and her cantankerous companion Stoker return in their fourth adventure. Veronica is just back in England after a lengthy butterfly hunting trip abroad. She'd been using the time away to try and figure out where her feelings stand in regard to Stoker but still hasn't figured anything out. So an invitation from Stoker's brother, Tiberius, to attend a house party at the estate of Lord Malcolm Romilly, which is on an island off the coast of Cornwall, seems just the ticket to distract her.

Wisconsin Book Festival Event
Central Library - Madison Room
November 7th, 7 pm

Looking for something that will scare your socks off? 

Charlotte Gorman and her twin Ginny could not be more different. Where Charlotte favors Harry Potter t-shirts and jeans, Ginny wouldn't be caught out in public (or on her Instagram feed) in anything less then full makeup and fashion-forward outfits. And where Charlotte is an elementary school librarian, Ginny is a beauty pageant professional. And it's at Ginny's latest pageant, Miss American Treasure, where their two disparate lives collide.

Sheets combines gently confused spookiness with Halloween past and present in an uplifting tale of friendship and acceptance.

The Festival is almost here!

The four-day festival will take place October 11-14, 2018, in and around Madison Public Library’s Central Library in downtown Madison, Wisconsin. 

There are so many compelling stories exploring Hispanic heritage in its many forms, but this is one that I've read more than once and learned a lot each time.

Imagine your grandmother was as big as J. K. Rowling and had written the number one fantasy series of all time - with all the fandom that that entails. Now imagine the first book in that series is being made into a movie, which has pushed the fandom into an even more frenzied state. And though you've tried your hardest to distance yourself from everything to do with the books, you're now being forced to join the set of the movie being made. That's just where Iris Thorne finds herself. Her grandmother, M. E.

In this first of a series Sonnier offers a vibrant and fast-moving tale that melds steampunk and magic to great effect. Arabella is the seventh daughter of the seventh daughter of England's most powerful family of witches. As such she was expected to do great things. But Arabella has aged past the point where her powers should have been revealed with nary a spark of talent showing, much to the dismay of her mother and delight of some of her more competitive sisters.

Everyone’s favorite boy wizard is turning twenty this year! Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone first hit shelves in 1997, sparking a cultural phenomenon that’s still going strong. To celebrate, Overdrive is offering free access to the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone ebook between August 27 and September 10.  Enjoy reconnecting with favorite characters or take the opportunity to introduce a new generation to the series.

A young blacksmith's apprentice named Greta discovers a lost tea dragon at the market and uncovers the forgotten world of the Tea Dragon Society. The book follows a year of seasons starting with spring and the developing friendships between Greta, the tea dragon masters, Hesekiel and Erik, and a mysterious and shy girl named Minette.

This book is an interesting view on immortality and complete harmony. Centuries into the future, anything that brought despair has been eliminated - government, war, illness, famine, etc. This leaves life almost limitless. The only people who can kill are in the Scythe Legion. Offending a Scythe leads to certain death. However, the main character, Citra, is taken to be an apprentice Scythe. This novel creates a very realistic world, if the world was a perfect, idealistic, utopia.

I am a proud Gen X-er and the 1995 film Empire Records is part of my lexicon. This graphic novel replicates the independent record store vibe, the staff is all female and it's set in 1998, so for me, it's the coolest. It's also about a girl fight club hiding underneath the record store. And the girl vigilantes must save missing rock stars. Like I said. The coolest.

Really smart, funny, feminist, anti-capitalist satire about what it's like to be a teen girl (and not necessarily just a cis/straight/able-bodied and/or white teen girl).

Prince Sebastian has a secret.  He likes to wear dresses.  Frances is his talented dressmaker and best friend and one of only two people who know his truth. 

I will gladly read the telephone book if Rainbow Rowell writes it, so of course I am going to read her new continuation of the comic book series Runaways.

This is a beautiful, quiet book about grief and friendship and recognizing when the people you love are broken. It's also about the power of sticking with those close to you until they are on the road to healing.