MADreads Reviews

Are biographies your cup of tea? Then check the annual longlist of best biographies.

I read The Raven Scholar in January and it was my first 5-star book of the year.

I predict this book will be the next sensation.  Everyone is going to be talking about it.  It's about a bloodthirsty governess named Winifred Notty and the havoc she wrecks upon her employers, the esteemed Pounds family of Ensor House in Grim Wolds, England.  I should clarify that the murderous mayhem is not limited to Ensor House.  Really, nothing within England is safe with Miss Notty around.  She is a character who will not be contained by man or beast or ghost or plague.

In his debut novel Nick Medina blends mystery, suspense and a touch of supernatural horror in a story that focuses on the disappearance of indigenous women. At the heart of the story is Anna Horn who is finishing high school and trying to figure out her place on the rez and in her tribe. While grappling with her own struggles, and feeling haunted by a entity of ancient myth, Anna is forced to reckon with a larger battle. Women on the reservation are going missing and no one seems to care. It becomes personal, and more immediate, when two women in Anna's life are lost.

Booklist puts out many different top 10 annual lists.

A young girl gains courage and confidence from her friendly pup in Just Like Millie by Lauren Castillo (Candlewick Press, 2024). The quiet protagonist is reluctant to leave the cozy and safe apartment she shares with her mom. The big city feels too big and too full of people. Her mom encourages her to go to the park, meet new neighbors, and visit a storytime. These all feel hard and scary. Mid-story we see the mom and daughter visit an animal shelter and choose a small pup named Millie.

What’s your reading mood? Do you want your books to be an escape from the real world -- a literary hug of reassurance?

I've loved everything I've read by Marston and The Fourth Consort doesn't break that pattern.

It was the oysters that first tipped off the Queen.

A heroine who just wants to read and works in a bookstore? How is that not going to be added to my tbr list? But books that are added to my list are often bumped by the next items added. Thus we have The Bookish Life of Nina Hill added to my list a few years ago and only now, at last, happily read.

Everybody’s talking about borders these days. Whether it’s the US southern border, Ukraine’s boundaries, or seemingly any square inch in the Middle East, it’s in the news. But at least there’s the comfort that borders have been carefully and thoughtfully drawn, and based on logic considering geographical, ethnic and political aspects.

Nope.

After eight years on a prison planet, for a crime they did commit - to be fair, Edie Morikawa, thief and con artist, gets out and is determined to live the straight and narrow life. First challenge? Getting a ship off the planet. And waiting for Edie is Angel Huang. Angel is the person who sold them out and left them to their fate on the icy prison planet. But transportation off the rock aren't plentiful and Edie knows that they can accept the ride and still reject Angel's plan for one more big score.

Every month there are new titles purchased for the Too Good to Miss collections at our libraries. If you're not familiar with TGTM (as we call it here in library-world), it's a special collection of popular books that are truly too good to miss. Some are new and popular titles, others are older titles that might not have had as much media attention as a bestseller or celebrity book club selection but are still great reads that deserve another look.

Neurodiverse thirteen-year-old Frankie has more than her share of challenges. She is learning to cope with multiple issues and manage her impulses. Meanwhile, Frankie’s twin sister, Tess, is handling the challenges of having a neurodiverse sibling.

"To the world, they were a scandal. To each other, an obsession."

That's the first line of the blurb for this epic love story that takes it's inspiration from Wuthering Heights. Here instead of wandering the moors, the lovers glide across the ice in the competitive (some would say cut-throat) world of Olympic-level ice dancing.

I fully admit that a large reason for why I read the book that came before this one, The Spellshop (reviewed here), was because the cover was so gorgeous. This second one, set in this same world, has an equally gorgeous cover, but I can safely say that my choice to read this time was because of the enjoyment I had with the first book. And equally safe to say, I loved this even more than the first.

The six realistic stories in this slim collection follow 10-year-old twins Ash and Mel and their younger brother Calvin. With carefully chosen and decodable words, this is a great option for both beginning readers and emerging readers looking to hone their skills. A list of content words (words that enhance the story but may not yet be decodable by all readers) is included at the beginning, and rich vocabulary words are bolded and defined in the text. And did I mention that the stories are fun and relatable?