MADreads

The Wisconsin Book Festival is pretty good at predicting the best books of the year! If you got to see some of these authors during the Fall Celebration or during standalone book events in 2024, maybe you already knew you were in the presence of greatness.

All her life Lady Imogen Loveless has been told she's "too much". And given her interest in blowing things up and lack of interest in any of the things a "real" lady does, she's convinced that she'll always live up to her name and remain single. But that fact doesn't stop her from truly liking (and lusting after) Scotland Yard inspector, Thomas Peck. For his lights, while Tommy may at times be very frustrated by Imogen, he's also totally fascinated by her. The only way in which she's "too much", as far as he's concerned, is in her station - she's an aristocrat and he a commoner.

Kaveri Murthy has recently joined her doctor husband, Ramu, in Bangalore in 1921 India. And while Kaveri is happy with her new husband, she's chafing a bit under the watchful eye of her new mother-in-law and her expectations of what a "good" wife should be. Kaveri is smart and has dreams of continuing her education, but knows that much will depend on what her husband may allow. When Kaveri witnesses strange interactions at the club and a murder occurs directly after? Kaveri is determined to investigate.

We've all got them. Books we think will make us smarter but that are just a bit too daunting every time you go to pick them up and read. Mine in recent times has been Yuval Harari's Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. I placed it on hold, had the hold come in, checked it out and then returned it unread. I think that probably happened a couple of times.