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MADreads

Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

In the blink of an eye

Cover of How to Walk Away
A review of How to Walk Away by Katheine Center

It’s not often that the best and worst day in your life is one and the same, but for Margaret Jacobsen the protagonist and narrator in this remarkable novel it is. To achieve your dream job and a proposal by the man you adore, makes her believe that a wonderful picture-perfect life is just around the corner. But in one moment all of that is shattered as she finds herself at the beginning of a very different reality.  All of which starts when Margaret wakes up in a hospital and slowly learns how much has changed.

May 8, 2019

Children in Chennai

Cover of The Bridge Home
A review of The Bridge Home by Padma Venkatraman
Eleven year old Viji and her younger sister Rukku flee their abusive father and arrive in Chennai (India) all alone.  Life on the streets is harsh and dangerous.  The girls form a friendship with two boys living in similar circumstances.  With Muthu and Arul, they make a shelter on an abandoned bridge.  Together, the four children look for work, share resources, and become a family to each other.  They even adopt a stray dog - Kutti, the best dog ever.  One night they are forced from their bridge and take up shelter in a cemetery.  There Rukku and Muthu fall ill.
May 6, 2019

True crime?

Cover of Conviction
A review of Conviction by Denise Mina

Anna McDonald has no idea of the double whammy that's about to hit her as she starts her day in the normal fashion; getting the kids lunches and clothing ready for school while starting a new true crime podcast. The first blow comes as she listens to the opening segment of the podcast and realizes that the true crime that's being narrated features a former friend who she is now learning is dead and may have taken his family with him on a sunken yacht in the Mediterranean.

May 1, 2019

Postmodern Hansel and Gretel

Cover of Gingerbread: A Novel
A review of Gingerbread: A Novel by Helen Oyeyemi

Helen Oyeyemi's Gingerbread is the story of three women, Margot, Harriet and Perdita Lee, how their lives intertwine with the Kerchevals, a wealthy family of landowners in the fictional country of Druhástrana, and a legacy recipe for gingerbread. It's hard to put into words all of the magic that's present in this novel. I'll tell you one thing: it was impossible for me to read this book without craving gingerbread something fierce.

Apr 29, 2019

Sweet Anticipation for May 2019

Sweet Anticipation May graphic
New Titles

--It’s a very good month to be a Wisconsin author. This May sees the release of three titles with ties to the Badger State. Longtime local favorite Jennifer Chiaverini continues to explore the lives of real women through a historical fiction lens with Resistance Women. Her central character, Mildred Fish-Harnack, was raised in Milwaukee before moving to Germany where she worked as a spy against the Nazis. It’s on shelves mid-month. Madison-based author Kelly Harms scored recent hits with The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay and The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane.

Apr 24, 2019

Keep an eye on the cat

Cover of Looker: A Novel
A review of Looker: A Novel by Laura Sims

Sometimes you're reading a book about a person who is stalking their neighbor and you think, huh. That's a little creepy. And then it might keep you up at night wondering if you've locked the doors. And then you double check on the whereabouts of your pet. And you realize you should not read scary books before bed. This is not a healthy way to live!

Apr 18, 2019

I Talk to You, and You Talk to Me

Cover of Baby Talk
A review of Baby Talk by Stella Blackstone

This book is full of close-ups of a variety of baby/parent experiences – with babies and parents playing, singing, cuddling, holding, reading and more.  The text is so simple, yet it reveals so much about quality time with baby and how to help baby develop language skills and learn about what’s known as the “serve and return” of conversation. “I love you, and you love me. I talk to you, and you talk to me.”  This is definitely a highly recommended choice.

Apr 11, 2019

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