MADreads

Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

Her moment to shine

Cover of The Other Bennet Sister
A review of The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

Jane Austen (like Arthur Conan Doyle) has had her books and characters re-imagined more times then I could possibly count. And for me I think, the retellings and re-imaginings of Jane Austen's books and characters have more often been a miss then hit. The Other Bennet Sister is that rare thing for me, not only a hit, but one that has knocked it out of the park. The titular sister is the one most often overlooked, middle-sister Mary. Granted I've always had a soft spot for the socially awkward, stern Mary, so to say I was sympathetic from the start is fair.

Posted by Jane J on Feb 12, 2024

A Party of Honors

Cover of There Was a Party for Lang
A review of There Was a Party for Langston: King o’ Letters by Jason Reynolds
Jerome Pumphrey & Jarrett Pumphery

A new book about an extraordinary word-maker, There Was a Party for Langston: King o’ Letters by Jason Reynolds, brings history to life with poetic language and colorful stamped illustrations. Inspired by a photo of poets Maya Angelou and Amiri Baraka dancing (boogying!) at a party in honor of Langston Hughes, this book captures the creativity of Hughes and his impact on other artists and writers. This legendary party was “A fancy-foot, get-down, all-out bash” and SO GLORIOUS! Because everyone felt the power of Langston’s words.

Posted by Tracy on Feb 9, 2024

Not as they seem

Cover of No One Will Miss Her
A review of No One Will Miss Her by Kat Rosenfield

Lizzie Oullette has been found dead and no one in her rural Maine town seems to care. It's only when it becomes clear that her husband Dwayne is the one who likely murdered her that people start to show an interest. Dwayne was an admired member of the community until he hooked up with town outcast Lizzie. So if he did kill her? Maybe it's for the best. At least that's what investigator Ian Bird is able to glean from the townsfolk. That and somehow Lizzie's death is connected to a Adrienne Richards, a glamorous blonde Instagram influencer who'd been renting a house from Lizzie.

Posted by Jane J on Feb 7, 2024

Sensory delight

Cover of Palace of the Drowned
A review of Palace of the Drowned by Christine Mangan

Christine Mangan's first novel Tangerine had Patricia Highsmith vibes. Fair commentary. A description even more true I'd say in this, her sophomore effort in which author Frances "Frankie" Croy travels to Venice to lick her wounds and meets an engaging young woman who inserts herself into Frankie's life with dire results.

Posted by Jane J on Jan 30, 2024

How do you tell a challenging story?

Cover of An American Story
A review of An American Story by Kwame Alexander
Dare Coulter

An American Story, illustrated by Dare Coulter and written by Kwame Alexander, is the winner of the 2024 Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award for outstanding illustrations by an African American artist.

In the author's note, Alexander shares that he wrote this book after realizing that his daughter's teacher had a fear of teaching kids about slavery- she had never been taught how.

This American story opens with the question, "How do you tell a story that starts in Africa and ends in horror?"

Posted by Holly SP on Jan 26, 2024

A poetic life

Cover of In Every Life
A review of In Every Life by Marla Frazee

Beaming with lightness and brightness, Marla Frazee’s In Every Life shows the great expanse of human experience. With sparse and lyrical text, the book reads like a poem or song. The illustrations show a wide array of people in soft vignettes, along with wordless double-paged spreads. Quietly spectacular scenes show hikers voyaging up a mountain, an adult and child looking out at an expanse of shoreline, and a trio of kids enjoying a windy and flowery hilltop.

Posted by Tracy on Jan 25, 2024

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