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Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

The language in this book shocked me and I grew up listening to George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy

Cover of Dear Girls: Intimate Tales
A review of Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, and Advice for Living Your Best Life by Ali Wong

This book is written as an advice letter from comedian and Hollywood star Ali Wong to her daughters to read one day, presumably after they are grown, because holy smokes, it is explicit. This is described as "unfiltered" in the book blurb. Like I wrote in the title to this review, I grew up listening to George Carlin, Richard Pryor and Eddie Murphy (one of Ali Wong's favorite comics and someone she also listened to as a kid). If you don't know who these comedians are and/or think they are old fuddy-duddies, then you are the perfect demographic for Ali Wong.

Mar 10, 2020

More than she bargained for

Cover of A Front Page Affair
A review of A Front Page Affair by Radha Vatsal

The Lusitania has recently been sunk. World War I is ongoing and the United States is trying to stay neutral. That is the setting for a new historical mystery set in 1915 New York City. The main character of A Front Page Affair is a privileged young woman journalist who has started working at the New York Sentinel. Capability Weeks, aka Kitty, works for the Ladies page editor as an apprentice. Her first assignment is to cover a society party, the Independence Day gala north of the city. At the party a man she has interviewed has been shot and killed.

Mar 3, 2020

OK nihilist

Cover of Fathers and Sons
A review of Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev

In 2020, we have boomers vs. millennials, at least according to every other clickbait article and meme on the internet (not to mention my uncle Marv’s neverending Facebook posts). In mid 19th century Russia however, it was liberals vs. nihilists. And so it seems that while philosophies and descriptors vary, the schism between generations remains evergreen, immune to time and place.

Feb 25, 2020

Sweet Anticipation for March 2020

Sweet Anticipation graphic
New Titles

Don’t let the mounds of crusty snow or the frigid blasts of winter’s winds fool you: spring is nigh. Much like a cranky groundhog roused from his winter den, the publishing industry is waking up to some of the more anticipated titles of 2020, and a fine crop of them can be found landing on shelves in March. On to the notable offerings:

Feb 20, 2020

If you meet a talking cat there's a good chance you are a witch or the cat is a witch or maybe both of you are witches

Cover of The Okay Witch
A review of The Okay Witch by Emma Steinkeller

Moth discovers she's a witch for the first time when she's thirteen and being bullied at school. To be more precise, Moth performs magic for the first time when she's being bullied at school. She doesn't find out she's a witch until later when she's talking with her mom about what happened. Moth's mom does not practice magic and forbids Moth from doing the same. This just makes the 13-year-old want to know more immediately. Coincidentally, at this same time, Moth meets a cat who happens to be possessed by the spirit of Mr. Lazlo, the former owner of the secondhand shop her mom now owns.

Feb 17, 2020

Meet your ebook match on your Lucky Day!

Wisconsin's Digital Library graphic
Overdrive (Libby) Lucky Day Collection

Browsing for ebooks in Overdrive just became a lot easier!  Wisconsin’s Digital Library introduces its’ new Lucky Day ebook collection February 14, just in time for readers to find a book they love among the offerings of high demand, popular titles. Featuring over 2,400 in-demand titles across all age levels, Lucky Day books can be borrowed on a first-come, first-served basis.

Feb 14, 2020

Brave the cold, it'll be worth it

Marlon James photo
Wisconsin Book Festival Event

Author Marlon James will be at the Central Library tonight at 7 pm to talk about his novel, Black Leopard, Red Wolf.

The epic novel, an African Game of Thrones, from the Man Booker Prize-winning author of A Brief History of Seven Killings. In the stunning first novel in Marlon James's Dark Star trilogy, a Finalist for the 2019 National Book Award, myth, fantasy, and history come together to explore what happens when a mercenary is hired to find a missing child.

Feb 13, 2020

To the stars and beyond

Cover of Stars Beyond
A review of Stars Beyond by S. K. Dunstall

As with the first book in this series, Stars Uncharted (definitely start with that one first), this newest space opera from the Dunstall writing duo is a slow build. It requires the reader to settle into the universe and the science part of the science fiction being presented here, but the journey to the action-packed conclusion is worth it.

Feb 11, 2020

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