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MADreads

Book reviews by library staff and guest contributors

Bedtime for brave boys

Cover of Night Knight
A review of Night Knight by Owen Davey

A wonderfully illustrated book about going to bed! Owen Davey has given us a great little story about a boy who imagines he is a knight as he is doing his nightly, or should we say knightly routine. This fun mix of dragons, castles, baths, and beds makes for a great nighttime tale.

Mar 15, 2019

Of candlepin bowling and people

Cover of Bowlaway: A Novel
A review of Bowlaway: A Novel by Elizabeth McCracken

Bowlaway is a community saga set in Salford, Massachusetts centered on a candlepin* bowling alley. For those of you not familiar with candlepin, it is a variation of bowling played in New England with pins that have a cylindrical shape that taper toward each end similar to a candle. Scoring is different from tenpin and the balls are smaller, with no finger holes.

Mar 13, 2019

Romance? Check!

Cover of The Kiss Quotient
A review of The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

Stella Lane sees the world in math and economics. There is no room for error and there's a formula for everything. So when she's ready for a serious relationship she creates a to-do list and gets ready to start checking off boxes! The only problem is, romantic chemistry is not a formula she can predict.

Mar 5, 2019

Attention honor roll students of comedy

Cover of Caddyshack: The Making of
A review of Caddyshack: The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story by Chris Nashawaty

This is the story behind the genius and tragedy of the 1980 comedy film Caddyshack. Full disclosure: I love National Lampoon and have most of the Vacation movies completely memorized. I was excited that there was a new book about Caddyshack, one of my all-time favorites. It can be tough to watch movies from the 70s and 80s with regards to racism and sexism and recreational drug use, but parts of Caddyshack hold up fairly well.

Feb 27, 2019

Clucky Birthday!

Cover of I Got a Chicken for my Bir
A review of I Got a Chicken for my Birthday by Laura Gehl

Ana asked her Abuela Lola (3 times!) for tickets to the amusement park for her birthday, but all she got was a chicken. Lucky for Ana… it isn’t any ordinary chicken. Her chicken isn’t interested in normal chicken things like laying eggs or pecking at chicken feed. Oh no! This chicken has PLANS. It has a list. It has blueprints. It has a bulldozer. This hysterical story told in simple sentences, brilliant illustrations, and funny little side notes “Sorry, no time for cake!” will keep you and your little one giggling over and over.

Feb 22, 2019

Welcome back, Carmen Sandiego

Cover of Who in the World is Carmen
A review of Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego? by Rebecca Tinker

I loved playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? a computer game created in 1985 by the American software company Broderbund. The game was originally classified as a "mystery exploration" series but became one of the first edutainment programs used in schools. I was introduced to the game as a 5.25-inch floppy disc for the Apple II. It was used in the computer lab when I was a student, to teach kids how to install computer programs and to build typing and mouse skills. I credit most of my knowledge of geography and capital cities of the world to this excellent game. 

Feb 21, 2019

Sweet Anticipation for March 2019

Sweet Anticipation graphic
New Titles

Like our recent deluge of snow, library collections see their own kind of deluge with the new year: the onslaught of 2019 titles. Our librarians have been so caught up in wading through the heaping piles of new titles we missed our previous two months of Sweet Anticipation, a fault we hope readers will forgive us. Just in time for the spring melt (fingers crossed), here are some of the top titles we’re looking forward to in March:

Feb 18, 2019

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