Check out these reviews written by the staff of the Marathon County Public Library, featuring books DVDs for adults! (For reviews of books for all ages, visit our main Staff Reviews webpage.) Staff book reviews are also published at Goodreads.com; follow us for the latest updates. The book reviews on this website represent the personal opinions of the individuals who created them and do not represent any official views of the Marathon County Public Library.
Private chef to athletes and from the excellent documentary "The Game Changers", Charity Morgan packs a punch with this new vegan cookbook. I have so many recipes I want to try from this, from garlic ramen noodles to the spicy crab dip to the no-bake peanut butter cheesecake. I also really appreciated the opening chapter on sauces and dressings to add to my...
Audience: adults | Genre: cookbook, nonfiction
Abigail Baskin never thought she'd fall in love with a millionaire until she met Bruce Lamb. He's a good guy, stable, level-headed and kind, but right before the wedding, Abigail has a drunken one-night stand on her bachelorette weekend. She puts the incident - and the handsome man who wouldn't give her his real name - out of her mind. ...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult fiction
Just looking at the cover of this plant-based cookbook is enough to get your taste buds excited, and I wasn't disappointed once I opened it! Between tantalizing brunch items like the giant toffee cinnamon roll and the super fluffy buttermilk sheet pan pancakes to main meals like cheesy biscuit vegetable pot pies, one-pot vidalia onion pasta, and smothered...
The son of a struggling single mother, Jamie Conklin just wants an ordinary childhood. But Jamie is no ordinary child. Born with an unnatural ability his mom urges him to keep secret, Jamie can see what no one else can see and learn what no one else can learn. But the cost of using this ability is higher than Jamie can imagine—as he discovers when an NYPD...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult fiction, fiction, suspense
Andrew McCarthy, known for teen movies such as Pretty in Pink, St. Elmo's Fire and Weekend at Bernies, was a crush most young girls secretly had in the '80s. Including myself. I say secretly, because Andrew McCarthy wasn't your typical heartthrob. He often wasn't the lead role in his movies during that time period, but in supporting...
Audience: adults | Genre: biography & memoir, adult nonfiction, nonfiction
If you are a basketball, Milwaukee Bucks, or Giannis Antetokounmpo fan, this book is a must read. An incredible story of hard work, sacrifice, family, and humbleness, this biography showcases Giannis's rise to the top from starting at an incredible low. You read about how Giannis and his brother shared shoes while growing up (even...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult nonfiction, biography, nonfiction, nonfiction biography celebrity
“To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.”---Soren Kierkegaard. This quote embodies this suspenseful and highly insightful look in to the inspiring life of Mike May. At three years of age, May’s sight is instantly taken from him in an explosive accident. From the beginning, he doesn’t let that stop him from...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult nonfiction, nonfiction
Looking for healthy recipes for you and the planet? Classics like flaky biscuits for breakfast, sloppy joes for lunch, bolognese for dinner, and chocolate pudding for dessert? This new cookbook is packed with all your favorite classics, along with recipes I already know will be new favorites for me, like the potato and caramelized onion tart and the peanut...
Audience: adults | Genre: cookbook, nonfiction
This book was not only a powerful call to action, but also a memoir of one women’s experiences in nature, and really, the author Lucy Jones wrote a love letter to the natural world itself. I found so many fascinating tidbits throughout, like how interaction with soil or walking through a forest actually raises the immune system. Or how looking at ferns has...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult nonfiction, nonfiction
You probably know actor Seth Rogen from comedy films like Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, and Neighbors. What you probably didn’t know is what an unconventional adolescence he had prior to making it big in Hollywood. It’s these stories (and others he tells about his life post-success) that make Yearbook such a...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, adult nonfiction, nonfiction biography celebrity
Ingrid Lewis is no stranger to dangerous people. A barrister in London, she's defended all sorts of clients. One she will never forget? John Webster. Acquitted of a stalking charge after Ingrid defended him in court, he rapidly grew obsessed with her and destroyed everything in her life. Webster suddenly shows up just as Ingrid finally felt like she was...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult fiction, fiction, suspense
Three women connected through time. All have one thing in common. In February of 1791, apothecary Nella meets her newest patron, 12 year-old Eliza Fanning. Nella was once a respected apothecary and healer. Now she dispenses poison to help women who desperately need to be free of the men in their lives. Eliza is intrigued with Nella and helps at the...
Olive Smith - third year Ph.D candidate - hasn’t had the time for a love life, preferring to live vicariously through cheesy rom-com's and her roommates many escapades instead. In an attempt to prove she's totally over a man, she soon finds herself living the old classic pretend boyfriend trope. Who is the lucky guy? Adam Carlsen, young...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult fiction, contemporary fiction, fiction, romance
Christmas meets “Groundhog Day” in this cute and festive holiday romance! Maelyn Jones’ Christmas holiday did not turn out how she wanted. Much to her surprise, she gets a redo on the holiday! Her career is going nowhere, her favorite place in the world is being sold and a romantic blunder during the holiday sends Maelyn into a mental meltdown. On her...
Audience: adults | Genre: fiction, adult fiction, romance
The cover filled with beautiful pictures of delicious food first pulled me to check out this new cookbook, and when I realized it was a vegan cookbook as well, it was even better! Packed with recipes that I can't wait to try, this is not only a celebration of vegan food but also of the Mexican culture and community. Every single recipe had a...
Audience: adults | Genre: cookbook, nonfiction
Maddie Winston, medico-legal investigator, and her homicide-detective husband, Steve Hurley have been assigned to investigate the death of a wealthy local resident. The body of Montgomery “Monty” Dixon, local realtor, is found dead in his home with a pool cue in his chest. Maddie and Steve have a list of suspects to dig through including Monty’s wife,...
Do you like based on true story fiction? Do you like World War II books? Then this is a perfect combination for you! Follow the story of Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, as he survives his time in Auschwitz. We learn of what he went through on his way to the concentration camp, his time there and what his life was like afterwards. Throughout...
Audience: adults | Genre: fiction, adult fiction
It’s August 1983, and Nina Riva is just hours away from hosting the biggest party of the year at her beach house in Malibu. Known around the world as an “it girl” surfer/swimsuit model, Nina seemingly has the perfect life. She’s beautiful, she’s rich, and she’s married to a handsome tennis star. But the truth is, Nina wishes her life was different. Her...
35 years ago, Carly's aunt disappeared in the mysterious town of Fell. Knowing nothing about her, because her mother refused to talk about her, Carly finds herself heading to Fell shortly after her mother's death to finally try and put the pieces together surrounding her aunt's disappearance. When she sees a "help wanted" sign in the window of the Sun Down...
Audience: adults | Genre: adult fiction, fiction, mystery
The cover alone enticed me to check out this travel resource, which promises readers information on all 59 National Parks in the United States. This has some of the most beautiful travel photography I think I’ve ever seen, and just enough info on each location to spark your wanderlust! It includes suggested itineraries, recommendations and planning tips,...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
In the years following the Summer of Love in 1967, San Francisco saw a steady influx of hippies, outcasts and other free sprits flock to its streets, eager to call the city home. One of those transplants was Milwaukee native Meridy Volz, who left behind her studies at UW-Madison in the name of pursuing spiritual enlightenment and adventure. Not long after...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction, biography & memoir
I immediately snagged this book because of my own love of hummingbirds. I remember growing up and watching them next my grandmother, our faces both looking at them with awe and wonder. They were my grandmother’s favorite bird, and she passed that love down to me before her passing. When I read how the book describe them as “…air wrapped with...
Audience: adults | Genre: nonfiction
“Throw us in jail, and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you … But be ye assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom.” Determined to live out the ideals of Martin Luther King in the early 1960’s Jim Crow-era south, young...
Audience: adults | Genre: historical fiction, fiction, adult fiction
In this thrilling new release by one of my all time favorite authors, flight attendant Mina is forced to make an impossible decision during her job as a flight attendant on the highly-anticipated 20-hour flight from London to Sydney. Swarming with reporters and 300 other passengers, Mina isn't even supposed to be on the flight. Switching shifts with a...
This new cookbook packs a punch with delicious recipes along with knowledge on the ethical, environmental, and health reasons behind why a plant-based diet is vitally important now more than ever. It was also a love letter and dedication from the family to the memory of Linda McCartney, which really struck me throughout the cookbook. I appreciated that this...
Audience: adults | Genre: cookbook, nonfiction
