Reference Book Review: Reading Rants by Jennifer Hubert

I was actually inspired to start the Book Nook because of the Reading Rants website. http://www.readingrants.org/ I go there pretty religiously to see what Ms. Hubert has read. Her reviews of the books really make you want to read them. I only get upset when the book sounds really good and it's not been published yet. Her book is pretty cool too.

Reading Rants covers 100 books divided among ten topics, with ten titles for each topic. Bibliographic information is provided for each title followed by six categories: The Story, The Message, Who's it For?, Why it Rocks, Hook it Up With, and Read More about It.

The Story summarizes the full story, including the ending. Expect spoilers!

The Message includes the prominent themes.

Who's It For? tells you grade level recommendations and if there is strong language, sexual situations, or violent scenes.

Why It Rocks explains why Ms. Hubert choose to include the title in her book.

Hook It Up gives similar titles to recommend.

Read More About It lists where the book was reviewed in professional journals.

Make sure you check out her website. It really does rock!

The Grimm Legacy: Borrow the Magic if you Dare! by Polly Shulman

Reading Level: Juvenile
(4 out of 5)

The story revolves around Elizabeth and the New-York Circulating Material Repository. Elizabeth's life is similar to Cinderella's. She lives with her father and stepmother and has two stepsisters. Elizabeth's history teacher tells her about a page position at the repository and she gets the job. Strange things have been going on. A huge bird has been spotted, a page has disappeared, and items have gone missing. Especially items that have magic. Elizabeth, Anajali, Aaron, and Marc take it upon themselves to solve the mystery. This was a fun read.

Speaking as a librarian I think it would be really cool to work at the New-York Circulating Material Repository. The repository lends out objects rather than books. So if you need a fondue pot, a tea set, or Marie Antoinette's everyday wig you can borrow them from the repository. Pretty cool huh! It's also home to the Grimm Collection. Powerful items straight out of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales such as seven league boots, a table that produces a fest in the blink of an eye, and Snow White's stepmothers sinister mirror that talks in riddles.

Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead

Over the weekend I read Spirit Bound by Richelle Mead. This is the 5th book in the Vampire Academy series. I really thought this was going to be the last book but it better not be because the ending leaves you hanging. Good News, there is one last book called Last Sacrifice due out in December of 2010.

I'm not going to talk about the book I'm just going to ask a question.

For those of you who have read this series who do you want Rose to end up with:

Dimitri

Or

Adrian

I'm thinking she will end up with Dimitri but I really like Adrian. I'm so torn! Give your answer in the comments and you have a chance to win a free book from our book sale room. Deadline for the contest is August 9, 2010.