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.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

Reading Level: Adult
(4 out of 5)


It seems like during the summer I don't get as much reading done as I do in the winter. It may be due to the fact that its really nice outside and I haven't quite figured out how I can swim and read at the same time without getting my book soggy. I still love to read I just am not reading at the same pace I do in the winter. While on vacation I decided to try and read The Host by Stephenie Meyer. I say try because I tried when it first came out and I couldn't get past Fords Deep Waters putting Wanderer in Melanie's body. At the time it just wasn't doing it for me and I was surprised because I like this type of story. So on the plane ride to Arizona I cracked open this 619 page book and dove in. I can't say that it really gripped me like Twilight did. When I read Twilight I couldn't put it down. I could put The Host down until I got half way through. Then it sucked me in and I sat reading in my chair at home from 9pm until 4am to finish it. When I got to what I thought was the end I was ready to cry because I had read over 594 pages and the ending was not what I wanted at all. I was ready to boycott anything else Ms. Meyer wrote for the rest of my life BUT she redeemed herself because two blank pages later was the actual ending of the book and I really enjoyed it. Ms. Meyer I really would have hated not ever reading another book you wrote because I love your books and I really liked The Host. Everyday that passes I like it a little more and more.

The Host is a love story that just happens to take place during an alien invasion of earth. Souls, which are centipede looking creatures that get inserted into humans, can't live without a host and have already taken over several planets. They set their sights on Earth because it's beautiful and they believed that they could make humanity better. Slowly over time they invade and when the humans eventually wise up to what is happening its too late. The Souls have taken over and they assign Seekers to find the humans that run. Wanderer is a Soul that had lived on seven planets, which is remarkable for a soul. She is picked to be put in Melanie who is a rebel human. The Seekers hope is that Wanderer can find out where the other humans are hiding. What Wanderer didn't anticipate was that Melanie would stick around in her body. Usually when a Soul was implanted the human it takes over goes away. Melanie is a fighter and she doesn't want to leave her body. At first Melanie and Wanderer are at odds with each other. But after time Melanie shows Wanderer the love she has for her brother Jamie and the love she has for Jared. Wanderer starts to love them as well and they set off to find them. For me that is when all the fun began and the story really sucked me in. After almost dying in the desert Melanie's Uncle Jeb finds them and quickly realizes that Melanie has been taken over because of the silver in the eyes but what he also thinks is that Melanie is still in there. Melanie's Uncle Jeb is a great character that you can't help but fall in love with. The rest of the humans are weary and full of hate because who wouldn't be after having your planet invaded. Jared is livid but doesn't want any harm to come to Melanie's body. Ms. Meyer has really spun an incredible tale full of well developed characters and the culture she came up with for the other planets was just fascinating. In all this is a romance. A romance between Melanie and Jared and Wanderer. Wanderer can't help but love Jared because Melanie and her body loves Jared. But to complicate it further the love triangle becomes a square because Ian loves Wanderer, not Melanie but Wanderer. And Wanderer likes Ian as well. Has any of this caught your interest yet? The ending was really good and even though this is a stand alone book I would have been happy to read more about what happens to Earth, the humans, and the Souls.

The Gale Encyclopedia of Native American Tribes

Here is an interesting set of encyclopedias I came across in our reference area. It seems that at least once a year we get school age kids looking for books on Native American tribes and this would be a helpful resource.

This four volume set presents historical, cultural, and current information on nearly 400 Native groups within 13 geographic regions. This is a four volume set organized by tribal groups. Volume I covers the Northeast, Southeast, and Caribbean tribal groups. Volume II covers the Great Basin, Southwest, and Middle America tribal groups. Volume III covers the Arctic, the Subarctic, the Great Plains, and the Plateau tribal groups. Volume IV covers the Pacific Northwest, California, and the Pacific Islands tribal groups.

Each volume includes maps that indicate historical origins of tribal groups as well as locations of contemporary state and federal reservations.

The essays are arranged alphabetically within regional clusters. The essays are broken down into the following information: introduction, history, religion, language, buildings, subsistence, clothing and adornment, healing practices, customs, oral literature, current tribal issues, and bibliography and further reading.

This set was published in 1998. While the current information on a tribe will most likely be different the historical information will be the same. The historical maps are useful as well.

Rules of Attraction by Simone Elkeles

Reading Level: Young Adult
(4 out of 5)

Rules of Attraction is a sequel of sorts to A Perfect Chemistry. A Perfect Chemistry was about Alex Fuentes and Rules of Attraction is about his brother Carlos. Carlos gets sent to live with Alex in Colorado when his gang ties in Mexico get him in trouble. Carlos is good looking, arrogant, cocky, and has a bad attitude. He doesn't want to be there and he doesn't follow rules. On his first day of his senior year he gets assigned a peer guide. Kiara Westford doesn't realize what shes getting into being Carlos peer guide. They don't instantly click but you know how they say opposites attract. When Carlos gets busted for drugs he gets sent to live with Kiara's family. Her father is a Professor and had Alex as a student and wants to help him out. Kiara isn't the type of girl Carlos usually goes for but he finds himself falling for her and falling deeper in trouble with gang issues. Can he get himself on the straight and narrow? Will he and Kiara find true love?

I thought that Carlos was harder to love than Alex. Alex was arrogant and cocky but I liked him sooner than I did Carlos. Carlos is a wise you know what but he grew on me and you can't help but root for him. What I really like about these two books is that Ms. Elkeles wrote an epilogue for both and you get to glimpse into their future and I really like that.

Exciting News

Caragh O'Brien the author of Birthmarked emailed me. I can't explain to you how thrilled I am. It's always really cool to hear from the authors. She saw the review on the blog and wanted to let me know that there will be a sequel. You can find the information on her website under FAQ. I can't tell you how excited I am that there will be a sequel and that she graciously took the time to let me know. So if you haven't read the book read it so that we can all wait anxiously together until the next one is released.