Courtney's Book Nook

Well, I read these books a little while ago (over a month), so I've forgotten some of the finer details that I may have wanted to mention in this triple review. The books aren't necessarily galleys anymore, and there might be a few spoilers, but here goes: Between Shades of Gray ; author Ruta Sepetys : A Holocaust story that's not about the Holocaust, Between Shades of Gray describes how fifteen-year-old Lina and her family are put on a train to Siberia by the Soviet secret police. Lina's father is separated from them, and she spends a long time wishing that they will find him alive. This was a powerful book. Sepetys's writing is simple but beautiful, and she's not afraid to make the book dark. However, I had a few problems with the book. To start, although Lina is an artist and sketches messages to her father throughout the story, none of these pictures appeared in the book. I was sorely disappointed to only have to imagine what her messages looked like. Then,...

Having waited for at least a year since I read Brisingr, I couldn't wait to dive into this book. It starts immediately after where the third book left off, with Eragon and Arya still trying to capture the town (can't remember the name). One of the things I liked the most about this book as compared to the others is that in this book, Angela plays a prominent role, and her sarcastic remarks are much more frequent. She continues to say cryptic things, but also helps Eragon greatly. Although the end of this book left me sad and wanting for more, I believe that most things that were left unresolved in previous books were wrapped up nicely. However, there are still some loose ends, which makes me wish that there was another book in the series. Although, Paolini has mentioned that considering he has spent so much time creating the world, he may write some companion stories. I really hope he does, it would be a waste of his vivid world not to. Overall I give this book 5 stars...

At our weekly meeting yesterday the group wrote a request to publishers to be added to mailing lists for galleys. Publishers, be on the look out for our letter! The highlights: Our blog clocked over 30,000 hits last year. We promote our blog using Facebook and Twitter (follow us @CCHSREADS) We reviewed over 100 books last year. We did a cross-walk analysis of reviews from School Library Journal, VOYA, Horn Book, Kirkus Booklist and other review publications. We take this very seriously and will be participating in a workshop on reviewing this December. Please add us to your distribution mailing list for ARCs! Contact: Concord-Carlisle Regional High School Learning Commons Robin Cicchetti, Head Librarian 500 Walden Street Concord, MA 01742 (rcicchetti@colonial.net) Feel free to contact Mrs. Cicchetti if you have questions! 

By Brandon Sanderson      Having been shoved at me (a bit more forcefully this time) by the same person, I read this book, expectations high, because the person didn't lead me wrong on The Midnight Palace . Sadly, the book ended. WAY too soon for me.      It was one of the best books I have ever read (including the Harry Potter's, and don't get me wrong, a hardcore fan here). The 15 or so years Sanderson spent world building and meeting his characters was well spent, creating this masterpiece. Following Shallan, Kaladin, Szeth, Andolin, Dalinar, and friends (as well as enemies), this novel explores a world torn apart by a 6 year war, driven by the murder of King Gavilair (pardon my spelling), and fought by the disjointed kingdom of Alethkar.      The view point jumps between the characters mentioned above, all leading seemingly unrelated lives. As the reader dives deeper into the world, becoming emotionally attached to Sanderson's c...

During our weekly meeting we spent time doing a cross-walk of reviews from different publications. We selected the following titles: Mockingjay Shine Chime Across the Universe Divergent Anthem The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake Midnight Palace  The Night Circus Reviews from these titles came from Booklist, School Library Journal, the New York Times, People Magazine, Publisher's Weekly, Horn Book, and a few additional sources. We read all the reviews for a single title and then recorded our impressions of the differences between the various reviews. Did the author like the book or not, and how was that communicated? Was there greater emphasis on the plot, the author, or the reviewer's opinion?  After everyone read and reflected on the reviews of two books we compared our impressions of the different review publications. Booklist came out very favorably for hitting a nice balance of plot summary and recommendation. It will be interesting to see if this influences how our group...