Some books I’ve read
These are not all the books I have read of course, but there’s no way I’m writing thirty-two reviews, so I just chose 4 books/series to review.
EVEREST series by Gordon Korman
This trilogy is about a 13-year-old named Dominic Alexis who strives to climb Mount Everest, just like 15-year-old Ethan Zaph, record holder for the youngest climber to summit Everest. Dominic wins a chance to climb with SummitQuest with his older brother Chris. At first it seems that Dominic won’t make the cut, he ends up making it after Ethan quits the team.
Like all of Gordon’s books, this series is really compelling. It’s full of action, twists, and it’s really realistic, because in the book, people get sick, seriously hurt, and one person even dies. This is also the kind of book that you can keep reading again and again, and it would still be as entertaining as before. I like how all the characters have their flaws, and Gordon didn’t make Dominic the star in the team. Dominic nearly got eliminated three times. My favourite character is definitely Sammi Moon, because she’s fantastic at climbing and doesn’t listen to anyone. I really like the part in book one where Bryn sleepwalks off the cliff, and Dominic and Cap manage to save her. It really showed how Dominic can be stubborn and loyal to people. This series doesn’t only have the action of climbing Mount Everest, there’s still the suspicion among the climbers of Summit Quest. There’s a mole leaking private information to the news, and Tilt wants to do anything to be the youngest to reach the summit, even if he has to shatter Dominic’s dreams.
Who Could That Be at This Hour? by Lemony Snicket AKA Daniel Handler
This book is the first in a quadrilogy called All the Wrong Questions. This book is about Lemony Snicket working as an apprentice for the worst ranked V.F.D. member. They go solve a mystery surrounding a small statue of the Bombinating Beast. It was seemingly stolen from Mrs. Murphy by the Mallahans family, but Moxie Mallahan tells Lemony they didn’t steal it, it was always in their lighthouse. Then there is a mysterious man by the name of Hangfire, who imitates people’s voices in order to get the Beast. Lemony meets Ellington Feint, who double crosses him twice, and the mystery of why the statuette is so important is still unknown at the end of the story.
This is a pretty cool mystery novel, and it’s also written in the same style as A Series of Unfortunate Events, which is a good (but unfortunate) series. There’s still that gag of everyone defining difficult words. And like the other series, it’s leaves many things unknown, like in the other series, after 12 books and two companion books, we still don’t know what the sugar bowl is, what V.F.D. stands for, and if the Quagmires are still alive. In this book we don’t know where Ellington’s true loyalty lies, and what is so important about the statue. I bet at the end of the series, the last question will still be unanswered. There’s not much action in this book, but after all, it’s just the first book. It does have some action, but not as much as series like the 39 Clues, On the Run (now that’s a great series), or the movie Jurassic World.
Paper Towns by John Green
This book is about how Margo Roth Spiegelman climbs through Quenton’s window, and takes him on an all-night journey of revenge on her cheating boyfriend and her former friends. Afterwards, Margo goes missing, and Quenton and his friends find clues that Margo left for them, and they end up on the road trip of their lives to find Margo.
This is the one of the best books I have ever read. It’s one of those books that you just can’t bring yourself to put down. There are so many great words you could use to describe it. Magnificent. Interesting. Compelling. Awesome. Amazing. I don’t know how John Green does it, but this book is a really, really amazing read. I definitely recommend it to anyone. It’s also one of those books where the back says it’s “laugh out-loud funny,” and actually is. I like how John’s characters seem to be different than other people (and much better at English too. Seriously, who knows the word ghettoize?). But the thing is, Paper Towns is also about how nobody is really that different. That a person can’t be more than a person. A person is just a person. I think it’s a really interesting message, because isn’t everyone different? And most books always say things like that. There’s also another thing that Margo believes, that college isn’t important, which goes against everything humanity has been doing the last few decades.
Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
Chomp tells of a job taken by animal wrangler Mickey Cray (who has been out of commission since a dead iguana fell from a tree and hit him in the head) and his son, Wahoo. The job is for some of Mickey’s most amazing animals to be in Expedition Survival! a popular TV show starring Derek Badger, who is a fake survivalist. Up until this episode, everything has been faked, but Derek wants to put “real” back in “reality”. Then Derek goes missing in the Everglades after getting bit by a bat, and Tuna, Wahoo’s friend, has a drunk abusive father tracking her down, and he has a gun.
This book, like Scat, Hoot, and Flush, is a marvelous story to read. I really like it, and have read it three times, enjoying it each time. The characters are realistic, none of them Mary Sues, which is great. The things that happen are really unexpected too, like you would think that the book jumps immediately to Derek running away, but it doesn’t. I also never expected Tuna to come along, or for her dad to follow her. It was also really entertaining reading about Derek’s fails in trying to be a survivalist, and also his stupid stunts. One thing I don’t like was the fact that Derek ran away because he thought he was a vampire. Even though it could happen, it was just so ridiculous, I couldn’t stop thinking of how ridiculous it was the whole time I was reading the book.
