Books 1 & 2
1. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Summary: The story follows a young orphan boy named Pip as he comes into wealth from an unknown benefactor and beyond, learning lessons about expectations and how things aren't always what they seem.
Genre: classic literature, fiction
Reason for reading: July Theme - I read this in high school for English Literature Honors and hated it
Rating ***
I understood the story and the lesson a lot better this time, but my opinion of Charles Dickens's writing style is still that it's a bit dull and dry for my liking.
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Summary: Four very smart and alone children respond to a newspaper ad for "gifted children seeking special opportunities" and take a serious of relatively complicated and creative puzzle tests in order to go on a secret mission.
Genre: Children's Fiction, Action Adventure, Science Fiction
Reason for reading: mostly I was curious since my sister got it from her friend, who tends to recommend a lot of kids chapterbooks I like.
Rating: *****
I couldn't put this one down and read it in about a day. The characters and plot style are very fresh and unique, the author has a Roald Dahl-type sense of humor and creativity, so you really want to just keep reading. Over all, it's a really fun book with a lot of silly twists and turns. It's a book that will make you think because it talks about issues going on in the world today in words easy enough for children to understand, but is still fun to read.
My Booklist
Summary: The story follows a young orphan boy named Pip as he comes into wealth from an unknown benefactor and beyond, learning lessons about expectations and how things aren't always what they seem.
Genre: classic literature, fiction
Reason for reading: July Theme - I read this in high school for English Literature Honors and hated it
Rating ***
I understood the story and the lesson a lot better this time, but my opinion of Charles Dickens's writing style is still that it's a bit dull and dry for my liking.
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
Summary: Four very smart and alone children respond to a newspaper ad for "gifted children seeking special opportunities" and take a serious of relatively complicated and creative puzzle tests in order to go on a secret mission.
Genre: Children's Fiction, Action Adventure, Science Fiction
Reason for reading: mostly I was curious since my sister got it from her friend, who tends to recommend a lot of kids chapterbooks I like.
Rating: *****
I couldn't put this one down and read it in about a day. The characters and plot style are very fresh and unique, the author has a Roald Dahl-type sense of humor and creativity, so you really want to just keep reading. Over all, it's a really fun book with a lot of silly twists and turns. It's a book that will make you think because it talks about issues going on in the world today in words easy enough for children to understand, but is still fun to read.
My Booklist