Here's what I've been reading recently.
I am the Messenger
By Markus Zusak
357 Pages
Once I receive the card, I try buttering him up a little to get my hands on all the books. "Thanks, mate. You're doing a hell of a job." He looks up. "You still want all those books, don't you?" "That's right. Basically, I really need them and one way or the other, I'm going to get them. Only in today's sick society can a man be persecuted for reading too many books."
I read this book just before spring break, (In fact, I finished it on the beach) so I'll do my best to remember what I can and give it a fair review.
The reason I read this book it because the author wrote my favorite book. The Book Thief. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. This book is the opposite of The Book Thief, but I still liked it.
The story revolves around a 19 year old... maybe he was 20. Great... I don't have the book with me, so all my facts may be wrong. ANYWAY, he stops a bank robbery, and after that, he gets these cards with hints on them. Each hint is a person. To each person he is required to take a specific message, something that they need to hear or see or be put through, to change their life.
ED... Ed is his name. I remembered that...
I love Zusak's writing style. It paints a picture so clearly, and that's what brings the emotions to life. A lot of times and author with write. "She was sad." And that's ok. What's better is when the author shows you what the character is thinking, and the emotion infallibly follows. Zusak has mastered that.
Another great thing about Zusak's writing, is his characters. Everyone is so human in his books. There's no two people the exact same, and they all have different and realistic flaws and struggles. No character is one sided or shallow. Each gets his or her own developing.
I enjoyed reading this book. It was a great story, and I love the end.
Sherlock Holmes: Study in Scarlet, Sign of the Four, and A Scandal in Bohemia
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
225 large, very small print, Pages
I don't have a quote for these because I don't have the book with me. I read these stories out of The Complete Sherlock Holmes Volume I.
I've always wanted to read the Sherlock Holmes stories, so I started A Study in Scarlet while working on crewing a show at school. Plus I wanted to read about the murderous cult known as the Mormons. (Just kidding :D) I had a very enjoyable time laughing during that story.
I LOVE the show Sherlock, and after reading these books, I love it even more. The ways they take these stories and turn them into modern mysteries is unbelieveable. I read all the stories after I saw the episode, except Scandal in Bohemia, and now I wish I had time to read The Hound of the Baskervilles before the next episode comes out next Sunday.
If you don't know what Sherlock is, it's the Sherlock Holmes stories told in modern day London. They show it on PBS as part of the Masterpiece Mystery. I highly recommend it to anyone who likes Sherlock Holmes (books or movies!).
I love reading these, and there are SO many stories. I know I read two other short ones, but I just wrote the ones I could remember in the title.
Ugh. It's so late and I feel like I'm losing my mind right now. I apologize for my scattered brain, I just don't know when else I'll be able to catch these up before I leave for the summer to Garden Valley. Luckily for me (and maybe you too!) They have a library up there! More to come later (hopefully!)
Read on,
Jamie
