The Best of Sherlock Holmes-Ivan M.

The Best of Sherlock Holmes

Arthur Conan Doyle

312 pages (10 different stories)

Summary:

I have read 94 pages- 3 different stories. They are as follows "A Scandal in Bohemia", "The Red-Headed League" and "Five Orange Pips". All of these stories are fascinating and interesting but Sherlock Holmes solves all but one story-A Scandal in Bohemia". This story is about a Bohemian (Bohemia is a place in Germany) hereditary king who tries to fool Sherlock Holmes by introducing himself as Count Von Kramm but Sherlock Holmes already knows who Count Von Kramm really is. He has to find to retrieve a photograph of the Bohemian King if not the King will not be able to marry. Will he retrieve the photograph and solve the case? Read the book and find out. The Second Story: "The Red Headed League" is about a man-Jabez Wilson who one day finds an advertisement in a newspaper-a vacancy in the Red-Headed league: this league was formed by Ezekiah Hopkins to help red-heads (Hopkins was a red-head himself-in fact a millionaire). Jabez Wilson is successful and fills that vacancy. Now, he has to do a very interesting job from 10 to 2: copying the Encyclopaedia Britannica. He comes every day for some time until one day when he comes to the office there is a message on the door: THE RED-HEADED LEAGUE IS DISSOLVED 9 OCT 1890. Sherlock Holmes eventually solves that case and catches a high-profile criminal but how did he do it? Read "The Best of Sherlock Holmes" to find out. The third story: "The Five Orange Pips" in my opinion is the best of the three-it is very realistic and mysterious (until of course, Sherlock Holmes solves it). The story starts out like this- a man named John Openshaw comes to Sherlock Holmes for advice- he tells of the story of his family that one day his uncle received a letter with the initials of KKK and five orange pips in it: after some time he was found dead-what was interesting is that no signs of murder were seen upon him-the jury stated that he had committed suicide. Then, the same fate happened to my father now, I received a letter with 5 orange pips inside, what should I do? Find out if Sherlock Holmes solved this case and how he did it by reading "The Best of Sherlock Holmes". 

Recommendation and Rating so far: I would recommend this book to all people who are interested in reading mystery books because this one is a classic (one of the best mystery books of all time). Also, I would recommend this book to people who are in Grade 5 through Grade 12 and also I think adults would enjoy this book. Finally, I would recommend this book to people who like to think because to solve the cases in this book by yourself you would have to really think and deduce. All in all, I would give this book so far a rating of 10/10 because of its content, genre and organization, also, it is very well known (there are a lot of Sherlock Holmes books and there are also many movies about Sherlock Holmes. 

Jakub - The Winter Ghosts

 

The Winter Ghosts

- Author - Kate Mosse
- Number of Pages - 239
- Number of Pages I read - 40

 Frederick Watson lost his brother in a war. But the story begins when Freddie visits France were his brother was killed to translate a letter. The translator translates the letter written on medieval paper to Freddie. But this letter brought interest to the translator and asked Frederick to tell the story behind the letter. Freddie tells the the story of when he learns that his brother was killed in France and decides to go to France himself as he arrives in a small town in France near the mountains. He goes to a graveyard to see his brothers grave as he enters the old cementary, he has a vision of his brothers he runs in the direction but it all disappears and he notices his mind is playing a trick on him. He tried to think about something else not to be haunted with thoughts of his brothers "Georges" final hours. Rather he wanted to admire the beauty of a near by church. Then he got back to his car to drive back to the original town in France.

The main character in the book is Frederick Watson.

I think this book is a very interesting novel. It could be a mystery, but I cant tell much because I just read the beginning.

Author: Scott Mebus
Title: Gods of manhattan
Pages: 340

Summary: Something has gone wrong in Manhattan. Rats and squirrels doing kung fu, real fantasy archers attacking people and also real indians running around crazy. It must be the gods of Manhattan doing this. So its up to Rory and his friends to find who are the gods. Some of the gods are adults but some are even his friends!
Characters: Rory, Dutch and Bridget so far.
Setting: Manhattan
I think that this book is very awsome and funny but also weird. I hope that this might get even weirder!
 

The Phantom Tollbooth

The book I have started reading is called "The Phantom Tollbooth". The author is Norton Juster. The book has 256 pages. Milo was a boy who didn't do much in his life until one day he came home and found a mysterious package in his room. When he opened it he found a a tollbooth and a book with rules and a map. He picked a random destination on the map and as he went through the tollbooth he found himself in a place he has never been before. He travels towards his destination but he get lost because he was not thinking where he was going. While he was lost in Doldrums a watch dog found him and caught him breaking rules. Then he got in the car with the boy and with a lot of thought they got to their destination Dictionopolis.I would recommend this book to small children because from what I have read until now it looks like a childish novel.

James Bond: Icebreaker

 

 

 

 

• Author: John Gardner
• Number of pages: 293
• Pages read: 71

This story is about a secret British agent named James Bond. He is an English spy with a "license to kill". The setting is in many different places, including Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

 

 

Bond reluctantly finds himself recruited into a dangerous mission involving an equally dangerous and treacherous alliance of agents from the United States CIA, the Soviet KGB and the Israeli Mossad. The team, dubbed "Icebreaker", is supposed to work as one but wastes no time double-crossing each other. Their mission is to root-out the mysterious leader of a murderous and dangerous international terror syndicate known as the National Socialist Action Army (NSAA), which the author describes as a modern day neo-Nazi force whose awesome power has the world teetering on the brink of destruction.

 

Characters (So far):

 

James Bond, also known as Agent 007 ("double-'O'-seven"): the main character.

 

Count Konrad von Glöda: the NSAA's leader. The Count used to be known as Arne Tudeer, a one-time Nazi SS officer who now perceives himself as the new Adolf Hitler.  The Count is the mastermind behind a plan to bring-back fascism by targeting communist leaders and supporters around the world. The NSAA is essentially a new wave of fascism (an extreme right-wing, or "ultra conservative" political ideology) which is dedicated to the destruction of communism (an equally extreme, left-wing political ideology).

 

Paula Vacker: a frequent love-interest of Bond's that he frequently visits when in Helsinki, the capital of Finland.

 

Brad Tirpitz: a US member of the Icebreaker team and CIA agent.

 

M: Bond's boss and Head of Mi-6, the secret British government agency for which Bond works.

 

What I really enjoy about this book is that the characters all have something mysterious about them which I look forward to uncovering before the end of the book. Also, I like that the author uses very vivid language.  For example, Gardner describes the mountainous scenery in the background as Bond drives through Scandinavia. He also writes, "a pneumatic hiss" to describe how a submarine hatch closes, which brings to mind not just the sound it makes but the way it works and the power behind it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes action and/or mystery, but especially to anyone who likes them in combination.

 

 

 



The Hound of the Baskervilles

The Hound of the Baskervillies

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

Number of pages: 250

Hello Everyone! This blog post will be about the latest book I am reading, the title of the book is called "The Hound of the Baskervillies"

Here are the characters I was introduceded to while reading the first sixty-two pages of my book.

• Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes is one of the main characters in this story. He is a detective with a keen eye, acute intellegence and and a logical mind. He works to solve crimes with his felow partner, Dr. John Watson, and in the end, it takes all of his crime-solving powers to identify an ingenious killer, save the life of his next intended victim.
• Dr. John Watson: The novel's narrator, Watson is Holmes's stalwart assistant at Baker Street and the chronicler of his triumphs as a private investigator. He steps for a while into Holmes's boots, expressing his eagerness to impress his colleague by cracking this most baffling of cases before Holmes returns to the fray.
• Sir Hugo Baskerville: Sir Hugo was the man who cursed the Baskerville name.  Sir Hugo was a picture of aristocratic excess, drunkenness and debauchery until, one night, he was reputedly killed near Baskerville Hall by a demonic hound that was sent to punish him for his wickedness.
• Sir Charles Baskerville: Sir Charles Baskerville is the man that lived in the  Baskerville estate, he went out for a walk one night and was murdered by a hound.
• Sir Henry Baskerville: Sir Henry Baskerville is the nephew of Charles, he is kept safe from the baskerville estate because the hound that killed Sir Charles might be after him too. Many people think that Sir Henry was killed because he had some kind of disorder, but Sherlock and Watson think he was murdered.
• Dr. Mortimer: Dr.Mortimer is a doctor that has been with the Baskervilles for a long time, he has helped them thorough small colds and deadly sicknesses that is reported that Sir Henry had, when Mortimer finds out about Sir Henry's murder he quickly goes to Sherlocks and consults him.

The Hound of the Baskervilles Summary:

Many years ago Sir Hugo Baskerville, head of Baskerville manor, did a very dreadful and wicked thing to a little girl which scared her so much that it slowly started killing her from the inside. Once she died, the Baskerville name had been cursed. Sir Hugo believed in no curses, he countinued to live his life until one day, the devils were sent to kill him. After some period of time the Baskerville dynasty had continued, It was Charles Baskerville that was head of the manor now. Sir Charles liked taking long walks in the in the late hours of the night, he would go circle his garden and when he was done with his stroll he would go back to sleep. One strange night, Sir Charles awoken from his sleep, went outside to the moor, stood there, waiting for someone,smoking he cigarette, but who was he waiting for? When Charles finished his cigarette he heard a strange noise, when he turned around he saw this strange hound approaching him. He started running but the hound was fast as lighting and easily caught up to him, the hound left Sir Henry there lying on the muddy moor, and a scrated bloody chest. When Dr. Mortimer, a fellow doctor that once works for the Baskervilles examined the body, he approached Sherlock Holmes in London saying that it was something he had never seen before. Dr.Mortimer said that the footprints of the hound were knowwhere to be seen, but then the footprints were found a couple of yards from the body. Sherlock asked Mortimer if there was anyone else in the Baskerville name that could be endangered but the hound, and Dr.Mortimer said yes, Sir Henry Baskerville. When Sherlock and Dr.Waston met Henry, they tried to keep him safe. There was one person that knew where Sir Henry was, and delieved a strange note to Sir Henry's hotel room that told him to stay away from the moor. Later that day, when they go to Sir Henry's hotel room,  they learn one of the baronet's new boots has gone missing. No good explanation can be found for the loss. Despite the note's warning, Sir Henry insists on visiting Baskerville Manor. As Sir Henry leaves Holmes' Baker Street apartment, Holmes and Doctor Watson follow him. They realise that a man with a fake-looking black beard in a cab is also following him. Holmes and Watson pursue this man, but he escapes. However, Holmes memorises the cab number. Holmes stops in at a messenger office and employs a young boy, Cartwright, to go visit London's hotels and look through wastepaper in search of cut-up copies of The Times.

I recommend this book to everyone! It is without a doubt a really well written mystery book. I is good for all age levels over ten because the younger audience might not be able to understand what is going on and might no tbe able to pronounce some of the words because the book has a greater lexile. I give these sixty-two pages a score of 10/10.

Thanks for reading, make sure to comment!

-Marija Bogdanovic, 7A

Agatha Christie: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE

Agatha Christie: AND THEN THERE WERE NONE
Author: Agatha Christie
Number of pages read: 61
Number of pages total: 300

Ten complete strangers, Edward Armstrong, Emily Brent, William Blore, Vera Claythorne, Philip Lombard, John Macarthur, Anthony Marston, Thomas and Ethal Rogers couple, and Lawrence Wargrave, all recieved a letter from "a close friend", an invitation to stay at a mansion at the Soldier Island. The ten people meet each other on the way to the island and arrives at the island. The Rogers were invited to be a waiter and a waitress at the Soldier Island. After the first fancy dinner, when they were about to drink coffee, Mrs. Rogers dropped to coffee tray. While everyone was out of mind, cleaning the mess, came a voice, explaining why the ten people were chosen to stay at the Soldier Island: they had all committed a murder at one stage of their lives. The ten people all gets suspicious and discuss why they were there and where the noise was coming from. They search and find a very old gramophone. Later on, the Rogers admits that they were told by "Mr. Owen", the owner of the mansion to drop the coffee tray and while everything was out of mind, to turn on the tape on the gramophone that said "Swan Song". The ten people understands that the Rogers are innocent. But another question is: who is Mr. Owen? Weren't they all invited by "a close friend"? Another questions was: what was the Soldier Island's poem, "Ten Soldier Boys" doing in every room of the guests?

I first couldn't understand the beginning but then I kept reading because I wanted to know why I couldn't understand the beginning. I got the chills behind my back when I was reading the book and I found the book more interesting because during the summer, I visited the hotel in Egypt, on the Nile where Agatha Christie stayed while she wrote "Death on the Nile". I would recommend people to read this book during the summer so they can get the chills while the weather is hot, and is would rate this book 10/10.

-sooyoungbyun7a