My Side of the Mountain

Title: My Side of the Mountain

Author:Jean Craighead George

Rating: 93%

Notes: This is one of the many books that Jean Craighead George has published. They often focus on survival in uncomfortable places, like an island or wilderness. These are some of the other books she has written: Julie of the Wolves, Tree Castle island, How to talk to your cat/How to Talk to your Dog, One Day in...(the Alpine Tundra, the Desert, the Prairie, the tropical Rainforest, the Woods) and many others.

Plot Summary: Sam Gribley tires of the city and runs off to the wilderness to cope on his own. There, he meets his lifelong companion Frightful the falcon. The book shows in great detail how to survive with only a falcon and the land.

Un Lun Dun

Title: Un Lun Dun

Author: China Mieville

Rating: 90%

Notes: This is a very weird fantasy about an alternate world which can be reached in certain ways. It focuses on the great smoke, seeping into everything. I would recommend it to fantasy-likers and people who just want a good read.

Plot Summary: By following a live umbrella, Zanna and her best friend Deeba stumble upon a mysterious seemingly parallel world, where Zanna appears to be the 'shwazzy' coming from 'choisi', French for chosen. She has to help save this world,but gets numerous new friends along the way.

The Elements of Style

Title: The Elements of Style

Author: E.B. White/ William Strunk Jr.
Rating: 93 %

Notes: This is a really good book. I was thinking about all the bad grammar in the world,and I stumbled upon 'The Elements of Style' by E.B. White. This wasn't that good, but it really helped with understanding writing and spelling and grammar. Then, I realized that there was a new edition, by William Strunk Jr. This was even better and helped even more. It is useful for three types of people: budding writers who want to write well, people who want to annoy other people by proving their grammar wrong, and people who want to get their grammar right.

Plot Summary: It doesn't really have a plot. The first bit is about what is correct in the English language, then the second part is about 'style' - how to write effectively. It also has a list of words commonly misspelt, and one of words commonly misused.

Today

Sorry for he long gap between posts, but I have to comment that today is Mark Twain's birthday, and the Google homepage has changed  the picture for a day to commemorate. You may have seen it already, but you may not have known what it meant. The picture is of the famous moment of when Tom Sawyer convinces Ben Rogers to whitewash the fence for him. The autobiography of Mark Twain has been released (he wanted it to be released only when he was 100 years dead).

Stupid English Lessons

I generally love English, the lesson. However, when you are as old as me - 'smirk' - you think that you know all the grammar in that language, and you don't need to be taught. THIS IS A LIE! We are meant to be taught all that at an early age, but we aren't. Hardly anybody knows the difference between who and whom, me and I etc. We don't know cases! Feel good if you do. It is so annoying for an English freak like me! Don't use me and you in the nominative case! Use you and I!

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Title: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

Author: Mark Twain

Rating: 85%

Notes: The sequel to Tom Sawyer, I view it as a more adult book than its prequel. It is about life in olden times, and often focuses on racism, though the protagonist is acclaimed to be non-racist.

Plot Summary: Huckleberry Finn is condemned to be 'good' at the hands of a widow, but he is then claimed by his drunkard father, and often hurt by him. He yearns adventure, and runs off, thought to be dead. He runs into the 'slave' Jim who had also ran away because he was thought to have killed Huck. They sail along a river and have adventures together, meeting some other people along the way.

First post

This is me. I will post about books, and review them generally; there may be some posts about other stuff so keep looking. I know that everybody has different tastes, so I will try to post about every type of book. I will not review every book that I read, but the good ones, and sometimes the bad ones. I'll try to help with writing books too. Posts will be as often as possible.