THE AUSTERE ACADEMY or BOOK 23

The saga of the Baudelaire Children is continued through Book the Fifth: The Austere Academy. Where the three orphans are enrolled at Prufrock Preparatory School, the school motto is “Momento Mori” and Carmelita Spats is a top student despite calling people “cakesniffers.” Vice Principal Nero allows Sunny to become his secretary to earn her keep since she is too young for classes. The three orphans are housed in the Orphans’ Shack which is infested by a family of crabs and there is a dripping fungus coming from the ceiling. THey make friends with the two Quagmire Triplets, who were former occupants of the Orphans’ Shack until they found a guardian. Quigley Quagmire is the lost triplet, but we aren’t entirely sure what happened to him. The Quagmires help the Baudelaires adjust to the crushing school schedule and they even help battle Carmelita Spats and fool Coach Genghis. Coach Genghis is Count Olaf in disguise and he comes in when the gym teacher disappears without a trace. In an attempt to make the Baudelaires fail their exams and put them up for adoption, Coach Genghis makes the run mandatory laps from dusk until dawn every night. Whatever will happen to Carmelita Spats? What will become of the Baudelaire’s grades? And will the Quagmire triplets be punished for helping the Baudelaires?

FAHRENHEIT 451 or BOOK 22

This is one of my favorites, Ray Bradbury throws his readers into a terrifying dystopia. A despicable society in this dystopia have completely gotten rid of literature. There is a network of firefighters that no longer put out fires, but start them to extinguish the book collections of civilians.  Professors and scholars have been forced into hiding or homelessness, while regular citizens spend their time in living rooms with television walls. Taking walks and thinking for oneself are oddities that the government takes notice of and quietly find reasons to eradicate the citizens in question. The main character is Guy Montag, a firefighter who meets a young teenage girl Clarisse who thinks for herself. Along a few walks and chance meeting, Guy is taught how to appreciate little things like flowers, books, and the sky. Two weeks later Clarisse disappears. Montag is dumbfounded by his wife Mildred and her acceptance of ignorance. Mildred spends her time watching tv and talking about nothing with her friend, the readers learn quickly to hate her character. There is very little love within Montag’s and Mildred’s marriage, they even sleep in twin beds across the room from each other.  After a few weeks, things start to turn sour for Montag. Montag’s fire chief Beatty starts to suspect Montag for things, starts quoting literature and claims he knows books but hates them, and disregards the newfound hatred for Montag that The Mechanical Hound has developed.  Then war breaks out. Let me know if you like this book! :)

A CHRISTMAS CAROL or BOOK 21

Ok, so I know it isn’t anywhere near Christmas and I know where I’m at its 80 degrees fahrenheit. But sometimes you just need Charles Dickens to remind you how to live. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is by no means a strictly December book. It is a year-round book that teaches its readers the meaning of enjoying life and treasuring humanity. The vessel Dickens used in this particular book is Ebenezer Scrooge, a mottle old prick who loves money more than anything or anyone in the world. He coldheartedly turns away beggars and abuses his own clerk Bob Cratchit. On Christmas Eve, Jacob Marley (Scrooge’s departed business partner) comes to visit Scrooge as an apparition and warn him about three ghosts. Marley tells Scrooge that he has mistreated his fellow man so very much that he is going to be given one last chance to change before he is given up on and damned. A few hours later, the Ghost of Christmas Past, haunts Scrooge. This ghost is followed by the Ghost of Christmas Present, and lastly the Ghost of Christmas Future. Scrooge is reminded of regrets, walks among his fellow human beings and see the merriment they share, and shown a glimpse of the future. All of this affects him wildly and he wakes up the next day and makes a dramatic choice. Let me know you’re favorite book or thing about Charles Dickens! :)

Hey, so I'm obsessed with books and I was wondering if you had a list or some suggestions of must read books? I already have a pile by my bed, but id like some more. Just thought I'd ask as your Tumblr is based on books😁

Hey, yesI can give you some suggestions! A few of my favorite books are:-Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury-The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway-The Story of An Hour by Kate Chopin (short story)-Richard III by Shakespeare (bloody, but definitely a classic read)-The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (arm yourself with tissues for this one)-Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

I’m gonna be honest, none of these are love stories but they are fantastic books :) let me know if you like any of them or if you need more suggestions!

SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK or BOOK 20

For those of you who absolutely adore this movie the way I do; those who own it or (like me) have it saved on your Netflix list and watch it when you’re home alone, you should absolutely read this book! Matthew Quick has composed a novel full of Philadelphia Eagles statistics, dance moves, and a main character learning to battle repression and mental illness. The movie was fantastic, but the book really gives you insight to the mind of the main character Pat. The book has a couple of things that are different from the movie. Every word is worth the read. Quick makes his readers empathize with Pat because of what his wife does to their marriage and how deeply Pat has repressed his memories and pain. It opens the eyes of the readership to people who struggle with a mental illness. It shows how messy life and marriage is and how the most unlikely people can be the greatest friends. Let me know if you liked the book and/or the movie! :)

HEART-SHAPED BOX or BOOK 19

Joe Hill reels his readers in with Heart-Shaped Box as soon as the book starts. He introduces Jude Coyne, the heavy-metal rockstar with a love for goth girls named after states. Jude is haunted by his past and by the ghost of Craddock Price, the step-father of Jude’s former ex girlfriends Florida. Craddock swears that he will kill Jude and anyone who helps him or is close to him. Jude only starts to take him seriously when something fatal happens to his personal assistant Danny.  After the passing of Danny, Jude and his current goth girlfriend Georgia have to race against time and Craddock to find out answers and try to fight death. Things look grim and Jude and Georgia begin to doubt that life will continue on after Craddock is finished with them. Note: this book contains some mature content. Young readers beware.

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THE DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY or BOOK 18

Taking a break from fiction, I picked up Erick Larson’s The Devil in the White City. Larson splits the book into two paths, one follows Daniel Burnham and the planning and building of the World’s Fair in Chicago and the other path followed H. H. Holmes and his tyrannical reign of the Worlds Fair Hotel. This not only teaches the reader quite a lot about architecture, history, and risk-taking but also keeps them interested.  Daniel Burnham and his partner John Root are intrigued by the World’s Fair in Paris and they set out to answer it in an equally or greater fair themselves. This become the Chicago Worlds Fair, after much arguing among Americans about where the fair would reside (New York, Detroit, or Chicago). Chicago finally claims the fair, but much to the city residents’ chagrin, the rest of the country show very little support in Chicago. Over three years, Burnham and Root gather architects, landscape artists, and inventors to send in their plans for the fair. They settled on over ten buildings, a statue, an island in the lake of Jackson Park, and eventually a huge wheel with 31 pods that spun in the air (or the Ferris Wheel). H. H. Holmes was a self-made millionaire by way of life insurance schemes and conning companies with credit fraud. He started off with a cure-all for alcoholism at his pharmaceutical company. Then started encouraging the people around him to purchase life insurance then some of those people went missing. He had three wives all at different times but never divorced, one was separated but not divorced, the other two died by Holmes’ hands. He built a hotel near the Worlds Fair and added gas chambers and hidden rooms, here he lured visitors of the Fair (all of which were young women) and most of them disappeared. In the end, Detective Geyer was put on Holmes’ case after Holmes’ partner Benjamin Pietzel and three of his children went missing after spending some time traveling with Holmes. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did. Feel free to let me know your favorite part!

THE MISERABLE MILL or BOOK 17

I decided to continue the Lemony Snicket series bit by bit when I had a challenged book to read. At the moment I’m reading The Devil in the White City and it is FANTASTIC, but it is taking me a while.  That will be my next blog post, however for this one we will focus on The Miserable Mill. This book takes you through the story of the Baudelaire Orphans and their combat with Count Olaf while they try to find a proper home. They are sent to Lucky Smells Lumber Mill to live and to work for a man whose name no one can pronounce. They call their new boss/father “Mister” along with the troupe of odd characters who work with them. At one point, a horrid foreman trips Klaus and sends his spectacles crashing to the floor along with the avid reader. Klaus is sent to the eye doctor and comes back in an odd state: he won’t listen to a word Sunny says, he calls Violet Veronica, and then he breaks someone’s leg. This is horrible news for Mister and for Violet who attempts to keep er brother and sister out of trouble as much as possible. After much research, Violet figures out that the eye doctor is working with Count Olaf and has been hypnotizing Klaus in order to lure the Baudelaire’s to a fate with Count Olaf. She finds a way to snap Klaus out of his hypnosis and save her family from the Count’s clutches once again.

You are the knife I turn inside myself; that is love. That, my dear, is love.

Franz Kafka, Letters to Milena (via thequotejournals)

I remember when your eyes said love loudly

Charles Bukowski  (via thelovejournals)

ERAGON or BOOK 16

I dove into Eragon this week and the results were fantastic! I have read it before so I listened to it this time, the voice of Gerard Doyle brought every word of those 14 discs to life in a way my mind could only do silently. I have heard varying opinions about Christopher Paolini and in my humble opinion, anyone who can create an entirely new world and a new language with pure imagination is a good egg in my book. I love reading the Inheritance Cycle as well. In Eragon, our main character has his life thrown to chaos’ clutches when a dragon egg appears in front of him at the base of an explosion. Eragon, himself was out hunting when the dragon egg appears. In a few weeks time, Eragon’s social life, family, and home are pulled apart as the dragon hatches and grows. His uncle is murdered by two terrifying creatures named the Raz’ac and Eragon makes a promise of revenge. With the help of the village storyteller Brom and Saphira (his dragon), Eragon chases the Raz’ac across the land in search of revenge and meets with elves, humans, and a werecat name Solembum. 

MY DARLING, MY HAMBURGER or BOOK 15

Paul Zindel catalogs a small segment of the loves of four teenagers in his book: My Darling, My Hamburger. Sean, Liz, Maggie, and Dennis learn about social cues and values as they begin their introduction to the adult world. The two couples experience prom and other social situations while dodging rude men, skirting through bars, and staving off their parents’ attacks. The readers watch as they learn whether or not internalizing their struggles is a good thing and when one of them questions existentialism. I wasn’t the keenest reader when it came to this teeny, 122-page novel. It brought back a lot of memories from high school (good and bad) and was rather nostalgic to say the least. This book is perfect for a rainy-day read, just make sure you have a decent cup of cocoa at the ready and maybe a pet to cuddle with after you finish the book.

Updated Book List: March

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett White Fang by Jack London 1984 by George Orwell Diary by Chuck Palahnuk In Pursuit of the Unknown by Ian Stewart Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw Dracula by Bram Stoker On Killing by Dave Grossman Candide by Voltaire Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky Call me Zelda by Erika Roebuck Hemingway’s Girl by Erika Roebuck Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant: The Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle Garden of Eden by Ernest Hemingway Islands in the Stream by Ernest Hemingway Heart-shaped Box by Joe Hill Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis The Reason for God by Timothy Keller The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Pattillo Beals Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson The only Pirate at the Party by Lindsey Stirling Frankenstein by Mary Shelley The Trial by Francis Kafka Necromancer by William Gibson The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury A Confederacy of Dunces by John Toole In Cold Blood by Truman Capote Lord of the Flies by William Golding The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom A Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco The Stranger by Albert Camus Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell Catch 22 by Joseph Heller Animal Farm by George Orwell Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer Watchman by Allan Moore & Dave Gibbons Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys Never Let Me Down by Kazuo Ishiguro Safekeeping by Jessamyn Hope Book of Night Women by Marion James 11/22/63 by Stephen King Who Asked You? By Terry McMillan The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime by Mark Haddon Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy Legend by Marie Lu Season of Storms by Susanna Kearsley 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher Dark Places by Gillian Flynn Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn “On Writing” by Stephen King Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Brave New World by Aldous Huxley The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot Middlemarch by George Eliot Silas Marner by George Eliot Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Books that changed the World by Andrew Taylor Go Ask Alice by Anonymous Of Mice and Man by John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck Forever by Judy Blume My Darling, My Hamburger by Paul Zindel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Manchild in the Promised Land by Claude Brown The Learning Tree by Gordon Parks Black Like Me by John Howard Griffin The Lottery by Shirley Jackson One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne A Separate Peace by John Knowles One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey Johnny Got His Gun by Dalton Trumbo Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl I Know Why A Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou Deliverance by James Dickey The Good Earth by Pearl Buck A Hero Ain’t Nothin’ but a Sandwich by Alice Childress The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway It’s OK if You Don’t Love Me by Norma Klein Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince by J. K. Rowling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Little Women by Louisa May Alcott Tess of D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy The Complete Works of Shakespeare Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell Bleak House by Charles Dickens War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Les Miserables by Victor Hugo Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert Moby Dick by Herman Melville Typee by Herman Melville Watership Down by Richard Adams Ulysses by James Joyce The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath The Color Purple by Alice Walker Weird History 101 by John Richards Stephens The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown Persuasion by Jane Austen Essays and Poems by Ralph Waldo Emerson Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton Walden and Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau The Magician’s Nephew by C. S. Lewis The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis The Horse and his Boy by C. S. Lewis Prince Caspian by C. S. Lewis The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C. S. Lewis The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis The Last Battle by C. S. Lewis This Country of Ours by H. E. Marshall An Abundance of Katherines by John Green Emma by Jane Austen The Adventures of Robin Hood by Roger Lancelyn Green A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams Beloved by Toni Morrision Orlando by Virginia Woolf Tracks by Louise Erdich Ruth Hall by Fanny Fern White Teeth by Zadie Smith Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf The Awakening by Kate Chopin Three Great Plays by Eugene O’Neill Our Town by Thorton Wilder A Raw Youth by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne The Great Divorce by C. S. Lewis Stepping Heavenward by E. Prentiss Lively Art of Writing by Lucille Vaughn Payne Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan Works of Josephus Volume III by Josephus The Maze Runner by James Dashner The Scorch Trials by James Dashner The Death Cure by James Dashner Angels and Demons by Dan Brown The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde by Peter Ackroyd Cry, My Beloved Country by Alan Paton Goliath by Scott Westerfeld The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway Billy Budd and Other Stories by Herman Melville Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson The Girl who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest by Stieg Larsson Wicked by Gregory Maguire Son of a Witch by Gregory Maguire Murder At The Vicarage by Agatha Christie The Looking Glass Wars by Frank Beddor Looking for Alaska by John Green Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche The Jungle by Upton Sinclair King Arthur and the Knight of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin Anthem by Ayn Rand Ballet Shoes by Noel Streatfeild On War by Carl Von Clausewitz August: Osage County by Tracy Letts Only a Theory by Kenneth Miller My Ten Years in a Quandry by Robert Benchly One Day by David Nicholls The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket The Reptile Room by Lemony Snicket The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket The Austere Academy by Lemony Snicket The Ersatz Elevator by Lemony Snicket The Vile Village by Lemony Snicket The Hostile Hospital by Lemony Snicket The Carnivorous Carnival by Lemony Snicket The Slippery Slope by Lemony Snicket The Grim Grotto by Lemony Snicket The Penultimate Peril by Lemony Snicket The End by Lemony Snicket Selected Writings by Gertrude Stein The School for Scandal by Richard Brinsley Sheridan Gentlemen Prefer Blondes but Gentlemen Marry Brunettes by Anita Loos The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens The Invisible Man by H. G. Wells Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Life of Pi by Yann Martel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy The Turn of the Screw by Henry James Three More Plays by George O’Neill Emily of New Moon by L. M. Montgomery The Once and Future King by T. H. White Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky The Ginger Man by J. P. Donleavy Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy Poetry by Emily Dickenson The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan The Sea of Monster by Rick Riordan The Titan’s Curse by Rick Riordan The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan The Metamorphoses by Ovid The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle The Revenant by Michael Punke Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs The Complete Stories by Flannery O’Connor The Final Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle Grendel by John Gardner The Fault In Our Stars by John Green I AM THE MESSENGER by Markus Zusak The Book Thief by Markus Zusak Eragon by Christopher Paolini Eldest by Christopher Paolini Inheritance by Christopher Paolini Brsinger by Christopher Paolini Just One Damned Thing After Another by Jodi Taylor A Movable Feast by Ernest Hemingway The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien Mr. Midshipman Hornblower by C. S. Forestor Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen The Pocket Chaucer by Geoffrey Chaucer On Writing by Charles Bukowski Will in the World by Stephen Greenblatt Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith Crazy Love by Francis Chan The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll Penny Dreadfuls by Stefan Dziemianowics Classic Works by F. Scott Fitgerald John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs The Complete Tales and Poems by Edgar Allen Poe The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes by Stefan Dziemianowics Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie Mcdonald The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss Divergent by Veronica Roth A History of Greece by J. B. Bury Em and the Big Hoom by Jerry Pinto Something to Tell You by Hanif Kureishi Inkheart by Cornelia Funke Inkspell by Cornelia Funke Inkdeath by Cornelia Funke Grimm’s Fairy Tales by Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery Anne of Avonlea by L. M. Montgomery Anne of the Island by L. M. Montgomery The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll The Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum The Jungle book by Rudyard Kipling A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne The Adventure of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain Hans Andersen’s Fairy Tales by Hans Christian Andersen Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by J. K. Rowling All the Lights We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn Diary of an Unlikely Call Girl by Anonymous Sweet Bird of Youth by Tennessee Williams The Rose Tattoo by Tennessee Williams The Night of the Iguana by Tennessee Williams World, Chase Me Down by Andrew Hilleman The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? by Edward Albee The Copernican Revolution by Thomas S. Kuhn The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi  Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

THE BOOK THIEF or BOOK 14

Note about The Quiet Bibliophile: I do NOT cry in books or movies; I pride myself on the fact that I am coldhearted in literature and film. But when a book or movies comes along that does make me cry, I know it must be a good one. This book made me cry. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is set in the 1940′s in the German town of Molching. It gives a few new twists to the view we have of the War. Zusak writes the book from the perspective of Death who has been enthralled by a ten year old girl named Liesel Meminger from Germany. He meets her first on a train and then has several chance encounters with her throughout the war. He watches her grow and learn to read and write, he watches her house Jews and steal books from burning rubble. Death shows us the colors of the sky on the darkest days of history, and shows us the tattered scraps of hope in war zones and under bombshells. Liesel teaches us the values of humility, of speaking up for yourself, and the treasure of human life. Her Papa is a wonderful example of a good man and teaches her how to read, that she is not alone, and the principles of an upstanding citizen. Her Mama Mrs. Hubermann shows us that even the strongest and rudest people can have the biggest hearts. 

THE BAD BEGINNING, THE REPTILE ROOM, and THE WIDE WINDOW or BOOKS 11, 12, and 13.

Lemony Snicket has perfected cynical reading with his Series of Unfortunate Event. These books are fantastic for all ages and they help their readers learn empathy, rather large vocabulary words, and how to get out of sticky situations. The first three of thirteen are listed here, they chronicle the woe-some lives of the three Baudelaire orphans Violet, Klaus, and Sunny. The orphans parent’s were killed in a house fire and in book the first, they are sent to live with Count Olaf the dastardly actor. Dastardly here means wicked and cruel. Out of some bad fortune, the orphans get away from Count Olaf and go to live with their Uncle Montgomery Montgomery (or Uncle Monty) and his plethora of reptiles. In The Reptile Room, they learn a lot about snakes on their adventures with Monty, especially about the Incredibly Deadly Viper. Some more misfortune strikes and the three Baudelaires go to live with their Aunt Josephine. In The Wide Window, the three children go to live on Lake Lachrymose with Josephine. Their newfound guardian is irrationally afraid of just about everything, from door-knobs, to telephones, and even realtors. The children live a very quiet life with Josephine full of secrets and cold soup. In the end, Mr. Poe their banker comes to get them and they are sent to a new home in a village. I have yet to read it, but I have heard its vile.