Book #57
Book Title: The Slippery Slope
Author: Daniel Handler
Genre: fiction
# of pages: 337
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: A
Short description/summary of the book: (taken from amazon.com): What would you do if you found yourself trapped in a runaway caravan hurtling down a precipitous mountain slope? Fourteen-year-old Violet, the oldest orphan of the three Baudelaires, decides to try to slow the velocity of the caravan with a drag-chute invention involving a viscous combination of blackstrap molasses, maple syrup, maraschino liqueur, peanut butter, etc. If plummeting to their death weren't scary enough, Violet and her brother Klaus have been separated from Sunny, their baby sister who is in a car headed in the opposite direction up the mountain with the "facinorous" Count Olaf, his "villainous and stylish" girlfriend Esmé Squalor, and their creepy sidekicks. Do Violet and Klaus find Sunny on the mountain? How will they survive the treacherous, snow-covered peaks with not much more than a ukulele and a bread knife, especially in the face of the "organized, ill-tempered" snow gnats? Will they finally unearth the mystery of the V.F.D.? Will they find out if one of their parents is alive after all? The suspense! As ever, the Baudelaires' unfolding tale of woe is sprinkled with Lemony Snicket's ridiculous, hilarious observations such as "Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant with odd waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like." The tenth book in The Series of Unfortunate Events takes readers through the Mortmain Mountains to the churning waters of the Stricken Stream with all the coexistent horror and silliness a Snicket fan could hope for along the way.

My Thoughts: Sunny is all grown up now! It's kinda sad! Seriously though, I really liked this book, probably even more than The Carnivorous Carnival. I cannot wait to see what happens to the children next! ;)

Currently reading: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith

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Book #56
Book Title: The Carnivorous Carnival
Author: Daniel Handler
Genre: fiction
# of pages: 286
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: A-
Short description/summary of the book: (taken from amazon.com): This installment in the woeful tale of the unlucky Baudelaire orphans takes them (via the trunk of Count Olaf's car, unbeknownst to him) to the Caligari Carnival in the middle of the hinterlands. Madame Lulu has used her crystal ball in the past to help him find the children after their narrow escapes, but this time he also wants her to discern the truth about whether or not either of their parents is still alive. Violet, Klaus, and Sunny disguise themselves as freaks so that they can stay at the carnival and hopefully get to the crystal ball before the Count does. They suffer the indignation of performing in their new roles, face off a bloodthirsty mob, and escape from a pit of hungry lions. New and deviously entertaining characters are added to the cast, including Kevin the ambidextrous man, Colette the contortionist, and Hugo the hunchback. The humor is as sharp as ever, the suspense will keep readers at the edge of their seats, and the cliff-hanger ending will make them eagerly await the next episode.

My Thoughts: I really did like this installment. It made me think of Carnivale (but more of a family version...LOL!) I loved that this one had a cliffhanger as well...it makes me want to finish the rest of the series right now!!! :)

Currently reading: The Slippery Slope by Daniel Handler

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Book #53
Book Title: The Vile Village
Author: Daniel Handler
Genre: fiction
# of pages: 256
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: B
Short description/summary of the book: (taken from amazon.com): The seventh book in Lemony Snicket's splendidly gloomy Series of Unfortunate Events shadows the three Baudelaire orphans as they plummet headlong into their next misadventure. Mr. Poe, their ineffective legal guardian, having exhausted all options for finding them a new home with relatives (including their 19th cousin), sadly entrusts his young charges' fate to a progressive guardian program formed with the premise "It takes a village to raise a child." Before they know it, the Baudelaires are being whisked off on a bus to a village (vile) named "V.F.D." Snicket fans who read The Austere Academy and The Ersatz Elevator will jump to see these three initials, as they provide a clue to the tragic disappearance of the Baudelaires' friends, the beloved, equally orphaned Quagmire triplets.
To the orphans' dismay, V.F.D. is covered in crows--so much so that the whole village is pitch-black and trembling. "The crows weren't squawking or cawing, which is what crows often do, or playing the trumpet, which crows practically never do, but the town was far from silent. The air was filled with the sounds the crows made as they moved around." Another disturbing element of the town is that the Council of Elders (who wear creepy crow hats) has thousands of rules, such as "don't hurt crows" and "don't build mechanical devices." Fortunately, the Baudelaires are taken in by a kindly handyman named Hector who cooks them delicious Mexican food and secretly breaks rules. Still, neither Hector nor an entire village can protect the orphans from the clutches of the money-grubbing Count Olaf, who has relentlessly pursued them (actually, just their fortune) since The Bad Beginning. Fans won't want to miss any of this marvelously morbid series!

My Thoughts: Again, this was a cute read, but it is not one of the best in the series. The "it's not cool" phrases and Olaf's new "look" were great though. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series!

Currently reading: I am about to start Suzanne's Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson.

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Book #47
Book Title: A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Austere Academy
Author: Daniel Handler
Genre: children's literature
# of pages: 221
Pages read this year: 12720/15000
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: A
Short description/summary of the book: (taken from amazon.com): As the three Baudelaire orphans warily approach their new home--Prufrock Preparatory School--they can't help but notice the enormous stone arch bearing the school's motto Memento Mori, or "Remember you will die." This is not a cheerful greeting, and certainly marks an inauspicious beginning to a very bleak story. Of course, this is what we have come to expect from Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events, the deliciously morbid set of books that began with The Bad Beginning and only got worse.
In The Austere Academy, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are at first optimistic--attending school is a welcome change for the book-loving trio, and the academy is allegedly safe from the dreaded Count Olaf, who is after their fortune. Hope dissipates quickly, however, when they meet Vice Principal Nero, a self-professed genius violinist who sneeringly imitates their every word. More dreadful still, he houses them in the tin Orphans Shack, crawling with toe-biting crabs and dripping with a mysterious tan fungus. A beam of light shines through the despair when the Baudelaires meet the Quagmires, two of three orphaned triplets who are no strangers to disaster and sympathize with their predicament. When Count Olaf appears on the scene disguised as Coach Genghis (covering his monobrow with a turban and his ankle tattoo with expensive running shoes), the Quagmires resolve to come to the aid of their new friends. Sadly, this proves to be a hideous mistake.
Snicket disarms us again with his playful juxtapositions--only he can compare bombs with strawberry shortcake (both are as dangerous to make as assumptions), muse on how babies adjust developmentally to the idea of curtains, or ponder why the Baudelaire orphans would not want to be stalks of celery despite their incessant bad luck as humans. We can't get enough of this splendid series of misadventures, and can only wager that swarms of young readers will be right next to us in line for the next installment.


My thoughts: This is now one of my favorites in the series. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Sunny, and I really like the Quagmires as well! I just hope that they are ok...EEP!!!





Book #47
Book Title: A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Ersatz Elevator
Author: Daniel Handler
Genre: children's literature
# of pages: 259
Pages read this year: 12979/15000
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: B
Short description/summary of the book: (taken from amazon.com): Fans of Lemony Snicket's wonderful Series of Unfortunate Events won't be surprised to find that in the sixth installment the three Baudelaire orphans' new home proves to be something of a mixed bag. As our ever sad but helpful narrator states, "Although 'a mixed bag' sometimes refers to a plastic bag that has been stirred in a bowl, more often it is used to describe a situation that has both good parts and bad parts. An afternoon at the movie theater, for instance, would be a mixed bag if your favorite movie were showing, but if you had to eat gravel instead of popcorn. A trip to the zoo would be a very mixed bag if the weather were beautiful, but all of the man-and woman-eating lions were running around loose." And so it is for the bad-luck Baudelaires. Their fancy new 71-bedroom home on 667 Dark Avenue is inhabited by Esmé Gigi Geniveve Squalor (the city's sixth most important financial advisor), and her kindly husband, Jerome, who doesn't like to argue. Esmé is obsessed by the trends du jour (orphans are "in"), and because elevators are "out," Sunny, Violet, and Klaus have to trudge up 66 flights of stairs to reach the Squalors' penthouse apartment. (Other unfortunate trends include pinstripe suits, aqueous martinis--water with a faint olive-y taste--parsley soda, and ocean decorations.)
As the book begins, the Baudelaires are not only frightened in anticipation of their next (inevitable) encounter with the evil, moneygrubbing Count Olaf but they are also mourning the disappearance of their dear new friends from The Austere Academy, the Quagmires. It doesn't take long for Olaf to show up in another of his horrific disguises... but if he is on Dark Avenue, what has he done with the Quagmires? Once again, the resourceful orphans use their unique talents (Violet's inventions, Klaus's research skills, and the infant Sunny's strong teeth) in a fruitless attempt to escape from terrible tragedy. Is there a gleam of hope for the orphans and their new friends? Most certainly not. The only thing we can really count on are more gloriously gloomy adventures in the seventh book, The Vile Village.


My thoughts: This is a good follow-up to The Austere Academy, but it was not one of my favorite reads. However, the read was cute and I cannot wait to see what happens to Olaf and the triplets! ;)

Currently Reading: I think I am going to start Stardsust by Neil Gaiman.

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Book #9
Book Title:A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Wide Window
Author: Lemony Snicket
Genre: Children's literature
# of pages: 214
Pages read this year: 2392/15000 (15.9%)
My rating of the book, F- [worst] to A [best].: B+
Short description/summary of the book: Yet another unfortunate adventure for the Baudelaire children...they are now forced to move in with their dear "Aunt" Josephine, who is a grammar nut and afraid of virtually.....EVERYTHING! At least it is a warm place to live right? The children at last find that their lives might now take a positive turn. However, things go sour once Captain Sham enters the picture...
My thoughts: What can I say? These are always my "guilty pleasure" reads. I rated this lower than I did the other two that I have read thus far, because I thought the "Aunt" was quite annoying and I wasn't a fan of this storyline as much (even though I did enjoy watching it in the movie of the first three books!) However, when I get more money, I would LOVE to get the rest of these books! :D
Currently Reading: I am about to start Naked by David Sedaris that I borrowed from thetinydemon and I am going to finish up Interview with a Vampire eventually...

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