Book Review(9)
Name of the Book- The 3 investigators
Author- M V Carrey

Alfred Hitchcock's team of three young investigators are at it again in the Mystery of the Vanishing Treasure. Jupiter Jones, Pete Crenshaw and Bob Andrews work together to solve some of Rocky Beach, California's toughest crimes. 

This story is a combination of several mysteries which will take them to the Peterson Museum where the world famous Nagasami Jewels are on display for a special exhibition. They just so happen to show up on children's day and amidst the chaos a robbery occurs. The boys would love nothing more than to take this challenge on but Mr. Saito Togati, the head of security, will have nothing of it. The boys are terribly disappointed but are soon on a new track of investigation. Don't worry, the story gets back to the theft a little later. 

As the boys discuss the events of the day, Jupiter's aunt informs him that he has a call from Mr. Alfred Hitchcock himself. A new and important case has arisen and he wants the boys on it right away. It seems that Ms. Agatha Agawam, Hitchcock's writer friend, is having trouble with none other than gnomes. Yes, the mysterious wee ones from the Black Forest. Of course no one believes her except Hitchcock, who knows her to be a credible woman. The three investigators pack their bags and head for downtown Los Angeles to catch a glimpse of the annoying little creatures and prove that Ms. Agatha is not a nut. 

This is a well written interwoven tale that is action packed. You'll be introduced to Rawley, the night watchman, Mr. Frank, an actor wannabe, a not so merry cast of little people and Hans, the loyal chauffer. Locals take you to an old mansion in LA, a vintage theatre in it's last days, pier 37 and of course, Alfred Hitchcock‘s personal office.

Book Review(8)
Name of the Book- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Author- J.K. Rowling

A teenage wizard and his friends travel the countryside to find and destroy parts of their oppressor's soul. Harry (a teenage wizard) knows that he can't go back to wizardry school this year; there's war on the horizon. A renown villain, Lord Voldemort, is once again at the height of his powers, and (among other things) he's out to finish Harry off. Out of loyalty and a sense of duty, both of Harry's wizard friends Ron and Hermione forgo their seventh year at Hogwarts, the wizarding school, in favor of helping Harry find the rest of Voldemort's horcruxes; the pieces of his soul. The trio traipse across wilderness and rocky terrain, their only link to the wizarding world a radio that Ron brought along to keep track of the missing and dead. No one is safe, especially not with Voldemort's followers, the Deatheaters, in the Ministry and Snatchers patrolling the streets looking for half-bloods and muggleborns (people of non-magic descent). But the trio can't hide forever, and they're eventually Snatched, arrested, and identified. Harry and Ron are locked in a dungeon and Hermione is tortured by prison escapee and Voldemort-lover Bellatrix Lestrange. After a nasty duel, the trio escape to Ron's brother's house to concoct a plan to save Hogwarts, because they can all feel that that is where the tension with Voldemort will come to a head. With the help of the loyal professors still on grounds, they make their way to the castle that houses the wizarding school, and are stunned to find that a group of their former classmates has joined together, and is ready to take orders. When the battle begins, it's the fearless students and professors against the Deatheaters, the followers, and Voldemort. After the Hogwarts side sustains heavy casualties, Voldemort gives Harry an ultimatum: come to the forest to die, or let innocent people die for you. Noble as always, Harry walks the green mile to the Forbidden Forest that lies beyond the castle. On the way, he sees the ghosts of his past: his father, mother, and godfather. They encourage him and tell him that there's nothing to be afraid of. Harry faces off with the Dark Lord, and miraculously, doesn't die. But he fakes it so well that Voldemort goes on a victory march up to the castle to show off Harry's corpse. Once they're both in the center of all the discouraged onlookers, Harry springs to life and engages Voldemort in a duel that only one of them can survive. Harry cheats death twice that day; he is forever the Boy Who Lived.

Book Review(7) 
Name of Book- The Witches
Author- Roald Dahl

They are completely bald and always wear wigs, constantly sneaking hands underneath to scratch their itchy scalps. They don't have any toes and have really broad feet, but they force their feet into narrow, fashionable shoes to blend in. They have really long, curved fingernails that they usually hide by wearing gloves. They are the witches. And the meanest, nastiest witches live in England, where a boy has just gone to live with his grandmother after his parent's tragic death. 

His grandmother always warned the boy about suspecting nice women who offer him candy - check for gloves, wigs and pinched feet. He is able to avoid the witches until his grandmother becomes ill and they go to a seaside resort where the English witches are having a convention just like normal people in the hotel. Stunned, the boy overhears the grand witch's plot to eliminate all of the children in England by feeding them candy that will turn them into mice! When he is discovered, the boy knows that the witches are going to kill him, but they test the potion on him instead. Now in mouse form, the boy and his grandmother must use all of their wits and cleverness to defeat the witches' evil scheme! 

Book Review(6)

Name of the Book- The Jungle Book
Author- Rudyard Kipling

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling tells the tale of Mowgli, a young Indian boy, who, after straying from his village, ends up being taken in by a pack of wolves and living among the creatures of the forest. 

The story begins as Shere Khan, a fearsome tiger whose name is known throughout the jungle, attempts to hunt down Mowgli after he strays from his village. The tiger was also nicknamed Lungri by his mother (translating to The Lame One) due to the fact that he was born with a crippled leg. For that reason he fails to catch Mowgli, and the child is instead taken in by the animal that becomes known as Father Wolf, who takes him home to his wife, Mother Wolf. Shere Khan attempts to get them to hand Mowgli over, claiming him as rightful prey, but the two refuse. They then name him Mowgli, the word for frog, and the boy is raised among the Seeonee wolf pack, alongside Mother Wolf's actual cubs. 

When Father Wolf takes Mowgli to Council Rock (a parliament of sorts where the Seeonee convene on matters of import), he attempts to have him officiated an authentic member of the pack. Though many of the wolves refute the concept as absurd, the leader of the pack, Akela, accepts his entrance. Baloo, a black bear, and Bagheera, a panther, end up vouching for the child's admission as well, rendering him an official wolf. Baloo soon after becomes the boy's teacher, instructing him on all matters from the speaking of animal languages to jungle lore. Bagheera, who was raised by a man himself, keeps him connected to his humanity, and instructs him that one day he'll have to return to his own kind. 

Trouble strikes when Akeela is tricked into abdicating his position as leader of the pack. This happens after Shere Khan convinces some of the younger wolves to support his own endeavors in order to capture Mowgli. Since a wolf that is too old to hunt is driven out, or even killed, by the pack, these younger wolves end up steer a young, speedy buck in Akela's direction, knowing he won't be able to catch it. When they attempt to depose the old wolf in the aftermath, however, Mowgli picks up the Red Flower (fire) to drive Shere Khan away. 

Soon after this, Mowgli is kidnapped by the Bandar-log monkey tribe; they carry him deep in the jungle where they hold him prisoner. Since Baloo and Bagheera don't consider themselves able to take on the Bandar-log on their own, they enlist the services of Kaa, a serpent, who has a particular appetite for monkeys. Just the mere sight of Kaa causes the monkeys to disperse, and Mowgli is released. He promises Kaa to send all goats in his direction from there on out. 

After being released by the monkey tribe, Mowgli wanders the jungle and encounters a human village. Curious, he enters it and is taken in by Messua, a woman who has lost her own son and offers to adopt Mowgli. Mowgli, accepting the offer, is appointed to watch the village herds, and continues to meet up with his jungle family semi-frequently, particularly his brother, Gray Wolf. Gray Wolf informs Mowgli that Shere Khan is still set on killing him. Gray Wolf thus forces Tabaqui, a lowly jackal that loyal to Shere Khan, to tell him the details of the tiger's plan. He then kills Tabaqui and lures Shere Khan into a canyon, where they bring about a stampede of buffalo and trample the tiger to death. Soon after, the villagers throw stones at Mowgli, accusing him of being a sorcerer for the manner in which he communicates with animals. He flees and returns to the wolf pack, resolved to hunt with them indefinitely until the end of his days. 

Soon after his return, Kaa brings Mowgli to the Cold Lairs to meet an old white cobra named Thuu (White Hood). He is the guardian of what is called ‘the king's treasure'. After showing it to Mowgli, the boy takes an ankus and goad with him, both of which Thuu warns will bring death upon the person possessing them. 

Mowgli then discards the ankus in the jungle, thinking it cursed. But Bagheera advises they go back to retrieve it so that they can return it to its rightful home. When they arrive, however, they discover it has already been taken, and soon enough come upon six men who died in its possession. Mowgli then returns the ankus to the Cold Lairs, where hopefully it will remain undisturbed. 

In the time following, old Akela is killed. This happens while Mowgli is attempting to thwart the devastation caused by red dogs called Dholes (they run in large packs and are wildly destructive). Mowgli leads them towards the lair of the the Little People (bees) who drive the Dholes towards an ambush wolves. It is there that Akela meets his demise. 

Following the death, Mowgli begins to experience what he can only describe as unhappiness. He is just shy of seventeen years old, and leaves the jungle to travel to another one. He encounters Messua on the way and she tells him she believes she is her long lost son. She has also given birth to another child, who she calls his brother. 

In the final pages, Mowgli returns to the village for a brief while before Gray Brother convinces him to return to the jungle. On his way out, however, he encounters a girl, to whom he becomes attracted. It is then that he leaves the jungle forever and returns to the world of men indefinitely.

Book Review(5)
Name of the Book- Matilda
Author- Roald Dahl

Matilda is a four-year-old genius stuck with a trashy, overbearing family. Using her superior intellect, she manages to get back at them a few times through very clever strategy. However, when she starts school, she is faced with her mortifying headmistress, the terrible Miss Trunchbull. Compared to two-hundred pounds of solid muscle, Matilda is at a serious disadvantage. Soon, both brains and brawn are put to the test in this crazy, thoughtful, delightful story by a classic author.
Poor Matilda has grown up in a family that scoffs at reading for enjoyment and demands that the family eat their dinner in front of the television every night. Matilda desperately wants to go to school and the public library, but her parents say no. So, Matilda teaches herself to read and by the time she is five and a half years old, she has secretly read all the books in the children's section of the public library! Reading is not Matilda's only amazing skill; she can also do double-digit mathematics problems and make things move with her mind! 

Matilda is finally allowed to go to school, but quickly learns that the Headmistress, Mrs. Trunchbull, is even more cruel and unfair than her neglectful parents. Matilda's teacher is Mrs. Trunchbull's niece, Miss Honey, and she is lovely and kind. Miss Honey takes a special interest in Matilda and tries to make her parents understand how unique their daughter is. In turn, Matilda wants to help Miss. Honey and make her school a less frightening place. 

Book Review(4)

Book Name- Gullivers Travels

Author- Jonathan Swift


Jonathan Swift's highly influential work is a satire on the prevailing customs, philosophy, and pretenses of European society in the 1700's. Shipwrecked and cast adrift, Lemuel Gulliver wakes to find himself on Lilliput, an island inhabited by little people, whose height makes their quarrels over fashion and fame seem ridiculous. His subsequent encounters - with the crude giants of Brobdingnag, the philosophical Houyhnhnms and the brutish Yahoos - give Gulliver new, bitter insights into human behaviour. Swift's savage satire view mankind in a distorted hall of mirrors as a diminished, magnified and finally bestial species, presenting us with an uncompromising reflection of ourselves.

This text, based on the first edition of 1726, reproduces all its original illustrations and includes an introduction by Robert Demaria, Jr, which discusses the ways Gulliver's Travels has been interpreted since its first publication.
Well, just click the below link to download the book.
Link-Gullivers travels

 

Book Review(3)
Book Name- The Invisible Man
Author- H.G.Wells

"To be invisible has been man's ultimate fantasy. But the troubles and difficulties one encounters on being invisible are never given a thought."

            - Alston 

The story opens on a snowy winter evening in rural Iping Village, England at the turn of the century. A stranger checks into a country inn with his face bandaged up as though from a horrible accident. He demands privacy and for his cases to be brought up from the station in the morning. The local people just can't seem to keep from trying to glimpse at what lies beneath the man's wrappings. Unusual occurrences begin and the stranger is suspected of being a thief. The stranger enlists the help of an unwilling beggar, Marvel who is so unnerved that he runs for his life taking off with the stranger's possessions. The stranger is forced to flee after it is determined that he is in fact an invisible man. The stranger comes upon the residence of Dr. Kemp who finally is told the identity of the stranger. The man is Jack Griffin, a brilliant chemistry student who is described as almost an albino(An individual with complete absence of melanin is called an albino). In great detail he tells Kemp of how the whole thing happened as a part of his studies on an unfortunate cat, his act of arson to his living quarters, his flight from the law, and how he now wants to use his invisibility to conquer the world. Griffin neglects to mention that the experiment has made him insane for want of power. Kemp is unsympathetic but plays along with Griffin while sending a note to the local constable. The law is after him yet again but he manages to slip away. He is enraged at Dr. Kemps deceitful act and vows revenge. He assaults Kemp's home, breaking all the windows and chopping through a door with an axe bringing the action and the story to its climax.

Well, Just click on the link to read the book.

Link- The Invisible Man