Mutiny On The Bounty(Book 3)

Mutiny On The Bounty is talking about a mutiny of a boat name Bounty in England about two hundred years ago. The captain was William Bligh. They went to Tahiti for got some beautiful trees to Jamaica. Bligh was a rebarbative captain. Many of the sailors didn’t like him. He treated them bad. After they gave things to Tahiti from England, they got some trees and left. With a lot of press from the Bligh, one officer Christian wanted to leave Bounty and swam back to Tafua. It seems impossible to swim back to Tafua, so one sailor suggests him to mutiny. Finally, He mutiny with some people who like to be stay with him. They push all of the rest to go with a very small boat with very limit food and water. Of course, captain Bligh was in that boat too. Then, Bligh and other sailors try their best to survive and go back to England. After Bligh told the story to the English people, they all angry and sent captain Edward to Tahiti and caught them. At that time, Christian and his sailors was not staying in Tahiti because they knew somebody would came back to punish them, but some of them were stayed there because they didn’t like Christian. So, they live in Tahiti and got marry with Tahiti women. When captain Edward got there, they caught those sailors in Tahiti, but they couldn’t found out where Christian was. Twenty years later, there were two captains found Christine’s sailor John Adams. Christine already dead, and Adams is the kind of that small island. Because Adams was very old and he was all the kids’ father and all the women’s husband in that island, so those two captains gave up catching him back to England. I think this book is interesting. Also, this book is very easy, may be because it’s lower level.

In the Shadow of the Mountain (Book 3)

Clare Newton is a well- experienced journalist in London. One day when she visits her mother’s house in England’s Lake District for family lunch, she receives a phone call from Switzerland. The officer announced to her that her grandfather’s dead body has appeared from the bottom of a glacier on the north side of the Matterhorn Mountain 74years after a climbing accident. Clare has decides to go to Zermatt in Switzerland in order to bring her grandfather, Edward. Then Clare’s mother, Marjorie shows two letters from Edward to his wife. These letters look like that Edward leave his family and declare that he never return to England. Neither Clare nor Marjorie knows this was true because Edward’s wife, Marjorie’s mother always described her beloved husband like a brave explorer. Since Clare is a journalist and a curious woman, she tries to gather information about Edward’s climbing accident. However, she feels like most of local people seem to hide something to her. Although she finally finds out the mountain guide who climbed the Matterhorn with Edward, that old man says he forgot about Edward. Clare is sure that this guide would remember it but hide. Can Clare find out the truth about his grandfather’s death? Would it be good for her and her family?

I like this story because Clare, who is over forty years old and a well- experienced journalist, looks her life over again while she gather memories of her grandfather. Though she saw her grandfather as a hero who was a great explorer, she gradually knows about Edward has a wonderful passion and he came to Zermatt in order to live as he really want to. Remembering the accident disturbs the old mountain guide’s peaceful life, but sharing the story and feeling gives new happiness to all of characters. I would like to recommend this book to other classmates.　

Trumpet Voluntary (Book 2)

The book is talking about an ordinariness person’s unordinariness life. The main character Derek Armstrong (a viola player) found her wife (Malgosia Armstrong) was gone when he back home. Then, he tried his best to find out where’s his wife like a detective. From his memory, Malgosia should hang out with any gay Tibor. They met when they were in college. Malgosia love Tibor a lot, but Tibor is not a single-mind person, and she knew that. Because Malgosia got hurt from Tibor, so Malgosia left Tibor. Later, Derek and Malgosia got marry. And now, he found out that Malgosia was gone to meet Tibor many times a year. This time, Malgosia disappear without leave a message. Then, Derek used all the information he got and go to find his wife. He went to the city that he thought his wife will be, and try to find her out. Luckily, he met some powerful people there, and he paid them to find out Malgosia and Tibor for him. When those people found Tibor, Derek wants to go there with them and try to find his wife. Unfortunately, he was shot by Tibor’s man. When Derek waked up, he’s in hospital, but Malgosia was sent back to Poland---Malgosia’s home country, and she dead. After Derek went back to England, he was asked a lot of questions by the policeman. With Derek’s friend’s (Rachel) mother’s (a lawyer) help, he got rid of the policeman. Because Rachel help Derek recover for his health or mental, they fall in love with each other (they have relationship few years ago). Because Derek can’t forget his past, he tried find out what’s going on with his wife. Then, he met the dangerous man Tibor and use trick to get some information for Tibor and tell the policeman. He found out that Tibor used Malgosia to transport the drug for him. Because Malgosia open the box (with drug) by herself without allowed, they poison Malgosia. Finally, Derek got married with Rachel.

It’s a romantic story. I don’t like this book a lot because it’s easy to predict the ending at the beginning.

Jungle Love (Book 2)

This story is told by two girls alternately, Jennifer and Lisa. They are in holiday tour in Belize. Although they share one room during the tour, their characters are completely different. Jennifer is a quiet artistic person, who loves reading, nature and history, so she is interested in tropical birds in rain forest and the Mayan history. On the other hand, Lisa is a talkative person, who loves fashion, and she keens to fall in love with a great guy, so she is interested only in men in the tour. Because they are opposite type of character, they cannot understand each other, even hate.
Jennifer and Lisa both have secrets. Jennifer has a fiancé, Pete in London, but she would not like to get married with him actually because she is afraid that she has to live in country side giving up her current enjoyable life in London. Her waver made her spend one night with the other guy. As a result she has a trouble with Pete and the guy, and she come to this holiday in order to escape from that problem. Lisa’s life is far from perfect, too. She lives in countryside with her old sick mother and has a boring work in restaurant. She feels as if her life had no hope in future. Since she would like to forget about that, she acts and tells others as if she had a much better life than hers.
Others in that tour were all couples, but one day one of them was broken up. Ian who is very attractive man argued with his girlfriend, and then she left the tour. Both Jennifer and Lisa are attracted by Ian since he is kind to both of them.
One night Ian kissed Lisa only just a few hours later he kissed Jennifer. Lisa and Jennifer both think “Ian loves “me”, and then their fight for love begins.
Whom does Ian love actually? Which of Jennifer and Lisa get happiness? The result is influenced by their secrets, Jennifer’s fiancé Pete and Lisa’s old mother.
I enjoyed this story. Although these two girls have extreme strong character, I identify myself with the point that they are searching their “happier life”. I think every girl has same eternal question “where is my prince who makes me perfect?”

Around the World in Eighty Days

Around the World in Eighty Days is a classic adventure novel by the French writer Jules Verne, first published in 1873. During the nineteenth century, transport systems all over the world were developing rapidly, so Verne imagined this crazy and colorful trip.
The story starts in London October 2, 1872. Phileas Fogg is a rich, quiet, unmarried gentleman, and he loves his regular habits. He makes a bet with his friends of Reform Club, which is one of a number of London clubs for gentlemen, that he can travel around the world in eighty days. His plan is as follows;
London to Suez rail and steamer 7days
Suez to Bombay steamer 13days
Bombay to Calcutta rail 3days
Hong Kong to Yokohama s steamer 6days
Yokohama to San Francisco steamer 22days
San Francisco to New York rail 7days
New York to London steamer 9days
Total 80days
Mr. Fogg starts his trip on the day when he made bet with his servant, Jean Passepartout in order to win twenty thousand pounds (equal to 2,500,000 pounds today).
On the other hand, Mr. Fix, a British detective is searching the bank robber, and he mistakes Mr. Fogg for the criminal. Mr. Fix chases Mr. Fogg and tries to slow down him at every opportunity so that he can arrest him.
The travelers come across a lot of unexpected dangers and happenings, like rescuing a girl who is being killed for ritual ceremony, the storm in the ocean, and Fix’s tricks. Can Mr. Fogg return to Reform Club in London in eighty days…?
Since the writher, Verne have not traveled the world actually, he describes culture and people of other countries as he imagined. I think that the expressions are stereo type at some points, for instance, he described that the religion in India is savage and American loves fights, but I enjoyed reading this book. The travel without planes is full of interesting story. I think inconvenience helps our imagination expanded.

Murder Maker (Book 1)

This book is talking about the writer how to revenge for her friends. Carla is a single woman who blew up with her boyfriend. Later, she went to the Restart Course--- a special course for people who have experienced a broken relationship. Then, she made three friends there. They are Diane, Gemma, and Cathy. As Carla’s opinion, her friends suffer from broken relationship because her friends’ husbands’ false. So, she wanted to revenge for her friends. She asked her friends’ husbands’ addresses and went there kill them in different way. Of course, she wanted to kill her ex-boyfriend too. Before she went to kill her boyfriend, she killed Cathy’s ex-husband, which a man who Carla love too. So she tried to escape from that event, but she hit an old lady by her car and got caught by the police. When Diane, Gemma, and Cathy went to see her in the police office, they thank her a lot because they benefit from their ex-husbands’ dead (At the beginning, they all sad for their ex-husbands’ dead when they know the news.). The last person she killed left a lot of evidence that a police could find out the person who was the murder, but Diane, Gemma, and Cathy did a thorough clean the evidence before they called the police. Because they want to thank Carla, they want to do something for her. At that time, Carla was in jail for the car accident, she wanted to ask them to kill her ex-boyfriend, but finally she gave to this thought. ------The End.

As my opinion, this book is bad for the children because it may mislead the children to kill the people they hated without punishment. All we know that some bad men done something wrong without caught by the police, we have to face it. However, if a child gets this book and read, they may think the writer’s opinion is great, they may follow this way, then, the crime rate will increase very fast.

Daikichi Couple

大吉, 中吉, 小吉, 吉, 末吉, 凶, 大凶
Japanese Shinto shrines often offer fortune slips. With paying one hundred yen (about one dollar), you can draw a piece of paper. The results are defined seven grades as above. “大吉 Dai-kichi” means special good fortune, so you can rarely grab it. “吉 Kichi” means adequate, and the results get worse as going right side.

On New Year’s Day in 2004, I went to Tsurugaoka Hachimangu in Kamakura, which is one of the most famous and traditional Shinto shrine, with my boyfriend. We had been going with for only one month. After praying for fortune of the New Year, he suggested to draw fortune slips. He said cheerfully “Let’s compete which of us will be luckier this year!”

I drew a piece of paper first and opened it. I saw “大吉” on the paper. Although I had ever drawn fortune slips for several times, that was my first time to catch the best one. I said happily to my boyfriend “I won!” He opened his paper, and his paper was also “大吉” Since that shrine is known as whose fortune slips are severe (people often get “凶” bad, and few people has seen “大吉”), we were deeply surprised with our results. We talked mutually that our new year and our relationship would be happy. Although our relationship had just started, I thought secretly that our future might be promised. On the way home, we bought two lucky charms which were shaped into symbolic birds of that shrine in memory of the day. The one with blue string was his, and the one with red string was mine.

Four years later, we still have those lucky charms, and we are married.