零點的邀約

England  -Rachel Bladon

Macmillan Cultural Readers

Travel

Overview 

This is a book about England organized briefly into a well- organized structure. It starts with the country's history from the past to modern history, traditions, cities, daily life etc. In every chapter, the articles are structured by time, which lets readers follow along easily. The book ends by questioning itself, such as will England still have queens and kings? However, the author thinks that we won't know what the world will become like as the English still watch Shakespeare's plays and go to the Lake District on holiday.

1984  by George Orwell

Sci-Fi Penguin readers

Overview

Winston Smith is an outer party member who lives under the control of Big Brother. Although he is one of the outer party members, he resides in a small, dilapidated flat and eats disgusting scraps of food. The worst thing is Big Brother is watching everyone, and there is a telescreen in his flat and microphones everywhere to monitor people's thoughts. Winston isn't happy about his life, and he wants to express his hatred of the world. One day he meets Julia who shares the same feeling. Later on, they become secret lovers, which is recognized as a crime. However, their secret actions were already under surveillance by the party.

Not For Parents: New York Everything you ever wanted to know

Lonely Planet

Travel

Overview

In these two weeks, I was taken to New York by this book. It showed me how the Big Apple became the most famous city in the world. A big part of the book focuses on how immigrants influence New York. Take food as an example; there isn't a typical food in New York. People from all over the world have brought their hometown cuisine back to New York. It makes different areas have their own special kinds of food. For instance, you can find pastrami on rye in Washington Heights because of Jewish immigrants. 

Not For Parents: Paris Everything you ever wanted to know

Lonely Planet

Travel

Overview

This time Lonely Planet took me to discover Paris. It also introduces all kinds of stuff about Paris, such as the history, architecture, painters and even wars. To my surprise, there are lots of articles related to war. I can tell how dangerous it is to live in Europe during the Middle Ages.

The Children of the New Forest -Captain Marryat

Oxford 

Historical Fiction

Overview

Edward belongs to the Beverley family, he is the biggest brother, and he has one younger brother and two younger sisters.  Their father is dead because he fought for the king. In 1647 England, King Charles I was in prison, and Cromwell had taken over. Therefore, the Beverley children should not let Cromwell's men find them and also couldn't tell anyone their family name.

Sherlock Holmes short stories -SIR Arthur Conan Doyle

Oxford 

Mystery& Detective

Overview

Sherlock Holmes is the most famous detective in the world. In this book, there are three short stories from the Sherlock Holmes series. These three stories are: The Specked Band, A Scandal in Bohemia, and The Five Orange Pips. In some of the stories, Sherlock finally helps his visitors to overcome their difficulties, but one of the stories has an unhappy end.