Life in the Inanimate: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

You are voyaging with Captian R. Walton in the Arctic in the good ship, hoping to find a important discovery to make you be remembered and go down in history. Ah, the glory! Then something very peculiar happens: you sight a huge man in a carriage on the ice. Who could it be?

You have just seen the monster of Frankenstein, the "villain" of Mary Shelley's book. In it, a college student finds out how to give life to the inanimate. But things take a turn for the worse when his creation becomes evil...

This book is interesting, as we see how all the circumstances culminate. However, it's very sad, especially at the end. The book is very different from the popular notion of Frankenstein ( for instance, lightning is never actually mentioned as being used in the life-giving process.) The book goes into detail in just the right amount, without being either under- or over-informative (in contrast to Moby Dick).

The book started as a idea of Lord Byron's that he and his next-door neighbors and fellow writers Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, who was under 19, should all write horror stories. Mary was the only person to fulfill the idea, writing Frankenstein.

The book is suitable for all ages, but may upset younger children.

I hope you enjoy Frankenstein.

Three Men In A Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

You're taking a pleasant night stroll along the Thames.  Ah, the cool air, the lovely flowers- when all of a sudden you notice a great commotion on the coast of a little island in the water. It is one of those boats with covers, and the fellow in the boat has gotten himself wrapped up in the cover.
Then you see another fellow get knocked down, struggle, and also get all tangled up, and a third person has to help them out.

You have just encountered Three Men in a Boat, by Jerome K. Jerome. It is about the comic adventures of three good friends and a dog going on a trip on the Thames.

Here is the list of main characters:
J.: The narrator: extremely poetic, a hypochondriac.
George: A sluggard and bank clerk, also a hypochondriac.
Harris:  Down-to-earth, another hypochondriac.
Montemorency: A fox terrier, loves to fight.

This book was greeted with such approval that Jerome K. Jerome wrote a sequel, Three Men on the Bummel, which follows the same group of men on a bicycle trip in Germany. It's still funny, though perhaps not as funny as the first.

The Wikipedia link on Jerome K. Jerome is here.
 
I hope you enjoy Three Men in a Boat.

Book Review: Moby Dick, Unabridged

Moby-Dick is about a famous "White Whale" and a captain's quest to kill him.

In Moby-Dick, the narrator, Ishmael (of "Call me Ishmael" fame,") goes to "explore the watery world", along with his friend, the "savage" Queequeg. Ishmael chooses to ship on the whaling ship Pequod, and he is told by the ship's owners that it is being captained by a certain Ahab. The owners,a certain Bildad and Peleg, also tell him that Captain Ahab lost a leg, and that it was "devoured,chewed up, crunched by the monstrousest parmacetty that ever chipped a boat". Also, Bildad is a bit pious, so he'll only give Ishmael the 777th lay(that's his share of the money) while Peleg wants to give him the 300th lay. In the end of the chapter, Peleg wins.

On the way back to their inn, they run into Elijah, a supposed "prophet", who warns them that they should not go on the Pequod. He says that everyone will die, but Ishmael takes no heed. Also, when he last meets Elijah, Elijah points out some men hurrying towards the ship and asks Ishmael "Did ye see anything looking like men going towards that ship a while ago?".

To find out what happens...read the book! It's long-winded and the author's research is mostly irrelevant but read it still. It's good for you!