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THE THHORN BIRDS

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Colleen McCullough

Retold：Ann Ward

Series Editor：Andy Hopkins and Jocelyn Potter

Publishing and distributed by Person Education Limited

Word level：Advanced (3000 words)

Classification：Contemporary British English

Number of Pages：86

The novel made me conjure up words of a lovely song 〝If a man could be two places at one time, I'd be with you. Tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.〞 The story occurred in Australia. Ralph de Bri cassart, a priest, fall in love with a girl, Meggie. On one hand, he deeply knew that he wasn't permitted to give any promise to her. On the other hand, Meggie's aunt who also adored

Father Ralph wanted to destroy them. She left abundant of money to church so that Father Ralph became a powerful man in church. Consequently, he decided to leave for Sydney and asked Meggie to forget him.

At first, I didn't know why the book called The Thorn Birds. After finished it, I thought the author described the girl as a thorn bird that sings only one time in life. The bird searches for the longest and sharpest thorn tree then let it pricks through its body. As it dies, it sings the most pleasant song in the world.

However, I didn't agree that she sang the most beautiful song in the world. Instead, I was feeling compassion with Meggie. She got married with Luck who only cared about his money and always ignored her. Although she once owned Ralph's son, she still lost him by a tragic accident. Both of them suffered great torture. I was wandering did Father Ralph regret？ What would have happened if Ralph hadn't leave Meggie？

I read series novels from pre-intermediate to advanced. I thought there's no much difference between the levels. Beside, I had the habit of reading one book as soon as possible. The reason was that I easily forgot the plot and the names of characters. So I would rather spend one or two hours to finish it than spend half hour per day.

TALES OF GOHA

★ Basic information of the book

Author：Leslie Caplan

Stories based on' Myths and Legends of the Swahili' by Dr Jan Knappert

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Peter Rush

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：58

The book was composed of seven essays.. The leading role in the novel was Goha, a wise man in Baghdad. Reading between the lines, I knew that author tried to use a humor way to convey people's greed, foolishness, jealousy and so on. One of the stories, Goha's neighbor lost his big pan because he casted greedy eyes on Goha's smaller one. However, Goha played a trick on him. First, he borrowed the neighbor's pan. Then, he told him that the pan gave birth so the neighbor accepted the small one happily. But a little later, Goha pretended to look sad saying that"Unfortunately, your pan died." He, jumping up, couldn't believe what he had heard. Due to their argument, they asked for a decision from the court. In the end, the judge said" All things that give birth also die."

I savored this kind of novel with much wit and wisdom.

THE CASE OF THE LONELY LADY

★ Basic information of the book

Author：John Milne

Series Editor：John Milne

Illustrator：Christopher Price

Publishing and distributed by Heinemann

Word level：Intermediate (1600 words)

Number of Pages：58

At the first sight of the title of the book, I thought it was a romantic story. However, it turned out to be a detective one. Two weeks ago, I read the novel called "Sherlock Holmes", and I didn't think it was proper for me. Because nervousness always filled my vein

Surprisingly, I didn't feel a sense of terror when I was reading this one.

Differ from Sherlock Holmes, no one asked the leading role, Terry, for help. Instead, people made fun of him when he put an advert about his private investigation office on the newspaper. In addition, he saved a woman from being murdered with the assistance of a group of his friends not worked on it alone.

I really like the patchwork team, stitched together with a private investigator, milkman, newspaper boy and his friends. I thought the reason why this detective novel didn't make my flesh creep like "Sherlock Holmes" was that it focused on a group of people worked together helping save the lonely lady. As far as I am concerned, learning how to cooperate with others is the most important thing in our lives.

I thought the reading project really set me on the road to enjoy reading. I was in a good mood after I finished one novel. Sometimes, I also shared the good ones wish my friends. Now I have already read six novels, but didn't read half an hour everyday in October. Therefore, in November, I set a plan to do my duty daily and exactly.

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