Mizuho's English Blog

The Happy Prince   by Oscar Wilde      I read The Happy Prince . It's about the prince, a bronze statue, and a swallow. The prince is covered all over with thin leaves of gold, for eyes he has two bright sapphires. Everyone admire to see him, but he felt sad because he knows a poor woman and couldn't help her because he cannot move. A swallow knew his feeling, and he decided to help him. The swallow took many poor people some pieces of the prince's body. I thought they are very merciful. However, after winter came, the swallow became weaker. But he didn't leave the prince because he loved him too much. When he noticed that it is time for him to die, he kissed the prince's lips and fell down at his feet. The prince's heart broke because he died. Early next morning, he was taken down by the Mayor as his body was dull and grey.      It's a sad and warm story. They had good hearts and loved each other. I want to be a person like them. I want to recommend thi

A Death in Oxford  by Richard MacAndrew      This week I read A Death in Oxford . I write down two quotes and will discuss them. The first one is: 'I know nothing about this. You take away my job and you tell the Oxford Post first, not me.'(p.13). This is the scene Barbara Collin received a piece of newspaper. She was very angry because it is written about Journalist Darren Atkinson speaks to Dr Janet Leighton, of the Leighton Clinic on Banbury Road. The second one is:'Our Beautiful World,'(p.32). After he took away Miller, he felt sad. However, all of it ended, so he needs to look forward.      It's about Frank Wiliams of the Oxford police tries to know why Dr Janet Leighton is dead. It makes me to feel excited. I want to read this next story. I give this book 8 stars out of 10.

Parallel  by Colin Campbell      This week I read Parallel . It's set in an underground station in London. It begins the scene a man in a black suit killed the tall young woman by pushing her hard toward in front of a train.      I write down two quotes and discuss them. The first one is:'He sat on his bed. There was a gun on the bed beside him.'(P.6). He is Max. He killed the woman at the platform and accepted the reward. He never felt well after he killed someone and wants to live calmly. But someone was outside his flat. I felt anxiety about what will happen next time. The second one is:'The train started. It started slowly, but then went faster. The lights went out. It was very dark.'(p.19). I thought it expresses Max's feeling. Fairhead suggests new job to him, but he worries because he didn't believe him.      It's about Max's life. It was interesting but too short for me. I want to try more difficult books. I give this book 5 stars out of

How to be an Alien   by George Mikes       I read How to be an Alien . It's about how to be an Englishman. It writes about difference of the English and Europeans. I wonder this author hates England.       I pick up some example from this book. First, is the British tea. The author thinks tea was once a good drink; with lemon and sugar it tastes very pleasant. But the British tea is put cold milk and no sugar, so it is colourless and tasteless. He says tea became an unpleasant drink, like dirty water by the Alien. Second, is a bus driver. A bus driver in England drives different ways and doesn't stop at the bus stop. I burst out laughing. Is it true? I came to want to go to England.       I want to recommend this book. It makes you to laugh. I give it 7 stars out of 10.

GHOST CAMP  by R.L.STINE      I read GHOST CAMP . I had read this book before but I forgot writing the book review, so I write it remembering this content. It's a mystery. It's about two boys went to camp, is a ghost camp.      I write down three quotes and discuss them. The first one is:'To my surprise, the sun had lowered. The sky outside the door was evening gray.'(p.19). I felt anxiety by this sentence. It made me to expect something bad will happen. The second one is:'It's a camp joke,'(p.47). This word is said by many camp members when something strange happened. Alex and Harry, this main characters, were angry at first because camp members made fun of them. But they started to enjoy using this word. The third one is:'You can't take over my mind! You can't! I won't let you!'(p.113). It's the scene Alex, Harry and Uncle Marv tried to run away from ghostly circle. The ghost campers moved in on them. They needed living kids to e

Different Worlds  by Margaret Johnson      I read Different Worlds today. This is a love story about Sam and Jim. Sam is a young deaf girl. She loves him, but she thought that she doesn't deserve someone like him.      I write down three quotes and discuss them. The first one is:'At the moment she's just a friend,' (p.18). This is the scene Sam asked Ron, is her best friend, if the girl at the party is his girlfriend. Ron denied it with his red face. He is so cute. The second one is:'I looked into his face, waiting for him to speak again.' (p.20). Sam and Jim met at the garden with full of snow for the first time. They hit many  snowball each other. They became friends quickly. The third one is:'As wonderful as my small hand on the front of Mum's guitar.' (p.45). Finally, they became lovers. She felt the vibration of the sound and played the musical instruments, so she was so happy.      I want to recommend this book. It is shorter and easy to

All I Want    by Margaret Johnson      I read All I Want this week. This is a story about Alex Faye who is personal assistant to Brad Courtney, at the Courtney Art Gallery. She has a boyfriend but she loves Brad Courtney. One day the paintings he bought turned out to be fakes. He blamed by reporters, so Alex and Brad run away.      I write down three quotes and will discuss them. The first one is:' I'm just ending it sooner than I thought I would. I know it's almost Christmas, but I'm afraid I have no choice.' (p.52). It's the scene Brad suggsts Alex to stop working with him. He thought she should go back to home and spend her time with his boyfriend. The second one is:'I'm not ... going to ... cry.' But then I'm crying. I can't help it. (p.53). She was shocked when he told her to go home. He said to her, "You aren't going to cry, are you? I'm not very good with women who cry". I thought he was lack of the consideration