I love language and the way it's put down on a page. In this book, I've decided to collect similes for my writing students because Alan Bradley uses them often and I love it! I am only a few chapters in so I should have a decent list by the time I finish the book. Here is a sampling of some I've come across so far, including the very first sentence in the book: It was as black in the closet as old blood. ! :)
His voice was as heavy as the lead weights of a deep sea diver's boots.
She opened the kitchen door-and let out a shriek like a cornered badger.
And suddenly he was clutching at his throat, his hands shaking like aspen leaves in autumn, his face the color of sodden ashes.
And then I heard a voice, an angry voice, like the buzzing of a bee in late summer trying to fly through a closed windopane.
Father gave out a snort like a bull in a field and his eyelids flew up like roller blinds.
Update: I actually finished reading this book weeks ago and realized I never updated. All in all,this was a very pleasant book to read. Yes, pleasant doesn't fit every book I like, but pleasant it was, and charming. Pleasant enough for me to hand over to my 79 year old mother but with enough of a mystery to keep me interested. This was a fun mystery. The protagonist is an 11 year old prodigy with a love of chemistry. (I had a hard time believing she was only 11 to tell the truth). She is secretly thrilled to find a dead body in the garden, and sets off to solve the mystery of the man's murder with special earnest after her father is arrested as the prime suspect. There is a great deal of detective work, interesting characters, and the danger you would expect an assertive, brilliant young detective would get herself into. This was along the lines of a Nancy Drew novel geared for a slightly older audience and I would definitely read more of her adventures in the future. A good book to read for a break after reading a more serious book like Eat, Pray, Love or My Sister's Keeper, for instance!
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