Reader's Journal #21 The Top 10 of Everything 2011 by Russell Ash

Dear Mrs. Zrihen,

                I have read the book, The Top 10 of Everything 2011, by Russell Ash.  It is an informational book that gives lists of the top ten of a variety of subjects.  Here was a Top 10 list I really enjoyed:

                Top 10 Superhero Movies

1.        The Dark Knight

2.       Spider-Man 3

3.       Spider-Man

4.       Spider-Man 2

5.       The Incredibles

6.       Hancock

7.       Iron Man

8.       X-Men:  The Last Stand

9.       Batman

10.   X2:  X Men United

My two before reading strategies were to one, look at the front cover and two, read the synopsis.  My two during reading strategies were observe all text features in the book and two, skim and scan to find the most interesting lists to read, like the 10 Most Common Crimes in the USA.

The genre of this book is informational.  It is characterized by having no plot structure, characters, setting, foils, moral, or anything like a fiction book.  All the book is is a book about lists and presenting information.

The tone of this book is imaginative and amusing.  The author’s purpose is to inform the reader of the top ten of everything, including the Top 10 Garbage Producers.  The author wanted to inform the reader in humorous way.  The author’s perspective is probably agreeing with all these facts he was just collecting the lists.

There were a lot of things I enjoyed in the book, and I lot I didn’t know before.  I learned that there was such a thing as underwater hockey, and I learned that the black widow wasn’t the deadliest spider in the world.  In fact, I learned that I’ve been introduced to and seen the deadliest spider; it is the banana spider.    I learned that Shrek 2 was worth seeing by the American public because it grossed $441,226,247 (I never did like it).  I learned that Finding Nemo still makes it onto the Top 10 List of Animated Movies (it’s number 3).  Ratatouille also made onto the list at number 10 (Just made it!).

I enjoyed many of the lists in the book such as the Top 10 List of Criminals Longest on the FBI’s Top 10 Most Wanted list (Osama bin Laden was only number 8 on the list).  And, I liked the Top 10 List of Largest Jewish Populations (Israel is only number 2 on the list). 

I would rate this book 10 out 10 (Get it? Because it’s is The Top 10.)  I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the Top 10 of anything.

Sincerely,

Michael Heskiel