Reddit reviews A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning

I think there are a couple of approaches to steampunk with varying levels of real-world believability. On one side you've got the "What if technology advanced as rapidly as computers, but the internal combustion engine and transistors were never invented?" and on the other you have spirit-infused clockworks that are effectively magic taking the place of more standard fantasy fare like talking animals or outright spirits. And plenty of stuff in between. I'd say it's more of a visual aesthetic than a pseudo-philosophy within the books like grimdark or cozy mystery or anything.

So far, the vaguely steampunk books I've read are rather limited. And often for kids. Some examples:

• His Dark Materials, where Lyra's world is arguably steampunk (of the type without widely-used transistors)
  
• Leviathan trilogy - an alternate WWI where the British have genetic engineering and the Austro-Hungarian empire has mechas
  
• Boneshaker - zombies and zeppelins in frontier Portland but urgh
  
• A weak argument for A Series of Unfortunate Events, which has a Victorian aesthetic and plenty of improbable inventions everywhere
  
• Currently in the middle of Etiquette & Espionage, which is taking an Artemis Fowl-like approach towards gleeful evil geniuses and definitely on the magical side of things since werewolves and vampires are present and inventions seem to work so readily.

LEMONY SNICKETS: A Series of Unfortunate Events. I have been reading these books to my daughter. She loves them. She wants to read them as soon as she learns how. They arent fairy tales or anything with a happy ending. But they are a fun read with explanations for certain phrases or words. I actually enjoy reading them as well. We just started on book 3 of 13. Super fun series.

> Dear Reader,

> I'm sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

> In this short book alone, the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune, and cold porridge for breakfast.

> It is my sad duty to write down these unpleasant tales, but there is nothing stopping you from putting this book down at once and reading something happy, if you prefer that sort of thing.

> With all due respect,

> Lemony Snicket

I'm not sure if this counts, but I've wanted to start this series for a while. A Series of Unfortunate Events I didn't read them as a kid but I heard they were really good and I loved the movie. Thanks for the contest!

I loved the Artemis Fowl books. They're easier than Harry Potter, probably a little easier than Percy Jackson.

Other suggestions:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other Roald Dahl books

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Diary of a Wimpy Kid books

The Phantom Tollbooth

Hey! Frank and Beans! This e-book is on a kindle book list in my wishlist for my spawn. He'll be doing a happy dance period when he gets handed his own tablet/e-reader instead of draining our batteries, and this would be a good book to add to his now starting collection.

:fist bumps: Trust me, there will be dancing.