Ok, now I'm really hooked. Having devoured the unfortunate events in volumes 1, 2, and 7, I tackled this book -- which turned out to be the ideal read for night time just before bed. Fully expecting the genre to be growing tiresome, I found this tale even more hilarious and gripping. Count Olaf grows ever more evil, and his girlfriend Esme Squalor (whose stiletto heels are fashioned from real stillettos) are joined by quite a cadre of strange characters in Heimlich Hospital. A suspicious shopkeeper, unnecessary surgery (a threatened cranioectomy!), and heart-shaped balloons are a few of the treats in store for the hapless orphans and enterprising reader. No one can match Lemony Snicket -- he's truly one of a kind. ( )

I must say, what a dreadful hospital! It's only fitting for the plight of our poor orphans.

Oh, I'm sorry, you caught me thinking out loud. As long you're not "certain people," and after you catch me thinking out loud, you don't put me in a holding cell filled with flesh-eating lemurs, then I suppose you're allowed to catching me thinking out loud every once in a while. Do you hear that? It sounds like a I hear a typewriter. Do you suppose somebody is transcribing us talking right now? I suppose it may just be the old pipes clattering about above us, or the machine gun shooting range above that.

Did you read The Hostile Hospital yet? It's Mr. Snicket's account of the poor Baudelaire orphans, who really haven't had a break since their parents died in that miserable fire. This time, after fleeing the Village of Fowl Devotees, still the accused murderers of Count Olaf, who was not actually dead at the time, they find their only refuge: the Heimlich Hospital, which was only half a hospital, as there was an unfinished wing in which those poor orphans waited out the night each night during their stay.

But every cloud has a silver lining, right? I mean, they did learn a valuable secret, but at the same time came upon an even more mysterious mystery to go along with the other mysteries they have encountered.

And that cloud's silver lining attracted the only creature that would be so greedy as to seek out the silver linings of clouds, Count Olaf. I was so terrified when he and his accomplices came to the hospital and made matters worse for the orphans.

I certainly hope that those orphans have found their rest. Or at least a lull in the terrible events that plague them.

You haven't read it yet? Well, I would definitely recommend you do, provided you have read the preceding seven tomes happening before this one. You will probably be disappointed, but it will not be because of Mr. Snicket's writing. But what is life without a little disappointment? I suppose it's "enjoyable," but that is beyond the point.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must figure out what that rattling noise is... ( )

Ah, the poor Baudelaires go from bad to worse. Their series of horrible guardians seems cushy compared to their current fugitive status. Snicket adds a nice twist in this installment, but I'm still frustrated by the otherwise-brilliant Baudelaire's inability to put the VFD pieces together. Still, I'm glad to see them learning from their previous misfortunes and taking their fate into their hands. ( )

This is the eighth eviscerating episode in the lives of the Baudelaire children. The Baudelaire's narrowly escape a police net and fall in with some hippy's who give them a ride to the Heimlich Hospital. The Baudelaire's become much more proactive in this book trying to improve their situation, not counting on others to fix things for them.

Another good book in the series and if you have made it through the last 7 books I'm sure you'll also hate the Horrible Hostile Hospital. ( )