The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

 

9/10

I really liked this one. I finished this a few nights ago and cruised through the second half of the book as it was hard for me to put the book down as the plot thickened. This type of sleuthing is what I was expecting when I started reading Agatha Christie books which I didn't get it with the other two I'd read (but this was my first Hercule Poirot story). I just thought this was so well done. It had everything you could ask for in a murder mystery. I really liked the psychological aspect of the story where Poirot tries to understand the mind of the crazy killer. I also liked that Poirot had to struggle through the mystery as he often seemed at a loss. And I always like a nice twist ending and this one was really nicely done and set up really well by Agatha Christie. I can see why she's considered the Queen of Mystery as it was really masterfully done.

Really glad that I didn't give up on Agatha Christie as the first two were minor letdowns. I knew I had to read a Poirot story before giving up. I may just keep my focus on Poirot stories for future Agatha Christie books. Poirot > Jane Marple, at least from what I've seen so far in my limited exposure.

Agatha Christie rankings:

1. The ABC Murders                                                                                                                                       2. 4:50 from Paddington
3. At Bertram's Hotel

A Preface to Paradise Lost by C.S. Lewis

4/10

Back-to-back C.S. Lewis books and back-to-back 4/10 ratings. I finished reading this yesterday. It was actually a really quick read, especially for a literary criticism type book that I usually slog through. So maybe I should give it bonus points for that. It's just I didn't particularly enjoy anything much about this book. I was hoping for a more specific breakdown of particular passages and themes, but the whole first half was about epic poetry in general and talking about Homer and Beowulf and books I've never read. So that was a disappointment. And then I was hoping for a few better Christian related insights but ended up not seeing eye to eye on a lot of his interpretations. The idea that Eve was attempting murder by wanting to get Adam to eat the fruit too was a bit of a stretch I thought. I was disappointed in his interpretation of Eve and her motivations. 

I thought Milton's book was pretty darn close to restored gospel principles and just expected C.S. to be right there as well with his interpretations, but it just wasn't meant to be. My favorite chapter was actually early on before he got into the Paradise Lost analysis portion of the book. It was a chapter of him arguing against someone who said only poetics could criticize poetry. It had some classic C.S. Lewis burns by his unrelenting logic.
 

That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

 

4/10

Finished this last week. Took me forever to get through this one. Mostly the first half of it. I started liking it a little better about halfway through when the N.I.C.E.'s schemes started to materialize, but then it petered out again toward the end for me. This is the third book in C.S. Lewis's space trilogy. I had read the first two like 15 years ago and didn't love either one. So I could never get myself to get to this book but also wanted to just so I could complete the trilogy. I ended up liking all the books about the same. But if I had to rank them, I would probably rank them in order of the shortest book to the longest book. This book definitely could have been much shorter. It had some interesting moments and ideas but those were overwhelmed by too much dullness. Glad to have finally completed the trilogy though.

Aftermath by Chuck Wendig

 

7/10

Finished reading this on January 1 to ring in the new year. It was ok. I was being pretty generous with the 7. I was leaning heavily toward a 6. I don't like the herky-jerky writing style that some people have. It was the same thing with the book Merlin. Just abrupt, super short sentences throughout the entire book. The plot was slow in developing and it seemed like new characters and storylines were being introduced every chapter. I actually started reading this with Mallory and it is the first book ever where she requested we stop and read a different book. She only made it about 125 pages or so. 

The story ended up being alright and I never actually dreaded having to pick the book up like I sometimes do with books I dislike. So that itself guarantees it to be at least a 6. And I enjoy the Star Wars universe enough that it got tipped to a 7 in the end. I didn't love any of the characters too much. I guess Jas and Sinjir were my two favorites but there wasn't too much particularly intriguing about either one. I'll read the next two books in the trilogy eventually, but don't know how soon that will be.

Star Wars book rankings:

1. Lost Stars

2. Aftermath

Twice-Told Tales and Other Short Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

 

4/10

I finished reading this doosy last night. It took me forever. But baseball playoffs always slow down my reading. It was a struggle if we're being honest. I had already read a Hawthorne short story compilation book several years ago and thought it was so-so and thus didn't have much confidence in this book going in. It was nice though to revisit some enjoyable stories like The Minister's Black Veil and Wakefield and to discover some new ones like Peter Goldthwaite's Treasure and a few others. But there were just too many duds in there for the book to be enjoyable.

One quote from "The Village Uncle" with a nice eternal families payoff at the end:

"But I loved to lead them by their little hands along the beach, and point to nature in the vast and the minute, the sky, the sea, the green earth, the pebbles, and the shells. Then did I discourse of the mighty works and coextensive goodness of the Deity, with the simple wisdom of a man whose mind had profited by lonely days upon the deep, and his heart by the strong and pure affections of his evening home. Sometimes my voice lost itself in a tremulous depth; for I felt His eye upon me as I spoke. Once, while my wife and all of us were gazing at ourselves in the mirror left by the tide in a hollow of the sand, I pointed to the pictured heaven below, and bade her observe how religion was strewn everywhere in our path; since even a casual pool of water recalled the idea of that home whither we were traveling, to rest forever with our children."

Merlin: The Lost Years by T.A. Barron

 4/10

Finished reading this with Mallory a week or so ago. Didn't love it. The writing was off-putting for some reason. Just short, abrupt sentences all the time. The story was ok, but the characters were pretty boring and I never had too much of a rooting interest in any of them, other than probably the bird, Trouble, and maybe the small giant, Shim. The story was also largely predictable with Shim's role in the conclusion spelled out well in advance. There are lots of books that follow this one. Not sure if any of those get better, but I am secretly hoping that Mallory doesn't request to have us read any of them because I am fine not pushing forward with this book series.

A Time to Kill by John Grisham

8/10

I finished reading this a few days ago. I liked the story overall. Good characters and a very interesting plot. Tons of N-bombs which was a tad bit unsettling but I guess gave it authenticity. Hard to imagine white folks saying that in front of black people so frequently and carelessly though. I was a little let down with the final courtroom scene. I thought it would be packed with more drama and intensity like in the movie. But it was more brief than I expected and not very noteworthy with no bombshells. Other than the exposure of the Defense's medical expert, I guess. Also, seems like the jury came to the wrong legal conclusion and voted with emotion. I'd be pretty mad to be the prosecutor and dominate the trial and have all the facts and law on your side and you somehow lose. I liked the book overall though, my favorite Grisham book so far.

Grisham books I've read, ranked:

1. A Time to Kill

2. The Pelican Brief

3. The Client