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Another 7 books read this month, so I'm still on track.
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Along with everything else I've joined the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge 2022. I don't expect to read each of the monthly books, but aim to read at least a few, borrowed, as this one, from the library. I enjoyed the adventure, and, although by the end I suspected who the main protagonist was, the denouement still worked well for me. [F3]
Gallows Court by Martin Edwards
Martin Edwards is editor of the British Library Crime Classics short story compilations, and very knowledgeable on Golden Age crime, so I was interested to read his own take on one. In that respect I was a bit disappointed, because although set in the period, it does not read like one but rather like a modern story simply set in that period. I worked out one of the twists quite early on (although that may be because it was well signposted), but the second surprised me and not particularly in a good way, more that it was twists for the sake of twists. There is a follow up, which is on my list for later in the year and I shall see what I make of that. [A2]
Post After Post-Mortem by E C R Lorac
This had been pre-ordered as soon as I knew it would be available, so I began reading as soon as it arrived. I really enjoyed it, and the only reason I didn't finish it in two or three days is because I wanted to extend the pleasure. It's set in Oxfordshire, and close to many places I know, so it was easy to imagine the background. Inspector MacDonald was painstaking and excellent and the twists and turns came together really well. [F4]
Death Goes On Skies by Nancy Spain
Recommended on the Shedunnit book club, there is a whodunnit which is neatly worked out, but the main concentration is on the collection of wildly over the top characters. Don't read it if you want a straight crime novel, but as escapism in February, with a back drop of skiing in the Alps it works well. [C2]
The Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth
This month's Shedunnit reading club book. I wouldn't have read it if I hadn't been able to buy a cheap copy (for UK readers, that's £3 or less). I could just about forgive the self-absorbed intended victim, but I spent too much time mentally shouting at the hero to get his act together to enjoy the book. This is the first of the Miss Silver books - she hardly appears, and to my mind, doesn't do anything much to solve the crime. the best thing about the book was that reading the last third on the train from Birmingham to London helped the journey to pass quickly. [E2]
Black As He's Painted by Ngaio Marsh
The next Roderick Alleyn. I had been dubious about this one, since it's about an African dictator at his embassy in London in the 1960s, but there wasn't as much that was cringeworthy as I'd expected. The plot was clever, and well executed, and, although I had picked up on one vital clue partway through, the denouement was good. There's also a cat. [D2]
The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
I read the first book in the series The Invisible Library nearly six years ago and had bought the next book at the time, but have only finally got round to reading it. I was disappointed. Last time I had liked the heroine, perhaps because the book is written from her POV, I found her self-centred - maybe my tastes have changed over time, I don't recall. I also found the continuous piling on of one disaster to be overcome on top of another to be overkill. I won't be continuing with the series. [B2]
[Letters refer to which reading list each book belongs to]
Audiobooks
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, read by Dominic West. Something I thought it would be worth reading. It's first person, written by Mr Stephens, a butler, who I found a complete pain. I had thought the mystery as to what had happened with his previous employer was going to be interesting, but the self-righteousness of Stephens removed all that.
The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene, read by Tim Piggott-Smith. This is written from D's POV, and, although set in the same period as the above, concerns a very different protagonist, who I most certainly cared for. It's a thriller, which had me gripped to the end.
Affairs at Thrush Green by Miss Read, read by Gwen Watford. Having finished reading the previous book in the Thrush Green series I listened to the next one (I add them when I find them on offer). Simple pleasant listening, ideal when knitting a pattern.
Courses: FutureLearn
The Qu'ran Between Judaism and Christianity (University of Nottingham) Looking at the connections between the Qu'ran and the writings of Jews and Christians at the period. While it had points of interest, it felt like they had decided on a position and were intent on proving it.
UFOs: Scanning the Skies Teach Out (University of Michigan). I took this because I had a two week gap between courses. A few interesting points, and I'm not going to say there is nothing out there somewhere (because why shouldn't there be), but I'm not convinced that many sightings are true UFOs.
String Music Appreciation (Chung Yuan Christian University). An excellent course. I learnt a lot about the stringed instruments within an orchestra, plus a bit about other stringed instruments. I particularly enjoyed the week spent learning about the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, which is a Chinese piece.
Book bingo so far:
( book bingo )
The Man in the Brown Suit by Agatha Christie
Along with everything else I've joined the Agatha Christie Reading Challenge 2022. I don't expect to read each of the monthly books, but aim to read at least a few, borrowed, as this one, from the library. I enjoyed the adventure, and, although by the end I suspected who the main protagonist was, the denouement still worked well for me. [F3]
Gallows Court by Martin Edwards
Martin Edwards is editor of the British Library Crime Classics short story compilations, and very knowledgeable on Golden Age crime, so I was interested to read his own take on one. In that respect I was a bit disappointed, because although set in the period, it does not read like one but rather like a modern story simply set in that period. I worked out one of the twists quite early on (although that may be because it was well signposted), but the second surprised me and not particularly in a good way, more that it was twists for the sake of twists. There is a follow up, which is on my list for later in the year and I shall see what I make of that. [A2]
Post After Post-Mortem by E C R Lorac
This had been pre-ordered as soon as I knew it would be available, so I began reading as soon as it arrived. I really enjoyed it, and the only reason I didn't finish it in two or three days is because I wanted to extend the pleasure. It's set in Oxfordshire, and close to many places I know, so it was easy to imagine the background. Inspector MacDonald was painstaking and excellent and the twists and turns came together really well. [F4]
Death Goes On Skies by Nancy Spain
Recommended on the Shedunnit book club, there is a whodunnit which is neatly worked out, but the main concentration is on the collection of wildly over the top characters. Don't read it if you want a straight crime novel, but as escapism in February, with a back drop of skiing in the Alps it works well. [C2]
The Grey Mask by Patricia Wentworth
This month's Shedunnit reading club book. I wouldn't have read it if I hadn't been able to buy a cheap copy (for UK readers, that's £3 or less). I could just about forgive the self-absorbed intended victim, but I spent too much time mentally shouting at the hero to get his act together to enjoy the book. This is the first of the Miss Silver books - she hardly appears, and to my mind, doesn't do anything much to solve the crime. the best thing about the book was that reading the last third on the train from Birmingham to London helped the journey to pass quickly. [E2]
Black As He's Painted by Ngaio Marsh
The next Roderick Alleyn. I had been dubious about this one, since it's about an African dictator at his embassy in London in the 1960s, but there wasn't as much that was cringeworthy as I'd expected. The plot was clever, and well executed, and, although I had picked up on one vital clue partway through, the denouement was good. There's also a cat. [D2]
The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman
I read the first book in the series The Invisible Library nearly six years ago and had bought the next book at the time, but have only finally got round to reading it. I was disappointed. Last time I had liked the heroine, perhaps because the book is written from her POV, I found her self-centred - maybe my tastes have changed over time, I don't recall. I also found the continuous piling on of one disaster to be overcome on top of another to be overkill. I won't be continuing with the series. [B2]
[Letters refer to which reading list each book belongs to]
Audiobooks
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, read by Dominic West. Something I thought it would be worth reading. It's first person, written by Mr Stephens, a butler, who I found a complete pain. I had thought the mystery as to what had happened with his previous employer was going to be interesting, but the self-righteousness of Stephens removed all that.
The Confidential Agent by Graham Greene, read by Tim Piggott-Smith. This is written from D's POV, and, although set in the same period as the above, concerns a very different protagonist, who I most certainly cared for. It's a thriller, which had me gripped to the end.
Affairs at Thrush Green by Miss Read, read by Gwen Watford. Having finished reading the previous book in the Thrush Green series I listened to the next one (I add them when I find them on offer). Simple pleasant listening, ideal when knitting a pattern.
Courses: FutureLearn
The Qu'ran Between Judaism and Christianity (University of Nottingham) Looking at the connections between the Qu'ran and the writings of Jews and Christians at the period. While it had points of interest, it felt like they had decided on a position and were intent on proving it.
UFOs: Scanning the Skies Teach Out (University of Michigan). I took this because I had a two week gap between courses. A few interesting points, and I'm not going to say there is nothing out there somewhere (because why shouldn't there be), but I'm not convinced that many sightings are true UFOs.
String Music Appreciation (Chung Yuan Christian University). An excellent course. I learnt a lot about the stringed instruments within an orchestra, plus a bit about other stringed instruments. I particularly enjoyed the week spent learning about the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto, which is a Chinese piece.
Book bingo so far:
( book bingo )
