The Book Report

I'm a little behind on my book posts these days so I thought I'd do a quick recap of what I've been reading.

I'm slowly but surely working my way through all of Agatha Christie's books. She wrote this in 1926 and it's pretty great, more of a madcap adventure than whodunit, and to tell the truth, I lost the plotline a couple of times. There's a lot going on: murder, natch, a stolen jewel, the usurpation of power in the fictional country of Herzoslovakia, secret identities, and a country house filled with hidden passageways, and diabolic servants. Not my favorite of her's (I prefer the straightforward murder mysteries) but a very fun read, and her jazz age protagonists--Anthony Cade and Virginia Revel--are particularly charming.

Lent to me (well, to Charlene) by my neighbor Kate, this is a graphic novel by Maira Kalman, a sort of pseudo diary in which illustrator Kalman charts small moments and sad thoughts of her life during the course of the year.

A dystopian thriller about a future country, Panem (it is here in North America), that forces teenagers to fight to the death in a yearly game. It's for young adults but doesn't hold back on the grisly violence and consequences of such a world. And Collins does a great job of creating a world where games such as these make perfect sense. A pretty chilling page turner, and the first of a trilogy. These books have gotten huge and they are currently casting for the first film.