January Books

[dantheman23.livejournal.com]

It's a shame because I was really in a reading mood this month but my stupid library is still trying to catch up from the bad weather and power outages we had weeks ago so they're behind on fulfilling holds. I could have easily finished 3 or 4 more books.

( Can you believe it's 2012? )

January Reads

[myrna-nora.livejournal.com]

1. The Falcon at the Portal (1999) Elizabeth Peters
Another good entry in the series. However, the ending is so frustrating that I had to dive right into the next book to see how it turned out.
2. He Shall Thunder in the Sky (2000) Elizabeth Peters
I knew some spoilers going into the series, but I didn't know *how* it would get there. This story contains some wonderful plot advancements for the Peabody-Emerson family AND a great WWI tale. This one along with the first two and the one where Emerson has amnesia are so far my favorites out of the whole series.
3. The World of Downton Abbey (2011) Jessica Fellowes
A nice refresher of history, and the photos are gorgeous!
4. Double Indemnity (1943) James M. Cain
I'm really into James M. Cain at the moment. His words are like watching the best film noir ever. Another story of a man helping his femme fatale girlfriend plot murder, but with a different twist on the ending than the movie version.
5. They Do It With Mirrors (1952) Agatha Christie
The "mystery" in this one isn't my favorite, but the family "soap opera" dynamic was interesting. With the central character married three times and with her biological-children, step-children, and adopted-children - I actually had to make myself a chart of who was related to who and how.
6. The Murder at the Vicarage (1930) Agatha Christie
I've seen the movie so many times that I tricked myself into believing I'd read this one before. I liked it more than I thought did, because the Vicar's narration made it stand out from the usual third person Miss Marple stories.