As promised, I’m posting another week on the heels of the last. Sorry if you get blasted with email. I’m jumping straight into this one. Week 47 covers November 20 – 26 (which included Thanksgiving). Feedback is encouraged, as always.
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie – I borrowed this as an actual book from my mum. This is Miss Marple #3. A maid finds the body of a young woman in the Bantry’s drawing room. Just kidding. It was in the library. I know I’m not funny. It’s okay. No one in the house has ever seen her before, supposedly. Mrs. Bantry enlists the help of local busybody Miss Marple to keep her husband’s reputation out of the gutter. Even being accused of murder is a scandal worthy of being shunned by the neighborhood. I actually didn’t like this book. That surprised me. It’s possible that I expect more of Miss Christie. I also had just read Murder on the Orient Express which is hailed as one of her best. That may have been a mistake. I do prefer Poirot, but I was looking to finish something short that I could return to its owner over the holiday. I’m giving it 2 stars.
Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older – I borrowed this as an e-book from the Boston Public Library. This is Shadowshaper #1. This book is hard to describe. There is magic and mystery and culture and zombies and family and what it means to be a true friend. Sierra’s grandfather shared a cultural secret with an anthropologist who is now trying to take all of the magic for himself. The grandfather is incapacitated so Sierra and her friends and family (Shadowshapers or not) must find a way to stop him. There is something quite stunning about this book. The author has a way of making words into magic that helps the readers mind to sort of float into the story and imagine it right along with him. You’ll have to read it. It defies explanation. I’m giving it 4 stars.
InterWorld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves (narrated by Christopher Evan Welch) – I borrowed this as an audiobook from the BPL. This is InterWorld #1. I actually finished an audiobook. I haven’t read a lot of these this year for whatever reason and I’ve finished far fewer than I’ve started. In this, Joey finds out that the world as he knows it is just one plane running concurrently with many others. Some worlds are ruled by magic while others (like his own) are ruled by science. Joey teams up with different versions of himself to conquer evil. Or at least hold it at bay. I’d definitely recommend this for a long car ride. It is thoroughly entertaining. I’m giving it 3 stars.
And that’s it for Week 47. So much for not starting a bunch of new series. Oops. Let me know what you think. I believe my opinion of The Body in the Library will be stunningly unpopular (though I guess not so stunning as I’m already predicting it).
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