And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie

Believe it or not, this was the first Agatha Christie that I have ever read - and I have read alot of books. I cannot believe that it has taken me this long to actually sit down and read one of her books. My daughter was assigned this book in her 8th grade lit class and she asked me to read it with her - so I have her (and her teacher) to thank!

I loved this book - this is what a true "whodunit" should read like. Everytime that I thought I had it all figured out - nope - I would have to start from square one. It really wasn't until the final chapter that I found out who the killer was.

About the book: Ten people are invited to Indian Island for a week's vacation - all under somewhat vague circumstances - but they all agree to come. Somewhere in each of their pasts they have all been directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of at least one person - and this is all brought to light the first evening. Shortly thereafter victim number one is poisoned. One by one the people are picked off - heightening the psychological tension of the remaining victims.

I was hooked after the first chapter. Somewhere in the past I had gotten the idea in my head that Agatha Christie's works would be hard to read/hard to understand. I am not sure where this idea came from. The book flowed very quickly and I had a hard time putting it down. I am definitely going to read more by her in the coming year!

This book also fits into the following book challenges: Unread Authors, Book to Movies, Lit Flicks, and Genre Challenge.

The Handmaid's Tale - by Margaret Atwood

This book was Cafe alibri's October read (yes, I am reading it a little late!) I wish that I could have read it when they did, because I think the discussion for this book would have been tremendous. It also fits in with the following reading challenges: Book to Movie Challenge, Lit Flicks Challenge, Unread Author's Challenge, and New Classics Challenge.







The book is set in the near future somewhere in the U.S., probably on the East Coast - it is now called the Republic of Gilead. It is the story of Offred (Of-fred), a woman whose sole purpose is to provide a baby for a Commander(Fred) and his wife(Serena Joy). She is only valuable as long as her eggs are still viable. Once a month she is required to have sex, under the watchful eye of Serena Joy, in the hopes of becoming pregnant. In this futuristic society, population is declining, and healthy babies are few and far between. The cruelty is that Offred (we never learn her real name) once had a husband, a child, a job - what we would consider a normal middle class life. Then seemingly over night, the government was wiped out and a new regime was begun.



My first thoughts when I began reading this book were "yeah, right" - but it made me start to think- slavery, Jews, Darfur, Afghanistan - how easily could this happen right here in the United States today?



This was a very disturbing, yet fascinating book. It jumped back and forth from what you would consider the narrator's present to her past as the story unfolded. This made me want to keep reading so I could learn how she had arrived at her present place. Warning though - if you like books that tie up all the loose ends and everyone lives happily ever after, this is not for you. I give this book 4 1/2 of 5 stars - only because I do like those happily ever afters!



I was not aware that this had been made into a movie until after I had begun the book. Now my quest is to get a hold of a copy of the movie!

Other reviews:
Things Mean a Lot

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

This is the 5th book in the Harry Potter series, and for me it has been the best (but longest to get through) so far. Harry starts his fifth year at Hogwarts after being attacked by dementors near his home, and finding out about a new Order of which his Godfather, Sirius, is a member. I started out reading this book, and changed to listening to it when I needed something for a long car trip. I even sucked my husband into the story. Somewhere about 2/3 of the way into the book, I caught the last half of the movie on cable - Wow - talk about not following the book at all! I believe that the book is MUCH better than the movie. The book was able to tie together the first 5 years at Hogwarts and sort of give us a direction in which to expect the last 2 books to take. The movie left me feeling very vague as to anything that had been happening. I definitely recommend this book and cannot wait to start the next one! 5/5

Book To Movie Challenge

New challenge starting Sept 1, 2008 - Must read 3 books in 3 months that have been made into movies, or are in production to become movies.

My list is:
1. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
2. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
3. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenis - J.K. Rowling
I must say that when I looked at the list provided - I was amazed at the number of titles that I recognized and I had no idea they were inspired by a book