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.

Assaulted by Joy

Title: Assaulted by Joy - The Redemption of a Cynic
Author: Stephen W. Simpson
Publisher: Zondervan
Copyright: 2008

Assaulted by Joy is my first ARC that I am reviewing. What an exciting book! The question that was posed when I was asked if I would review this book was "Is this the perfect gift for the man in your life?" and I must answer with a resounding "YES!" I have already asked my husband if he would read it. But let me back up a little here. The author accepted Christ at the age of seven - (I love it when he says that this is where the story begins.) "When I walked down the aisle of a Baptist church as a boy to receive Christ as my Saviour, nobody told me that being a Christian is difficult, dangerous even. . .the closer you were to God, the happier you would be. The less you sinned and the more you followed God's Word, the more your life would be meaningful, happy, and complete. In my years as a follower of Christ, however, I've discovered that the opposite is often true. Don't get me wrong - the most ecstatic, victorious moments of my life resulted from having a relationship with Jesus, but so have the most aggravating and painful ones."*

His story, about his sometimes painful high school years (can everybody relate?), to college, losing a close friend, and meeting his wife and starting a family is engaging, humorous, in many instances I caught my self shaking my head in agreement - and is full of insight and wisdom that touched my life. I would like to share two of those nuggets here.

From chapter 3: What we don't realize is that we teach one another wisdom even when we hurt each other. We learn how to love in the midst of brokenness and imperfection. Those who hurt us sometimes teach us far more than those who love us. Sometimes they're even the same person. Those we care about have the greatest capacity to hurt us. Love creates the possibility of pain like nothing else. It's just like our relationship with God.*

From chapter 6: We could only make the best decision in a situation where there was no obvious choice. He told us that either choice involved potential guilt and loss. We might have to ask forgiveness from God regardless of what we chose.*

Now -for the question about a perfect gift for my husband. I would hope that this book would bring him a little closer to accepting Christ. He has been on the journey for awhile now and I have hope that letting him see someone else's walk with Christ (other than mine..) would open his heart even more.

I highly recommend this read for where ever you are in your personal journey -

*any quotes from this book are from an Advanced Reader's Copy and may not reflect the final published version.

This book also fulfills a book for the following challenges: What's in a Name, From the Stacks, Unread Authors, Countdown 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

The Magician's Assistant

Read this book for the book a month yahoo group - didn't really care for it. It was the style it was written in (no chapters) more than the content that I didn't care for. I can't read for long periods of time, so without chapters, hard to find a beginning and an end. The content was ok - started to pick up about 2/3rds of the way through, but by that time I had already decided that I didn't really like it..2/5

Water For Elephants

Loved this book! It was a very quick read, or maybe it was just that I couldn't put it down! Told in flashbacks by a 90 (or was it 93) year old man living in an assisted living home. Involves many circus "characters" and an elephant named Rosie. From the first page, the first remembrance - I was hooked. Highly recommend!5/5

A Thousand Splendid Suns

The history of Afghanistan is marked by death and loss and unimaginable grief. And, yet, Laila sees that people find a way to survive, to go on. Ultimately, this is more than a story of survival in the face of what seem to be insurmountable odds. It is a story of the unconquerable spirit of a people and individuals seen through the eyes of two indomitable women. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a must read for those who wish to understand the modern history (1964 - 2003) of Afghanistan, which is told eloquently through the eyes of Laila and Mariam. (From About.com ContemporaryLit)

I have not yet read A Kite Runner, so I did not know what to expect going into this book. It has made me watch the news with a whole new perspective. I know that this was not a true story, but it is very easy to believe that this could and does happen. The characters of Laila and Mariam, while very strong apart, were even stronger together. The way the author wove them into each other was amazing. I went through many emotions reading this book, but two stood out for me - Sorrow and Hope. 5/5

Unread Authors Challenge

Ok - Last challenge to sign up for today - Must read 6 authors that I have previously not read but have wanted to before Jan 31 - List below:


1. Assaulted by Joy - Stephen Simpson
2. And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
3. The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
4. 1000 Splendid Suns, Khaled Hosseini
5. The Magician's Assistant, Ann Patchett
6. Water for Elephants, Sara Gruen