The Agatha Christie Reading Group discussion

Lauren! Harry Potter! Surely not!

I want to read 75 books this year.

Lauren wrote: "Haha! It's a classic, Malcolm!! You gotta read it! "
So what will be your classics. Hmmm let's see. Bleak House, definitey. Ivanhoe? Emma? and, let's see, Tender is the Night? (These are my rec's for you. My TBR list is full until 2020!)

I read 65 books last year but I feel like I did not think about what I read as much as I would have have liked. (Reflected on my readings ) so I moved my goal down to 55 this year. Also I am planning on reading some classics and non-fiction this year and they take more time for me to read. I'm planning on reading The Grapes of Wrath,American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer, and others. I've started the year with Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene and I'm cracking up. I had no idea Greene was so funny. This book is an espionage "entertainment " (the author calls his less serious novels) and I recommend it. Greene actually was in MI6 before he started writing. I plan to read more books by this creative genius this year. I hope to enjoy them as much as I'm loving this one. I also plan to look into some of the classic mystery writers that wrote between the 2 wars. We are reading one - Marsh in February! Happy new year to all. And good luck with your challenges.

Lauren, H.P is a great mythological (young) classic. Enjoy your re-read. Maybe we can convince Malcolm of its virtues sometime this year!:)

Mine are :

- read 200 books
- listen to the Harry Potter audiobooks (narrated by Stephen Fry)
- the first 5 + the prequel to Throne of Glass
- more Agatha Christie
- more Virginia Andrews
- The Lunar Chronicles (Cinder at least)
- The Northern Lights book 1
- The Godfather
- and generally just more of my own books before I buy more ^_^

I have 50 books as my challenge this year. I have some that are over 1000 pages and so they are not easy reads. I want to do more than 50. But that is a good place to start.

I agree Annamariethat page numbers are important. In fact,surely it's more important than the number of books. Many people count the children's books they read with family at bedtime. That is great and I believe that should be encouraged ,also Tor short stories and Amazon "shorts" are counted equal to a War and Peace.!! I believe we should have goals of books we want to read, but not let our book number challenge deter us from reading something because we won't make our goal. I hope we all read surprising original humorous long short entertaining learned cozy thrilling books that we can refer to,learn from, and share with each other. Cheers.

Right on Candace! I agree. I know reading some of the books that are along the lines of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones are not quick reads and take a bit more.

But for sure! I hope no one skips over lengthy books in order to meet any challenge.

Happy Fun Reading to all!

I feel myself as kind of sheepish when I do these "challenges" because while I try to set a goal I don't try to get too outside my own limits. I have currently set it to 15 books (I increase it IF I get close to finishing it early let's say November or October but this past year I got close to not accomplishing it at all) but to my credit I like to give the books I read a fairly involved review. I feel whether they are good or bad they deserve an examination and I want to remember each one.

And speaking of Lord of the Rings I hope to early on this year do my review on the first Tolkien masterpiece of that series. I am afraid if I don't do it at the earliest the next couple of weeks I won't have the oomph to do it all so here's to hoping!

Lauren wrote: "Annamarie and Candace...I definitely agree that it's so much more enjoyable to read the books you want to read and not care about page numbers or meeting a challenge. It's great that some people ca..."

Enjoying a book what reading was intended for. Not being the one to finish 200 books in a year and yell "Done! I read the most!" I find reading the books that are interesting and enjoying them makes it easier to read faster. But not necessarily speed read.

I know a lot of people who speed read and they are comfortable with it. But I am not about speed. Im about gobbling book after book of course. But it due time. lol. But I do wish sometimes I were a speed reader so I could read more in a year.

A famous author (I've forgotten who, and also I'm paraphrasing- but it stuck with me.) Said it's so much more important how many times we read the same books than how many number of books we can read. He/she explained re-reading would help us learn and remember the material.

Also another author,also forgotten by me ,said a reader should spend as much time with a book as a writer does while writing it!!I don't know if I agree with that but both stuck with me and taught me something about how I read and reflect on that writing.

Apologies for paraphrasing and no names but it's their thoughts I want to pass on.

Love those quotes! And they are true. I heard of the 2nd one. But I do not know who said it either. Hmmmm

I agree Candace.

Annamarie wrote: "Love those quotes! And they are true. I heard of the 2nd one. But I do not know who said it either. Hmmmm

I agree Candace."

Yes, the first one is a Very Rough Paraphrase. Someone who has heard it may not recognize it! Haha I don't have a book of quotations but I'm off tomorrow, I'm going to look for them.

Super! I look forward to knowing who said them!

Enjoy your day off!

I've been looking on and off all day and I just now found one of the quotes! I keep finding the same ones over and over. Here it is::

Books must be read as deliberately and as reservedly as they were written. Henry David Thoreau

Candace wrote: "I've been looking on and off all day and I just now found one of the quotes! I keep finding the same ones over and over. Here it is::

Books must be read as deliberately and as reservedly as they w..."

That is so awesome! Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Im putting that on my desktop background!~

Annamarie wrote: "Candace wrote: "I've been looking on and off all day and I just now found one of the quotes! I keep finding the same ones over and over. Here it is::

Books must be read as deliberately and as rese..."
Thanks A, That makes me feel like my work paid off! And the library is a great idea, I'm definitely gonna do that.
I've been reading today and the chapter on Havers and her parents was amazing. This author continues with each chapter to amaze me with the depth to the characters she gives us. This is the benefit of starting with book one. Though her later books may be better, I wouldn't miss the background we're getting on the main characters.

Thanks for the hard work! I appreciate it. I have a few quotes on my walls at home.

I havent read the books but I have seen the TV series. Now Im going to start reading them. The show was excellent so I expect the books are as well.

A Touch of Frost was a great TV series (British with Sir David Jason as Jack Frost) and the books were just as good. So that is another series you might like. R D Wingfield is the author. He died in 2007 at the age of 79. But in the books Frost is very gruff and shows little empathy. In the show he is gruff but you can see he has empathy and that drives him. But a great show and book series if you are interested.

Annamarie wrote: "Thanks for the hard work! I appreciate it. I have a few quotes on my walls at home.

I havent read the books but I have seen the TV series. Now Im going to start reading them. The show was excelle..."
Thanks,I just wrote it down on my list I always take with me to my used book store.
I love love the young Morse show on PBS. I bought the first couple books in that series,haven't read them yet, but I've heard they're not as good as the shows. Endeavor Morse is an Oxford man who likes opera music and crosswords and is excellent at detecting-not so great at social skills. I think they are doing a new season this year.
It's strange because they did a few seasons with Morse as a senior ,then made a new show going back to him beginning as a detective. I only like the young ones. PBS Mystery is great!

I think there is only 1 episode where you even hear that Morse has a name! hahahaha Yeah. Love Morse. But I love the ones played by John Thaw (who died one year after the last episode was aired.) I have not heard of the young Morse show! I will have to scout that out! Inspector Lewis was a spin off and is ok.

I have read two Inspector Morse novels and didnt care for them as much. Hmmm I may try and reread them. See whether I change my mind. Thanks for bringing that to the surface.

Annamarie wrote: "I think there is only 1 episode where you even hear that Morse has a name! hahahaha Yeah. Love Morse. But I love the ones played by John Thaw (who died one year after the last episode was aired.) I..."

Oh I watched all the Inspector Lewis seasons and loved them. (But I love Endeavor even more.) I don't know why I can't get into Morse. ..)

I have to add my twopence worth here ☺️ Interesting to see a slight antipathy to those who read quickly - I am one of those. I read 243 books last year and will probably read about the same this year. I read that amount, however, with or without incentive as I read incessantly and spend a lot of time on the road - I never go anywhere without a book. Incidentally, though I can speed read, I only do that with dry regulations and directives - the work stuff I have to read but don't always particularly want to! If I like a book I reread and reread till I can quote big chunks - most of my reading is rereads. Some authors, like Christie, I read in a few hours. Other books will take me a year or more to finish, depending on subject (these I dip in and out of); I generally never have less than ten books on the go at any given time. That's not to say those who read more slowly are wrong or worse or anything. I would also never judge a person by how many books they read. If someone takes joy from books that is what matters! We all have our different ways of doing things and, well, speeds as well!

Candace! I am watching Episode of Endeavor this coming weekend. I think it is a great series as well. But I so enjoyed Morse. But it is an acquired taste for some.

And Anwen! That is excellent! I think speed readers are a marvel! I just think that is an amazing talent. Good for you!

Annamarie, Lauren - I'm probably one of the very few children who got told off for reading too much! (I was trying to finish off a chapter when I should have been paying attention though!)

I agree with Lauren 100%!

And haahahahahahahahahah Anwen! That was too funny! hahaha I hear ya. I always had my nose in a book and should have been more attentive in other areas. Lol.