Despite the fact that I read six books this week, I am having a tough time picking a winner, not because the competition is stiff, but because the competition is pathetic. I'm going to settle on Anne Perry's A Christmas Guest for two reasons. It's the holidays and a re-imagining of Dicken's A Christmas Carol is mandatory. Also, the Scrooge-like character is an old woman and I'm a fan of crotchety old women.
Books from the pile worth noting:
Scandalous Women by Elizabeth Kerri Mahon is a trading-card snippet of information about some of the most powerful (and scandalous) women to have lived (from a decidedly American viewpoint) written in an atrociously chummy pop culture prose that would be more appropriate to a blog than a book.
The Big Four by Agatha Christie is a (I can't believe I'm saying this) failure to turn Hercule Poirot into an action hero/spy. Christie was a genius with a "cozy," but this attempt to be John LeCarre or Ian Flemming falls far short.
Finally, in The Good Thief's Guide to Venice, Chris Ewan tries too hard. His Guide to Vegas had a distinctly Oceans Eleven feel which was light and fun, but fast-paced without being too ridiculous. (There's always something over-the-top.) Venice, on the other hand, feels forced all the way through, not least because his main character spends so much time obsessing about writing his novel.
1 comment:
You know what's an odd read? Agatha Christie's travelogue of an archeological expedition with her husband, Max Mallowan, Come, Tell Me How You Live. It just wasn't what I pictured her non-fiction "voice" to be.
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