September 14, 2011

Book Shopping Mania

I went to an old bookshop the other day and my eye was caught by a whole shelf full of Agatha Christie...let's be honest, I was looking for something to buy and I found it! I couldn't decide which of her novels to pick (I wanted to take them ALL), but I chose four - after about debating half an hour with myself. Expect reviews on them soon. They are:

The Sittaford Mystery: As I've said before, I've read all of Christie's mystery novels, but some I remember better than others. This particular novel is a complete blank...except I know who the murderer is. It is a new way to read a book for me. I never, and I mean never enjoy knowing before hand the outcome of a novel, but in this case I can remember nothing else; no motive, no method - nothing. It's just that I know who the murderer is so there is no 'shocking discovery' in store for me.

The Pale Horse: It may seem odd to you the disjointed things I remember about these novels, but in The Pale Horse, all I can remember is that it is about a murder-for-hire ring. Nothing else. So it is sort of a first time read for me.


Poirot's Early Cases: A collection of short stories, not only concerning Poirot's early cases as the title suggests, but cases from various points in his life.

Death Comes as the End: A favorite Christie of mine. This novel is set in Ancient Egypt. I love everything about this book from the characters to the style of writing.


Then I picked up some other books as well. First time reads:


The Unknown Ajax by Georgette Heyer: Another Heyer read is something I find irresistible. I'm going through her novels slowly because when you're all out you're all out! Re-reading is fun of course, but nothing compared to opening a book for the first time.


The Turn of the Screw by Henry James: Just picked up this book because I was in the mood for mystery after Agatha Christie and the back of the cover says 'The Turn of the Screw is the classic ghost story for which Henry James is best remembered.'
  
The Aspern Papers by Henry James: The Henry James' book came as two books in one - something I realized only when I had come home from the book shop. The back cover states that it is 'a tale of Americans in Europe'. I'm already interested.

2 comments:

Tim Jones said...

I'll be interested to hear what you think of "The Turn of the Screw" - I have never been able to get into Henry James and tried this because it's short - but I still didn't like it and struggled through to the end. I hope you enjoy it, though!

Sarah said...

I'll have my post up soon :)