Book Review: Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie (Miss Marple #1)

Murder at the Vicarage by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We meet Miss Jane Marple in the first of Agatha Christie's books in this cozy murder mystery series. The story is told from the point of view of Len Clement, the vicar who lives next door to Miss Marple in the small village of St. Mary Mead. We meet quite a few of the villagers, all of whom could have killed Colonel Protheroe, the boisterous, overbearing individual who is always butting into other people's business.

This is a charming mystery, combining village life with the murder of an individual who seemed to be hated by all. The local police are stymied, but Miss Marple is ever-vigilant of the village happenings from both her front window and back garden. It was written in 1930 and transports the reader to what life in an English small town was like 100 years ago. The book includes the layout of the room where the murder took place, along with the map of St. Mary Mead -- always helpful when trying to solve the murder!

I read many of the Agatha Christie novels years ago, but wanted to read them again by starting with the first book in each of the three major series. Next up, Hercule Poirot in the The Mysterious Affair at Styles (1920)!

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Book Review: South of Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver (Colter Shaw #5)

South of Nowhere by Jeffery Deaver
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Colter Shaw is summoned by his sister Dorion to assist her disaster response company in a small town in northern California.  A levee has collapsed, people are missing, and the flooding threat is tremendous.  Once he arrives and they assess the situation, terrorism becomes a distinct possibility.

There are a lot of different characters in this book and many sub-plots, but it's still quite an action-packed page-turner.  I have thoroughly enjoyed all the previous Colter Shaw (Tracker) books by Jeffery Deaver and am glad to see he has started writing them again after a three year hiatus.  I would love to see this story turned into one of the Sunday night episodes.  And the book includes a map of the area; who doesn't like a map in a book?

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Book Review: The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie (Tommy and Tuppence #1)

The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Tommy Beresford and Tuppence  Cowley are childhood friends who reunite in London as young adults five years after the end of World War I.  Both have been unsuccessfully looking for a job when they decide to form a joint venture called Young Adventurers, Ltd. with the motto of "Willing to do anything, go anywhere..."  Soon they are hired to find important missing documents, track down a missing young woman, and get involved with even more mysteries and government intrigue.  

This is Agatha Christie's second published book (1922), after Hercule Poirot's Mysterious Affair at Styles, published in 1920. It gives the reader a nice snapshot of London life in the 20's after the war - fashion, culture, restaurants, language/slang and much more.  The story itself is typical Christie - lots of  characters, twists and turns, red herrings, mistaken identities - which kept me guessing until the end.    

I started reading Agatha Christie novels when I was a teenager, with no thought to reading each series in order.  Many decades later I am embarking on reading each of the three series (Tommy and Tuppence, Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple) in order to fully appreciate them.  There are only five books in this series, published between 1922 and 1973, so it will be fun to read how the two of them age together.  

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Book Review: Fridge Love: Organize Your Refrigerator for a Healthier, Happier Life―with 100 Recipes by Kristen Hong

Fridge Love: Organize Your Refrigerator for a Healthier, Happier Life―with 100 Recipes by Kristen Hong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was initially attracted to this book because of its claim to help me organize my refrigerator.  There are beautiful glossy color photos of the author's fridge with everything in matching glass containers and arranged by the colors of the rainbow.  However, I needed to look past my disdain of books like that in order to find the very helpful information about how to make my fridge work for me.

The book is organized by what type of cooking / eating goals you have:  fresh fridge, chopped fridge, no-cook fridge, and prepped frig.  She gives extensive information about produce -- seasonality, shopping, prepping, storage, and length of freshness for each type of fruit and vegetable.  However, there is not much information about meats and dairy products, or about the freezer.  There's also some brief information about the best way to clean your fridge.  There is a very extensive section of the book about the history of the refrigerator, which was extraneous in my opinion.  

The author is a nutritarian who doesn't eat dairy and very rarely includes oils in her recipes and cooking.  Therefore, many of the recipes in the back of the book didn't work for me and my family. I would recommend this book for anyone who is committed to having a better organized refrigerator.  However, my suggestion is to check it out from your local library.   

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Book Review: The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life by Arthur C. Brooks

The Happiness Files: Insights on Work and Life by Arthur C. Brooks
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is a compilation of some of the weekly columns that Arthur C. Brooks writes on happiness in the Atlantic.  It is divided into five sections -- On Managing Yourself; On Jobs, Money, and Building Your Career; On Communicating and Connecting with Others; On Balancing Work, Life, and Relationships; and On How You Define Success.  Each column is relatively short - 5-7 pages - and contains actionable items for change.

I have been reading his columns for a couple of years, but I gained a lot of ideas when re-reading some of them in this book.  Many of the columns are written for those individuals currently in the workplace, but there are still takeaways for retirees such as myself.  I would highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in introspection and self-improvement.  

Thanks to NetGalley and Harvard Business Review Press for an advanced reader copy of this book.

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