My Current Interest

Last year I did comparisons of three film adaptations of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile in relation to the book. I have decided to do the same with Ms. Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express . This time, instead of one post, I will have separate posts for all four versions of Murder on the Orient Express . I will start with the book itself. Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot finds murder on the Orient Express Detective Hercule Poirot was not supposed to be on the train. An emergency forced his need to travel, which is how he ended up on the surprisingly full Orient Express. The train ride is already expected to be a long journey, but it becomes even longer when the train gets stuck in a snowstorm. The snowstorm, however, is a minor inconvenience compared to the murder Poirot must solve. The victim is a man named Ratchett. At least that is the name he has been going by. Cassetti is his true name. It is a well-known name as he is the man who got aw...

I started reading The Bodyguard  by Katherine Center at a very memorable moment. The power had just gone out for my street only. At that time of night, without any light, my two options were to go to bed early or read by flashlight. I opted to read by flashlight. One would think during this time I would go for a scary book. I chose a romance. While I worried about when the lights would come back on and if everything in the refrigerator and freezer was going to spoil, a light, fun romance was exactly what I needed. The Bodyguard Katherine Center Hannah Brooks needs a change of scenery Hannah Brooks’s life is not going well. Her mother has died. She has been taken off an assignment she was looking forward to. Plus, her boyfriend has broken up with her. With all this going on, Hannah needs to get out of town. Which is why she is not at all happy when her new assignment keeps her exactly where she lives. Guarding Jack Stapleton What are these assignments I am talking about?...

There are some books that take me a long time to read. Then there are some I read quickly because I am curious about what direction the story is going to go. The Marriage Clock by Zara Raheem was a book I read quickly. The Marriage Clock Zara Raheem If only life were like a romantic movie Leila Abid has always imagined that finding the man for her would be like a Bollywood movie. So far, her path to a husband has been nothing like a movie. Now that Leila is in her mid-twenties, her parents are starting to get anxious about the fact their daughter is unmarried. Her mother is particularly upset about this single status. To solve the problem, Leila’s mother decides to help her find a husband in the traditional way she grew up with in India: by arrangement. For a while Leila lets her parents set her up with men. When these dates all turn out badly, Leila asks for time to find a husband on her own. Her parents give her three months. Three months to find a husband In those three...

It was frightening how similar the situations in The Library of Lost and Found by Phaedra Patrick are to events that have happened in my life. The book experiences are more extreme than my own, but I still understood all to well what was going on. You may be surprised how much you can relate to this book too.            The Library of Lost and Found Phaedra Patrick Everyone has a breaking point Martha Storm spends her life doing things for other people. She does so much, she has a notebook with a list of things she must get done for others. It is not often everything on the list is accomplished. Yet, even with Martha’s inability to finish everything, the list keeps growing. It grows because, no matter what, people keep taking advantage of Martha and wanting her to do things for them. One day it all gets to be too much. Martha finally has enough of constantly doing things for others while receiving nothing in return. She tells the library book club, as w...

Sometimes a book is incredibly timely. Just as Roe vs. Wade was being outrageously overturned, I was reading A Perfect Equation , the second book in the Secret Scientists of London series by Elizabeth Everett. As women’s reproductive rights were being sent back decades, if not centuries, I was reading about men protesting in the streets. What were they protesting about? How women were meant to be in the home taking care of their men and children. And doing nothing else. Does this sound like a mindset this country is falling back to? It certainly does to me. Interestingly, this book is set in the year 1843. So, in essence, we are moving back to the mentality of a time when a car would not be seen for the first time until decades later. Is that a time we really want to go back to? A Perfect Equation Secret Scientists of London Book 2 Elizabeth Everett Letty faces a double standard Letitia “Letty” Fenley has been disgraced. She had sex with a man without being married. Now she has been b...

I saw the most recent adaptation of Death on the Nile (2022) and walked away confused. It was very different from the other film versions I have seen. This made me wonder which film version was closest to the book. To find out, I had to actually read Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie. I also had to rewatch the David Suchet and Peter Ustinov versions in order to compare everything accurately. Death on the Nile is one of those titles probably everyone has at least heard of. Whether they have read the novel or watched any of the adaptations is a different story. I myself had never read the book, but I had seen two adaptations before this most recent one. For this experiment, I got the book from the library , eager to read it, not knowing what a chore it would be. Death on the Nile was not an easy read. Although, I will give the book the benefit of the doubt. Had I not known the ending so well, I may have enjoyed the book more. Death on the Nile Agatha Christie Too much money lea...

There are not a lot of books that make me cry. But every once in a while, there is one that does. Fat Chance, Charlie Vega is a book that almost made me cry. I didn’t quite get to tears, but I was close. That’s because this book is so relatable! Who hasn’t at some point felt like the second choice (or third, or fourth . . .)? Who hasn’t felt there is something about themselves that makes them not as good as everyone else? If you haven’t ever felt either of these things at any moment in time, you are incredibly lucky. Charlie Vega has these feelings, and they are feelings I completely understand.       One of the toughest battles is our own insecurities There are many reasons Charlotte “Charlie” Vega feels she is not seen as being as good as everyone else. One of the biggest reasons is her weight. Even her mother is constantly on her about it. Charlie’s mother leaves her diet shakes and comments on what she is eating. Not exactly a way to get someone on the ...

I almost stopped reading I Was Better Last Night part way through. It was getting too heavy for me, which makes me sound like I have watched far too much Back to the Future . Although, I probably have. I watch a lot of Back to the Future . After deciding I was going to stop reading, I looked at the index to see if there was any topic I still wanted to read about before I returned the book to the library . What I found was “AIDS Memorial Quilt.” A quilter myself, I was curious how the author, Harvey Fierstein, was connected to the quilt. As I tried to find the page about the quilt, I came across the stage musical Kinky Boots . I wanted to see this show in its Chicago previews (having loved the movie ) but did not get the chance. Even with this Kinky Boots memory, I kept moving to the page about the quilt. What I discovered when I found the page was the fact Mr. Fierstein himself is a quilter. Between that and Kinky Boots , I decided I had to continue with the book. I Was Better L...

How Y'all Doing? Leslie Jordan T he day I finished How Y’all Doing?: Misadventures and Mischief from a Life Well Lived , I read an article about librarians facing an increase in filings about “books of concern.” Books mostly about either the LGBTQ+ community or race. For some reason, people are petitioning libraries to take these books off the shelves. Books they have possibly never even read but decided no one should. After reading the article, I decided I had to write about this book from Leslie Jordan. Some would believe How Y’all Doing? should not be read simply because Mr. Jordan is gay. That his story should be silenced. Neither Mr. Jordan’s nor anyone else’s sexual orientation, gender identity, or race should determine whether or not their story is told. They all have a right to be heard. On that exact same day, I started reading the Harvey Fierstein autobiography. Leslie Jordan is one of those actors you just know. You may not know his name, as I didn’t, but probably rec...