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Book Review: Hercule Poirot’s Christmas

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Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
Hercule Poirot #20
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I think I’m starting to get burnt out on this series. I spend a lot of time while listening to these books guessing at reasons why each different character could be the murderer. But not using logic and reason within the story, rather I try to figure out which is the least likely or the one that will surprise the me the most, and then try to figure out how and why they might have done it. I’m usually wrong. I’m not sure if enough information is given to the reader to allow us to truly use logic and reason to pinpoint the killer, but even if it were, I’ve never been great at guessing mysteries correctly anyway. That said, I did have a correct guess about the killer in this book, but that’s partly because I’ve been waiting for this particular outcome for several books now.

I did like the overall mystery in the end, and Poirot is in fine form. I miss Hastings though. And I’m noticing more and more than he goes through several “possible” reveals before he gets to the final one, and by the time he gets to the final one, I’ve got mental whiplash. I think he’s telling us the truth, but that’s not it…then maybe it’s this, but no…it’s not. Because of the aforementioned waiting for this type of killer to come up, I know I’ll never forget the outcome of this book, but with others like that, I can’t really remember who ended up being the bad guy. In the end, I liked the book, but maybe I would’ve liked it more if I weren’t listening to them all so closely together. Still, I think this story is worth reading—or listening to the narration by Hugh Fraser, which is as great as ever.

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Book Review: How to Be a Pirate

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How to Be a Pirate
How to Train Your Dragon #2
by Cressida Cowell
read by David Tennant

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Hiccup trains to swordfight and Toothless tries to care about more than fish.

It was easier to evaluate the book for itself this time, since we’re much more removed from the world of the movie (not that the first book was all that similar, but it was enough to make it difficult). The book is overall pretty fun, though I spent a lot of the book wondering why we want a hero who is so incredibly bad at everything he’s expected to be good at. I’m not saying he should be immediately good at everything, but I guess I would just like him to have a win now and then, at least more often than he does and earlier in the book than he does. So far, these books entail Hiccup being bad, defeated, mocked, etc. until the climax, when the situation requires something that he does better than anyone else in the tribe (usually related to brains over brawn). But I just wish there could be a little more to encourage him/us before the end. However, I have to admit that the win he does get made me happy.

David Tennant again does a brilliant job narrating, though his voice for one particular character (while great) may have given me reason to mistrust him more than we might have been meant to. I’ll say it again—if you love the movies and are looking for books like that, I don’t necessarily recommend you read these books. But it’s overall a fun, short read, though I’m hoping to see a change in the formula in future books.

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Book Review: Dachshund Through the Snow

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Dachshund Through the Snow
Andy Carpenter #20
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When reluctant defense attorney Andy Carpenter’s wife Laurie gets caught up in the lives of a family where the husband/dad has been arrested for a cold-case murder, it’s no surprise that Andy ends up with a new client.

Is it weird that I could probably put the same basic synopsis at the front of every one of these reviews and repeat the same opinions on many of them, and yet, I still absolutely love this series? Some are better than average and some are worse than average, but it’s a formulaic series, so it’s difficult to think of anything new to say with each review. For this book, though, I can say that it was nice to have a less complex and widespread mystery. Not that there weren’t still quite a few players behind the scenes that caused me to get lost a little bit, but overall, I’d say this book was on the high side of average for the series. A solid addition to the series. I especially recommend the audiobook, because Grover Gardner’s narration is a huge part of why I never want to stop listening to this series.

This book also births a spin-off series (though it looks like it was a short-lived one), which I’ve known existed but never really known much about. Now I’ll have to be sure to get that a try too!

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Book Review: Appointment with Death

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Appointment with Death
Hercule Poirot #19
by Agatha Christie
read by Hugh Fraser

My rating: 3 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

This was not my favorite Poirot, and I’m not sure I can pinpoint the reasons. It reminded me of some of the earlier books in the series that I didn’t like, in that it felt a little bloated. We’re given a ready-made cast of suspects, which of course made me look more carefully at everyone outside of that group. I’m not sure we’re given enough clues to figure it out for ourselves (though I suppose I can see some hints toward it when looking back). But then we’re sort of jerked around, all the way up through the reveal, with Poirot talking to someone as if they had done it, and then clarifying that it wasn’t them. I remember that happening in past books as well, and I couldn’t tell you who the murderer actually is in those books, because by the time they were revealed, I was a bit weary from explanation. The same thing happened here, and though I can remember the culprit right now, I’ve already had to remind myself that it wasn’t one of the fake-outs on the way to the real one. And yeah, just like one of the characters in this book pointed out, I don’t particularly appreciate Poirot’s hypocrisy in letting the culprit(s) go free in a previous book but insisting on justice in this case. Not that I think he should have let it go here, but that never really felt great about him doing so in the previous instance. I’m also not a fan of the “there’s not enough evidence to convict, so I’ll just get the murderer to kill him/herself” that happens too often in this series. Anyway, all of that combined to keep me from enjoying this book as much as I did previous ones. Though Hugh Fraser’s narration is still great.

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Book Review: Howl’s Moving Castle

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Howl’s Moving Castle
Book #1
by Diana Wynne Jones
read by Jenny Sterlin

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

When Sophie attracts the unwanted attention of a powerful witch and is turned into an old woman, she seeks refuge in the moving castle out in the hills, said to belong to the wizard Howl who eats young women’s souls. Sophie’s not afraid of Howl anymore, because she’s not a young woman anymore. There, she meets an odd cast of characters, including one that claims it can return her to her rightful age.

I did not really know what to expect with this book. I can’t even remember for sure why I decided to read it (I have not seen the movie). I think I saw someone mention that the audiobook is really well done, and I’ve at least heard of the movie, so maybe that’s what did it. Whatever the reason, I found the story whimsical and charming, if a bit meandering and odd. I struggled to follow some of it, especially early on, and especially as it related to Sophie’s sisters and the various peripheral characters that had disappeared for one reason or another. That aspect might have been better if I had been reading, rather than listening. And the derogatory way some people would speak to or about Sophie, just because she’s an old woman (so they think) bothered me, especially when some reveals were made later. I also found myself expecting more of an explanation for a particular portal-fantasy-type aspect that comes up later in the book, but none was given. In fact, I wanted more explanations about multiple plot points than I got.

But even though the previous paragraph might make it seem like I didn’t enjoy the book, I really did. For the sheer pleasure I had while listening, I would have liked to give the book 5 stars, but the above paragraph does compel me to lower it to 4. The characters have depth, and I found myself rooting for all of them, even those that aren’t the most heroic (though certainly not the antagonists). And I think therein lies the major draw for me—I’m a character reader, and I loved these characters, so much so that I was really sad to leave this world when the book ended. Jenny Sterlin, the narrator, also had a lot to do with me becoming completely immersed in the world of this story. She makes the different major characters sound just different enough to help their different personalities come through. She’s the kind of narrator that makes me want to go and find other books she’s narrated, even if they’re books I’d never planned to read or even heard of before.

I can’t tell you whether or not you’d like this book if you’ve seen and liked the movie, but for someone who hasn’t seen the movie, if you’re interested in fantasy in a old-England-type setting, I would recommend this book, whether you’re in the age range it’s meant for (young teen and up, maybe?) or not.

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Book Review: Theodore Boone: Kid Lawyer

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Kid Lawyer
Theodore Boone #1
by John Grisham
read by Richard Thomas


My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fiction

Thirteen-year-old Theodore Boone’s parents are both lawyers, which gives him unique insight into the law system in his small town. He spends a lot of time at the courthouse and dreams of being a great trial lawyer someday. When his small town is rocked by a murder, he hates that he has to miss the trial to attend school. Then a classmate brings him some unknown evidence about the murder case, and Theo isn’t sure what to do with the info.

For the most part, this book was absolutely great and I really enjoyed it, though there are some things that I feel could have been done better. I really liked the trial side of the story. It reminded me a lot of David Rosenfelt’s Andy Carpenter series, which I also enjoy. I also liked Theo as a character and the relationship he’s built with various people at the courthouse. And there were a few moments that made me chuckle, especially early in the book. I was listening to the audiobook, and my 15-year-old daughter was nearby when I first started it, and she heard enough at the beginning (including those humorous moments) to decide to add it to her TBR as well. Another thing I appreciated is that Theo realizes the point when he’s in over his head and needs to consider taking what he knows to an adult. The way that all played out, too, I thought was pretty good.

I wish the story had gone a different direction than it did, though. I kept expecting even just a small twist in the plot by the end, but it never happened—maybe in an attempt to be more realistic than thrilling. And it certainly did seem realistic, but maybe throwing in a little more excitement would be good too. I also noted that the narrator (Theo) basically says near the beginning of the book that he doesn’t think of girls romantically at his age, yet he certainly is attracted to one of the women who works at the courthouse, and then there’s the girl in school that he thinks could become his girlfriend…so I guess all he really means is that he doesn’t think of that one girl at the beginning of the book romantically. Either way, it seemed like an unnecessary overall addition to a book with a 13-year-old protagonist.

I happened on this book when I was looking for something quick to listen to while waiting for some holds to come through, and the synopsis sounded interesting. If I had taken the time to read reviews first and see the 3.8 average rating right now on Goodreads, I probably would have passed, but I’m really glad I just dove in, because overall, I really enjoyed it and plan to keep going with the series. Richard Thomas does a great job with the narration, too. Overall, I’d say whether or not a teenager will be interested in this book will depend on what kind of fiction they like—if fast-paced action is important, this probably won’t suit them. If they’re interested in realistic fiction about crime and law and trials, this could be fascinating for them.

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Book Review: How to Train Your Dragon

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How to Train Your Dragon
Book #1
by Cressida Cowell
read by David Tennant

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade fantasy

Though he’s the son of the clan’s chief, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III leaves a lot to be desired as a Viking. When he and the other boys his age are tasked with capturing a young dragon to raise and train, he’s just hoping he doesn’t screw up by not getting any dragon at all.

I’ve actually struggled a lot as I’ve tried to write this review. It’s often difficult to base a book on its own merits if I read a book after watching and enjoying the movie (and in this case, I didn’t even know the book existed when the movie came out), but that has never been more difficult than in this case. The movie is so good and the book is so different, I’ve struggled so much to not compare them and let the book stand on its own. Really, the only similarities are the names of people and places, the inclusion of both Vikings and dragons, Hiccup’s overall character, and the main “antagonist.”

Comparisons aside, I did enjoy the book. I was surprised that dragons in the book are thinking, reasoning creatures, with a language of their own, yet the Vikings capture and tame them like beasts, not bothering to pay any attention to their speech. It’s not something you’d probably want to think too hard about, though I did like the way it plays out in the book. I kept expecting the story to go different ways than it did (which could have been because of the movie, but I also think it’s because I’m used to how books, especially for this age group, tend to go), but it’s a charming story in the end, and Toothless grew on me too.

If you love the movie and are looking for a book like that, I don’t recommend you read this book. If you love David Tennant (or even if you don’t) and want to hear him do a brilliant job narrating a fun kids’ book, definitely consider listening to the audiobook. Overall, I’d say don’t let hearing that it’s not like the movie keep you from reading it, if you’re interested.

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Book Review: Bark of Night

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Bark of Night
Andy Carpenter #19
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

When a dog whose owner was recently murdered is brought to a vet by a man who pays to have it euthanized, Andy Carpenter is suspicious. Someone has been arrested for the murder, and it wasn’t the man who brought a perfectly healthy dog to the vet to be put down. So he once again dusts off his defense attorney skills and assembles the team for another case.

This was a great installment in the series, with a little bit of a different take on the formula I always enjoy. The story this time is more focused on the investigation than the trial, allowing the different facets of the crime more room to breathe. It was a little complex, but it didn’t feel as convoluted as others have, and I think that’s because Rosenfelt expanded on it enough to keep that from happening. I always enjoy the inclusion of Andy’s team, and this time, we get to see the softer side of Marcus, which is fun. Overall, I felt like it was one of the stronger books in an overall great series! I especially recommend the audiobook, as Grover Gardner was clearly made to voice Andy Carpenter and brings his wit and sarcasm to life as wonderfully as ever.

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Book Review: Death on the Nile

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Death on the Nile
Hercule Poirot #18
by Agatha Christie
read by Kenneth Branagh

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Classic mystery

I really enjoyed this Poirot novel; I think it was actually one of my favorites. Of course, part of that might be the fact that I actually pegged the bad guy for once. I may have come up with alternate theories a time or two, but that’s just because Christie still does well with the obfuscation. I even correctly guessed the why, but not exactly the how. I also really liked it when Poirot is involved from the start, rather than coming in halfway through the book. And when he has someone else to work with, even if it’s not Hastings. The setting in Egypt doesn’t really play into the story as much as one might think, since most of the story takes place on a boat, though that aspect does provide some interesting aspects to the plot and mystery. I listened to the audiobook narrated by Kenneth Branagh, which was unsurprisingly really good. I did struggle a little to understand his Poirot accent early on, but it seemed to even out as I went. Overall, this was a great addition to the series.

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Book Review: Mystery Ranch

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Mystery Ranch
The Boxcar Children #4
by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Read by Aimee Lilly

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Children’s classic

This one really left me scratching my head. The mean, old aunt is instantly won over by the too-perfect kids, and apparently minors were able to own property in the time this was written, without needing an adult to be the trustee or anything like that. When the aunt talked about some men trying to get her to sell her ranch to them, it started to feel like a Nancy Drew story, but it resolved far too quickly and easily. In fact, though I didn’t compare the length of this to the previous stories, it felt super short in general. Also, the narrator for this book was even less enjoyable than the previous, who I already didn’t care for. Maybe if I had a young child to read these with and discuss the good and bad, it would be worth continuing with the series, but I don’t really have any motivation to do so.

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