Feature: Marple by Agatha Christie

 

"I wonder, sometimes, if there isn't a concentration of evil in small places."

Do you have a favorite literary character you would like to see have new adventures?

Thank you, Partner @bibliolifestyle @williammorrowbooks for the gifted copy of Marple: Twelve New Mysteries and for allowing me to be on this tour.

I've started reading this collection and I was pulled in by the very first line. I loved the first story, Evil in Small Places by Lucy Foley. There are great stories by so many of my favorite authors!

Book Description from Goodreads: A brand-new collection of short stories featuring the Queen of Mystery’s legendary detective Jane Marple, penned by twelve remarkable bestselling and acclaimed authors.

This collection of a dozen original short stories, all featuring Jane Marple, will introduce the character to a whole new generation. Each author reimagines Agatha Christie’s Marple through their own unique perspective while staying true to the hallmarks of a traditional mystery.

Naomi Alderman
Leigh Bardugo
Alyssa Cole
Lucy Foley
Elly Griffiths
Natalie Haynes
Jean Kwok
Val McDermid
Karen M. McManus
Dreda Say Mitchell
Kate Mosse
Ruth Ware

Miss Marple was first introduced to readers in a story Agatha Christie wrote for The Royal Magazine in 1927 and made her first appearance in a full-length novel in 1930’s The Murder at the Vicarage. It has been 45 years since Agatha Christie’s last Marple novel, Sleeping Murder, was published posthumously in 1976, and this collection of ingenious new stories by twelve Christie devotees will be a timely reminder why Jane Marple remains the most famous fictional female detective of all time.

#marple #marpletwelvenewmysteries
#missmarplemysteries #agathachristie

Laura's Top 14 Books of 2020

I read a lot of great books in 2020.  What can I say about 2020?  Although it has been one heck of a year and my socializing is definitely down, it has caused an uptick in my reading.  I noticed I read a lot more romance this year as I focused on comfort reads.  Did your reading habits change in 2020?

 I had so many books that I loved this year that it took me awhile to trim it down to a top 14 list.  I couldn't quite get it down to top 10.  These books are books I read and that stuck with me long after the last page was turned. 

These books were not necessarily books published in 2020, but they were books I read in 2020.  I did not include books that I was rereading, but only books that I’ve read for the first time. They are only in the order of when I read them through the year of 2020.  And now without further ado, my top fourteen books of 2020.  I’ve linked them all to my review of them if you’d like to learn more about them.

1. Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate
2. The Hunting Party and The Guest List by Lucy Foley
3. The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner
4. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson
5. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
6. Becoming by Michelle Obama
7. The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Dare
   
8. The Splendid and the Vile by Erik Larson
9. The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
10. When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
11. The Book of Lost Names by Kristin Harmel
12. Clouds by Laura Sobiech
13. Anxious People by Fredrik Bachman

Other books I loved this year, but didn’t quite make my top 14 included:

1. To Tell You the Truth by Gilly MacMillian
2. 
   The Rescuer: One Firefighter’s Story of Courage, Darkness, and the Relentless Love that SavedHim by Jason Sautel with D.R. Jacobsen
3. Olympic Pride, American Prejudice:  The Untold Story of 18 African Americans Who Defied Jim Crow and Adolph Hitler to Compete in the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Deborah Riley Draper and Travis Thrasher
4. When Life Gives You Pears:  The Healing Power of Family, Faith, and Funny People by Jeannie Gaffigan
5. Never Have I Ever by Joshilyn Jackson
6. Take a Hint, Dani Brown by Talia Hibbert
7. Loathe at First Sight by Suzanne Park
8. Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner
9. No Judgements by Meg Cabot
10. The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan
11. If I Never Met You by Mhairi McFarlene

For more top books from the past, check out my lists from 2019, 2018, 2017 & 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2009, 2008, and 2007.

What were your favorite books of 2020?

When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole

 The description of When No One is Watching is that it a thriller that is Rear Window crossed with Get Out.  This intrigued me and I was happy to get a gifted copy from William Morrow for review.

 Sydney Green has returned to her childhood home in Brooklyn after her own marriage has ended to help out her ailing mother.  She is putting together a historic tour of her neighborhood to highlight the black history and is begrudgingly assigned a new assistant, her new neighbor Theo.  He has moved to the neighborhood with his girlfriend, but their relationship has headed south quickly.  As Sydney and Theo work on putting together the history of their neighborhood, they start to notice strange things happening.  Why are long time neighbors suddenly disappearing?  Why are people trying to “gentrify” and change the neighborhood?

 I don’t want to go too far into the plot and ruin it for everyone, but I was RIVETED by this thriller and couldn’t put it down.  I loved that it made you question both Sydney’s sanity and Theo’s motivations.  I wasn’t sure who to believe.  The final part of the book was terrifying as it seems like something that COULD happen – especially in 2020.

 I liked that When No One is Watching took a hard look at gentrification and what it means to a neighborhood.  It is a very timely read.  I really liked the character of Sydney. She had to make hard decisions during a trying time, and she defended her own.  She was a strong woman.  I would LOVE to see When No One is Watching turned into a movie.  This book was truly an original story and kept me guessing all of the way through the end.  I need to check out Alyssa Cole’s romance novels and keep her on my radar for her future books.  I loved it.

 Favorite Quotes:

“People bury the parts of history they don’t like, pave over it like African cemeteries beneath Manhattan.”

 “Most of my childhood was spent blundering in the wake of my mother’s turbulent decisions.”

 “I lean back into it and we watch that shit burn down.”

 “The thread goes on and on, but almost every entry is more or less the same thing; marginalized people disappearing.”

 Overall, When No One is Watching is a timely thriller that looks at the dark side of gentrification of a Brooklyn neighborhood.

 Book Source:  Review Copy from William Morrow. Thank-you!