The Mysterious Mr Quin by Agatha Christie – Book Review
Category: Books
A collection of short stories blending mystery and romantic melodrama, about a strange crime-solving partnership that has more than a tinge of supernatural. Put it under another Christie book I appreciated much more on a re-read.
Top Ten Tuesday – Books Covers with Stars
I decided to do a twist on this week’s topic from That Artsy Reader Girl, Book Covers In the Colours of My Country’s Flag. The colours of the Australian flag are blue, red and white, which is not exactly the most original colour combo in the world. A more interesting feature of our flag is the Southern Cross constellation, so I thought I’d make a list of book covers with stars and constellations.
The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty – Book Review
Moriarty’s light touch and sparkling writing somewhat redeems this overstuffed tale that doesn’t really succeed as either mystery, romance or family drama.
Top Ten Tuesday – Beachy Books Covers
This week’s topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is Books or Covers that Feel/Look Like Summer. Summer means many things to me, but chief among them is the beach. I’m very lucky to live about fifteen minutes away from the bay with its suburban beaches, and when the weather is right there are many ocean surf beaches around Melbourne to visit on a weekend.
The Labours of Hercules by Agatha Christie – Book Review
This imaginative short story collection, inspired by Hercule Poirot’s first name, riffs on the ancient Greek myths but with little grey cells replacing muscles.
Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie – Book Review
This Poirot mystery, set in an international student hostel, starts off as intriguing and ends up as fairly solid but unspectacular.
Childhood, Youth, Dependency by Tove Ditlevsen – Book Review
This trilogy of autobiographical novellas from one of Denmark’s best-known poets and writers is one of the most striking memoirs I’ve read, reflecting on life, art and addiction with remarkable, matter-of-fact clarity and honesty.
Quote of the Day – Writing
“You should write, first of all, to please yourself. You shouldn’t care a damn about anybody else at all. But writing can’t be a way of life – the important part of writing is living. You have to live in such a way that your writing emerges from it.“
— Doris Lessing
Parker Pyne Investigates by Agatha Christie – Book Review
An enjoyable stand-alone collection of short stories featuring one of Christie’s lesser known detectives.
Top Ten Tuesday – Places of Worship Around the World I Visited
This week’s Top Ten Tuesday topic from That Artsy Reader Girl is a Non-book Freebie! My list was inspired by the recent classical concert at Melbourne’s St Paul’s Cathedral, and is dedicated to the memorable cathedrals, churches, temples and mosques I visited on my travels. I decided to limit to one place per country, otherwise nearly half of my list would just be Italy.
Though I’m not a believer myself, I’ve always enjoyed religious buildings, for their historical and artistic value as well as their atmosphere of peace and reaching out to something greater beyond. I have fond memories of my grandmother taking me to a Russian Orthodox church when I was little, where I listened to the choir and looked at the beautiful frescoes of angels and saints.
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