Reading What I Want to Read - Agatha Christie + Seeing Darkness

The last few years I've made a list of 10 books - 5 books off my shelf, 5 books from the library - that I'm really wanting to read.  There's no real rhyme or reason.  I just go through my library list and my shelves and pick the books that are calling to me.  Here are two that I've read recently.

Goodreads:  Agatha Christie: A Very Elusive Woman by Lucy Worsley

Blurb:  "Nobody in the world was more inadequate to act the heroine than I was."

Why did Agatha Christie spend her career pretending that she was “just” an ordinary housewife, when clearly she wasn’t? Her life is fascinating for its mysteries and its passions and, as Lucy Worsley says, "She was thrillingly, scintillatingly modern." She went surfing in Hawaii, she loved fast cars, and she was intrigued by the new science of psychology, which helped her through devastating mental illness.

So why—despite all the evidence to the contrary—did Agatha present herself as a retiring Edwardian lady of leisure?

She was born in 1890 into a world that had its own rules about what women could and couldn’t do. Lucy Worsley’s biography is not just of a massively, internationally successful writer. It's also the story of a person who, despite the obstacles of class and gender, became an astonishingly successful working woman.

With access to personal letters and papers that have rarely been seen, Lucy Worsley’s biography is both authoritative and entertaining and makes us realize what an extraordinary pioneer Agatha Christie was—truly a woman who wrote the twentieth century.

My Thoughts:  I don't think it's a secret that Agatha Christie is one of my favorite authors.  Coming into this one I had already read quite her autobiography as well as other books surrounding her life.  I loved Lucy Worsley's take on this biography.  She seems to genuinely love and admire her subject yet she isn't blind to some of the issues that are problematic in Christie's books.  She does a fantastic job of putting Christie and her books in context both with what is going around Christie and with where Christie herself is coming from.  I also liked that she gave a more developed picture of Max Mallowan.  I've always thought Archie Christie was bad and Max Mallowan was a saint and while I'm still not a big fan of Archie Christie I have a much more realistic view of Max.  Not only did I enjoy this book for itself but getting more insight into Christie's life gave me more enjoyment when reading her books. My Rating: Loved It (5 Stars)

Goodreads:  Seeing Darkness by Heather Graham

Blurb:  She’s being murdered.

It was supposed to be a fun girls’ weekend in Salem, but when a past-life regression session instead sends a terrifying vision of murder to Kylie Connelly, she’s shaken and doesn’t know what to think. Worse, later she identifies the attacker from her vision: he’s a prominent local politician.

Special Agent Jon Dickson of the FBI’s Krewe of Hunters is on the trail of a suspected serial killer based on the scantest of clues and unreliable witness testimony. When he realizes Kylie’s vision might be his best lead, he must gain her trust and get close enough to guide her new talent. Though she doubts herself, the danger Kylie sees is all too real—and the pair will have to navigate a murderer’s twisted passions and deceptions to stop the killer from claiming another victim.

My Thoughts:  As expected from this series this was fun read.  There are ghosts and history and likable characters.  The mystery was an entertaining one with multiple possible solutions.  Like most books in this series it isn't the most memorable but it was an enjoyable and entertaining read.  I'm looking forward to reading more in the series liek usual.  My Rating: Really Liked It (4 Stars)