Tuesday, November 1, 2011

November is Agatha Christie Month (On This Blog)

A recently-released photo of Agatha in her surfing days
There's nothing significant linking Dame Agatha Christie to the month of November. She was born in September and died in January. But I have three non-fiction books here about her (two of which will be released in November, right before the 85th anniversary of her mysterious disappearance for eleven days) and sixty-one of her books (only three unread) and I'm not quite ready to leave the RIP season behind so I'm declaring this my own personal Agatha Christie Month!

I will be reading:

An Autobiography by Agatha Christie (1977, to be re-released by Harper Collins on 11/22/2011)
Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the Making by John Curran
Agatha Christie: Murder in the Making: More Stories and Secrets from Her Notebooks by John Curran (also being released by Harper Collins on 11/22)

I believe that the three unread books I have are all Poirot stories so I will try to get to those and will surely re-read some of my favorites, like the Harley Quin and Parker Pyne stories. I may also re-watch some film and television adaptations of her work this month. Murder on the Orient Express is always a good choice on a gloomy fall night.

If you would like to join me this month in an Agatha Christie reading or watching, please do! She was such a prolific author that there ought to be something in her catalog for almost every reader. The official Agatha Christie website also has a great page that lists her own ten favorite books and has a "Where to Start" article if you aren't sure what to try first.

Embarking on a treacherous but highly enjoyable journey,
K

5 comments:

  1. I'm ashamed to say I've never actually read anything by Agatha Christie, though I'm always meaning to. :/
    I'm excited to see what you have planned for this month! Maybe it'll encourage me to crack open one of her books.

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  2. From what I've heard, she is quite an interesting lady. I'll look forward to seeing what you learn about her mysterious disappearance!

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  3. I remember watching the movie about her mysterious disappearance many years ago - with Dustin Hoffman and I think Vanessa Redgrave as Agatha.

    But I've never been that fond of her books - I've read three or four, but they just don't grab me.

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  4. Sounds like it'll be a good month! I keep having dreams that I find complete matching sets of all Agatha Christie's mysteries at a book sale, which I think is a sign from my subconscious to read some of her books again.

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  5. Dooliterature - Oh, you must! I'll try and read a lot of good ones so that you have a selection of her best. :)

    Jenners - I sure hope she is -- it's quite a fat book!

    Tracy - I love the Doctor Who episode where she is in a country house mystery. And I'm sorry that you don't enjoy her books. I know that many readers find them to be too simple. I think that's part of why I like them. They're nice spacers between heavier books.

    Jenny - I like the idea of author months! I saw a matched set once at Half Price Books but I stupidly didn't pick it up. Okay, I didn't have hundreds of dollars to buy it but they were a nice dark faux leather set. Would have looked great on a shelf or two!

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