Christie November: And Then There Were None

from Wikipedia

First published serially in 1939 under a very offensive title that most of you have probably seen at some point and then released in book form in 1940 as And Then There Were None, this is one of Agatha Christie's most shocking and well-known stories (and this cover is fantastic!). The title refers to the last line of a poem in the vein of Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed except instead of a little head-knocking, each "Indian" in the poem ends up dead. So when ten seemingly unrelated people end up stranded on a mysterious island under false pretenses, their lifelines all start looking rather short.

Though the outcome of the story is pretty obvious from the title, the way it unfolds is anything but obvious. With an unknown murderer loose and no way to escape, the psychological tension comes through on almost every page as we see into eight increasingly disturbed minds. Though this was a rare re-read where I did remember most of the ending, I couldn't remember the exact course the story took and I was hooked again from start to finish.

This is the last day of the month and should be the end of Christie November but I am still working through Agatha's autobiography. It's a great read but is so jam-packed with stories and tidbits that it's taking a while to get through. I hope to finish it in the next couple days. Therefore, Christie November will bleed a bit into December.

Still counting,
K

Silly Discussion: It's All in the Phrasing

I stayed up pretty late last night and, as I was falling asleep, I started thinking about the most random things. I obviously won't share them all with you but I thought you might be amused by one of them. When I was a kid, because of the way this classic Dr. Seuss book was read to me, I thought they were Green eggs and just plain-old pink ham. It's the natural rhythm of the text to read it as "gree-neggs" and ham versus the more correct green "egg-sand-ham". And then when I finally paid attention to the pictures, I thought it was terribly wrong! It's green ham and yolks, really, right?

Are there any stories from your childhood that you had the wrong impression about because of the way they were read to you? I've been trying to think of others but nothing has come to me yet. Maybe it will at 2am tonight.

Food for thought,
K

Giveaway Winner: Can You See What I See?: Toyland Express

Congratulations to the winner of a signed copy of Can You See What I See?: Toyland Express by Walter Wick --

Kirsten

Thank you to all of the entrants!

Clapping,
K and Z

Christie November: The Mysterious Mr. Quin

First UK edition, from Wikipedia

One of my favorite Agatha Christie character pairs is the mysterious Mr. Harley Quin and the elderly Mr. Satterthwaite. When I was choosing stories to re-read this month, this was one of the first to come to mind. These twelve stories were as good as I remembered, with some of them being among Christie's best writing.

I have become more familiar lately with the Harlequin character, especially through my Neil Gaiman readings this fall. It lent a different perspective to my reading this time through. Mr. Quin shows up when there is a mystery to be solved or a fate to be changed and acts as a catalyst for the discovery or solution. Mr. Satterthwaite is his willing accomplice, someone who has lived his life on the outside-looking-in and is especially adept at seeing things that others do not. This book has a dozen stories that were all written separately and then collected later and published together in 1930.

For readers who are not fans of the typical Christie detective stories, these tales might be something different to try. They feature some of her best writing.

In awe of her mind,
K

New Release: Can You See What I See?: Toyland Express

'Tis the season to start collecting holiday books and one of the most colorful and time-intensive (both for the creator and for readers!) out there is the eighth and newest in the Can You See What I See? series by Walter Wick, photographer of the I Spy series. Toyland Express follows a wooden train from the workshop to the store shelves, to the playroom and beyond. Each page has the expected list of items to find and they are not easy. Z and I have spent forever looking at a single woodcarving scene and still can't find every hidden item!

There's a great YouTube video featuring Walter Wick that talks about this book and how he creates these books in general. We found out that he photographs the scene first and then writes the item rhyme later because the listed items need to be the least obvious ones in the picture. We also learned that there's a red, yellow and blue character named Seymour that's hidden in every I Spy and Can You See What I See? scene. We can't wait to pull out our other books and look for him now that we know he's there!

Also, there will be an exhibition featuring photographs and models of Walter Wick's work at The Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT next winter/spring. For more information, visit his website.

You can enter to win a signed copy of this book from Scholastic by filling out the form below before Friday, November 25th. Good luck!

Still searching,
K and Z

All Scholastic, All of the Time

Since I'm spending the next five days surrounded by Scholastic Books, I thought I would share this release with you. Maybe you have a book fair coming up soon and need to decide what to buy or maybe you are just starting to think about holiday gifts. This is a great starter list!

Making my book fair shopping list,
K

SCHOLASTIC PREDICTS THE HOTTEST NEW CHILDREN’S BOOKS OF THE 2011 HOLIDAY SEASON

Children’s Literacy Experts at Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs Offer Recommendations to Help Holiday Shoppers

November 7, 2011 – Get ready for holiday shopping. The children’s book experts from Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs have just revealed their picks for what will be the most popular new children’s books for the 2011 holiday season. This go-to list features books for all ages from a variety of authors and publishers to help gift-givers pick the right books for the kids in their lives.

Some of the book picks include new releases and sequels for popular series, such as The Heroes of Olympus, Book Two: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney, and The 39 Clues®: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom by Jude Watson; others are tied to highly anticipated film releases such as War Horse, Hugo, and The Hunger Games, all of which are based on books.

“Parents, grandparents and educators all know the value of giving the gift of reading to kids, but we know they also struggle to compete with the hot new toy, electronic device or video on the market,” stated Francie Alexander, Chief Academic Officer at Scholastic. “This list was curated by the experts at Scholastic Book Clubs and Book Fairs to help shoppers identify the books that will be sure to delight a child as much as any other favorite gift.”

Scholastic’s Holiday Gift List for Kids:

Picture Books
10 Little Caterpillars by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert (Simon & Schuster)
Can You See What I See? Toyland Express written and illustrated by Walter Wick (Scholastic)
If You Give a Dog a Donut by Laura Numeroff, illustrated by Felicia Bond (HarperCollins)
The Man in the Moon written and illustrated by William Joyce (Simon & Schuster)
Pinkalicious: The Princess of Pink Treasury written and illustrated by Victoria Kann (HarperCollins)

Click here for full list

Transitional Readers and Chapter Books
Clementine and The Family Meeting by Sara Pennypacker, illustrated by Marla Frazee (Disney Hyperion Books)
Fly Guy: Fly Guy vs. The Flyswatter! by Tedd Arnold (Scholastic)
Magic Tree House: Dogs in the Dead of Night by Mary Pope Osborne, illustrated by Salvatore Murdocca (Random House)
Rainbow Magic: Magical Holiday Boxed Set by Daisy Meadows (Scholastic)
Super Diaper Baby 2: The Invasion of the Potty Snatchers by Dav Pilkey, George Beard, and Harold Hutchins (Scholastic)

Click here for full list

Middle Grade Fiction
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever by Jeff Kinney (Abrams)
The Heroes of Olympus, Book Two: The Son of Neptune by Rick Riordan (Disney Hyperion Books)
The 39 Clues: Cahills vs. Vespers Book 2: A King's Ransom by Jude Watson (Scholastic)
War Horse by Michael Morpurgo (Scholastic)
Wonderstruck written and illustrated by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)

Click here for full list

Young Adult Fiction
Crossed by Ally Condie (Penguin)
Inheritance by Christopher Paolini (Random House)
Okay For Now by Gary D. Schmidt (Clarion Books)
The Hunger Games Trilogy Boxed Set by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic)
The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater (Scholastic)

Click here for full list

Nonfiction
How Cool Is This: An Up-close, Inside Look at How Things Work (DK Publishing)
The Hugo Movie Companion: A Behind the Scenes Look at How a Beloved Book Became a Major Motion Picture by Brian Selznick (Scholastic)
Lego Harry Potter: Building The Magical World (DK Publishing)
Lego Star Wars Character Encyclopedia (DK Publishing)
Ripley's Believe It or Not!: Special Edition 2012 (Scholastic)

Click here for full list

These books are available through Scholastic Book Clubs and Scholastic Book Fairs in schools and online at www.scholastic.com/bookclubs. When you purchase these or any other books through Book Clubs and Book Fairs you are helping out your child’s school. Teachers are awarded bonus points through Scholastic Book Clubs to purchase books and materials for their classrooms, and schools raise money through their Book Fairs to support the school community. If a title from Scholastic’s holiday gift list is not available through your child’s Scholastic Book Club or Scholastic Book Fair, check with your child’s teacher or visit a book retailer or library.

For the full list please visit http://oomscholasticblog.com/2011/11/we_predict.html.
For more information on Scholastic (SCHL), visit us at mediaroom.scholastic.com.

2nd Annual Happy Haul-idays From Chronicle Books!

One of my favorite posts to write and dream about last year was my Happy Haul-idays post -- now apparently just full of dead image links instead of holiday cheer. So sad! But the contest is back this year and, even though my spare time right now is non-existent, I couldn't wait to make my list!

So, here's the deal -- I get to choose $500 of books from Chronicle Books. If I win, one commenter on this post wins the same haul. And to sweeten the pot this year, a charity of my choice also gets $500 worth of books! I am choosing Room to Read to win if I do.

Room to Read seeks to transform the lives of millions of children in the developing world by focusing on literacy and gender equality in education. Working in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, we develop literacy skills and a habit of reading among primary school children and ensure girls have the skills and support needed to complete their secondary education. Learn more at www.roomtoread.org.

Now, time for the wishing and dreaming to begin again. I'm posting this at 11:11 on 11/11/11 for extra good luck!

The Life & Love of Trees, text by Lewis Blackwell ($50.00). After waves and sunsets, my favorite things to take pictures of are trees.

Milk & Cookies: 89 Heirloom Recipes from New York's Milk & Cookies Bakery by Tina Casaceli ($24.95). I think this was on my list last year but here it is again because a) I am fully confident in my awesome cookie-making abilities and b) you can never have too many delicious cookie recipes.

TCM Classic Movie Trivia by Turner Classic Movies ($22.95) because I already know a lot about classic movies but I can always learn more.

The Doorbells of Florence: Fictional Stories and Photographs by Andrew Losowsky ($18.95). I've wanted this one since I first saw it. It's such a unique idea!

The Orphan of Awkward Falls by Keith Graves ($16.99) because the title cracks me up and I want to read it.

Prisoners in the Palace: How Princess Victoria Became Queen with the Help of Her Maid, a Reporter, and a Scoundrel by Michaela MacColl ($16.99). This is another one that caught my eye when it first came out.

Ghost Wave: The Discovery of Cortes Bank and The Biggest Wave on Earth by Chris Dixon ($24.95). I just heard about this one recently but I totally want to read it, dude.

Taking Aim: Unforgettable Rock 'n' Roll Photographs selected by Graham Nash ($50.00). I saw the exhibition at the Experience Music Project museum and it was truly amazing.

Tea & Crumpets: Recipes & Rituals from Tearooms & Cafes by Margaret M. Johnson ($19.95) because I love both!

Baking for All Occasions: A Treasury of Recipes for Everyday Celebrations by Flo Braker ($35.00). Yes, I'm still trying to lose weight but that doesn't mean I can't bake for other people.

Brittles, Barks & Bonbons: Delicious Recipes for Quick and Easy Candy by Charity Ferreira ($16.95). I said I'm making it for other people! Why don't you believe me?

Deep Dark Chocolate: Decadent Recipes for the Serious Chocolate Lover by Sara Perry ($18.95). Okay, if I make anything from this one, I'm eating it. See ... I don't lie when it's important.

Garden Anywhere: How to Grow Gorgeous Container Gardens, Herb Gardens, Kitchen Gardens and More--Without Spending a Fortune by Alys Fowler ($24.95) because I live in a wooded area and have only small patches of open space that also get sun.

Saveur The New Comfort Food: Home Cooking from Around the World from the Editors of Saveur Magazine ($35.00). Maybe I shouldn't have made this list right before dinner ...

For Z, I would choose these --

Boo: The Life of the World's Cutest Dog by J.H. Lee ($12.95). Z absolutely loves looking at pictures and videos of Boo. It's so weird because he doesn't really like dogs but he loves Boo!

Eye-Popping 3-D Bugs: Phantogram Creepy-Crawlies You Can Practically Touch by Barry Rothstein and Betsy Rothstein ($19.99). This ... looks ... awesome.

A Zeal of Zebras: An Alphabet of Collective Nouns by Woop ($17.99). This is just the kind of thing Z would love and would memorize and remember forever!

And for others, I would choose --

Obsessed with Star Trek: Test Your Knowledge of the Star Trek Universe by Chip Carter ($29.95) for the husband. Do I really need to explain why?

Pantone: 100 Postcards ($19.95) for my sister-in-law who lives, breathes, drinks and bleeds in Pantone colors.

Audrey Hepburn: The Paramount Years by Tony Nourmand ($22.95) for my little sister. We have many things in common and one of the best is our mutual love for Audrey.

And this list comes to a eye-popping $500.36. I hope that Chronicle Books will spot me the 36 cents. I'm rounding down anyway!

If you think I might win these books and want to get in on the action, leave a comment before December 2nd. You could win the entire set! (Sorry, open to U.S. residents only.)

Thinking about how so very good I've been this year,
K

Christie November: The Man in the Brown Suit

Image from Wikipedia - first UK edition

The Man in the Brown Suit was first published in August 1924. It's a stand-alone mystery that starts in England but quickly moves onto the Kilmorden Castle, an ocean liner destined for South Africa. The reason for this change of scenery is the adventuresome nature of Anne Beddingfeld. Anne, who has lived for years with her archaeologist father in a mentally stimulating but still dull existence, is set free when her father unexpectedly dies. She has only a few pounds to her name and isn't sure what to do next in life until she sees a man accidentally fall and die on the underground train rails. A mysterious doctor, who happens to be on hand to tend to the man immediately, drops a cryptic note on his way out of the station and Anne takes it as a sign that she is meant to set out and follow the clue -- which leads her to the Kilmorden Castle. What follows is a quest for not only a murderer but also a master criminal and a parcel of stolen diamonds.

The reviews when it was released were mixed. Some reviewers thought the plot was far-fetched (which it is), some lamented the absence of Poirot (which could have worked but wasn't necessary) and some thought it was a good fun story (which it also is). There are a few small bits here and there that make the modern reader cringe a little but nothing too terrible. More than anything, I think that the story reveals Agatha's fondness for South Africa (where that wonderful piccie of her with a surfboard was snapped) and for the social changes that allowed women to become more independent. Anne even takes a detour while on her way to an appointment and tries her hand at surfing -- which I'm now thinking could be a lightly-veiled autobiographical tale!

Taking the waterway less traveled,
K

Please Excuse My Upcoming Absence

I have decided to pre-apologize for the fact that I will probably not be around the blogosphere (or Twitter) much over the next two weeks because I'm busy promoting reading in real life by chairing the Scholastic Book Fair at Z's school! Set-up is this week so I'm frantically getting some last minute things together and then I will be working the fair for most (or, more likely, all) of the following week. I'm still managing to spend some reading time with Agatha Christie but I might not have much blog writing time until later in the month. I'm sure you all understand my desire to help the school library. All of the funds and credits raised mean new books for the library -- something there can never be too many of (especially since I usually get to help unpack the boxes)!

Helping people everywhere find the right books,
K

Last RIP Post: The Great Ghost Rescue

Z and I were reading The Great Ghost Rescue together at bedtime and we ended up finishing a day or two after Halloween. It was our first time reading Eva Ibbotson (and coincidentally, her first book, written in 1975). She was recommended to me because of my love of Diana Wynne Jones and I have to say that I found the same sort of intelligent fantasy that I hoped I would, though for a slightly younger reader.

One thing that I really like about Z is that he's not afraid to explore books from another country. This is a very British book and he had to frequently ask about things like kippers and kilts, Prime Ministers and MPs, and even Henry the Eighth. But, then again, it's quite a universal book about helping those less fortunate than you -- even if "those" happen to be ghosts!

Rick is a young boy at a boarding school who wakes up early one morning to find he is sharing his bed with a ghost. It's Humphrey, the youngest in a family of ghosts that have been driven from their home by developers who have turned it into a vacation resort. There are no longer damp cellars or broken windows or boggy marshes to haunt -- only modern plumbing and a game room. Rick decides that what the ghosts need is a sanctuary and his friend Barbara thinks that the only man who can help is the Prime Minister. So Rick sets off to London, picking up a few others along the way who are also seeking sanctuary. Rick can only hope that he's successful before the British Isles lose all of their fantastic ghosts (and other creepy creatures).

Z and I both loved this story. It was a bit scary and sad at times but that is to be expected in a ghost story. The plot was more complex than I expected with a seemingly pleasant resolution about two-thirds of the the way through the book that, alas, wasn't permanent. The characters were quite amazing too. Z's favorite was Humphrey's older brother, George the Screaming Skull. I rather liked Aunt Hortensia who had been beheaded by Henry VIII and whose head regularly travelled separately from her body.

We can't wait to read our next Ibbotson book together! We actually have a few here to choose from -- Which Witch?, The Secret of Platform 13, Dial-a-Ghost, Island of the Aunts and The Beasts of Clawstone Castle. We will have to savor each one as Ibbotson passed away just a year ago at the age of 85.

Setting out with a new friend,
K and Z

New Release: Can You Survive? Jack London's Call of the Wild

You might remember that I recently inherited a second edition copy of Jack London's Call of the Wild from my grandma. It wasn't a book I had ever read but it was a beautiful volume and I promised myself I would read it this year. When I was asked if I wanted to review this new book from Ryan Jacobson, I thought it was the perfect opportunity.

I grabbed my copy of Call and flipped through it and decided that it was a little loose in the binding and I was afraid of damaging it. So then I checked one of my many book apps on my iPhone and found a copy of it and started reading (my first full e-book read, by the way). I have never been so devastated, so heartbroken by a book and also loved it at the same time. Jack London's writing is nothing short of magical. Following Buck, the St. Bernard/retriever mix, through his abduction from California and delivery to Alaska to become a sled dog during the Gold Rush was a harrowing and awe-inspiring journey. I didn't expect to have such a meaningful reading experience with this book but I did.

Almost as soon as I put down the device at the end of the story, I picked up Can You Survive? Jack London's Call of the Wild: A Choose Your Path Book and I found myself nodding as I read because I thought that it really brought what made Buck special to light. As the reader (in the guise of a boy who is miraculously swept into the story as Buck) makes each choice in the story, it showcases what an amazing creature Buck was -- how he knew when to stand his ground, when to turn and run, and when he applied a lesson learned (always hard ones) in a way that made his life easier. Jacobson uses much of London's original text and I thought that it was edited together in a clear way -- providing the reader with a similar experience but having the necessary changes that come with this Choose Your Path format. The paths that are best not chosen (those that lead to The End sooner than later) have a melancholy feeling to them that I thought fit well with the tone of the original.

I think that the execution of this book was spot on and now I'm very curious about some of Jacobson's other Choose Your Path titles like Can You Survive? Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. I can only hope he's already thought of Poe or Jules Verne for his next one!

Hearing the call of the wild,
K

Late RIP Post: The Poisoner's Handbook

The last book I read for the RIP Challenge (and finished hours before my wrap-up post but didn't bother to go back and change it) was the thoroughly awesome The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum. I loved this book. I don't say that very often but this was the perfect read for me. It had the right amount of history and science and murder to fit right in the niche that my brain is happiest in.

This book won't be for everyone. As you can tell from the title, the birth of forensic medicine is going to include a lot of details about gory (yet fascinating things) -- autopsies, brain tissue disintegration for testing, examination of lung tissue after poisoning and all sorts of other bloody tests. There's also no avoiding the animal testing that had to happen at the time to measure the effects of various toxins in order to have reliable data, the kind necessary to secure convictions and send murderers to the electric chair.

I'm mostly against animal testing and possibly against the death penalty and certainly against murdering family members but I still found every aspect of this book fascinating. It made me regret that I didn't take those three extra classes to get a minor in chemistry. My scientific background helped me through the book but I don't think one is necessary to understand what Blum is presenting. Her love for chemistry also comes through in her writing and I thought it was refreshing and highly readable.

On cloud nine,
K

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