Book Review – Hercule Poirot’s Christmas by Agatha Christie

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Rating: 3 out of 5.

It’s been a while since I last read an Agatha Christie novel and I haven’t read anything festive this year. So, I decided to combine both in one go. I haven’t read Hercule Poirot’s Christmas for a while but I did watch the TV adaptation last year. It seemed like the best kind of book to pick up just before Christmas. At a time when there is so much going on and there’s always some distraction. I was planning to read each part on the designated day but that didn’t work out. In the end, I just smashed through it on Boxing Day. It was exactly what I needed.

Bitesize Book Reviews 9

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I’ve fallen behind on my reviews of late what with Christmas and New Year. So, in order to get everything sorted, I’m just going to do some quick reviews of my most recent reads. I also don’t really have the energy to do much else at the moment. That first week back at work has been a killer and I’ve not felt great. I’ll be back on track soon.

Bitesize Book Reviews 8

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I haven’t read a lot this week and I think that had something to do with the fact that I was already ahead with my reviews. I knew that I wasn’t under any pressure to get something read in time because I was already behind. Well, not behind but I had a bit of a backlog. So, I ended up reading a few shorter books that didn’t really deserve a full review. Meaning I’m back with another couple of bite-size reviews.

Book Review – A Boy Called Christmas by Matt Haig

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

I’ve only read one Matt Haig book before and that was Notes On A Nervous Planet. Long story short, I didn’t care for it. I understand that a lot of people found it helpful with their mental health but I thought it was just pointless and trite. Not bad necessarily but not as helpful as it believes. So, I wasn’t exactly rushing out to read anything else by the writer. Although, I can’t seem to escape him. I see copies of The Midnight Library all over Instagram. It’s haunting me. As it’s Christmas, I decided to go with one of his festive reads. One of his festive reads that will both cross off a letter on my Reading Challenge and is free on Audible.

Bookish Post – December Reading Wrap-Up

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Teacup on top of vintage books.

That’s it. 2020 is over and we’re staring a new year. It feels good that it’s all behind us but I can’t pretend that 2021 is magically going to be better. After all, the virus is still raging and it’ll be a while before the vaccine is really rolled out. Then there’s Brexit which has the potential to fuck everything up. It might cause problems for food and shopping. There’s also the chance it will create issues with the vaccine. So, who knows where we’ll be this time next year. I’m hoping that the Leave voters were right and we’ll be fine. However, I can’t see it being that rosy. Anyway, enough about the future. We’re hear to look back. I’ve already posted my 2020 review post but I still wanted to breakdown the books I read in December.

Number of books read: 10
Number of rereads
: 1
Number of physical books: 10
Number of ebooks: 0
Number of audiobooks: 0

Book Review – Twleve Nights by Urs Faes

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Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

We’re so close to the end of the year which means that everyone is thinking about what they’ve achieved this year. For us bookish folks that mainly means the number of books that we’ve read. I’m already seeing people compiling their list of favourite books for 2020. How are they so on it? I’ve figured out which my top 5 rated books are but that doesn’t mean they were my favourite reads. Flawless books don’t always give us the same feels as slightly flawed books do. It’s not always the most fun to read a technically brilliant book. I have been looking back over my reviews for the year though. I think I get more wary of ratings near New Year’s Eve because I remember all of the great books I’ve read over the last 12 months. The books I’m currently reading start to pale in comparison to the books I’d long forgotten about until now. I blame that for my struggle to rate this book. I couldn’t decide so went with a bit of a compromise. Next year, I’m only doing rereads on December. It’s easier.

Book Review – Murder Most Festive by Ada Moncrieff

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Rating: 2 out of 5.

As you know, I love a bit of cosy crime. I’ve enjoyed reading Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle for as long as I can remember. More than anything, I have an affinity for the novels from the Golden Age of detective fiction. Just give me a whodunnit in a country house, an amateur sleuth and plenty of red herrings. That’s all I really need. Modern crime fiction is getting too pretentious for my liking. It’s trying to be more like television and it’s getting ridiculous. So, when this contemporary version of a Golden Age novel I knew that I had to give it a go. I’m always wary of books that get compared to Agatha Christie because no modern writer has ever been able to match her genius. Still, I’m always hopefully that someone will come close.

Book Review – The Nutcracker by E.T.A. Hoffmann

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Rating: 3 out of 5.

So, yet again, my Christmas reading hasn’t gone to plan. It’s my own fault really because who has time for much reading at the moment? I just always seem to have something to do. Meaning all of the books that are over 200 or so pages just seem super long. To get something finished for today’s post, I decided to pick up another short one. I don’t think I’ve ever read the original version of The Nutcracker by German writer E.T.A. Hoffmann. Although, I’ve had this gorgeous illustrated copy for years. I figured it was worth finally checking it out.

Book Review – My Latest Reads

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I’ve read a few shorter reads recently and I wasn’t sure that I’d have enough to say for a full review without waffling on for ages. So, I decided to do something a bit different and shove a few mini reviews together in one post. It means that I won’t necessarily go into too much detail but that’s probably for the best. I’m still kind of undecided about how I feel about two of them and the third is just not the kind of book that demands an in-depth analysis. So, I’ll spare you the pain of having to read a messy full review and leave you with these little tidbits.

Bookish Post – Jingle Bell Book Tag

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If all had gone to plan today, I would have been writing my review of Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory. Of course, things haven’t gone to plan at all. I just haven’t got round to reading enough this week and I’m still waiting to finish it. I’ll be honest, I’m not enjoying it as much as I thought I would but I do think it’s a great book. Maybe I’m just not in the mood for non-fiction? I’ve got a load of cosy crime waiting for my and I think I’m just waiting to get onto that. Knowing what I’ve got waiting for me is only making the task of getting through this book even harder. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to move on tomorrow. For now, I’ve picked a random book tag to entertain you.