Apr 5, 2013

Agatha Christie – Hercule Poirot Books (Part I)

I believe this year will be Hercule Poirot year, in terms of books. I’ve been reading Agatha Christie’s books like there’s no tomorrow.

I must admit that stitching and audio books go hand in hand with me. I cannot stay still and listen to a story without doing something with my hands.

And yet, I am afraid that very soon I’ll finish all the Hercule Poirot books and I will have to satisfy myself with Miss Marple stories (which aren’t as addictive as the ones with the little Belgian detective).

Books are really addictive, detective books I mean. But not all of them, I tried to see if other detectives will have the same charisma as Hercule Poirot but I was disappointed.

For example, I read “The two cases of Danwel Strong” by Juan Angel Cardi and I barely made it to the end. It took me a month or so to finish a book that, in normal conditions, would’ve taken me a day or two.

Then, there were the Maigret books which are a step or two above normal detective books. But even the Maigret books don’t come close to Agatha’s Christie little Belgian.

In no particular order:

The Mystery of the Blue Train

This book was first published in 1928; that’s 85 years ago. The story resolves around the death of Ruth Kettering, an American heiress that gets murdered on the Blue Train (Le Train Bleu).

After the murder, it is also discovered that the famous “Heart of Fire” diamond also is missing from the possession of the late Mrs. Kettering.

On the same train there are Mrs. Katherine Grey (a 30 year of companion that comes in a large sum of money and decides to visit the French Riviera), Derek Kettering (which is following his wife, trying to reconcile with her and save the marriage for financial reasons more than for the sake of love), the dancer Mirelle (Derek ex-lover, who is after the Heart of Fire diamond rather than Derek), Ruth Kettering maid, Ada, and of course Hercule Poirot.

Rufus Van Aldin, Ruth Kettering father, employs Hercule Poirot to solve the mystery of his daughter’s death. At first, all the suspicions are directed towards The Comte of Roche and Derek Kettering. The Comte of Roche is well known for approaching married women’s and making their precious diamonds disappear and Derek Kettering is known for having financial difficulties.

After many twists and turn and a little help from Mrs. Katherine Grey, Hercule Poirot resolves the case and the famous Marquis (a famous burglar) and his accomplice is found guilty for the murder of Mrs. Ruth Kettering. As for the Heart of Fire diamond, well it is believed lost … but there is a certain dancer that is very proud in her new necklace.

Time of reading: 1 day. Stitching while reading interesting books is bad for one’s needlework.I believe I made some mistakes since I was wrapped up in the story so much, but it was worth it nonetheless.

Dumb Witness

This was a very well played plot by Agatha Christie. Basically you go through all the characters and believe at some point or another that they must be the murderer.

And in the end, the murder is the the last person you would think of. I won’t give any details of this book, because its more fun this way than having an idea of what you are getting yourself in.

This is a classic when it comes to detective books. Well played Christie, well played.

Time of reading: around 2 days. I have to take breaks from time to time and works comes into as well.

Appointment with Death

I’ve noticed in most of Agatha Christie’s books that there are some characters that just deserve to slapped silly. And in this book there is one character that is so annoying that you are just happy to see her die.

The action takes place abroad, Hercule Poirot tries to take a vacation from death, but death just has a different agenda.

Mrs. Boynton is the annoying character that I was speaking about, the step mother of a large family who just enjoys keeping her children in line and basically bullies them into submission. And this “lovely” lady finds a tragic end on what should’ve been a “vacation” with her family.

All of her children are suspected of murder, and the question is: did they all act together or was just one of them that decided that enough is enough?

Well, it was fun to read and the ending was very satisfying.

cre-cre ⋅ Books, Free time ⋅ Agatha Christie, Appointment with Death, Books, Dumb Witness, Hercule Poirot, The Mystery of the Blue Train ⋅ 1 comment

Mar 25, 2013

East European Comic Con

5 MORE DAYS!

I’ve bought the tickets since December and I can’t believe that there are only 5 more days till Comic Con!

This is really an amazing event that I just can’t wait to go to. The only downside of this is the fact that I’m actually working, both on Saturday and Sunday, from 4PM.

So, I’m stuck not knowing what to do. I can either take a day off from work, ask someone to do my shift or skip work altogether and go wild.

I’m just so torn up, I WANT TO GO and just waste time and money.

When I first bought the tickets I planned on going just to buy stuff and that’s it. But now, I’m looking on their website and I’m just crying a lil bit inside.

John Rhys-Davies (from “Lord of the Ring” and “Sliders”) will come to the convention. I’m just looking and the website and an autograph from him is 50Ron. That’s not much, but considering I was planning to spend no more than 100Ron (trying to be rational here) kinda makes it hard for me. So I decided to go as high as 300Ron for this convention, hopefully I won’t overspend.

For me to actually be able to get an autograph from this big guy I’ll have to go on Sunday. But I’m not going alone, since I have 2 tickets. Johnny said he’ll pass this one out and I’m actually going with a colleague from work. But she’s in Germany at the moment and she will be back at the end of week.

I want to make plans and set things straight.

Then there are the many shops with merchandise! I’m so excited I can’t even describe the feeling.

I feel like a little kid that will go to the amusement park for the first time and doesn’t know what ride to try first.

I’m one sure of one thing, I’m taking my new photo camera with me and I’ll go wild with photo’s. I want lots and lots of photos of this event.

cre-cre ⋅ Anime, Celebrities, Events, Free time ⋅ East European Comic Con, fun, John Rhys-Davies ⋅ No comments

Mar 24, 2013

Georges Simenon – Maigret collection

I believe I mentioned before that I borrow/buy books and just forget about them. Well, this year I decided to read as many books as I can from my bookcase. What I would do with them after I finish reading them, well I haven’t decided yet.

I don’t remember reading so many books in such a short period of time, not even in school.

But then again, I didn’t read huge novels that never end (The Fellowship of the Ring doesn’t count), I actually read detective books.

Nope, no Agatha Christie books this time, but Georges Simenon books.

I still had 3 more books from the Jules Maigret series that I haven’t read and I was actually missing the French detective. The thing that I like most about Georges Simenon detective is that he isn’t a snob like you see in most detective books. So, in no particular order here are the three novels by Georges Simenon:

~~~Maigret Loses His Temper~~~

The plot: a nightclub owner is murdered and the police doesn’t have any suspects in the case. The owner of the nightclub is an Italian with a respectable family and who doesn’t have any enemies.

Basically, the owner vanishes one might and his family reports him as missing. Two days later his body is found in a cemetery. Maigret tries to find out if anyone from the other nightclubs might’ve had quarrels with him, but none hated him enough to kill him.

In the end I realized why the book was named “Maigret Loses His Temper“. The killer is actually the least expected person: the lawyer of the nightclub owner. The reason is actually simple: the lawyer used to pick his cases depending on the type of crime people committed. Then he used to ask “protection” money promising that the criminals wouldn’t be prosecuted and the police won’t be bothering them. But the money was never shared with the police. In reality, he was smart enough to know that the people won’t be indicted and would’ve gotten away even if they didn’t pay up. The nightclub owner was getting suspicious of the lawyer and his methods and that’s why he was killed.

In the end, the lawyer commits suicide in his cell being to afraid to face the harsh reality.

Rating: 2 stars out of 5.
Reason: it was interesting but not captivating enough.

~~~Maigret on the Riviera or Liberty Bar~~~

Plot: A murder takes place on the Riviera. Maigret is called in to investigate because the person murdered was actually a spy and the authorities want the case to be solved as soon as possible and without any complications.

The main suspects are the dead man’s lover and her mother who are caught in the act of fleeing the house their shared together.

The entire atmosphere of the book is that of a lazy vacation. Maigret cannot concentrate on the case, but in the end he finds the guilty person and guess what he lets that person go.

Basically his resolve of the case is that a stranger is guilty. Easy fix and with no complications. I won’t actually spoil this book because I really found it fascinating.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.
Reason: it was interesting, made me yearn for the summer days at the sea side and for good food.

~~~ The Friend of Madame Maigret~~~

Plot: Inspector Maigret attempts to prove that a murder has actually been committed without a corpse anywhere to be found. As the investigation becomes increasingly complex, seemingly unconnected characters are drawn into the case, and Maigret begins to wonder if his wife’s earlier strange encounter with a woman and her baby may be the missing link.

This is the first book where Maigret wife is actually shown as being more than a housewife. She actually helps Maigret with his investigation and puts him on the right track.

It’s actually funny when a taxi driver questioned by Maigret says he saw a fat lady looking after a small child, the “fat lady” in question being Maigret wife. Again, I shall not spoil the ending. It was funny, interesting and it showed that even without an body you can still prove that a murder was committed.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5.
Reason: again it made me hungry, it was captivating, the Maigret family unites in solving a case.

cre-cre ⋅ Books, Free time ⋅ Books, Detective, Georges Simenon, Maigret, Reading ⋅ 2 comments

Mar 10, 2013

Geisha needlepoint

Spring is here! It’s so nice to not wear many layers of clothes. I think the reason why I like Winter so much is that it makes Spring so much sweeter.

I’m doing good.

I wanted to write about many things but then again not everything needs to be shared. I passed all my exams at university, work is OK and soon we’ll go team building (it will be high school all over again). But, I am happy about one thing in particular: I finished a needlepoint project.

Yup, I finished my geisha needlepoint from Draga Decor. I actually, worked on it on every spare moment I had (while I “read” about 6-7 audio books by Agatha Christie).

And here is the end result, my framed Geisha:This was the final stage right before framing it. I was really happy with the colors and all that. Had some issues with the quality of the floss but that passed.

Of course, Marlanu’ had to approve it before putting it on the wall. But then again, I have no idea where I could put it in my room and all the other rooms are already packed full with paintings and other stuff.

So, I’m still pondering on the location.

Still, its so nice. The framing was really expensive and this was actually the second choice of frame since my first pick, a more simple reddish frame, was out of stock.