50/50 Friday is a meme hosted by Carrie @The Butterfly Reads and I and focuses on the opposite sides of books (best/worst, differing opinions, etc). Every week will have a new topic and several advance topics will be listed in the tab labeled 50/50 Friday!
Today's Topic: Best/Worst Book Read in January
Best:
I have two favorites this month! It's been a generally great month for reading (a lot of great Agatha Christie, mostly)!
Hercule Poirot #24
Rating: 5 stars (Review)
Blurb:
"Set at the Jolly Roger, a posh vacation resort for the rich and famous on the southern coast of England, Evil Under the Sun is one of Agatha Christie’s most intriguing mysteries. When a gorgeous young bride is brutally strangled to death on the beach, only Hercule Poirot can sift through the secrets that shroud each of the guests and unravel the macabre mystery at this playground by the sea."
This is one of my favorite Agatha Christie books to date (along with And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express)! It's got one of those great plotlines and great clue-dropping so you can figure it out yourself if you're truly paying attention to ALL of the details which are my favorite kinds of Agatha Christie books.
Hogwarts Library
Rating: 5 stars (Review to come!)
Blurb:
"An essential companion to the Harry Potter novels, now fully illustrated!
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander's classic compendium of magical creatures, has delighted generations of wizarding readers. With this beautiful, large-scale new edition illustrated in full color, Muggles too will have the chance to discover where the Runespoor lives, what the Puffskein eats, and why shiny objects should always be kept away from the Niffler.
Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Comic Relief and J.K. Rowling's international charity, Lumos, which will do magic beyond the powers of any wizard. If you feel that this is insufficient reason to part with your money, one can only hope that passing wizards feel more charitable if they see you being attacked by a Manticore."
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt Scamander's classic compendium of magical creatures, has delighted generations of wizarding readers. With this beautiful, large-scale new edition illustrated in full color, Muggles too will have the chance to discover where the Runespoor lives, what the Puffskein eats, and why shiny objects should always be kept away from the Niffler.
Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Comic Relief and J.K. Rowling's international charity, Lumos, which will do magic beyond the powers of any wizard. If you feel that this is insufficient reason to part with your money, one can only hope that passing wizards feel more charitable if they see you being attacked by a Manticore."
This is such a great coffee table book! There was a sale on Amazon a couple months ago and I got the hardcover illustrated edition for something like $8 which was one of my favorites days of last year :) I love all the illustrations and all the beast descriptions. There's also a bit of history in the beginning which was really cool. I'm thinking of rereading/rewatching the HP series and this was a perfect place to start!
Worst:
Hercule Poirot #31
Rating: 3.5 stars (Review)
Blurb:
"Hercule Poirot is called on to investigate the murder of a brother and sister in this classic from the Queen of Mystery.
When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the odd remark she made the day before at her brother's funeral becomes chillingly important: "It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it. . . . But he was murdered, wasn't he?"
Desperate to learn more about both deaths, the family solicitor turns to detective extraordinaire Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery. . . . "
When Cora Lansquenet is savagely murdered, the odd remark she made the day before at her brother's funeral becomes chillingly important: "It's been hushed up very nicely, hasn't it. . . . But he was murdered, wasn't he?"
Desperate to learn more about both deaths, the family solicitor turns to detective extraordinaire Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery. . . . "
Like I said above, this has been such a great month for reading and I actually have several 3.5 star books this month but they're all a matter of personal preference when it comes to mystery/novel structure so they're entirely subjective. This just wasn't one of my favorite Agatha Christie novels for some reason. I liked most everything in it, but it just didn't strike a chord with me. Does that ever happen with you?
Have you read any of these? What did you think of them? What are your favorite and least favorite books of January? Make a post and link up down below!
Next Week's Topic: Favorite/Least Favorite Ships
That’s a great deal on Fantastic Beasts. Awesome!
ReplyDeleteRight?? I thought so too and I immediately had to buy it! Thanks for stopping by, Jenny!
DeleteI loved the audiobook of Fantastic Beasts with Eddie Redmayne narrating in character as Newt. :)
ReplyDeleteEddie Redmayne narrates the audiobook??? I MUST LISTEN TO IT!!! Thanks for stopping by, Lauren, and enlightening me to this :D
DeleteI think, Agatha Christie is one of the best author for this month. I read a lot of review and book of Agatha Christie is always in 5 star.
ReplyDeleteShe's one of the greats of mystery writing! Thanks for stopping by, Zariyah!
DeleteAgatha Christie is Great author who I sadly haven't picked up yet. It's always interesting how one authors books can be great and then bad. Tori @ In Tori Lex
ReplyDeleteFor sure! I loved Julie Kagawa's first series but then I read her Talon series and I just couldn't do it. I don't really understand the concept of autobuy authors... :) Thanks for stopping by, Tori!
DeleteThis is such a fun meme! And I love that you are reading so much Agatha Christie, as that is on my bucket list :) I browsed through the Fantastic Beasts book at the store and it looked absolutely gorgeous indeed.
ReplyDelete:) Haha I figured the best way to read them is all at once (maybe it wasn't such a wise decision on my part but I'm invested now)! I've been meaning to read them for a while so now is as good a time as any. It is, isn't it?? I'm so glad I got it on sale :) Thanks for stopping by, Lindsey!
DeleteAgatha Christie is one author I've been meaning to pick up but haven't yet! It's funny how both your best AND worst reads of the month are by her, and yet your worst read is still good ahaha. It's a pity After the Funeral didn't work out as well as her other books did for you though! I'm in two minds about any book by JKR now because while I adore the magical universe she's created, my personal feelings towards her keep getting in the way and I often find I don't enjoy her works as much as I used to before and it's heartbreaking :((
ReplyDeleteHaha I totally understand! I keep meaning to read books from all the authors that people say they 'auto-buy' and I always feel so behind! Hopefully this year will be a catch-up year.
DeleteOh no, that's awful, Ruz! I got the same way after researching Orson Scott Card and his personal views on things. It's not exactly the same thing but after I found out, I felt kind of guilty for liking his books and now I find it hard to reread the Ender's Game series. I feel like that's a big issue that isn't really discussed in the bookish community: how/whether to separate the author from the work.
Thanks for stopping by, Ruz!