50/50 Friday (18): Best/Worst Book Read in January

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

This is meant to be a sort of wrap-up (useful for people like me who never remember to do wrap-ups) and a look back on your month!  Pick the best book and the worst book you read this month!

Best:

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #17)

Goodreads Blurb:"Death on the Nile is a pre-Second World War novel, first published in 1937. It shows Agatha Christie’s interest in Egypt and archaeology and also reflects much of the flavour and social nuances of the pre-war period. Although the novel is set in Egypt, an exotic location, it is essentially a ‘locked room mystery’, as the characters are passengers on the river-steamer SS Karnak, cruising on the Nile. Amongst them is the famous Hercule Poirot, a short man dressed in a white silk suit, a panama hat and carrying a highly ornamental fly whisk with a sham amber handle – a funny little man."

Why it's the best:I really liked this book mostly because of it's complexity.  Agatha Christie does such an amazing job weaving the stories of multiple characters (we're talking 7-10) and their physical locations and possible motives.  I love finding my way through the web!

Worst:

A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray

Goodreads Blurb:

"Cloud Atlas meets Orphan Black in this epic dimension-bending trilogy by New York Times bestselling author Claudia Gray about a girl who must chase her father's killer through multiple dimensions.

Marguerite Caine's physicist parents are known for their groundbreaking achievements. Their most astonishing invention, called the Firebird, allows users to jump into multiple universes—and promises to revolutionize science forever. But then Marguerite's father is murdered, and the killer—her parent's handsome, enigmatic assistant Paul— escapes into another dimension before the law can touch him.

Marguerite refuses to let the man who destroyed her family go free. So she races after Paul through different universes, always leaping into another version of herself. But she also meets alternate versions of the people she knows—including Paul, whose life entangles with hers in increasingly familiar ways. Before long she begins to question Paul's guilt—as well as her own heart. And soon she discovers the truth behind her father's death is far more sinister than she expected.

A Thousand Pieces of You explores an amazingly intricate multi-universe where fate is unavoidable, the truth elusive, and love the greatest mystery of all."

Why I didn't like it:

I'm using the word worst in the broadest sense possible.  This book was far from bad or terrible.  In fact, I quite liked it!  This month was just a really good reading month for me and I read a ton of good books (8 to be exact) and I rated this one the lowest at 3.5 stars.  Exactly!  3.5 stars is a relatively good rating!  The reason I rated it this way is because of the over-prominence of the love triangle (I don't particularly mind them except when they seem to overshadow the plot which this one did slightly) and the fact that the beginning (chronologically) was pretty vague.  Otherwise, I loved the story and the characters and literally everything else!

What books have you read this month?  Which ones were your favorites?  Have you read either of these books?  Make a post and link up below!

Next Week's Topic: Character Most/Least Changed by Their Hero's Journey