Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie Review

Title: Murder on the Orient Express
Author: Agatha Christie
Pages: 347
Published: June 4th 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers

(first published 1933)

Source: eaudio library
Links: goodreads

"The murderer is with us - on the train now..." Just after midnight, the famous Orient Express is stopped in its tracks by a snowdrift. By morning, the millionaire Samuel Ratchett lies dead in his compartment, stabbed a dozen times, his door locked from the inside. One of his fellow passengers must be the murderer. Isolated by the storm and with a killer in their midst, detective Hercule Poirot must find the killer amongst a dozen of the dead man's enemies, before the murderer decides to strike again...

It's that time of year. The time of year I go on another super long road trip and force myself to listen to audio books. This year though I changed it up. I usually pick really long audio books. Ones that I know are big chunkers and are going to take like 35 hours to listen to. I was actually going to do that on this trip too but Outlander wasn't available at my library to listen to on audio (I'm surprised). So I started looking through the audios available and picked this one. I have no idea why.. it just looked good. I have never read an Agatha Christie book and thought I might as well check it out. I liked that this was a shorter audio book.  I felt great that I was able to finish a book in one day.  My road trip usually ends up being about 36 hours by the time I get back home.  So finishing one book a day I think is a pretty good thing.

The whole book pretty much takes place on a train.  So we get to meet all the characters who are suspects in a murder that also happens on the train.  This is apparently book 10 in the Hercule Poirot mystery series.  I didn't know this when I started and I could kind of tell that the book was assuming we had already been introduced to Poirot before but really this didn't make the book a bad book.  I am kind of glad I didn't know it was apart of a long series because I might not have read it then.  I like to read series in order.  I do think the ending of this book was.. well impossible to guess.  I could be wrong but really I just feel like no one would guess it.  I just want to discuss this book with people in real life!  Murder on the Orient Express would be a neat book club pick.

I can't wait to read another mystery from Christie but this time in print form. I just want to see if it's easier to figure out who did it.  I of course put the movie based off the book on hold at the library.  I was sad to see it wasn't on Netflix or Amazon Prime for watching but I suppose that's because it's an older movie.  I also am going to check out the Poirot series from 2012 that was on PBS because one of the episodes is based off this book.  So fun!

5 stars

This counts for one book for the event R.I.P!  Click on the button for more info!

R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril X!

R.I.P.

Here it is!  My favorite time of year and one of my favorite blogging events.  Be sure to go to the main page to find out about all the happenings because I am only going to participate in a few so you might be interested in other ones.  R.I.P. is known as Readers Imbibing Peril, and it is a challenge to read Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Horror, and Supernatural. This challenge is put on by Stainless Steel Droppings normally but this year Carl needed some help so our gracious hosts this year are The Estella Society. The challenge officially runs from September 1st to October 31st. There is a group read also that people can participate it and that is always fun.

This is such a cool challenge, and since this is a category I mainly read anyway I am taking the plunge. I am going to pledge to be part of:

Peril the Third: This Peril involves imbibing just one R.I.P.ping read.

Peril the Third means I will be reading just one book.  I think I have already picked on and the review will be up soon.  The book is Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.  I may jump in and read another book, but we'll see.
 

I am also going to take part in:

The movie I am going to chose is the movie based off of Murder on the Orient Express.  I think it will be fun to do the book and the movie together. 

Are you participating???  Happy Fall!

Comic Adventures Issue #29

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.


This issue I talk about Batwoman Vol 5, Teen Titans Vol 4,  Talon Vol. 2, and Red Lanterns Vol 5,

I have enjoyed the Batwoman comics.  Not as much as I was enjoying Batgirl but I still do enjoy them.  As some of you may know.. the creative team behind Batwoman left this comic because of DC not allowing them to have Batwoman (Kate) marry her girlfriend.  Of course DC came back saying that's not why and blah blah.  So here we are with a new staff.   The comic does flow unlike some I've read lately. There is an art thief named Wold Spider running around.  Batwoman fights him and then ends of fighting Nocturna who is a vampire she accidentally let out of Arkham Asylum.  We even get a peak at Batman and Batwoman working together in this volume. A lot of the comic focuses on the breakup of Kate and her girlfriend Maggie. The comic ends with a cliffhanger... I will read the next volume and see where DC takes this one.  As far as I know it's not a canceled series yet.

3 out of 5

I love these comics.  Especially after the show Young Justice.. I just enjoy seeing superhero teens.  This comics introduces us to Beast Boy and Raven and I thought that was really amazing. I haven't read about them in comics yet so seeing them in action was interesting. I haven't read the Teen Titans before but apparently Raven's dad Trigon is always in the mix. So in this comic he comes back in to fight and get Raven to become evil again.  Since the New 52 is really my first introduction in the DC comic world I need to these story lines to be perfect with the new lore.  But this one seems to just assume we know about the characters. There is a love triangle going on... though supposedly it happened because of possession and everyone seems ok with that.  I can't stand love triangles. People hate Raven's new look but personally I like it.  I think it's kind of cool with the feathers on her face.  I give this one 3 out of 5

 Talon has been very interesting to me.  I think the Court of Owls is a great story line.  Volume 2 in the Talon series though wasn't as good as the other Court of Owl stories. The comic continues the story in Volume One where Calvin is fighting the Butcher, Bane, and the Court of Owls.  We see Batman come in and claim he's going to capture Calvin once it's all done. I read this whole section.. then realized it was really an introduction to the fact that Calvin will move on to the Batman Incorporated comic. Ughhh.... I suppose that he just wasn't a strong enough character to keep the Talon comics going.  There was a stand alone comic at the end about Calvin trying to get to the Lazarus pit.  I didn't feel like this had much to do with the story so I skipped it. It was a boring comic to be honest and it's probably good that the series ended here.

3 out of 5

 What is it about the Red Lanterns that I can't get enough of???  The writing in the comics is really good... the stories just flow perfect.  There aren't too many crossover stories in this comic so I think that is also why I am enjoying the series.  This comic did crossover Supergirl but I have been reading those comics so I wasn't very lost.  In this comic we run into her as a red lantern.  A powerful lantern.  At the end of the comic she is back to normal and we really don't find out why (you have to read Supergirl to find out). This comic has Guy Gardener's red lanterns fighting against Atrocities red lanterns.  One wants the red lanterns to be a little good while the other wants them to be pure evil. This is a super long volume. The next volume has a new writer.. which I guess should be expected being that the comic has had such a long run so far.  Bummer though I will give it a try.  5 out of 5




This counts for 44 comics towards my 2015 Graphic Novels Challenge!!

Armada by Ernest Cline Review

Title: Armada
Author: Ernest Cline
Pages: 349
Published: July 14th 2015 by Crown Publishing
Source: Library
Links: goodreads, 
Ernest Cline.com

It’s just another day of high school for Zack Lightman. He's daydreaming through another boring math class, with just one more month to go until graduation and freedom—if he can make it that long without getting suspended again.Then he glances out his classroom window and spots the flying saucer.At first, Zack thinks he’s going crazy. A minute later, he’s sure of it. Because the UFO he’s staring at is straight out of the videogame he plays every night, a hugely popular online flight simulator called Armada in which gamers just happen to be protecting the earth from alien invaders.But what Zack’s seeing is all too real. And his skills—as well as those of millions of gamers across the world—are going to be needed to save the earth from what’s about to befall it. Yet even as he and his new comrades scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught, Zack can’t help thinking of all the science-fiction books, TV shows, and movies he grew up reading and watching, and wonder: Doesn’t something about this scenario seem a little too… familiar?

Disappointing.  That is really the main feeling I have after reading this book.  I had such high hopes after reading Cline's Ready Player One. Was this even the same author????  The story was way too similar to Ender's Game.  Aliens are coming to Earth so the government uses video games to secretly train civilians to fight.   There is a huge chunk of the book that just goes over getting ready for this war.  On and on we get so much detail about the ships.. and about bases.  The pop culture references are pushed too hard in this book.  The references flowed easily in Ready Player One where in Armada Cline pushes the references in even if they don't go.   He makes sure to mention EVERY SINGLE alien movie there is in the book.

The ending was disappointing to me also.  It was just kind of something I've heard before .. and then it was like Cline wasn't happy with the ending because he starts having the characters question their own decisions. I am quite shocked that this book has a 3.5 rating on goodreads.  Who out there is loving this book??  The whole gamers are going to save the world thing is hard for me to buy.  Supposedly when the world finds out about the aliens coming everyone runs to internet cafes... handheld devices and all these internet places to jump online and help out.  Really... people who have never gamed before are now just going to play games???  I can't even imagine my parents jumping on and doing this.  I myself am a gamer so I would... but someone who's not.  I just don't see it.  Plus... the servers would have to be enormous for the gaming system to be able to have millions of people playing at one time all around the world.

The book just wasn't that great.  Ready Player One is sooo good though so I am sorry for people who read Armada and then don't bother with Cline's other book.  I really think that this book is a dud and just don't waste your time reading it or thinking it's going to be a great geeky book.  It's just not. 

2 stars

The Witcher 3 - Video Game Review

The Witcher 3

I cannot get enough of this game.  SERIOUSLY.  This game is like a 200 hour game and trust me, I've been playing all 200 hours. I really didn't know much about the Witcher games prior to The Witcher 3. This game is an action packed open world game. The game is actually based off some fantasy novels that I would love to get my hands on. The novel are Polish and this video game is also made by a Polish company.  What's really neat about the company (CD Projekt Red) is they are so friendly to their players.  They have a website that players can go to and ask questions.  ALL DLC is free to those who bought the game which is pretty unheard of anymore. 

In this game we play as Geralt (that sexy guy on the cover) who travel around the world and can do battle with swords and magic. I really love that as you play the game the choices and actions you make will change the ending of the game.  I already killed someone by accident and didn't want to go back to an old save point and save them.  So I just dealt with the consequences. You switch back between Geralt and another woman character Ciri.  This works really well in the game.  For those of you who are gamers and have seen that this game is getting 10 out of 10, believe that score.  

There is swearing and sex in this game... so it is a mature game.  The graphics are just stunning. I  think since the game is so long you really become attached to some of the characters.  I wish I could go back and play Witcher 1 and 2 but I am sure those are probably impossible to get.  I recommend this game to everyone... it was worth the 200 hours of my life.  

10 out of 10 #girlgamers

Comic Adventures Issue #28

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.

This issue I talk about Birds of Prey vol 5, Rat Queens, OZ: The Emerald City Vol 6, and Superman Vol. 5 Under Fire.

 I loved this series... it's another one though that DC is cutting out of the New 52 line up.  In this book we find out that Black Canary's husband might live.. IF she teams up with Ra's Al Ghul.   Suicide Squad shows up in this issue and of course that part was fun (I love them). Lots of other stories put into this issue to tie things up.  Batgirl is having issues still from the Death in the Family story line... of course they are actually tying up her story since she gets a reboot after this comic. The comic has a Future's End story included at the very end of the book. After reading this comic I feel like Birds of Prey was just pushed to the side since they knew it was ending. I would only recommend this comic for those who have read the New 52 series and want to finish off the Birds of Prey. 2 out of 5

I am so glad I read this comic (thanks to the recommendation from Where the Reader Comes to Write).  This comic was right up my alley.  For those that don't know I play Dungeons and Dragons with friends at least once a week.  This comic totally reads like I was playing an RPG or a game like D&D. Hannah the Rockabilly Elven Mage, Violet the Hipster Dwarven Fighter, Dee the Atheist Human Cleric and Betty the Hippy Smidgen Thief are the characters that we get to follow and boy are they great!  I am so glad this comic got buzz or I may have never discovered it.  I put volume 2 on hold right away. The humor in this book actually made me laugh out loud a few times.  The art is fantastic too.  Thereare swear words and some sexual content and what not in this comic... so if that bothers you then yes skip this (though you will regret it).  5 out of 5

I started reading the Marvel OZ series a few years ago when I did a big event here on the blog for the Wizard of OZ.  It was a pretty fun month.  After the event I continued reading these comics.  The art has been fantastic all along as well as the writing.  The comics follow the Baum books really well. I like that we get to see a lot of the characters from all the previous comics. Dorothy travels around in this book to different towns meeting different groups of characters who are just charming. This book is were Baum was actually going to end the OZ series so it is fitting that Shanower also ends here. These comics make me want to read the entire OZ series, but too many books too little time.  I hope to see more comic adaptations between Young and Shanower again.   I would recommend this book to everyone who loves OZ.  5 out of 5

Next up I read Volume 5 of Superman.  Superman has a few different comic series out there but not quite as many as Batman so I've been able to stay pretty caught up.  The whole Wonder Woman/Superman love story is apart of this comic with Lois being Clark's best friend.  We all know men and their exs can't be best friends so we'll see where that goes. Clark is still working on that blog instead of at the Daily Planet.  Lois has become some sort of minion for Doomsday and now Superman is also becoming a minion.  The comic continues in Superman Doomed so I am not sure if the Superman comics are now going to be canceled. I just looked and found that there is a Superman The Men of Tomorrow that just came out this month.  Is this vol 6??  I don't know.  Damn you DC for confusing me.  This is a strong series for Superman I just want them to write Lois out of it and this was a confusing book.  There are just too many stories from other comics so this book never gets it's own good story. 


3 out of 5





This counts for 40 comics towards my 2015 Graphic Novels Challenge!!

Reading on Vacation is Hard Work

Reading on vacation is one of my favorite things to do. I recently too an amazing trip to San Fransisco.  It was super fun.  Funny thing is before I left I went through the dilemma that most of us readers go through.. figuring out what books to take on the trip. And... those of you who have been on a road trip know it's even harder because you feel like you really can pack ALL the books... even hardbacks into the car with you.  So this trip I lined up all my books ... probably like 8 comics, 2 novels.   I knew I was going to get through all these books.  I mean... the drive was about 40 hours round trip.

I did end up leaving the comic books at home.  They aren't the paper ones that you pick up in the comic book store they are volumes so they collect all the issues and are in hardback.  So I thought.. well I won't drag those along.  I jump in the car with books in hand thinking I am going to read these great books... then... 5 am starts and sleeping comes.  I sleep all the way till 10 am and then basically it's my turn to drive (split the days to about 10 hour days).  Don't worry I have high hopes for the next day!

Day 2 of driving starts up... sleeping again till 10 am.  Next thing I know my turn to drive.  There's that book waiting for me.  Off to the hotel and straight to sleep.  San Fransisco has so much to do so every day we hit the streets and went non-stop.  So by the time we get back to our hotel room I am straight to sleep.  That book is still sitting there.  So of course I plan on reading it on the trip back home right???  Umm.. yeah, sleep till 10... then drive.  Those books never were touched. 

Every time I go on vacation I get so excited to get lots of reading done. But in the end... I end up spending time... well on vacation! I have no regrets and picked out the books for the trip is just as fun as being on the trip and not actually reading those books.  Till next summer vacation when I go through the same routine.