After the Funeral (Hercule Poirot #29) - Agatha Christie

Poirot is a character that doesn't need any introduction. This particular story involves the funeral of a man. His friend is there and witnesses the sister declare that he was murdered. Doubts begin to swirl in the friend's mind, and he starts to investigate. It isn't long before the sister is murdered, and his suspicions are raised even higher. Eventually, he gets beyond his ability and seeks out his friend, Poirot.

I don't want to say more about the plot. Christie's books are so complex, it's hard to talk about what happens without giving spoilers. I'll just say this was one of those ones that will probably stick with me for its uniqueness. The others that stay with me are And Then There Were None and Murder on the Orient Express. (Side note: I don't know why I see so many people recommend the 1945 movie version of And Then There Were None. The end of that is so bad, it doesn't make sense anymore. It also removed the cleverness of the book itself.)

There's not much more to say. It's Agatha Christie, and it was worth reading. Good Book!

The Secret Jewish Soldier - Irit Keynan

I'm going to be completely transparent. I did not finish this book. I didn't even get halfway.

After her father's death, the author is given his diary. She then tries to retrace his early life to connect with his past.

In the description, it states, "his daughter happens upon an old diary written in a foreign language. As she works to interpret it, the truth of her father's incredible story finally begins to come to light, after years of being shrouded in secrecy." To me, that meant she was translating the diary. In fact, the diary is more a list of dates with places or a sentence or two.

From what I read, the book is more about the author and her journey of discovery. There is nothing wrong with that - it's just not what I expected. The main thing that irritated me was the speculation and questions. "I imagine such and such happening" was common. So were the impossible questions. And it wasn't just one. They were in groups of 3 or 4. For instance, the author goes through a series of questions about a relative. Was she pregnant at that time? Had she already had the baby? Was she worried about the future? There are no answers to these questions, and they just take up space in the book.

I tend to read more first-person accounts, so I was connecting the title with the diary. Maybe that was a mistake on my part. The wide scope of her story also seemed unnecessary. She details the history of her family name and general history of her family. And some of that is speculative. It just wasn't for me.

A Morbid Taste for Bones (Brother Cadfael #1) - Ellis Peters

This is the first book I've read by Ellis Peters.

Brother Cadfael has led an interesting life, and now he's just gardening and living life as a monk in Shrewsbury Abbey. He's down to earth and a very rational human being. His abbey feels like they need a saint to become more popular. They choose Winifred, a woman whose life was lived in Wales.

One of the more dramatic brothers has an episode, and now the brothers are on their way to Wales to collect the woman's bones. Brother Cadfael is brought along because he can speak Welsh. Once they get to the village, the people are not thrilled to have outsiders come and take possession of their saint.

The biggest opponent to the relocation is murdered, and a local man is framed. Brother Cadfael plays detective, and he works for the good of all. Even the ones who don't really deserve it. 

Cadfael was definitely my favorite character. He was neutral and weighed every decision with a regard for everyone involved. He was loved by everyone in that little village and with good reason. There are 20/21 novels (depending on which publishing house numbers them), and I wouldn't mind reading the next one, One Corpse Too Many, in the future. Good Book!

Darling Monster: The Letters of Lady Diana Cooper to Son John Julius Norwich - Diana Cooper

I'm going to preface this review by saying that I didn't make it through the whole thing. I made it about a fourth of the way before I gave up. 

These are the letters a mother sent her son while they were separated by WWII and beyond. Mom was a prolific writer and added a lot of details to her correspondence.

I did enjoy the writing style of Lady Diana. It was just the repetitive nature of the letters in general that wore me down. The son warned me ahead of time there were a lot of people mentioned, but it got to be a bit much for me. Dinner with this person, dinner with that person, etc.

I don't think this was a bad book, I just think the style of it wasn't for me. The letters themselves, while written with wit and intelligence, were just not something I wanted to keep reading.

The Castle of Otranto - Horace Walpole

This book is considered by many to be the first gothic novel. The best part? It was published in 1764!

Manfred is waiting for his son to show up and be married to Isabella. When his son is killed, everything starts going wrong. He fears the prophecy that his name will disappear. His solution is to divorce his current wife and marry his son's fiancé. She doesn't want that to happen and flees. I don't want to say too much about the plot. I don't want to spoil it. But I will say that since it's a gothic novel, the happily ever after isn't an element.

This book isn't super long, but it was pretty good. Even though it was written over 200 years ago, I didn't have any problems reading it. Was there a bit of old English in there? Yes, but it wasn't that hard to understand what was going on. I liked it and was glad I finally got the chance to read it. Good Book!

Radio Operator on the Eastern Front - Erhard Steiniger

Erhard was a German soldier who spent time fighting the Russians during WWII. He saw some awful things and ended up spending time in Siberia after the war.

Since he was a regular soldier, reading his perspective was interesting. He was just trying to survive and watched many of his friends die. Also, the mental stress he endured by repeated retreats had to be discouraging.

Overall, he had a detached attitude for the most part. He relayed the facts as he remembered them and seemed to keep his personal thoughts on the edges of his descriptions. He learned some things about the war afterwards, so he had a greater sense of perspective than if he had just written down his experience.

He brought up his disdain for the bombing of Dresden. I looked into it a bit, and it's one of those controversial events that happens in wars and are argued about for years afterwards. No matter which side you're on, war is a terrible thing. After the war, unfortunately Erhard spent time in Siberia, but he made it out alive and spent the rest of his life with the woman he met during the war.

The writing is easy to read, and the book is full of pictures. They weren't always necessarily relevant to what I was reading at the moment, but it wasn't a big deal. He doesn't spend time talking about his experience in Siberia. He only mentions that he could write a whole other book about that experience and leaves it at that. I appreciated getting his point of view, and I'm glad I read this book. Good Book!

Run Silent, Run Deep - Edward L. Beach

I watched this movie a while ago, and I wanted to read the book. Unfortunately, I ended up with a condensed version somehow. I'm guessing this was approximately 1/3 the size of the total novel.

The skipper of a sub is posted in the Pacific. The area is being terrorized by a captain nicknamed Bungo Pete. He loses a few friends and wants revenge.

I liked this book, but I could tell it was condensed. I don't think it was because the version was poorly done but more that it felt like it was over too soon. There were a lot of details about submarines and how they lined up and fired torpedoes. For some, I feel that might get repetitive, but I didn't mind it at all. I actually enjoyed it.

Maybe one day, when I don't have oodles of books to read, I might go back and try to find a complete copy to read what I missed. Good Book!

The Rome Escape Line - Sam Derry

During WWII, when allies escaped their captors in Italy, Rome was a popular destination. With the Vatican being something of a sanctuary, safety was thought to be guaranteed if the prisoners could get inside.

Unfortunately, things weren't that straightforward. Some of the priests were helping, but their leader became Mr. Derry, a British leader who escaped by jumping off a train on the way to Germany. What is included in this book is his account of what happened with the organization he led until the allies liberated Rome in June 1944.

I found this to be a very easy read. Derry's conversational writing style is perfect for this type of story. It didn't have too many characters to keep track of, which is something that I've found to be an issue in other books of this type.

This was one of the better memoirs I've read. I think that comes down to the writing style. The subject is one I've read a few books on, and I'll say this was one of the best. The care he has for everyone in the organization is commendable, and I'm glad he was able to write this book to shed light on a lesser known network that helped thousands of ex-prisoners. Good Book!