Reading to Prepare for the Release of the Movie

 Hallowe'en Party by Agatha Christie

In September, a movie, A Haunting In Venice, hits the theaters. Because I read books before I see the movies they are based on, I read this (the movie is adapted from this book). I was excited about it because Kenneth Branagh portraying Hercule Poirot for the third time. I loved him in Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile. I enjoyed those books as well. This one though, not so much. 

The premise is that a young girl, Joyce Reynolds, was killed at a Halloween party. Ariadne Oliver, an authoress, was in attendance at the party, and she asks her friend Poirot to assist in finding out who committed the crime. Of course, he does; he's Hercule Poirot. What I got from this is Poirot talked to every damn person in this town, and in doing so, discovered other crimes that were committed. 

I had a hard time staying focused on this one, and ended up doing something I very seldom do--listened to the audiobook. Even with the audio, I struggled to focus. This one bored me, and is nowhere near as good as the other Agatha Christie books I have read. I'm still going to see the movie. Maybe it will be one of the rare cases where the movie is better than the book. 

The Works of Fiona Davis

 The Spectacular by Fiona Davis

This is the most recent book by this author, and like everything of hers that she has written, I loved it. This book revolves around Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Marion is a dancer, who is let go from teaching at the ballet school she has attended most of her life. She's nineteen, and lives at home with her father, Simon, and older sister, Judy. She has a boyfriend that she dated all through high school, Nathaniel, who is on the brink of proposing to her. 

Simon is not bothered by the fact that Marion was fired. He wants her to get married and raise a family like a woman is supposed to want to do. But, she is like her deceased mother, who was an actress. She wants to do what she loves while she can. 

On her last day at the ballet school, one of the other girls from her class mentions that she is going to try out for the Rockettes the next day. Initially, Marion blows it off, but the more she thinks about it, the more she wants to do it. After a long and arduous auditioning process, Marion finds out that she will be a Rockette for the 1956-57 season. She's excited, but afraid to tell her dad, knowing he will not react well. She meets Bunny, a veteran Rockette, and they become fast friends. It is because of Bunny that Marion is able to find a place to live in the city, which is good because her dad kicked her out. It is also because of Bunny that Marion meets Peter Griggs, a friend of the married man that Bunny is seeing. 

During this time, the Met Power bomber has resurfaced after being gone for sixteen years. Sometimes the bombs detonate, and sometimes they don't, and he focuses on iconic places in New York to place the bombs. One of the bombs that detonates happens on the opening night of the Christmas Spectacular. That is also the night that Marion's sister attends the performance. Judy is sitting in the seat next to where the bomb went off, and Marion saw it from the stage. 

Finding the bomber becomes important to Marion, so with the help of Peter Griggs, they try to help the police, but are more or less shunned. Still they keep trying. I won't ruin it for you, so to find out the rest, you're going to have to read this.

What I like about Ms. Davis' books is that they are always told in two time periods, often with two different perspectives. This was no exception. This one takes place in the 1950s and the 1990s, all told by Marion. I enjoyed this very much, but I am not in any way surprised, as I was hooked on her books from the very first one. 

I was introduced to Fiona Davis' books on the Saturday after Thanksgiving 2021. My son and I were driving back to his apartment outside of Washington DC from Manhattan. We were tired, but he doesn't listen to music when he's tired and driving because it will make him even sleepier, so he listens to audio books. I am not much of an audio book person, but I can appreciate them from time to time. 

So that first book? It was The Lions of 5th Avenue. It takes place in the New York public library. It's told by two women, some fifty years apart. I was enthralled. So much so that I bought the book for my kindle so I could finish it on the plane ride the next day. 

After that, I was hooked. I borrowed as many books as I could from Overdrive, bought one for my kindle, and got one as a Book of the Month selection. I loved them all. They all take place in New York City. There's usually an element of mystery, and I love the dual timelines. I won't go into specifics on each of the books, as it's been more than a year since I read them and I have slept since then, but I will share the names and the locales that are represented in them.

The Dollhouse takes place in the Barbizon Hotel. The Address takes place in the Dakota, which is also the building where John Lennon lived. The Masterpiece is in Grand Central Station. The Chelsea Girls centers around the Chelsea Hotel. And last, The Magnolia Palace is in the Frick Museum, and one of the narrators is the woman whose image is used in several sculptures around the city. You can't go wrong with this woman's books. 

As for me, I am on to the next one, whatever that ends up being. I promise I will take some time before summer is over to reflect on as many of the books as I can remember reading during my absence from this blog. I read some great ones.

Revisiting 50 Shades, More Than a Decade Later

 Grey, Darker, and Freed: Fifty Shades as Told by Christian by E.L. James

Eleven years ago, when I started this blog, I read Fifty Shades of Grey, and I hated it. In fact, you can read my comments here. I thought Ana was vapid and simpering, and to some degree she still is. I thought Christian was controlling, and he is, don't get me wrong. Eleven years ago, I would have told you there was no way in hell that I would read this set of books. I am not sure what possessed me to read them now, but I did.

First, let me tell you about the writing itself. If I had to hazard a guess, I think James got a ghostwriter for this. The quality of writing between both trilogies is vastly different, yet still the same style. I also appreciated that each chapter of this trilogy matched up exactly with the corresponding chapters in the previous trilogy. Much like in the first trilogy with Ana always referring to her inner goddess (thank GOD I didn't have to read that a million times!), there some repetitive phrases. "Mighty fine" and "Fair point well made" are two that come to mind immediately. 

I liked Ana better in this book. I suspect it is because I didn't have to read her vapid inner monologue. I liked Christian better too, and that is absolutely because I got to read what was going on in his mind. As I said, he is controlling, but reading this, you see why he is the way he is. I am not saying it excuses his behavior, but it definitely elicited more empathy from me.

When I read the original trilogy, I felt that all the sex scenes were the same. I wonder now if it is because Ana was so inexperienced and didn't really know how to articulate what was going on. Because they were all the same, by the third book, I was skimming through all of their sexual encounters because I knew exactly what to expect. From Christian's point of view though, they were far spicier. I enjoyed reading his descriptions of their sex life--maybe a little too much. But I digress...

Speaking of their sex life, I am still bothered by the fact that Ana has an orgasm every. Single. Time they have sex. That is not reality. Even more absurd is that every time she orgasms, it triggers one for Christian. Definitely fantasy. Either that or I have been having the wrong kind of sex my whole adult life. 

So, having now read both trilogies, I think I am going to watch the movies based on them. I own them, but have never watched. It will be interesting now that I have been inside the minds of both Christian and Ana. 

And even though these took me far too long to read (I blame my ADHD), I can't say I hated them. I could even see me going back to reread this trilogy.