Book Review: The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray

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The First Ladies by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a historical fiction novel that spans many years and tells of the friendship between former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt and civil rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. I don't know if I would have picked up this book if it hadn't been the August selection for one of the book clubs I belong to in my area because I don't read a lot of historical fiction. However, I am so glad that I read it and was able to learn many things I hadn't learned about in any of my history classes.  I don't recall learning anything about Mary McLeod Bethune, and she is an important part of American history. The things she helped spearhead to provide African American people equal rights is quite impressive. One of the things I was horrified to learn about is Franklin D. Roosevelt's resistance to stop lynchings because he was afraid of losing the Southern Democrats backing for his New Deal Bill. Another thing that I fo...

Book Review: Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot, #3) by Agatha Christie

The first time I ever heard of the author Agatha Christie was in the eighth grade when we were required to read the book Ten Little Indians, which is also known as And Then There Were None. I remember enjoying the book but never picked up another one of her books. That is until I enrolled in a 20th Century World Literature class at my university during the 8-week summer semester where we would read eight books of the course of the semester. Two of those books were The Murder of Roger Ackroyd and And Then There Where None. After revisiting the book that was originally required reading for me in the eighth grade, I fell in love with her writing all over again and began to binge read all of her books. The Hercule Poirot series is definitely my favorite series by Agatha Christie. However, I read the series out of order, and I am rereading the Hercule Poirot books again; this time in the order of publication.  

Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot, #3) is the third installment of the Hercule Poirot book series and is a collection of short stories about Christie's most famous Belgian detective with the famous mustache and uses his little grey cells to solve crimes. This collection includes fourteen short stories:  The Adventure of "The Western Star", The Tragedy at Marsdon Manor, The Adventure of the Cheap Flat, The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge, The Million Dollar Bond Robbery, The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, The Jewel Robbery at the Grand Metropolitan, The Kidnapped Prime Minister, The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim, The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman, The Case of the Missing Will, The Veiled Lady, The Lost Mine, and The Chocolate Box.
 
I enjoyed some of the stories more than others, but that is to be expected. I loved the fact that I was able to solve some of the crimes before the end of some of the stories. And, of course, I wasn't able to solve all of them. I enjoyed that one of the short stories, The Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb, had to be inspired by the tomb of King Tut . . . whether it was or not, I'm not sure, but it was an interesting story. My favorite short story in this collection was The Adventure of "The Western Star". The story that was the most intricate that I didn't see the end coming was The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim. The conclusion made my head hurt.

Although I don't typically read short stories, I find that they're perfect for when you're short on time and want to read or for those moments when you spend a little bit longer in the bathroom. I gave Poirot Investigates (Hercule Poirot, #3) three stars out of five.

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