Hello!

Another month done and more books read! 

This month hasn’t been as productive as I wanted it to be when it came to reading. This was mostly due to some books dragging on longer than I wanted.

Next month, I have spring break, so I’m hoping that I can relax and read some more enjoyable books.

With that update out of the way, let’s get to the books I read in February!

I hope you find a new read from this list! 

They Came to Baghdad by Agatha Christie

Summary:

She fell head over heels for the charming young man one afternoon. And by nightfall, Victoria Jones had conspired to follow him to Baghdad.

But no daydream of love could match the real life adventure that unfolded: a stranger was stabbed in her bed, someone issued a hushed warning, and her rival for Edward’s affections neatly arranged her kidnapping. From the steamy Arab marketplace to the vast and arid desert, Victoria was pursued by an unknown power that threatened not only her, but the fate of the entire world…

Review:

I’m not a fan of Christie’s thrillers, and this one is no different. This was a basic yet confusing plot at times. There were so many characters that were briefly mentioned and then never mentioned again until the end of the story. It didn’t help that it switched POV often, so I never stayed with the same character for long.

The one enjoyable part of the book was the main female character, Victoria Jones. Her constant need to lie created an interesting main character. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay with her the entire time.

Rating:

2/5

Mrs. McGinty’s Dead by Agatha Christie

Summary:

In Mrs. McGinty’s Dead, one of Agatha Christie’s most ingenious mysteries, the intrepid Hercule Poirot must look into the case of a brutally murdered landlady.

Mrs. McGinty died from a brutal blow to the back of her head. Suspicion falls immediately on her shifty lodger, James Bentley, whose clothes reveal traces of the victim’s blood and hair. Yet something is amiss: Bentley just doesn’t seem like a murderer.

Could the answer lie in an article clipped from a newspaper two days before the death? With a desperate killer still free, Hercule Poirot will have to stay alive long enough to find out…

Review:

This was definitely one of the better mysteries that constantly had me guessing who the killer could have been. It does fall into the trap of too many red herrings and a double mystery trying to be solved, but overall, it was enjoyable.

Rating:

4/5

After the Funeral by Agatha Christie

Summary:

The master of a Victorian mansion dies suddenly – and his sister is convinced it was murder…. When Cora is savagely murdered with a hatchet, the extraordinary remark she made the previous day at her brother Richard’s funeral suddenly takes on a chilling significance. At the reading of Richard’s will, Cora was clearly heard to say: ‘It’s been hushed up very nicely, hasn’t it…But he was murdered, wasn’t he?’ In desperation, the family solicitor turns to Hercule Poirot to unravel the mystery.

Review:

Even though Poirot wasn’t in this book as much as I wanted, this book served as a good example of how well he can read and understand people. Just in the short amount of time he had to interact with the characters, he was able to see the clues that, looking back, were obvious.

The mystery is an easy one to follow, and the characters all have clear and distinct personalities to where I could tell the difference between them without forgetting someone.

Rating:

4/5

Milk & Mocha: Our Little Happiness by Melanie Sie

Summary:

Cozy up with a warm cup of tea and follow the sweet scenes of Milk & Mocha, from the popular webcomic @milkmochabear.

Milk and Mocha share their sweet slice-of-life moments in this new collection, including five never-before-seen comics. Milk and Mocha are charming bears with opposite personalities. These uplifting comics remind us of the sweet moments we share with our friends, family, and loved ones.

Review:

This was such an adorable and cute read. I related to so many of the comics, and it was a great Valentine’s Day read!

Rating:

5/5

Destination Unknown by Agatha Christie

Summary:

A young woman with nothing to live for is persuaded to embark on a suicide mission to find a missing scientist… 

When a number of leading scientists disappear without trace, concern grows within the international intelligence community. Are they being kidnapped? Blackmailed? Brainwashed? One woman appears to have the key to the mystery. Unfortunately, Olive Betteron now lies in a hospital bed, dying from injuries sustained in a Moroccan plane crash. 

Meanwhile, in a Casablanca hotel room, Hilary Craven prepares to take her own life. But her suicide attempt is about to be interrupted by a man who will offer her an altogether more thrilling way to die…

Review:

While I love reading Agatha Christie’s books, I can’t stand her spy thrillers.

I’m not a fan of thrillers normally, but this one was so boring. It even had a great premise, but after the main character started her mission, things just slowed down. There wasn’t much action.

Rating:

2/5

Me, My Hair, and I: Twenty-seven Women Untangle an Obsession by Kristy Acevedo

Summary:

Ask a woman about her hair, and she just might tell you the story of her life. Ask a whole bunch of women about their hair, and you could get a history of the world. Surprising, insightful, frequently funny, and always forthright, the essays in Me, My Hair, and I are reflections and revelations about every aspect of women’s lives from family, race, religion, and motherhood to culture, health, politics, and sexuality.

They take place in African American kitchens, at Hindu Bengali weddings, and inside Hasidic Jewish homes. The conversation is intimate and global at once. Layered into these reminiscences are tributes to influences throughout history: Jackie Kennedy, Lena Horne, Farrah Fawcett, the Grateful Dead, and Botticelli’s Venus.

The long and the short of it is that our hair is our glory—and our nemesis, our history, our self-esteem, our joy, our mortality. Every woman knows that many things in life matter more than hair, but few bring as much pleasure as a really great hairdo.

Review:

I have always been interested in how people view their hair and the relationship between women and their hair. It has always been a topic that has interested me, so I was really interested in this book.

However, as is the case with many essay collections, this was hit or miss. While I overall enjoyed the topics covered, I just wasn’t engaged in this collection.

I think the main issue I experienced was with diversity, and not necessarily when it comes to race. Every woman who had an essay in the collection is way older than I am. I would have loved to read an essay from a woman actively going through the struggle at the age I am (20s).

Rating:

3/5

Hickory Dickory Dock by Agatha Christie

Summary:

An outbreak of kleptomania at a student hostel was not normally the sort of crime that aroused Hercule Poirot’s interest. But when he saw the list of stolen and vandalized items – including a stethoscope, some old flannel trousers, a box of chocolates, a slashed rucksack and a diamond ring found in a bowl of soup – he congratulated the warden, Mrs Hubbard, on a ‘unique and beautiful problem’. The list made absolutely no sense at all. But, reasoned Poirot, if this was merely a petty thief at work, why was everyone at the hostel so frightened?

Review:

This was an enjoyable read. The mystery was interesting, and I liked the different references to some of his previous cases that I remember reading.

Rating:

4/5