Weekend Book Friends #12

Posted October 23, 2020 by elzaread in Weekend Book Friends / 35 Comments

It’s Friday and the Fraterfest Read-a-thon only has 24 hours left.  My Mommy and Stinkie didn’t do very well with this one. Or rather, as well as they’ve hoped to. Life is what happens while you have other plans. Like a read-a-thon. Maybe if they planned this a bit better and Stinkie didn’t like roaming the neighborhood so much, they would have fared better. And if Mommy didn’t have such a hectic week at work.

At least they had really good intentions and wanted to read a few classic horror books and authors. We will share the intended list on next week’s Top Ten Tuesday. You can’t have a scary book read-a-thon without the following authors on the VIP list:

Shirley Jackson ✔
Stephen King ✖
Agatha Christie ❔

Mommy do hope to at least finish one Agatha Christie. What better choice to end the  Fraterfest Read-a-thon than with this classic Christie?

 


A teenage murder witness is drowned in a tub of apples… At a Hallowe’en party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no-one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub. That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the ‘evil presence’. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer…

 

We haven’t read it yet, so it will be a first time read. Our good friend, Katherine @ I wish I lived in a Library did already read and reviewed it. Hope to chat to her about this book after the weekend!

But it’s Friday today and we first need to pay a few visits to our Friday Book Friends to share our Weekend Reads.

Book Beginnings

For our first stop, we will pay a visit to Gilion over at Rose City Reader to share our Book Beginnings.  Every Friday you can link up and share the first sentence of your current read (or the one you plan to devour over the weekend), as well as your initial thoughts and impressions. Hashtags are the one thing I do know on social media, so simply #bookbeginnings so we can find each other.

Hallowe’en Party opens with:
“Mrs. Ariadne Oliver had gone with the friend with whom she was staying, Judith Butler, to help with the preparations for a children’s party which was to take place that same evening.
It was to be a Hallowe’en party for invited guests of an age group between ten and seventeen years old.”
 
I love how formal the book opens and then just a couple of lines down, as soon as the characters start speaking, you are hooked immediately. I wish I could have known Agatha Christie. Imagine being curled up in her lap and have her tell you a story.

The Friday 56

Next we will pay a visit to Freda over at Freda’s voice who hosts the Friday 56. Don’t show up empty handed though!

  • Grab a book (Yes, any book. But it might get you to your other Friday activities a bit quicker if you just grab the book you are currently reading)
  • Turn to page 56 or 56% on your e-reader
  • Find a sentence or two (your other Friday activities might determine this)
  • Post it!
  • Remember to post your link on Freda’s Voice and to visit the other guys in the linky.
  • And  last but not least, don’t forget to list the title of the book and the author as well.
Lets’ see what happens on page 56 of Halloween Party: 
“Anyone peeping through a window could see a children’s party was going on, and this poor wretch – if one can really feel pity for these people, which I really must say I find it very hard to do myself sometimes – enticed this child away somehow and killed her. You can’t think such a thing could happen, but it did happen.”
 
I can’t help but wonder what Mrs. Drake would say about the things that happen in the world now a days.

Friday Face-off

Our last stop for today, is Friday Face-off, a weekly feature where we share different book covers of the same title. This fun-filled meme was originally started by Books by Proxy, but the beautiful Lynn over at Lynn’s Books is our current host and she will determine the themes for every week’s covers. You can choose your own book. Today’s theme is:
Ripped/Torn – interpret as you wish
 
We’ll go for the literal meaning here. Just like Katherine @ I wish I lived in a Library, my Mommy can also talk about Agatha Christie forever and a day. Her beloved Aunt, whom I’ve never had a the good fortune to meet, but who was my other big brother, KitKat’s Mommy, introduced my Mommy to Agatha Christie. (That sentence will shock the grammar police among you right into next week. I know. Sorry). Auntie Rina left all her Agatha Christie books to my Mommy. Most of them are 50 + years old and some are ripped and torn from age, travelling, borrowing and just from begin re-read over and over again. Like this one:
I can finally use one book for all my Friday Features! How awesome is that. Let’s have a look at a few other covers for Hallowe’en Party and see what our favorite one will be.

Tough choice here. I like all the ones with apples. The pumpkins just hop on the title and create the “Hallowe’en” vibe. I do like the Hungarian one (first one, middle row), because it has the Halloween theme and the apples. However, I believe Dame Christie would not have liked that one, it looks too much luck a cozy mystery and that’s not quite where we will place the Christies. So for today, the Romanian cover will have to be my favorite:

Simple, no hassles, but as we know – a picture says a thousand words. Love the bow and the apple in the water. A whole summary in one picture.
But let’s get our weekend reading on the way! We would really like to have this one done before the clock strikes midnight tomorrow!
What are you reading this weekend?
Lots of love,
Elza   
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35 responses to “Weekend Book Friends #12”

  1. Lynn

    Haha – so cool that you got to showcase the same book for all your Friday themes and I love your choice of cover – I also like the apple with the skull beneath the apple skin
    Lynn 😀

    • Elza Reads

      Hi there Sarah! I try to read at least one or two Agatha Christies in a year. It always makes my week feel complete…!

      You don't need to read the series in order, that's what makes the Christies so awesome as well!

      Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will have a good week!

    • Elza Reads

      Hi there Maya! Everyone should read Agatha Christie at least once in their lives. I will have a look at Truly, Devious. Thanks for sharing it!

      Have a wonderful week.

  5. Becki

    Sounds like a curiously creepy story! I'd like to find out what happens next. Thanks for sharing and enjoy your week 🙂

  6. Katherine P

    Oh I love all the different covers! I haven't seen most of them but they're fabulous. And I envy you your Christie collection. Having such a personal connection to the books makes it even more special. I'll be curious to see your full thoughts on this one. I know a lot of people really enjoy it and I liked it but it wasn't a favorite.

    • Elza Reads

      I also love my Christie Collection! I have two sets of collected works as well and then a couple of old paperbacks as well. As soon as we can eventually start with all the renovations at my house, I will sort my books out a bit better as well.

      I enjoyed Hallowe'en party, as I do all her books. But yes, it really wasn't the best one and a few strings still remained a bit lose for me.

      I do love the "older" Poirot though!

    • Elza Reads

      I told one of my friends over the weekend that I guess it makes me sound a bit crazy to say that Agatha Christie is my go-to comfort reads. But she really is!

    • Elza Reads

      Hi Lauren, that one also caught my attention. But the bathtub has nothing to do with the story and that's why it didn't win the bet. But it is a great cover!

    • Elza Reads

      Hi Heather! There are a gazillion different covers and it took me more than an hour just to pick these ones. So yes! It was difficult to chose the one I like most.

  13. Breana M.

    I haven't heard of this particular Agatha Christie mystery. It looks like an interesting story, and I like the quote for the beginning. Enjoy your current read!

    • Elza Reads

      Hi Breanna, I've seen this book on my Aunt's shelf since I was a little girl. There are a number of other Agatha Christies I haven't heard of however.

      Hope you are having a good weekend!

    • Elza Reads

      Hi there Gilion! I find it amazing that you do your highly strung, but so important job and then still have time for blogging and to be concerned about our little ones. I take my hat of to you.

      I also haven't read this Agatha Christie yet, I'm going to start now!

  18. sjhigbee

    What a cool choice and good for you, thinking outside of the box:)). And there is an impressive selection of books in your FF. My favourite is the top left – the splash of the apple with the moonlight just at the top of the page. Nothing unduly sensational, but still with a slightly creepy vibe… Perfectly fits the tone of the book!

    I have never taken part in a read-a-thon, although it's on my bucket list! I'm sorry that it didn't go as well as you'd hoped – but as you say – there's Life to contend with, as well! Have a great weekend, Mareli:))

    • Elza Reads

      I also liked that one! It reminded me of Snow White for some or other reason. But my chosen one just creates that vibe of childish things as well.

      I'm not good with things like challenges and read-a-thons. This was fun and it would have been even more so if time permitted. Alas… I do like Book Tags!

      Thanks for vising Sarah and I hope you will have a good weekend.