Karl's Reading List

Published in an omnibus edition: " Ordeal by Innocence "; " One, Two, Buckle My Shoe "; " The Adventures of the Christmas Pudding " as part of the "Agatha Christie Crime Collection" by Lansdowne Press: Australia, 1985 (1973). First published in omnibus edition 1970. First published individually 1960.   This 'book' is actually a selection of short stories by Agatha Christie, mostly involving Poirot. The first - and longest - in the collection is the titular Adventure of the Christmas Pudding, which involves Poirot trying to determine who has stolen a missing ruby and what they have done with it. It is not a spoiler to say that a Christmas pudding features heavily in this story. This one is fairly straightforward for a Poirot story, partially due to being a short story and partially due to logic: a subplot involving kids pretending to have discovered a murder seems very unlikely to have resulted in an actual death! The second story, The Mys...

Published in an omnibus edition: " Ordeal by Innocence "; " One, Two, Buckle My Shoe "; " The Adventures of the Christmas Pudding " as part of the "Agatha Christie Crime Collection" by Lansdowne Press: Australia, 1985 (1973). First published in omnibus edition 1970. First published individually 1958. A non-Poirot mystery, unlike the (main stories) of the other two entries in this omnibus, Ordeal by Innocence has an interesting, if slightly complicated, set-up. Rachel Argyle, a woman with five adopted children, has been bludgeoned to death, and her youngest son Jacko was found guilty of the murder. After some time in prison, Jacko has died, still protesting his innocence. Two years have passed, and now Arthur Calgary - a scientist - has arrived back in England after two years in Antarctica. It turns out Arthur would have been able to prove Jacko's alibi, but due to both his absence from the country AND a convenient case of amnesia, Arthur has ...

Published by Imagine That Publishing Ltd: Woodbridge, Suffolk, 2020. Omnibus edition featuring: 'I Love You SO Much, Grandma' by Susie Linn and (illustrator) Gail Yerrill; 'Can You Count the Stars?' by Susie Linn and (illustrator) Gabi Murphy; 'I Love You Because...' by Susie Linn and (illustrator) Gavin Scott; 'Daddy Loves Me' by Georgina Wren and (illustrator) Gabi Murphy; 'Mummy Loves Me' by Georgina Wren and (illustrator) Gabi Murphy; 'Goodnight, I Love You' by Oakley Graham and (illustrator) Gareth Llewhellin. This is a selection of six short picture books that work well together (although I believe each is available individually), and fit the theme of being short bedtime stories for young listeners.  All of them are very wholesome and loving, and three focus in on specific family members: Daddy, Mummy and Grandma (Poor Grandpa, Uncle, Aunt, Sister, Brother, Cousin etc get neglected). They are sweet, and show good bonds between the f...

Published by Mallinson Rendel Publishers Ltd: Wellington, NZ, 2000 (1996).  Omnibus edition containing stories first published 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991.  Lynley Dodd stories are very cute and a huge part of any New Zealander's childhood - at least, I remember them from mine. The chance to now introduce them to Ezekiel is sweet, although at the age he is, we need to keep the pages at arms length to avoid unnecessary 'rippage.' This omnibus edition contains six stories, each giving a sense of the general Hairy Maclary vibes: detailed and subtly kiwi illustrations, good poetical story-telling with some good use of alliterative or onomatopoeic elements, an impressive vocabulary for a children's book (eg. bumptious, bustling, cacophony, caterwaul...) and a light touch of humour. The stories are easy to read for little kids with short attention spans, but also interesting enough that slightly older kids would appreciate them as well. The six stories in this volume a...

Published in an omnibus edition: " Ordeal by Innocence "; " One, Two, Buckle My Shoe "; " The Adventures of the Christmas Pudding " as part of the "Agatha Christie Crime Collection" by Lansdowne Press: Australia, 1985 (1973). First published in omnibus edition 1970. First published individually 1940. Another Poirot mystery, I picked up this book as a 'light read' following my successful completion of Can You Forgive Her? Like most Poirot mysteries, the plot is so twisty that it is unlikely anyone would be able to unravel it entirely on their own; however, I did manage to pick up on some hints and clues so felt not-entirely-worthless-as-a-detective by the end. Poirot visits the dentist, and notices a little bit of suspicious behaviour going on in the waiting room. When the dentist is later found dead by suspected suicide, Poirot feels like murder was more likely, even as motives for a suicide come to light. Suspects include a vanishing mi...

Published in an omnibus audiobook edition 'First Command Box Set: Spacers, Books 1-6' by Audible, 03-08-2022. Contains: ' First Command '; 'Free Space'; 'Wartorn Cluster'; 'Empire Space'; 'The Fall'; 'Thatcher's Gambit'. Narrated by Mark Boyett. First published 2019. I had an Audible credit sitting there and had no idea what to get. In the end, I decided to go for quantity, purchasing this 'box set' of six audiobooks for the price of one. I had fairly low expectations for the series, and as long as you do that I can tell you that this first book at least meets those expectations. Our protagonist, Tad Thatcher, has just been given command of his first spaceship, the New Jersey, and is sent to the far side of the galaxy through a wormhole to fight pirates for a private security firm. After some time there, the wormhole collapses, and now Thatcher is stranded far from home and his pregnant wife. Thatcher is the sort of pr...

Published in an omnibus edition: " The Murder of Roger Ackroyd "; " They Do It With Mirrors " and " Mrs. McGinty's Dead " as part of the "Agatha Christie Crime Collection" by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.: London, 1969. First published 1952. This is the first book of Agatha Christie's I have read to feature the character Miss Marple, an elderly woman who is an amateur detective in her own rights. Whereas I prefer the mildly amusing and idiosyncratic character Poirot, having Miss Marple as an investigator adds a different feel to the proceedings, as she is not officially investigating, and often relies on the fact that, as a seemingly innocent older woman, she can learn information without drawing attention to herself. The plot of They Do It With Mirrors takes a while to get underway - Miss Marple is sent by a friend to check on the friend's sister, Carrie Louise, for whom the friend is worried. Carrie is married to Lewis Serrocold,...

Published in an omnibus edition: " The Murder of Roger Ackroyd "; " They Do It With Mirrors " and " Mrs. McGinty's Dead " as part of the "Agatha Christie Crime Collection" by The Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd.: London, 1969. First published 1926. This year at the Founders Book Fair, an annual book fair in my hometown, I came across a few volumes of the Agatha Christie Crime Collection, and decided to buy this one based solely on having heard that this particular story, The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, had a fairly 'satisfying' ending.  It does! Inspector Poirot, of Orient Express fame, has retired to a small village, and gets caught up in solving the murder of Roger Ackroyd, a local rich widower who was believed to have been interested in another recently deceased local, the widowed Mrs Ferrars. Helped by the local doctor, Dr Sheppard, who also serves as our narrator, Poirot is able to uncover the usual string of mysteries, subterfuge and s...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian ";  "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ;  "The Silver Chair" ; "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1956. The final book in the Narnia series, The Last Battle appropriates covers the events leading up to and surrounding the end of Narnia itself. The last king of Narnia, Tirian, and his close friend, the unicorn Jewel, enlist the help of Eustace and Jill to do battle against a "false Aslan" and an army of Calormenes. The book is different from the remainder of the Narnia series (aside from The Horse and His Boy ) in that it begins in Narnia, following Narnians, with no one from 'our' world arriving until quite a way in to the book. Even when they do ...

Published in an omnibus edition "The Complete Illustrated Works of Mark Twain" by Bounty Books: London, 2004 (1986). First published 1889. The basic story of Connecticut Yankee is one I've heard before, and seen variations of in movies (I recall a Martin Lawrence version called, I think, Black Knight ). A "modern day" Yankee falls asleep for some reason (here he is struck in the head during a fight) and wakes up in sixth century England, where his modern-day knowledge allows him to survive, and even pass himself off as a magician greater than Merlin. Reading the original version of this story is both interesting and surprising.  Mark Twain seems to be writing a satire here. I say "seems to" because I get the feeling that most references go over my head. Certain things I can figure out from the context (such as the term "hello-girl" referring to a phone operator), but with so much of the plot wrapped up in showing the superiority of Tw...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian ";  "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ; "The Silver Chair" ;  "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1953. This is my favourite of all the Narnia books, for a few reasons. Firstly, Puddleglum. The Marsh-wiggle character, with his dour outlook on life (while considering himself an optimist by Marsh-wiggle standards) is a great comic-relief character while also providing a moral compass for our two main protagonists. Second, the protagonists. Eustace Scrubb, introduced in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, returns, now accompanied by Jill Pole. This is the only 'main story-line' Narnia books to not include a Pevensie sibling, and in doing so Lewis allows Eustace ...

Published in a omnibus edition as "The Circle Trilogy" : " Black "; " Red "; " White ", by Thomas Nelson: Nashville, Tennessee, 2004. In the third novel of this trilogy, Ted Dekker again shifts the allegorical world into a new era of allegory while continuing the 'real world' thriller plot of seeking to undo the effects of the deadly Raison Strain that has been released around the world. Now in the 'other' world Thomas leads a group of 'believers' called The Circle, who are in danger of fracturing into 'denominations' of sorts. The main area of dispute revolves around how to act regarding the Horde (the non-believer equivalents) who seek to destroy the fledgling community. One of Thomas' fellow leaders suggests leaving the Horde to their own devices rather than evangelising them at all, while another suggests 'watering down the gospel' by removing some of the more 'difficult' requirements of...

Published in a omnibus edition as "The Circle Trilogy" : " Black "; " Red "; " White ", by Thomas Nelson: Nashville, Tennessee, 2004. The novel Red opens fifteen years after the events of Black , at least as far as one of the worlds protagonist Thomas Hunter lives in is concerned. In the other world - our world - only half an hour has passed, which is of benefit considering the gun currently pointed at his sleeping head... Red keeps up the action-packed pace of its predecessor, along with continuing its Narnia-like allegorical allusions in the 'other' world. Whereas the first novel dealt in metaphors about creation and the fall, this one takes a little longer to figure out, with a few twists and turns keeping me guessing before things finally clicked into place. When they do click into place, Dekker still manages to offer a few surprises and alterations to the familiar biblical stories which both make the reader ponder upon hi...

Published in a omnibus edition as "The Circle Trilogy" : " Black "; " Red "; " White ", by Thomas Nelson: Nashville, Tennessee, 2004. Black is a number of things: a Christian fantasy/allegory in the vein of Narnia, an action adventure with an Everyman seeking to defeat an evil terrorist organisation, a time travel story... It even contains elements of a superhero origin story! The book tells the story of Thomas Hunter, an aspiring writer who owes money to the mob and is therefore hiding out with his sister. Yet this is not all that is going on for Thomas. Every time he falls asleep in our world he wakes up in another realm that could be the future, or the past, or a distant planet, but that is also an increasingly clear "Eden" of sorts, where white bat/angels and innocent humans revel in the it relationship with Elyon, the story's depiction of a childlike God. When he falls asleep in that world he wakes up back in ours.  ...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian "; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ; "The Silver Chair" ;  "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1952. Out of the three books adapted into movies by Walden Media, Voyage of the Dawn Treader as a book is the most different from its film adaptation. It does hit the majority of the same beats, but the movie combines various parts of the adventure, streamlines some elements (as movies must do when adapting a book) and makes a few subtle changes to certain elements (the appearance of Aslan as a lamb is removed, for example). Elise and I enjoyed debating which parts we preferred from the  book or movie. Overall, I think I prefer the book, especially the opening sentence, wh...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian "; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ; "The Silver Chair" ;  "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1954. The only real 'spin-off' in the Narnia series, The Horse and His Boy doesn't focus its attention on any children from our world, instead telling the story of Shasta, a foundling boy raised in Calormen (near Narnia), and the talking horse Bree (or more correctly, Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah) who befriends him. The duo attempt to escape from Calormen to Archenland and Narnia, and on the way encounter a girl (Aravis) escaping an arranged marriage with her talking horse Hwin, are caught up in a prince and the pauper-like scenario, meet the Pevensies (reign...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian "; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ; "The Silver Chair" ;  "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1955. The least "Narnian" of all the Narnia books, The Magician's Nephew is an odd book, but still enjoyable. Taking place a lot more in our world than the remainder of the series it follows the story of Digory and Polly, involves magic rings, travels between worlds, and the introduction of Jadis, who goes on to become the wicked witch of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.  Despite being less about Narnia, the book is still an enjoyable entry, and being written as a prequel it is able to tie directly into the events of the second book, explaining the o...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian "; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ; "The Silver Chair" ;  "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1950. The classic children's book in a lot of ways, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe has been a source of joy for children - and an interesting discussion on the level of allegory for adults - since it was first published in 1950. The Pevensie children (Peter, Susan, Edmund and Lucy) find themselves journeying through the titular wardrobe into Narnia, a world full of talking animals, mythological creatures and "deities", ruled over by a witch and locked in an eternal winter. While there, they witness the return of Aslan - the Christ-equivalent of Narnia ...

Published in an omnibus edition with the full Chronicles of Narnia series: " The Magician's Nephew "; " The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe "; " The Horse and His Boy "; " Prince Caspian "; "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" ; "The Silver Chair" ;  "The Last Battle" , by Harper Collins Publishers: Hammersmith, London, 2010. Originally published 1951. Prince Caspian is probably my least-favourite book in the Narnia series. It does a lot of 'place-setting' by returning the Pevensies to Narnia, introducing Caspian and his line, setting up the next return to Narnia, showing us that each return will happen in a different manner and showing how time passes differently between Narnia and our world (in order of publication this is the first time we realise that!). And yet in the big scheme of things - and particularly in terms of the storyline for the Pevensies - not a lot actually happens in Prince Caspian : ...

Published in an omnibus edition with " Vintage Murder "; " Artists in Crime ", by Harper: Hammersmith, London, 2009. Originally published 1936. The first novel in this omnibus, but the last I have read, Death in Ecstasy is another Inspector Alleyn murder mystery novel, this one taking place in the temple of a cult near the home of newspaper reporter (and friend of Alleyn), Nigel Bathgate. During a communion-like ceremony one of the devotees is struck down by poison, and Alleyn is called in to investigate. As with all the classic whodunnits we are introduced to a number of characters, each with possible motives or alibis, including some fairly stereotypical individuals (common of the era). A mark of a good whodunnit is something that will keep you guessing while also offering you clues, and Death in Ecstasy manages well on this front. I felt like I was picking up clues throughout the story - some of which fitted in to the final puzzle and some of which did not. Y...