April 2022 Book Club: Downbelow Station (The Company Wars #1) by C.J. Cherryh

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera
Content: Clean

The Beyond started with the Stations orbiting the stars nearest Earth. The Great Circle the interstellar freighters traveled was long, but not unmanageable, and the early Stations were emotionally and politically dependent on Mother Earth. The Earth Company which ran this immense operation reaped incalculable profits and influenced the affairs of nations.

Then came Pell, the first station centered around a newly discovered living planet. The discovery of Pell's World forever altered the power balance of the Beyond. Earth was no longer the anchor which kept this vast empire from coming adrift, the one living mote in a sterile universe.

But Pell was just the first living planet. Then came Cyteen, and later others, and a new and frighteningly different society grew in the farther reaches of space. The importance of Earth faded and the Company reaped ever smaller profits as the economic focus of space turned outward. But the powerful Earth Fleet was still a presence in the Beyond, and Pell Station was to become the last stronghold in a titanic struggle between the vast, dynamic forces of the rebel Union and those who defended Earth's last, desperate grasp for the stars.  

 

This was our book club pick for April and I honestly wasn't expecting to like it nearly as much as I did. The different factions and their political machinations reminded me, at times, of The Expanse.  There were definitely comparisons that could be drawn between Earth Company, Union, and Merchants in this book; and the Belters, Martians, and Earth's United Nations in The Expanse series. Of course, this series came far before that one. I liked that the author was able to show the different sides of the conflict in this book, and how there were good and bad people on all sides. The characters felt very well drawn and real to me. I especially enjoyed reading about Damon and Elene, Josh, and the Hisa. 

I do want to point out that this review is specially for the Graphic Audio version of this book. I tried listening to the other audio version and quite frankly, did not care for the narrator. I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed this book if I had continued to listen to that version, or even read the print version. I would like to think the print version would have eventually drawn me in. The Graphic Audio version was loaded with a full cast of voice actors and lots of sound effects that made this book something I looked forward to listening to. I don't know how much of the book is changed or left out of this version, but this version was about 13 hours long, and the other audio version was 19 hours long. So I'm assuming some things got cut, but I don't believe anything of real significance was cut.

In the end, I enjoyed this so much that I plan on reading the second book in the series. 

 

 

 

Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot #17) by Agatha Christie

  

 My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Mystery
Content: Clean

The tranquility of a lovely cruise along the Nile is shattered by the discovery that Linnet Ridgeway has been shot through the head. She was young, stylish and beautiful, a girl who had everything – until she lost her life.

Who's also on board? Christie's great detective Hercule Poirot. He recalls an earlier outburst by a fellow passenger: ‘I’d like to put my dear little pistol against her head and just press the trigger.’ Despite the exotic setting, nothing is ever quite what it seems…

 

A friend and I have been doing a movie night every week and we decided we wanted to watch the latest movie version of this book—The Kenneth Branagh one that was just recently at the theater. But first we decided we should both read the book, because neither of us had ever read it. This review is not just going to include my thoughts on the book, but also on the movie—actually two movies.

We both borrowed the audio version of the book narrated by Kenneth Branagh and enjoyed it immensely. This book starts off slow. It takes about half the book to set things up, but I wasn't bothered by this. The story and the enjoyable narration sucked me right in and I knew it would eventually pay off. There were two parts in the book that stood out to both my friend and me. One where Poirot talks with Linnet, and admonishes her for making the choice to take the man her friend loves away from her.

“I suggest to you that, although you may have endeavored to gloss over the fact to yourself, you did deliberately set about taking your husband from your friend. I suggest that you felt strongly attracted to him at once. But I suggest that there was a moment when you hesitated, when you realized that there was a choice–that you could refrain or go on. I suggest that the initiative rested with you–not with Monsieur Doyle. … You had everything, Madame, that life can offer. Your friend’s life was bound up in one person. You knew that, but, though you hesitated, you did not hold your hand. You stretched it out and, like the rich man in the Bible, you took the poor man’s one ewe lamb.”  

 

Then there is the part where he talks with Jacqueline and warns her not to go down the path fueled by jealousy and revenge that she is heading down. 

 

“Mademoiselle, I beseech you, do not do what you are doing.” “Leave dear Linnet alone, you mean!” “It is deeper than that. Do not open your heart to evil.” Her lips fell apart; a look of bewilderment came into her eyes. Poirot went on gravely: “Because—if you do—evil will come…Yes, very surely evil will come…It will enter in and make its home within you, and after a little while it will no longer be possible to drive it out.”

They were very poignant for both my friend and me, and we both agreed that these conversations gave us great insight into the character of Poirot and were one of the best parts of the book. I won't say too much about the book. If you've never read it or seen the movies, there are some clever twists added in that, unless you're paying attention to certain details, will take you by surprise. This is why Agatha Christie is considered such a great mystery writer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After reading the book, we did watch the movie, and both of us were very disappointed in it. We both like Kenneth Branagh as Poirot, and I also thought it was a beautiful film, from the scenery, to the costumes, to all the people. It was all beautiful, but that didn't make it a good adaptation of the book. Several characters were completely changed. Some of them were completely cut out and combined into one character. Poirot's friend Bouc from the movie, Murder on the Orient Express is added in and given the role of one of the other characters in the book as well. It also dwelt on adding a backstory to Poirot which I found distracting from the story. And to top everything off, it felt like they were checking boxes to kowtow to people nowadays. I've got no problem with stories that include those things, I just have a problem with messing with a classic to include them. 

And what of those two poignant conversations Poirot has with Linnet and Jacqueline? They were skimmed over so much that they had no impact. Which was sad really, because it seemed that they wanted to show us more of who Poirot was by adding backstory and superimposing it into the original story, but they completely missed the part in the original story that gave us a glimpse of who he was.

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

After being disappointed in this movie version we decided to watch the 1978 version and see how it was. There were lots of great actors in the 1978 version—Betty Davis, Angela Lansbury, David Niven, Maggie Smith, Peter Ustanov, Mia Farrow. This was exciting! In this version there were only one or two characters missing from the book, and they did a good job of adapting the story without them. Angela Lansbury, in particular was a hoot in her role, even though she didn't play it as a closet drunk, but an obvious one, it was a lot of fun watching her. Unfortunately, this movie didn't touch on those poignant conversations that we loved so much enough either. And neither of us thought Peter Ustinov was a very good Poirot, but overall we both liked this movie adaptation better, simply because it was a lot truer to the book.

 

 

March Reading Challenge

 

Our challenge for March was to Read a few books we've been hanging onto for more than 10 years.

I've had several classics on my shelf for at least that long, so I ended up picking Emma, and Lady Audley's Secret.

 

 

Emma by Jane Austen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Classic
Content: Clean

Charming, rich, and clever, heiress Emma Woodhouse has no need for an occupation - or a husband. Still, she considers herself quite skilled at matchmaking. Although her dear friend Mr. Knightley advises against it, there is nothing that she enjoys more than entangling herself in the romantic lives of others. But when one of her well-intentioned plans goes awry - as Mr. Knightley rightly predicted - Emma must face the consequences of her meddling.  

Emma, first published in 1816, was written when Jane Austen was at the height of her powers. In a novel remarkable for its sparkling wit and modernity, Austen presents readers with two of literature's greatest comic creations--the eccentric Mr. Woodhouse and that quintessential bore, Miss Bates. Here, too, we have what may well be Jane Austen's most profound characterization: the witty, imaginative, self-deluded Emma, a heroine the author declared "no one but myself will much like," but who has been much loved by generations of readers. Delightfully funny, full of rich irony, Emma is regarded as one of Jane Austen's finest achievements.

 

“Better be without sense than misapply it as you do.”  

I've had Emma on my shelf for so long, though not the copy in the above photo. I bought this collection last year. So, technically I have multiple copies of Emma, this one in the photo, two ebook copies, and a paperback copy that is currently on my daughter's bookshelf. This one definitely qualified for the challenge! 

I was pretty excited to finally actually read this book. I had already seen the BBC mini-series twice and loved it. I also saw the movie that was made in 2020 and didn't care for that adaptation at all. I was hoping the book would be like the mini-series, and it was, but not without issues.

I've read Pride and Prejudice and loved it, and Sense and Sensibility and liked it. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy Emma as much as those two. My main reason for giving this book only 3 stars is because, surprisingly it was very tedious to read. I did not have that experience reading Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility.

Emma, however was full of unfinished or interrupted sentences that broke the flow of the story so much that it irritated me. There were also tangents that characters would go on to the point that I thought they were never going to get to the point they were trying to make. This book is so needlessly wordy, and it's about the most mundane things sometimes. I know it was supposed to be somewhat of a comedy which highlighted these sorts of characters, and I was supposed to find all of this amusing, but it was too frustrating to read, and thus not so amusing. I have to say that I enjoyed the mini-series way more.

A lot of people don't like Emma, and I get that for sure. Going into this book I was no stranger to her personality and it didn't bother me any more than it did when I watched the mini-series. She was hard to like in the beginning, but she grew on me as the story progressed and she learned from her mistakes. In the end I do still think Mr. Knightly is too good for her, but I still ended up liking her because she learned and changed. Also, in the film adaptations I've seen there was more spark between Mr. Knightly and Emma. There really isn't any in the book and that was disappointing.

I'm not sorry I read this, even if I didn't like it as much as I wanted to, and I plan on reading more of Jane Austen in the future. Hopefully it won't take me ten years.

“Indeed, I am very sorry to be right in this instance. I would much rather have been merry than wise.”

 

 

 

Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Classic
Content: Clean

When beautiful young Lucy Graham accepts the hand of Sir Michael Audley, her fortune and her future look secure. But Lady Audley's past is shrouded in mystery, and Sir Michael's nephew Robert has vague forebodings. When Robert's good friend George Talboys suddenly disappears, he is determined to find him, and to unearth the truth. His quest reveals a tangled story of lies and deception, crime and intrigue, whose sensational twists turn the conventional picture of Victorian womanhood on its head. Can Robert's darkest suspicions really be true?

A publishing sensation in its day, Lady Audley's Secret is a thrilling novel of deception and villainy in which the golden-haired heroine is not at all what she seems. But it is not just a pot-boiler. Indeed, Mary Elizabeth Braddon's terrific plot touches on many contemporary social concerns, including class, madness, and the separate roles of men and women.

Lady Audley's Secret was an immediate bestseller, and readers have enjoyed its thrilling plot ever since its first publication in 1862. 

 

“For you see Miss Lucy Graham was blessed with that magic power of fascination by which a woman can charm with a word or intoxicate with a smile”

The above quote perfectly describes the character of Lucy, and I must say that I really despised her. 

I've had an ebook copy of this on my Kindle for many years, but I actually ended up listening to this instead of reading it. I really enjoyed this book, and the free audio version. It pulled me in right from the beginning. I, of course, wanted to know what Lady Audley's secret was. It actually wasn't too hard to figure out, but it was great fun getting to the reveal anyway. 

I think this book was supposed to be rather shocking in it's day, but nothing shocked or surprised me. I guess I've read far too many mysteries for that, and we hear of way too many things like this and more in our day and age. 

I would recommend this if you love reading classics and also love mysteries.

"Foul deeds have been done under the most hospitable roofs; terrible crimes have been committed amid the fairest scenes, and have left no trace upon the spot where they were done."