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Agatha Christie Reading Challenge

As a lover of the classics, I could not believe how long it took me to read my first Agatha Christie book. It was just a few days before Halloween in 2017 that I picked up Murder on the Orient Express. The book was the movie edition, so I’m fairly certain I planned to read it before the movie, but I never actually did get around to the movie.

I absolutely loved my reading experience with this book. Poirot is such a cool character, and Agatha Christie writes her books – most of them at least – in a way where I can never guess who the killer is. I love the mystery of it all. With Murder on the Orient Express, the book is broken up into parts, which I really liked. It was a unique reading experience, and I can honestly say I’m so glad that I picked that book up to read!

This Agatha Christie Reading Challenge is self-imposed and ongoing. I don’t want to say I’ll finish this in a year or even two years. It’s been nearly 6 years, and I still read her books off and on when I feel like picking them up. I try to read the books in order of the series, so with Poirot, I did start at book one eventually, and with Miss Marple, I’ve only ever read the first book (so, of course, I need to revisit it one day). I’ve then read a handful of her standalone, but there is such a huge catalogue of books that this will definitely take some time!

Note: This is by no means all of what Agatha Christie has published, but this is what I’m focusing on right now. Maybe one day, when I finally catch up with these, I’ll dive into even more of her catalogue.

2023 Classics Reading Challenge

Who here loves a good classic read?

I do!

It has been only about four years or so since I first started reading and loving classic literature. I recall watching various BookTubers discuss their favourites, and I really wanted to be able to know what they were talking about!

It was Lucy the Reader’s video on Easy Classics For Beginners that really got the ball rolling for me. A few of her recommendations included Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte and Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu. I picked them up and loved them both, especially Agnes Grey. I had to read more classics, so I watched more videos, and soon my shelves were overflowing!

Of course, while I have a load of classics on my shelves, that doesn’t mean I’ve read them all, so now I like to find ways to challenge and motivate myself.

The 2023 Bookish Books Reading Challenge

I love a good book.

But do you know what’s even better than a good book? A good book – about books!

There’s something so meta about reading a book involving book lovers, or that takes place in a library, or that jumps from book to book within that book. It’s like a secret that only book lovers can appreciate.

When I saw this reading challenge over on Susan’s blog Bloggin’ ’bout Books, I knew I had to sign up. I could already think of a handful of books with book themes on my shelves that I wanted to read, and what better motivation to read them than a reading challenge?

2023 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge

Raise your hand if you love a reading challenge!

I know it’s already February, but I’ve had the idea in the back of my mind that I really should join a reading challenge other than the usual Goodreads reading challenge (where, if you’re curious, I’ve said I’ll read 50 books this year).

I was clicking around the internet and trying to get ideas on what to write for my blog (even though there is a handful of reviews I could write but keep putting off) and came across the 2023 Alphabet Soup Reading Challenge over on Helen’s Book Blog.

This challenge is hosted by Dollycas over at Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book and runs for the entire year.

Revisiting Old Favourites: 3 Scary Books Reread

I never used to be a rereader of books, but when I started reading more and more earlier this year, I had the urge to do a LOT of rereading.

When the spooky season rolled around, I wanted to reread all of the books I remembered finding scary in the past – as in, books that really and truly creeped me out. Would they still scare me now?

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Reread #1: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

The first book I reread was The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. I first read this long before the Netflix adaptation was released, and I remember it being creepy but also not so creepy. It was almost like you knew something scary was there, but it was just on the edge of your peripheral vision, so you never caught it clearly. This book is fantastic and worth many, many rereads. Since this was my first time rereading the story since watching the Netflix adaptation (which I had watched at least 3 times – it really is fantastic), I went into it wanting to look for similarities. What parts from the book made it into the show? And were any of the characters the same?