Ulrike's Updates en-US Sun, 23 Feb 2025 21:05:06 -0800 60 Ulrike's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review3222408905 Sun, 23 Feb 2025 21:05:06 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike added 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd']]> /review/show/3222408905 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie Ulrike gave 4 stars to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: library, audible, edition-tracking
The twist in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was interesting, but not enjoyable to me. I loved the running gag with Poirot talking about how much he misses his idiot/imbecile friend, Hastings, then going on to tell the narrator that he reminds him of his dear friend Hastings. That made me smile every time.

Audiobook narrator Hugh Fraser is very good.

Note: I read the dual edition The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & The Hollow, but I wanted to track & review the two books separately. ]]> Review7349923979 Sun, 23 Feb 2025 20:59:04 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike added 'The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & The Hollow Bundle']]> /review/show/7349923979 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & The Hollow Bundle by Agatha Christie Ulrike gave 3 stars to The Murder of Roger Ackroyd & The Hollow Bundle (Kindle Edition) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: audible
The twist in The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was interesting, but not enjoyable to me. I loved the running gag with Poirot talking about how much he misses his idiot/imbecile friend, Hastings, then going on to tell the narrator that he reminds him of his dear friend Hastings. That made me smile every time.

Audiobook narrator Hugh Fraser is very good.
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The characters in The Hollow were generally unlikable snobs. We spend a significant amount of time at the beginning getting to know the murder victim, whom I really didn't care about. I guess he's a great doctor, but we honestly get more of that at the end that at the beginning. Generally speaking, his friends and family seem to be much better off without him.

The conspiracy didn't seem plausible ([spoilers removed]), and the story really seemed to drag on and on.

Audiobook narrator Hugh Fraser couldn't save this one for me.
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The theme of this bundle seems to be [spoilers removed], which I don't find particularly satisfying. ]]> ReadStatus9110244462 Sun, 23 Feb 2025 20:17:31 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike started reading 'Immersionplus German [With Listening Guide] (German Edition) by Penton Overseas Inc. (2003-12-01) Audio CD']]> /review/show/7335052580 Immersionplus German [With Listening Guide] (German Edition) ... by Penton Overseas Inc. Ulrike started reading Immersionplus German [With Listening Guide] (German Edition) by Penton Overseas Inc. (2003-12-01) Audio CD by Penton Overseas Inc.
]]> Review7335047345 Wed, 19 Feb 2025 19:58:01 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike added 'The Moving Finger']]> /review/show/7335047345 The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie Ulrike gave 4 stars to The Moving Finger (Audiobook) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: library
Wow, this story is slow. Miss Marple is barely in it. She doesn't show up until 2/3 of the way through the book (chapter 10 of 15), and even then, she's barely "on screen." The back cover summary is just plain inaccurate (Marple shows up because she's invited, not because she "questions the coroner's verdict of suicide").

Audiobook narrator Richard E. Grant is much less annoying than Emilia Fox, but he's not my favorite Agatha Christie narrator. I do think he did better with The Moving Finger than The Murder at the Vicarage. ]]> Rating827884523 Wed, 19 Feb 2025 19:53:56 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike Grimaldi liked a review]]> /
Ulrike liked Beverly's review of The Moving Finger (Miss Marple, #3):
The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
"Not a favorite by any means, The Moving Finger is a good, tidy mystery, but our Miss Marple is not part of the story until the very end. I have read quite a few Christie mysteries, stand alone stories, a few Poirrot, a few Tommy and Tuppence, but mostly Miss Marple. She is my favorite, because she knows human failings and foibles so well and she looks like a dowdy old lady; and therefore is not taken seriously by murderers, until it's too late."
]]> ReadStatus9088983842 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:16:40 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike wants to read 'Immersionplus German [With Listening Guide] (German Edition) by Penton Overseas Inc. (2003-12-01) Audio CD']]> /review/show/7335052580 Immersionplus German [With Listening Guide] (German Edition) ... by Penton Overseas Inc. Ulrike wants to read Immersionplus German [With Listening Guide] (German Edition) by Penton Overseas Inc. (2003-12-01) Audio CD by Penton Overseas Inc.
]]> ReadStatus9088976296 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:13:16 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike wants to read 'The Moving Finger']]> /review/show/7335047345 The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie Ulrike wants to read The Moving Finger by Agatha Christie
]]> ReadStatus9088972280 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 22:11:29 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike finished reading 'The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced']]> /review/show/7313660149 The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie Ulrike finished reading The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie
]]> Review7313673833 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:59:47 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike added 'A Murder Is Announced']]> /review/show/7313673833 A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie Ulrike gave 4 stars to A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #5) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: audible, edition-tracking
This is my third Miss Marple mystery, and it's rather a slow starter. I found the first seven chapters (which do include a murder!) rather boring. Marple arrives in the 8th chapter, and it did get better from there. I thought it was obvious who Pip was all along. I had to look up the Pip & Emma pun (it's a play on P.M. = afternoon). I have to assume Christie knew what she was doing with lines like:

"...Lord, I wish I had my own particular old Pussy here. Wouldn't she like to get her nice ladylike teeth into this. Right up her street it would be..."

"Don't you despise the old Pussies in this village of yours, my boy..."

"George, it's my own particular, one and only, four starred Pussy. The super Pussy of all
old Pussies..."

"If you'd been up against it, and then, rather like a shivering stray cat, you'd found a home and a cream and a warm stroking hand and you were called Pretty Pussy and somebody thought the world of you... You'd do a lot to keep that..."

I was really not a fan of audiobook narrator Emilia Fox's choices. It seems universal to voice Marple as meek (I cannot fathom why), but in addition to that, Fox voiced multiple female characters as screechy and childish. It was rather unpleasant. And, since so many characters were shrieking loudly, I had to turn down the volume which made it impossible to hear the quieter characters, which included Marple and the police inspector.

Note: I read the dual edition The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced, but I wanted to track & review the two books separately. ]]> Review7313660149 Tue, 18 Feb 2025 21:55:01 -0800 <![CDATA[Ulrike added 'The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced']]> /review/show/7313660149 The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie Ulrike gave 4 stars to The Secret of Chimneys & A Murder Is Announced (Audible Audio) by Agatha Christie
bookshelves: audible
The Secret of Chimneys is the first Superintendent Battle book, and Battle is barely in it. This isn't really a criticism as the main character, Anthony Cade, is quite fun. I enjoyed the mysteries and the little twists.

Audiobook narrator Hugh Fraser is excellent.

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A Murder is Announced is my third Miss Marple mystery, and it's rather a slow starter. I found the first seven chapters (which do include a murder!) rather boring. Marple arrives in the 8th chapter, and it did get better from there. I thought it was obvious who Pip was all along. I had to look up the Pip & Emma pun (it's a play on P.M. = afternoon). I have to assume Christie knew what she was doing with lines like:
"...Lord, I wish I had my own particular old Pussy here. Wouldn't she like to get her nice ladylike teeth into this. Right up her street it would be..."

"Don't you despise the old Pussies in this village of yours, my boy..."

"George, it's my own particular, one and only, four starred Pussy. The super Pussy of all
old Pussies..."

"If you'd been up against it, and then, rather like a shivering stray cat, you'd found a home and a cream and a warm stroking hand and you were called Pretty Pussy and somebody thought the world of you... You'd do a lot to keep that..."

I was really not a fan of audiobook narrator Emilia Fox's choices. It seems universal to voice Marple as meek (I cannot fathom why), but in addition to that, Fox voiced multiple female characters as screechy and childish. It was rather unpleasant. And, since so many characters were shrieking loudly, I had to turn down the volume which made it impossible to hear the quieter characters, which included Marple and the police inspector. ]]>