I'm doing pretty good on that front yet couldn't resist adding on another book to that TBR pile,thanks to my latest library haul. As luck would have it, a copy of Agatha Christie's Ordeal By Innocence was readily available in the mystery section and I had to have it.
The plot deals with Arthur Calgary, a man who discovers far too late that he could provide an alibi for Jacko Argyle, accused of murdering his own adoptive mother. Jacko died in prison and Athur wants to make amends to the Argyle family not only by clearing Jacko's name but also finding the real killer, a task that some of the family may not thank him for.
There's been some buzz about the book lately, due to a new adaptation being aired on Amazon Prime recently. Even though I won't be able to watch that(there are other versions, including a 1985 feature film and an episode of Christie's Marple in 2007), reading a stand alone story by the amazing Agatha Christie should be suitable for seasonal chills there:
She's prepared for the fight of her life but a sudden,rather miraculous cure throws Bibi fully off balance. According to a psychic, Bibi's life was spared in order that she protect the unknown Ashley Bell, who she attempts to find in time to repay her debt to the universe,so to speak.
Bibi feels up to the challenge but forces both seen and unseen conspire against her and she may need the help of Paxton Thorpe, her boyfriend who is away on a mission with his SEAL team. Oddly enough, Pax is growing aware of her plight via telepathic messages and is trying to reach Bibi but can the two of them reconnect in time?
It's been a good while since I've read Koontz and yet his blend of suspenseful storytelling with supernatural elements is quite familiar to me. Not completely sure if Ashley Bell will make the FrightFall cut(I do have The Silent Corner to get to first) but it sounds like it's worth a try:
To balance things out, I did pick up something from the non-fiction section. Educated by Tara Westover chronicles the hard scrabble childhood of the author, who grew up in a rural Idaho home with a strict religious father that held his family under his sway with his paranoid rants and determination to avoid any involvement with the government.
Westover and several of her siblings didn't have birth certificates for many years and no formal education due to the "keep off the Grid" philosophy of her father while her mother was forced into midwifery and home remedies not only to make money but to tend to the various injuries and illnesses that came from assisting their father in his junkyard salvaging work.
Westover details her slowly but surely escape into the wider world and the challenges that she dealt with there as well, experiencing a good deal of culture shock along the way. This memoir has had it's share of praise and censure, with some of her family disputing her version of certain events.
To be fair, Westover does admit to not being completely sure about how some things went down and includes differing accounts from her relatives at times, which is rather honest and gives credence to her side of the story,if you ask me. So far, the book is sadly compelling and beautifully written, a true "hard to put down" tale of an independent life that was hard won, to say the least:
At this point in my FrightFall reading, I have finished one book(Royal Flush) and close to completing two more hopefully by the end of this weekend. Sure, throwing a couple of library books into this mix does amp up the volume but this is a reading challenge after all, emphasis on challenge!
I'm so happy to have library book options and this last visit was extra fun, as my younger sister joined me. There was an interesting reversal of roles, with me being the one waiting for her to finish up browsing for books, something that I've often done to others at any literary location. She did take out two books(one of which was poetry) and it was nice to share this time with her. It was also nice for me not to be the Rory Gilmore for once!:
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