Sofa Spotlight - Mrs McGinty's Dead, Agatha Christie

I worked this out/remembered who the murderer was just before Poirot's big reveal. Little bit disappointed with myself that I let Agatha Christie keep me guessing all the way. But it was a good read and I would recommend it, because this one does send the shivers down your spine.

So Mrs McGinty is dead - as the title suggests and Poirot believes that the person arrested for the murder is in fact not responsible for the death. And this is where is gets chilling because the potential murderer could have been (or been associated with) the murderer of a famous murder in the past. But there is more than one option to go on and (for me) no way of knowing the profile of the murderer. It's that whole, you don't know your neighbours may have been in the past thing. Creepy.

And of course there is the classic death of the person who realised they knew something and was just on the verge of telling it, when they too are murdered. Mrs Oliver, the crime writer, makes an appearance and true to form does not get the identity of the murderer correct. But the more she appears the more I like her.

Sofa Spotlight - Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained, John Milton

These are two poems and one is most definitely longer than the other. But before I go any further I should say that I was blown away by how much I enjoyed reading them. As you have probably worked out, I find poetry difficult to read and so it is not my natural choice. But even though I was worried that the language would make the experience even worse I loved them.

So Paradise Lost is the first and longest poem and is all about the fall of Satan from heaven and his new plan to get revenge by spoiling God's creation of mankind. It's like an extended version of Genesis 3 and right at the end you get an overview of all that happens in the Old Testament. There are parts that are not biblical, probably, but I think it is a great way to understand what happened back in the Garden of Eden.

The second poem is, as I'm sure you have guessed, Paradise Regained. It's all about Satan's temptation of Jesus and his plot to stop Jesus from carrying out His rescue. I liked it less, to me it felt less credible than Paradise Lost but I think it still does a good job of bringing to life an important part of God's plan for salvation. Would highly recommend both of these poems. It should be on your book bucket list!

Death, Nursery Rhymes and Psalms Grace the Shelf

Two books that I am intending to start:

Mrs McGinty's Dead - Agatha Christie

It comes as no surprise that this book is about the murder of Mrs McGinty, and from what I can gather there was some sort of children's song that was about a Mrs McGinty that was murdered. So with a children's song and a murder - what could be more sinister?

The Message of Psalms 1-72 - Michael Wilcock

As I've talked about before I do sometimes enjoy working through a commentary. I've chosen this one because the book of Psalms is a book that has never really appealed to me (note my distaste for poetry) and as a result I feel I know very little about it. So I'd like to understand it better. I bought it a while ago and am just getting round to reading it. And just in case you're wondering - I have Psalms 73-150 lined up next. 

Sofa Spotlight - John Wesley's Forty Four Sermons

The language of this book is a bit of a challenge but I took a bit longer and got through it. There was a noticeable theme with these sermons and I can't help but wonder if that indicates something of the culture that was prevalent when John Wesley was preaching. I have done no research yet on this, but it will be something that I will be looking into in the future - I've already acquired a copy of his diary and some other journal type books courtesy of a very nice person.

Anyway back to the noticeable theme. In most if not all of these sermons there is some kind of application about not relying on good works for salvation but faith in Jesus. Which makes me wonder about the culture and hence the future research that I intend to do.

I have to say that despite the language there were some sermons that were very challenging and I did find it a worthwhile venture. What I'm not so sure about is whether or not I would recommend it. Just because it is a lot of work to understand Wesley's point and you could spend that time reading a book from one of our many current Christian writers and benefit just as much, but with less effort. But I suppose that is a matter of opinion.

Paradise on the Shelf

One book to begin this week:

Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained - John Milton

I'm not sure how I feel about starting this book, which is in fact two poems, because I don't get on too well with poetry. But I feel that it is one of those books you should read before you die so I'm going to give it a go! I may regret this decision.

Sofa Spotlight - Omoo, Herman Melville

What I didn't realise about Omoo is that it is actually the sequal to another book called Typee. Thankfully it didn't matter that I hadn't read Typee but on reflection if Typee is anything like Omoo I'm not sure I could cope reading both back to back. 

Nothing much happens in Omoo. It begins by picking up the narrator from an island where he has been held by prisoner by the inhabitants. To secure his rescue he agrees to work on a whaling ship, which isn't very successful and he soon ends up with the rest of the ship's crew on an island in the South Seas. Which is where he stays for the rest of the book. 

Although I think that this book is a bit wet it does sort of grow on you. Well some of the characters do anyway. But not enough to make me desperate to read it again or to pick up Typee.

I had thought that maybe after Moby Dick this would combine Melville's style with more concentration on storytelling and less on information giving. Which it sort of does. I just think that there really isn't much story to it. 

Sofa Shelf - Hollow

One book to start this week:

The Hollow (Poirot) - Agatha Christie

 Another Poirot case but I've just read the first couple of chapters and I'm not sure I'm going to enjoy this one. Already I've met a character that I don't like and I don't think it is because you are meant to not like them. Anyway we will see how I get on.