The Case of the Two Agathas aka Book Club Thursday

This post contains affiliate links. When you make a purchase using one of my affiliate links I earn a small commission but you do not pay anything more.

Welcome to another Book Club Thursday. I hope you have been enjoying some quality reading time the past 2 weeks. I have finished two books since my last update and have really been enjoying the extra time spent with a book in my hand. I thought it would be fun to share what I have read and some of the books I hope to dig into reading the next few weeks. So let’s get started!

I finished “The Quiche of Death” by M.C. Beaton (affiliate link) the first book in the Agatha Raisin series. I picked up a used copy of the first 3 books combined in one volume a while back. I really love the the Agatha Raisin movies and television series so I thought it would be fun to read the books as well. If I am being honest, I like the shows better. The novel in and of itself is a good one and if I wasn’t comparing it the television series I am sure I would have enjoyed it more. I found the characters of Agatha and Roy to not be nearly as likeable as they are on TV but I am going to keep on and at least finish the volume and see how the characters develop from there. The story itself, a cozy-mystery (my favorites) is a really great “who-dun-it” set in a cozy English village.

The next book I finished was Battlefield of the Mind: Winning the Battle in Your Mind by Joyce Meyer (affiliate link). This book is by a Christian author and while some of the, shall we say gender specific roles are not something I personally agree with I did find the overall message extremely helpful. More so than “think positive” the book goes into Biblical examples of how we are to focus our mind on the good, the loving and the true. It offers some really solid examples of training your mind but is definitely a book focused on Biblical Christianity so if that isn’t something you resonate with than this wouldn’t be something I would recommend.

I am going to also add a separate category here for audio books that I listened to. I have trouble considering audio books, well, books. I understand they are but I guess for me it’s not about just a story but the act of reading I enjoy. Still, I love audio books as their own category and have started listening to them when working in my studio. This week I listened to “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” by Agatha Christie. I have purchased a used copy of some of her books but decided to go for an audio version of her first book. I am doing this as a part of the challenge with the 52 Book Club’s Agatha Christie Challenge. I am working on all the books in the order of which they were written. I really enjoyed the audio version. The narrator was fabulous and I felt as if I was transported into the story. I am excited to start the next in the series, “The Secret Adversary” and I will be doing this as an audio book as well.

Now as for some of the books I am hoping to read in April. I would like to finish “Emerald Isle a Stacy Justice Mystery” by Barbara Annino. I started this book, I think the beginning of last year on my Kindle and am about half way through. They are fun stories about witches, mysteries and magical lands-some of my favorite reads. I am hoping to finish this one next week if I can.  I would also like to read “Steeping Secrets: The Magical Tea Room Mysteries” by Erin Johnson. This series is so much fun about an American in Bath, England who ends up working at a tea room run by vampires and shape shifters only to find out that she herself is a witch. Add in some sleuthing and murders and it’s a really fun cast of characters and really like and fun read. This is another book I plan to read on my kindle as well as the next book in the series, “Save the Last Dance for Tea.” (You gotta love the puns 🙂

Another Kindle read is “A Christmas Tartan” by Paige Shelton.  I started this series I think last year or 2021 and it’s a lot of fun. Again about an American who is living in Scotland and working at a very unique old book store. As in all cozy mysteries you have a wonderful cast of characters and lots of mysteries thrown in. I have also put a request in at the library for “Lost Books and Old Bones” by Paige Shelton which is the book that follows “A Christmas Tartan.”

If I am able to read all these I will hit my 2 books/week goal. As I mentioned before I have set a goal to read 52 books this year and am currently 7 books behind schedule. In truth, I would love to hit the goal but really the goal is just a reminder to me that I want to spend more time reading each day. I always feel so good when I am making time to read each day and I am trying to keep that at the forefront of my day.

Well that feels like a lot! I would love to hear what you are reading or your favorite types of books to read. Please comment below so we can all find our next TBR.