Finishing Agatha Christie | Reading Vlog Part 2

[@Cocobird5]

Congratulations for finishing them all! I remember when her last books came out, and feeling disappointed. I started about 50 years ago, and have also read them all. Thank you for doing this. I have re-read most of them several times. Now I'm in the mood to re-read N or M. My all-time favorite is The Hollow,

[@janetsmith8566]

I relate to the sadness! I want to reread her autobiography now. Read it at 17 and adored it. 💕

[@MaryJoHeadrick]

Your thoughts on the recession(s) that we've had the past 12-ish years is spot on. One of my sisters had a baby last summer, and now luckily she still has her job, but her husband lost his due to the pandemic; my other sister bought a house last fall, and her husband is a musician that was supposed to be touring all Summer/Fall and all the shows were cancelled (it's an extremely difficult time to be a working artist), so they're both supposed to be at their peaks but the pandemic is totally derailing their plans. I'm in law school right now, and a lot of firms that usually offer paid internships during the summer cancelled their job offers, so me and a ton of my classmates were just in limbo, picking up pro bono hours at the few legal services that remained open. It's a wiiiiiiild time. (sorry for the family history lesson, it's just such a bizarre time to be alive)

[@garfreeek]

I loved this so much!!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yes, that's exactly what I'm talking about-- sending all of you good wishes

[@abbiel7566]

I love embroidering when I listen to audiobooks! It's so soothing :)

[@bookslikewhoa]

It really is!

[@amandam9216]

I wish I'd found your channel when you started this project because it has inspired me to finish reading all of Christie too. I've lost track of which ones I've read so I think I'm going to start fresh and re-read them all. I've always been a Poirot fan but I recently re-read Murder at the Vicarage and absolutely adored it way more than I remembered. I don't think I appreciated the writing and the humor enough the first time around.

[@janetsmith8566]

That can so often be the case!

[@TheVioletdecember]

Our generation has had a rough ride. 9/11 in our formative teen years. Great Recession as we’re graduating from from college. Covid as we’re entering our peak earning years and a time when many of us are contemplating buying homes and having children.

[@janetsmith8566]

Ahhh but It's the struggle that strengthens you. Remember Meg Ryan in French Kiss: "I WILL TRIUMPH!"

[@thewickerman4083]

Congratulations on reading all of Agatha Christie's books, that's quite an achievement. That was a really interesting video and I am very much looking forward to your re-ranking video.

[@kaitlinsbookshelf6362]

Your book collection is incredible! I aspire to have that many books📚🤗

[@janetsmith8566]

Agatha the trend setter once again! 🤣💕💕💕. I love this book every time I read it!! 💕💕💕

[@johnsaxongitno4life588]

Just let you no that I have finally found a heap of my Agatha Christie books 📚 and I am looking forward to reading 📖 them please stay safe love you and your beautiful channel love 💖 John from Australia

[@janetsmith8566]

Go John!

[@LForbes95]

You must feel so accomplished finishing all of her novels! I am working my way through in publication order starting with Miss Marple (of which I now have 4 left) and have read 12 Poirots before but plan to read those in publication order as well, rereading where necessary. Makes me so nervous though to think I will start at peak Christie and end with the later publications (and all the Tommy & Tuppence and standalones) which tend to be a lot more mixed in reviews. Might have to take a leaf out of your book and save one I know I will enjoy until last!! Love your channel, so glad I discovered it in 2020 x

[@honeylait]

Congratulations Mara! What a coincidence that you just ended your Christie "for the first time" journey and I just started The Mysterious Affair at Styles! I hope enjoy Poirot and Agatha's catalog even half as much as you do :)

[@bookslikewhoa]

Enjoy your journey!

[@Luke_S162]

Your shelves in the thumbnail look so colourful and we're living for it 😂

[@RememberedReads]

Can I just salute you for being able to say Hugh Fraser's name without doing what I can't stop myself from doing, which is say "You know, Hastings!" as if that's part of his name! 😆

[@booksandbrews8906]

I love crafting when listening to audiobooks! Lately I’ve been knitting, but i’m a fan of crochet, embroidery, and cross stitch as well! (ps i think they’re called fiber arts!) 🖤

[@eamongilligan3262]

Congratulations! How exciting you're finally through the whole series! These wrap up videos have been so enjoyable. I was so happy to see you left Partners in Crime until the end; I was a bit worried it might have been Postern of Fate last and that would not have left a nice taste in your mouth! I knew you'd enjoy Partners. And yay for N or M being your favourite T&T novel (it's mine too). Was particularly interested in your Postern of Fate review because to be honest, I don't remember much about it at all, and I've read it at least twice. It just makes no sense! I remember a code found in a book, and was there a rocking horse in it somewhere? That's it. I don't remember anything else.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Honestly, that's all you need to remember on that one... :D It's pretty unfortunate all around, alas

[@markilvedson4143]

I find your takes on Christie fascinating. We tend to agree on the top ten picks - And Then There Were None, Cards on the Table, etc. But sometimes our opinions are wayyyyy different. (Like I rather like Destination Unknown. GASP!!) Which makes what you have to say so much more interesting. Kudos. Here, I really enjoy the strangeness of Death Comes As The End. Even more than you.

[@danecobain]

Hell yeah! I'm about six off myself (currently reading Sparkling Cyanide) but there's also the Westmacott novels

[@garfreeek]

I think I really enjoyed that one, have fun! :D

[@danecobain]

@@garfreeek It's been good so far!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Ooo, really love that one! :)

[@danecobain]

@@bookslikewhoa It was great, 4/5 from me :) Now on to Asimov!

[@lucillerenard9019]

I have also been watching a ridiculous amount of costube since the beginning of the pandemic/started sewing my own clothing and WHAT. A. GAME CHANGER!

[@sophiawoodward4838]

I really enjoyed the book content but that little cat boop moment! Thanks for that :)

[@bookslikewhoa]

I do my best to pay the cat tax

[@puirYorick]

Thank you for your unflinching reviews of the purported Queen of Crime's writings. It's refreshing to hear someone else say that *some* of her books were (in essence) self-derivative and awful.

[@nathaliapanesi3474]

Wow what a beautiful edition of and then there were none over there next to the blue train... and lovely you as always 😉

[@becky9194]

I am struggling through Postern of Fate this weekend. I rather watch your vlog than finish the book. I love Agatha Christie so I will finish it - hopefully soon!

[@janetsmith8566]

Postern was her last when she was elderly and weak. It's barely readable. Her publishers didn't want to print it. Somehow it got through and sold well due to her name. What broke my heart were the many wistful inclusions of her own childhood images- True Love the rocking horse and so many others. Bless her!! 💕

[@garfreeek]

I read it on the final vacation I had with the whole family together, and I was really into Egypt etc. I remember walking through the hotel, reading the book while waiting on the elevator (could not stop reading) and having an epiphany as the lift came up! xD (first time I got the right solution! )

[@garfreeek]

Forgot for a second this was about 4 christies xD! I was talking about death comes as the end of course!

[@bookslikewhoa]

What a lovely book memory :)

[@mavisward5262]

I have always thought "Death comes as the end" as Agatha Christie's best book. It is different & does not rely on Poiret or Miss Marple to keep it going.

[@markilvedson4143]

It’s a real standout to me, too. It’s like nothing else… It ranks in my top 5 Christies. Easily!!

[@100maxnochill9]

Just read Death Comes as the End... agree it took forever to get started! But I also found a lot of that female rage that you talk about from the Miss marple series in the grandmother character and also one of the wives (Kait?) Where she has the monologue about how useless men are. "Let them breed young and die." Savage!

[@bookslikewhoa]

Ooo, definitely see that!

[@Loonadance1212]

Great vlog 😍 congrats on finishing Christie's works ! Where do you listen to the Agatha podcast you mentionned ?

[@bookslikewhoa]

It's called All About the Dame & you can find it in all the normal places (iTunes, Stitcher, etc.)

[@teddytodorova]

Oh my.... I can feel your pain when you are talking about Postern.... :D I reread it recently and it wasn't THAT bad as I remember before, but still somewhere in the bottom of my list. But pleeeease don't take away the honor of Passenger to Frankfurt to be on the last place in EVERYBODY'S list loool

[@balazsvalo72]

Hi! #48:44 When will you make a new ranking video?

[@katarinarundgren7968]

Fantastic achievement and great review. Are you considering, or perhaps you already have, to try the Poirot continuation novels by Sophie Hannah (endorsed by the Christie estate)?

[@bookslikewhoa]

I'm hesitant to review them since I have a platform and I'm not sure I could evaluate them fairly- I'd just be comparing them to Christie the whole time :)

[@kwalton7690]

Even though I think they suffer from not having a main detective/hero (Poirot, Marple) I have a soft spot for other Christie novels like Crooked House, Sparkling Cyanide and Towards Zero. The main characters in those books are pretty forgettable but often have some wonderful side characters (Crooked House- Magda/Clemency/Josephine; Sparkling Cyanide - Stephen and Sandra Farraday; Towards Zero - Mary Aldin) so interested to read Death Comes at the End. Not interested in all of Christie (pass on anymore of her thrillers) but still have some key ones to read (The Sittaford Mystery, Why Didn't They Ask Evans?, The Pale Horse and Witness For the Prosecution).

[@TheAmedeea]

Hi, love your channel!! I have a question, did you read or ever talk about Ordeal by Innocence? I just can't remember you mentioning it anywhere! Or does it come with another title?

[@lupaecainis]

Congrats and my condolences for finishing all the Christie books. I really enjoyed your reviews and your insights about the genrations and the economical effects on the millenials. And girl, there is nothing slovenly about you. You clean up great and look dashing in make up (and without). And your house is so beautiful and neat.

[@bookslikewhoa]

Haha you're too kind

[@natasagajic1061]

Wait, what?! There's a Christie whodunit set in ancient Egypt?! 😮 I'm so confused right now 😅

[@janetsmith8566]

Go for it! Remember who her second husband was! 💕

[@eddnash]

Death comes as the end is one my all favorite Christies so Unique in so many ways there was really no art of detection or fingerprints back then and yet there is some detective work in this novel I love the grandma character which is like an ancient miss Marple old sleuth type loved it when the concubine comes and stirs trouble you could sense evil in the air i give it 5/5 especially that i love everything Egyptology and this one is historically accurate and captures the essence of the era such as is terms of living in a cemetery for a Ra priest and finding bodies wrapped in linens and the unique murder weapon as the ointment!!!

[@sidi7002]

Did you read Parker Pyne and Mr Quin ? I think you might be still missing some agatha books

[@Lorie336]

The discussion on the recession on our generation is accurate. Do you know that more of our generation is back living with our parents due to it? I'm one of them because although I have a job it doesn't pay as well as I expected and there are not many jobs to begin with, now more than ever. Due to my divorce almost two years ago I had to move myself and my kids in with them. Luckily the old house was my dad's, but financially easier for my parents and I that we move in with them. I like it better at their house and so do my boys, but I feel I am a little stuck, but am working on ways to get out. Our generation has to work even harder for what we need or want, but for me I have had two great examples; my mom who is a baby boomer and my grandpa who was born in the '20's, in the Golden era. Congratulations on reading all the Christie books and not sure if anyone has aked this or if you did a video yet (sorry if you have I am having a brain fart today), but what are your top ten Christie books for people to start with?

[@bookslikewhoa]

That unfortunately is a very millennial story... I'm glad you have the support of your family, but it's so frustrating seeing how systematic failures impact people's lives And yes, I have a couple of "Where to Start with" videos up, so that's where I'd point you! :)

[@Lorie336]

@@bookslikewhoa Thank you and I shall seek those videos out. I think bout generation will overcome this we are just going to work extra harder for it. 😊❤️❤️❤️

[@toddsimpson9624]

I didn't read Death Comes as the End or Postern of Fate yet, but I really didn't like N or M?, it wasn't awful, but I just wasn't interested in the plot or the characters, which is very rare for a Christie. Tuppence was the only saving grace. On the other hand, I absolutely loved Partners in Crime, it's one of my favorites.

[@JAdoreQT123456]

Have you ever shared where your bookshelves are from? I streamlined my books and two weeks later my bookshelf collapsed 🥴

[@bookslikewhoa]

Amazon :)

[@JAdoreQT123456]

bookslikewhoa thank you!

[@icefire-2487]

I was hoping that you would read the Mary Westmacott novels. I get they are not her mysteries but they don't seem to get a lot of attention compared to her other books. If you're not interested, that's okay but it is a bit disappointing.

[@bookslikewhoa]

I tried one of the Westmacott's and it just wasnt' for me... I'd rather keep my reading time with her in the realm of what I enjoy :)

[@ericaallen9971]

Did u read Towards Zero? I didn't see your review for that one

[@icefire-2487]

She said in the video that she needs to re-read Towards Zero because she doesn't remember anything about it.

[@srnc]

I have only seen the recend The Pale Horse tv adaptation and it was... urgh. Same goes for Partners in Crime with David Walliams? It was kinda boring?? IDK what's with the subpar Christie adaptations lately??? Also, while I'm watching your videos I'm always either doing Google Solitare or doing my sewing, which says a lot about my grandma mental age lmao

[@bookslikewhoa]

Yeah, that adaptation was pretty lack luster I think... I've not seen any of the T&T adaptations yet, but we'll see how those go!

[@teanlit2949]

"We gotta body!"

[@kathleensmith]

Bio pop

[@iansmith4023]

I refuse to believe there will be no more AC reviews from you. I simply refuse!! Postern of Fate is tremendously disappointing - mostly because there's a perfectly good story in there,but it doesn't properly come out.Had she written it as a novella (80 to 100 pages),I believe it would have been excellent (as so many of her novellas are). Unfortunately,by 1975 Agatha had reached 'deity status' as far as her publishers were concerned;and no-one in a suitable position of authority apparently saw fit to advise her to make any cuts to the narrative,let alone hand the manuscript over to a capable editor. Heaven forbid! I remember thoroughly enjoying the first 100 pages,and wondering why it had garnered such a poor reputation. By page 200 I was thinking "all you've done,AC,is repeat the first 100 pages.Just END this already!! Oh dear;there's still another 100 pages to go. I'm pretty certain I know how you're going to fill them :( " Nonetheless,in the hands of a good adapter,I genuinely believe there's a very good TV dramatization to be made out of it. N or M is probably the best T&T - although I have a fondness for Thumbs,if only for the freaky ending. I thought some of the espionage stuff was contrived (the way Tommy uncovers the hidden radio in the bathroom by conveniently tripping over,e.g.);but the identity of the female spy was well hidden. Partners is a fun read. Not all the stories work, imo (and a lot of the literary detective homages were lost on me);but there's plenty of variety - and,being an old softie, the ending surprisingly got to me! I downloaded Death Comes as the End - but I still haven't read it :( Will definitely do so before the year is out.

[@bookslikewhoa]

That was my experience as well-- the longer the book went, the worse it got. It does tell us the value of a good editor, even for accomplished writers!