Leopard Kimono

When I started this blog, I said I'd show "an occasional penguin". I promise there will be more penguins coming soon but now it's time for an occasional leopard.

Not just an ordinary leopard - a leopard kimono!

Made as a birthday present for a friend of mine.

And the winners are ...

So, this is it. I've read all crime novels written by Agatha Christie.

I've looked and relived so many (fictional) lives, met so many (fictional) characters, loved some, hated others, some bored me and some intrigued me ... I've met some that I would really like to meet in person, some that I would most probably fall in love with them, some that I would find terribly annoying and some that I would avoid at any cost.

I've also relived the majority of the twentieth century. Starting in a Downton-Abbeyesque England, witnessed pre-, through-, and after-WWII Europe and finished in the seventies. I've travelled through Middle East and - I've learned a lot of old English nursery rhymes!

As you know, I've rated all the books. The points were given for mystery, solution, and entertainment factor. Especially the last one is not often considered when looking for the best crime novel, but I read books for fun, so fun-factor is important to me. Sorry, hard-core-serious-literature fans.

Oh, one more thing should also be said in advance (before you disagree with my ratings): my itchy feet make me love more the adventurous books and less the static psychological contemplations.

Anyway, the winners are ...

THE BEST BOOK: And Then There Were None. 
Runners-up: Murder of Roger Ackroyd, N or M?, The Seven Dials Mystery

THE BEST MYSTERY:

And Then There Were None,
The ABC Murders,
Murder of Roger Ackroyd,
Why didn't They Ask Evans?,
The Seven Dials Mystery,
N or M?

THE MOST UNPREDICTABLE SOLUTION:
And Then There Were None,
Murder on the Orient Express,
Hercule Poirot's Christmas,
The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side,
The Pale Horse,
The Seven Dials Mystery,
The Mystery of the Blue Train,
Murder of Roger Ackroyd,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles,
Parker Pyne Investigates,
Curtain: Poirot's Last Case.

MOST FUN TO READ:
And Then There Were None,
The Secret Adversary,
N or M?,
The Secret of Chimneys,
A Caribbean Mystery,
Nemesis,
4:50 from Paddington,
The Man in the Brown Suit,
Parker Pyne Investigates,
They Came to Baghdad.

I know that some of you will not agree with me. That Orient Express should be on top of the list. But it's not. Just like Another Brick in the Wall is by far not the best song, just best known.

So, if you only read one Agatha Christie novel, read And Then There Were None, not the Orient Express.

Although I strongly suggest you read them both.

Hell, read them all!

That's it!

I finished reading Agatha Christie's novels!

Well, OK, not really, cause I still have the Mary Westmacott romances and the two autobiographies to read but they don't really count, do they? I will certainly read them in the next months but they won't be judged ...

83. The Mysterious Mr Quin
A quite unusual collection of short stories featuring the mysterious Mr. Harley Quin. He always appears just at the right moments before drama begins and helps solving the problems without actually helping... I quite liked the stories, except the last one. Unfortunately, this was the last Agatha story that I read and it's a shame I didn't like it. Oh, well ...

Memorable quotes:
-"A problem is not necessarily unsolvable because it has remained unsolved."
-"There is no atmosphere in the present."
-"Nobody knows what another person is thinking. They may imagine they do, but they are nearly always wrong."
-"Life is lived very much the same everywhere [...] It wears different clothes - that's all."
-"It makes one feel terribly old to have a grown-up daughter."
-"Daughters have a depressing effect upon one, I find." 
-"He wished the world had not become definitely so noisy." 

Favourite Guest Character: Mr Satterthwaite!
Favourite Stories: The Coming of Mr Quin and The Man from the Sea
Mystery: ***
Final Solution: ***
Entertainment: ****
10/15

A short (statistical) summary on all the books will follow shortly.

Craft table!

I have a new table! Just for me, for my crafts, for sewing, drawing, painting, creating ... whatever.

I first bought a solid beech kitchen worktop, painted it with three coats of wood stain (earthly brown, Nr. 68 from Belinka) and one coat of colourless varnish.

I added only two legs, the other two were replaced with two Ikea's 2x2 Expedits. However, my sewing machine would not fit into the shelves, so I altered them a little and added the required height on one side.

:-D