This is the twenty-second of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series (including at least one stage play and the short story collections). Li4.5 stars
This is the twenty-second of Agatha Christie’s Hercule Poirot series (including at least one stage play and the short story collections). Like any long-running series — and in this case, long-standing — there are ups and downs, but it’s all held together by a reliability — where you’d say, even Christie’s mediocre novels are worth reading, if for nothing else but for appreciating when she really knocked it out of the park, as is the case here with Sad Cypress.
A dying benefactor, a fatal dose of poison, and a courtroom ready to condemn — Poirot must uncover the real killer before the verdict is reached.
I love reading through this series, but for anyone not as hell bent on reading this is publication order like me…you could honestly pick up these in any order. Christie herself wrote them in a nonlinear way…plonking down practically anywhere on Poirot’s timeline. There’s even a continuity in terms of what the character has accomplished and the cases worked…but the series itself is told out of order chronologically — so, in theory, if you aren’t a lunatic like me, you could pick up any of these as a standalone....more
It feels almost flippant to say this book starts out a little dry, but I genuinely believe that’s intentional — and far more purposeful than4.5 stars
It feels almost flippant to say this book starts out a little dry, but I genuinely believe that’s intentional — and far more purposeful than the snooze-fest pacing of something like The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder. Kara is laying down the names, the records, the maritime context, and the political terrain we need to understand before he can confront us with the horrors to come. And because this isn’t just the story of a slave ship, but of the unthinkable atrocity that defines its place in history, that restraint at the beginning feels like a deliberate steadying of the reader.
One of the most fascinating revelations here is that the ship long known in historical accounts as the Zong was, in fact, the Zorg. Because of an untraceable clerical error, the wrong name has dominated the historical record for centuries. Kara’s meticulous archival work not only recovers the ship’s true name but also uncovers the real nature of its crew, its owners, and the conditions surrounding its fateful voyage. It’s rare to feel history being corrected in real time, but that’s part of the power of this book.
The narrative follows the ship as it changes hands, becomes overcrowded with 442 enslaved Africans, and is pushed disastrously off course through a blend of navigational mistakes and unpredictable weather. When supplies run low, the crew decides to “save” themselves and protect the financial value of their “cargo” by throwing 140 people — mostly women and children — overboard. Kara handles this with clarity and moral gravity, never sensationalizing, and never letting the reader forget the humanity of those who were murdered.
The legal case that followed in England’s highest court becomes the unexpected heart of the book. For the first time, the question of whether enslaved Africans were people or cargo was argued in a way that brought it to the public's attention. That debate helped propel the early abolitionist movement from a fringe concern into a national moral reckoning. Kara moves through the courtroom portion of the story with a steady hand, giving it enough momentum to follow without losing sight of the very real lives at the center of it. The case of the Zorg really does feel like a pivotal moment — the place where questions of personhood and profit were forced into the open.
This is a difficult book to read — and it should be — but it’s also deeply researched and thoughtfully put together. Kara is meticulous without leaning too far into textbook, and he’s willing to sit with the uncertainty and gaps in the historical record rather than paper over them. It’s an essential corrective to a long-misnamed, long-misunderstood event, and one that will stick with me. I’ll definitely keep returning to his work; he’s one of the few treasured nonfiction writers who can pull off this blend of investigative depth and narrative clarity....more
This is an extremely niche book, released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, and it absolutely worked for me. Fox focuses onThis is an extremely niche book, released to coincide with the 40th anniversary of Back to the Future, and it absolutely worked for me. Fox focuses on the surreal period in 1985 when he was shooting Family Ties all day and then heading to Universal at night to step into the role of Marty McFly — after Eric Stoltz had already filmed six weeks of the movie. He writes candidly about the exhaustion, the pressure, the behind-the-scenes chaos, and the way he had to essentially sacrifice himself to keep all the plates spinning: “trying to be Marty, Alex, and Mike was too much — and one of them had to go.” There are glimpses of his early life, but the heart of the book is the creative grind and the team effort that made an iconic film possible. I listened to the audiobook, narrated by Fox himself, and was genuinely happy he was able to record it. A heartfelt, funny, and surprisingly moving look at a remarkable moment in his career....more
Christie’s short stories have always been hit-or-miss for me, and this collection was no exception. A few entries were middling and forgettab3.5 stars
Christie’s short stories have always been hit-or-miss for me, and this collection was no exception. A few entries were middling and forgettable, a couple were more satisfying and showed her usual cleverness, and several felt so brief that they barely had room to breathe. The mix of Poirot, Miss Marple, and Parker Pyne is fun, and there are flashes of that classic Christie ingenuity, but the unevenness kept this from being a standout among her story collections. Still, for fans of her lighter, bite-sized mysteries, it’s an enjoyable enough assortment....more
I enjoyed this installment well enough, but one specific element bothered me right from the beginning — and once it became clear that it was 3.5 stars
I enjoyed this installment well enough, but one specific element bothered me right from the beginning — and once it became clear that it was an integral part of the story, it dampened my overall experience. That being said, I’m still invested in this series and continue to really enjoy both Duncan and Gemma as their partnership develops. The mystery around the murder of an abrasive and widely disliked police commander is solidly constructed, with Crombie doing what she does best: digging into hidden loyalties, buried tensions, and the ripple effects of a small community’s secrets. Not my favorite of the series so far, but still a worthwhile read....more
What an honor and a privilege to be able to listen to Baldwin's words and sit with the power of those words. This was my introduction to Baldwin's wriWhat an honor and a privilege to be able to listen to Baldwin's words and sit with the power of those words. This was my introduction to Baldwin's writings (I've watched him speak before), and it would be a great starting point for anyone who isn't sure where to begin....more
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