Three Upcoming Reading Events I Can't Wait to Take Part In!

It's the last week of May, and I'm happy to say that... I'm back, baby! (^_^)

The four-months tax certification course is done and dusted! And my weekends will be my own again! While I still have to catch up with reviews (six books behind), I'm eager to be back to my blogging routines. And opening my blog again today, what did I find? There are - not one, not two, but - three reading events that are going to start very soon. I'm thrilled to join in, and here they are with some of possible reads (I missed these - planning and sorting books - things!) 

READING THE MEOW 2025

hosted by Mallika @ Literary Potpourri

9-15 June 2025

#ReadingtheMeow2025

Possible reads:

1. The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie

2. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo

3. Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown

20 BOOKS OF SUMMER 2025

hosted by Annabel @ AnnaBookBel & Emma @ Word and Peace

1st June to 31st August 2025

#20BooksofSummer2025

Possible reads:

1. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons

2. Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary

3. The Shell Seekers by Rosamunde Pilcher

4. The Dalai Lama's Cat by David Michie #ReadingtheMewo2025

5. The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips by Michael Morpurgo #ReadingtheMewo2025

6. Wish You Were Here by Rita Mae Brown #ReadingtheMewo2025

7. The Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden

8. A Picture of Murder by T.E. Kinsey

9. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

10. A Year in Provence by Peter Mayle

11. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

12. Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

13. Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo

14. Crooked House by Agatha Christie

15. The Swiss Summer by Stella Gibbons

16. Quartet in Autumn by Barbara Pym

17. The Healing Season of Pottery by Yeon Somin #WITMonth

18. The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa #WITMonth

19. The Black Cabinet by Patricia Wentworth

20. The Martian by Andy Weir

PARIS IN JULY 2025

hosted by Emma @ Word and Peace

#ParisInJuly2025

Possible reads:

1. The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain

2. Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle

3. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

4. Jacqueline in Paris by Ann Mah

5. Garlic, Mint & Sweet Basil by Jean-Claude Izzo

Will you join in one or all of these three fun yearly events?
Have you read any of the books? Let me know what you think!

Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025: MAY #AgathaChristieSS25

I am sorry for this much belated post for this month's Agatha Christie Short Stories 2025! Like I have revealed in the previous post, I am on a four months tax certification course. On top of that, we've had a tax audit during the last two weeks, which consumed all that left off my time and energy. Hence, this belated post! But the good news is, today is the last day of my course (hurrah!), and so, I will be back to blogging again very soon. There are so much to catch up with (I'm six reviews behind), but I'll take a leisure to do it all. But now, for our two stories this month, here they are...  

THE MILLION DOLLAR BOND ROBBERY

(A Hercule Poirot story)

A million dollars of bonds disappear from under a young man’s nose and now he’s being held accountable. His fiance Esmee appeals to Hercule Poirot to assist him. As only three people had keys to the bond trunk surely it should be easy to solve? Perhaps not if you're not Hercule Poirot! ;)

THE AFFAIR OF THE PINK PEARL

(A Tommy & Tuppence story)

Tommy and Tuppence try to recover a precious pink pearl which was stolen from the houseguest at a party. The most interesting part is perhaps the fact that Tommy investigates, in the guise of Dr. John Evelyn Thorndyke, the great medico-legal detective created by R Austin Freeman (1862-1943). Can't wait to read this one, it sounds fun!

You can find the complete reading list here, and please submit link to your reviews of this month's stories on the comment section of this post. Happy reading!


The Reviews:
My own reviews for both stories

Another Belated Reviews for #AgathaChristieSS25: March

The Mystery of Hunter's Lodge

Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings were invited to stay with a Mr. Havering. Their host received a telegram from his wife that his uncle was shot to dead the night before. And so, Havering went with Hastings, serving as Poirot's assistant, as the detective was indisposed. Hastings acquired information from the housekeeper, a Mrs. Middleton, that prior to the incident, a bearded man had visited the deceased. She and Mrs. Havering, who were outside the room, then heard a shot from within. But entering the room, they found the body, while the pistol and the murderer were missing.

The case might not have been solved at all, were it not for the amazing deduction skill of Hercule Poirot. When Hasting wired him the facts, he saw clearly what might have happened, and asked Hastings to inquire about what seemed to be trivial, but proved to be the key to the mystery. This is one of Christie's stories with unsatisfactory ending - I rather hate it everytime she "lets" providence took over the police's authority in way of punishment. 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

A Pot of Tea

Tommy and Tuppence Beresford have been settled in the detective agency they were asked to take over by the secret service (it's a camouflage for the secret service). So far they've been receiving divorce cases, and Tuppence was dissatisfied. It couldn't go on much longer, they got to start having serious cases. But the arrival of a Lawrence St. Vincent, the heir of an Earl, changed everything. He asked them to investigate the disappearing of a girl he's been engaged to, who's working at a hat shop. They took it, and Tuppence found the girl, and solved their first case wonderfully.

The interesting point of this case isn't in the mystery solving, but in Tuppence's ingenuity -- atta girl! On the whole, it's a funny, witty, entertaining story, with an unexpected little twist. I loved the arrangement of the detective agency - Tommy posing as Mr. Blunt, to create confidence in potential client; while Tuppence as the efficient secretary, who's actually the main brain of the establishment.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

(Much) Belated Reviews for #AgathaChristieSS25: February

It's end of April, and I am still struggling to catch up with my reviews, especially for #AgathaChristieSS25, which I am hosting! Shame on me, but that's life. Sometimes you seem to have all the time in the world to blog, but sometimes it needs determination - a lot of them - to just continue on. Here I am, still writing reviews for short stories I've read two months ago, which I completely forgot, and must depend on Wikipedia to refresh my memory. But, the bottom line is, I determine to catch up, albeit slowly. So, here are the two stories for February; the March ones will follow soon.

The Tuesday Night Club

The first story in Miss Marple's collection of Thirteen Problems is the "founding" of the Tuesday Night Club. It comprises of Joyce Lemprière (an artist), Sir Henry Clithering (a former Scotland Yard commissioner), Dr. Pender (a clergyman), Mr. Petherick (a solicitor), Miss Marple her self, and her nephew, a writer called Raymond West. These six gather every Tuesday (hence the club's name) to try to "investigate" past unsolved mystery. The first case was brought by Sir Henry, a mysterious food poisoning case. Three people dined the same meal of tinned lobster, bread and cheese, and trifle, but only a Mrs. Jones who died, apparently of poisoning; while the other two: the husband, Mr. Jones, and the maid, Miss Clark. 

It was a simple case, I think. We might guess the whodunnit, but might not the howdunnit. Only Miss Marple, through her huge experience and understanding of human nature, who could precisely solve the mystery. The one person whom nobody even thought of asking the opinion of, is the one who shed a light on the case in the end.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐1/2

The Listerdale Mystery

After Mr. St. Vincent died, his widow and two children are, financially, in the mud. They live presently in a boarding house. But someday Mrs. St. Vincent read in the advertisement, about a charming little house, furnished (even with a butler!), which was let for very row rent. She's taken with the house, although the son suspected something foul beneath it. But in the end they moved in. They learned that the house belonged to Lord Listerdale, who disappeared eighteen months previously and turned up in East Africa. Mrs. St. Vincent lives comfortably in the house, and life goes on amiably for the family. But the mystery perplexed Rupert, the son, completely. Was Lord Listerdale perhaps been murdered, and his body was buried somewhere inside the house?....

This turned out to be a charming mystery in the end - quite unexpectedly too. It's the kind of story which, when finished reading, you would say: well... "all's well that ends well". Loved it!

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Love for Lydia (1952) by H.E. Bates #1952Club

💙 This was my first introduction to H.E. Bates, and I read from the synopsis that this was "his own favourite among his Northamptonshire novels", and that this was a semi-autobiographical account of Bates' own life. So, I was excited to read it for my third and final entry for #1952Club - and it's not disappointing! The story was narrated by Richardson, who, at the beginning of the novel, worked as a newspaper reporter. However, he seems to be too dreamy and imaginative, shy and reserved, to be a journalist. On one of his errands, he gets to know a girl called Lydia Aspen, who has just arrived to stay with her two spinster aunts. His first impression of Lydia, is a tall, dark, awkward, and shy girl. Her two aunts wanted him to take Lydia out for skating, to meet people, instead of being isolated with two elderly people.

💙 As Lydia learns to skate, little by little she is out from her shell, so to speak, revealing more of her true nature, which is self-centered, flirty, enjoying her power over men. In short, Lydia is a femme fatale. Richardson was soon fascinated and falling in love with her, so were three other young men, though in different ways and not at the same time. After all the dancing and partying that the group had a lot, Lydia grew farther from Richardson, that when he finally proposed, she rejected him. And at this point, a tragedy occurred - you could actually see it coming, just like in The Great Gatsby - and Richardson, sick of it all, left for London.

💙 After his return two years later, Richardson found that things had changed. How is it changed? Would he meet Lydia again? And what would happen when he actually met her; would he still love her? And what about Lydia, could she finally grasp the pain she had caused the man who really loved her? Will the story be a happy-ending romance, or a devastating tragedy?

💙 What I loved most about the book is Bates' beautiful narration, especially his portrayal of the small English tannery town, located inside a valley. Whether in winter, spring, summer, or fall, Richardson, our narrator, could always describe the scenery picturesquely. Here's one of my favorites: 

"The sun went down a moment later in a plunge of wintry magnified fire that left on the ice, the snowy meadows and the cold sky a wonderful after-glow. A lichen-like green hung above the sunset, and the shadows, all across the snow, became of indigo brilliance before finally dissolving. A biting moment of dispersing day, exhilarating and almost cruel, hung in the pure start air before the first star sparked into green sky above the sunset."

💙 All in all, it is a beautiful romantic coming of age story. A bit sad, perhaps, but beautiful on the whole.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

The 1952 Club

hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings

Pigs Have Wings (1952) by P.G. Wodehouse #1952Club

🐷 My second read for #1952Club was one of P.G. Wodehouse's novels. This is my first from the Blanding Castles series. I think nowadays I always need at least one Wodehouse read a year. Not only they are always hilarious and highly entertaining, I also admire Wodehouse's genius plotting. The way he could put one simple everyday-life stuff into an ordinary existence, and change it into a wrecking chaos, but then straighten it again to a beautiful ending, is always amazed me. This one's premises is a competition between two prominent figure in a rural village called Blandings.

🐷 Lord Emsworth's passion is pigs. His "pet" is Empress of Blandings, a reigning champion in Fat Pigs competition at the Shropshire Show. This year his neighbor, a Sir Gregory Parsloe, is becoming a huge contender, with his new sow called Queen of Matchingham. It's one or two weeks before the show, and at least two of Lord Emsworth's household: Galahad Threepwood - the idle but smart brother, and Beach - the butler, are deeply concerned because they have put their money on Empress of Blandings. Hence, it's imperative that the Empress should win the contest!

🐷 Pig competition scheming, however outrageously funny, wouldn't be entertaining enough to read, so Wodehouse added love element. Lots of them too! Old love-turned-sour, current-blossoming-love, and a lot of understandings and wrong-timings involved to create an entanglement of love makings in the midst of pigs-scheming. The combination of the two resulted in the usual Wodehouseian charming-hilarious novel that makes you lost your mind, in a positive way! 

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

The 1952 Club

hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings

A Daughter's a Daughter (1952) by Mary Westmacott aka Agatha Christie #1952Club

🟢 I am still struggling to catch up with my reviews, but I can't possibly skip submitting one or two for the #1952Club, can I? So here's the first, an audiobook of a Mary Westmacott's novel. Though I've been reading Agatha Christie's crime novels since teenager, this was actually my first of Westmacott's. I've heard that some of them are rather bleak, and this one confirmed that.

🟢 Ann Prentice is a middle-aged widow who lives with one daughter and a servant-slash-companion. She's been leading a quiet and happy life, and it seems that her only worry, at present, is what she's going to do after her daughter became independent as a young woman. That's when a complication is thrown on her, in the shape of a widower called Richard Cauldfield, with whom she's falling in love, but of whom, her daughter Sarah is disagree.

🟢 Richard Cauldfield is a shy, stubborn, insecure man, who in general dislikes modern women. Naturally he dislikes Sarah from the first, but feels the need of being kind to her, resulting in a series of blunders, which makes Sarah hates him even more. Confronted with constant quarrels and bickering between the two, Ann is torn between her love for her daughter and her lover. The first would mean she'll have to sacrifice her own happiness. What will a mother do in this circumstance?

🟢 The plot seems like a simple one, and honestly, I had never expected that this book would be a thought-provoking psychological drama. I'm already familiar with Christie's psychological analysis in her crime stories (it's this side that made me loving her in the first place), and this one feels like she was presented at last with an opportunity to freely play with it. And didn't she do it wholeheartedly! The result is a very powerful, poignant phycological dissection of each character, in a conflict. And it's the kind of process that we could relate much - the sacrifices we make for our loved ones; the lies we make that what we do are for others' good; and the denials that we are fine. We just live with it thinking that everything's fine, until a clear-headed someone bluntly scolds us and opens our eyes. This someone in this story is Dame Laura Whitstable, an old friend of Ann, and an expert in psychology - whom I suspect was Christie's own voice.

🟢 It's a brilliant, thought-provoking story that makes you reflect about happiness. Is it worth fighting for one's personal happiness, even if it means making others uncomfortable or even unhappy?

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐1/2

Read this book for:

The 1952 Club

hosted by Simon @ Stuck in a Book & Karen @ Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings