Esme

Love, love, love this book about the patterns that emerge out of chaos. A funny, scientific love story. Not to mention the.... sheep.

According to GoodReads, 2 stars = it was OK. That's all I can give this book. It didn't keep me awake reading past my bed time. It didn't even make me want to pick up my Kindle to read it. Took me forever to get through it.

My audiobook isn't here and since I can't add it anymore, I just chose one at random.

Not a huge fan of this. It's standard old fashioned comedy of errors.

Some of the big “mysteries” in this book were pretty obvious, but overall a fast and enjoyable read.

Listened to this on the Phoebe Reads a Mystery podcast. I enjoyed her reading of it and the story itself.. I suspected who did it early on, but was misdirected effectively. It came as a surprise when all was revealed. This was an enjoyable read, and it's said that this author was influential in Agatha Christie's development as a mystery writer.

A Showdown for the Ages

Maurice LeBlanc was bold enough to write these stories less than 20 years after Conan Doyle first published his Holmes stories and about 25 years before Conan Doyle died. He was required to change the famous detective's name to Herlock Sholmes in the US version and Holmlock Shears in the UK. I guess there was no fan fiction back in the early 1900s. Nevertheless, now that the Holmes stories are in the public domain, everything has been corrected so that we are enjoying Sherlock and Watson. 

This is a rematch of the world-famous detective and the world-famous thief. Since it's written by the creator of the latter, you can guess who will win. But that doesn't decrease the enjoyment of these two stories. Holmes is his usual smug, confident self, even to the point of egregious behavior towards Watson, who does not fare well in these stories. Lupin is also his usual smug, confident self. By the end of the stories, they appear to have developed a mutual respect. 

Harrison's narration makes these stories come alive. For the first time, we experience the nerves beneath Holmes affectation of self-confidence. (We've known that  all along through his need to keep Watson around to validate his superiority.) At no point in the stories was I sure how Lupin would best Holmes, and the ending was made more enjoyable by the narration by Harrison. He has a knack of knowing when to lean into the text and when to allow it to speak for itself. 

If you enjoy Holmes, Lupin, or just a good mystery, I highly recommend Arsene Lupin vs. Sherlock Holmes.

This is just first chapters of books. I read the first one. There is no resolution. I guess if you're too lazy to download the samples for each book on your Kindle, this will save you 5 minutes. But just for reading, forget it. These aren't standalone stories, so unless you're planning on buying all the books, it's not worth it.

I actually listened to the audiobook, but GoodReads doesn't have it listed.

Broke my heart. Beautifully written. Not a fan of Westerns but I loved this book.

Long and bloody.

This is my favorite of Poe's stories. The gothic setting of decay and despair really pulls me into the story. No matter how many times I read or listen to it, I am always read to read again.

DID NOT FINISH. The coldblooded killing of an innocent infant was a bridge too far for me. McCarthy is off my TBR.

CW: use of the n word, use of blackface. Culturally acceptable when book was written, but it has aged badly.

Couldn't put it down. After I got about halfway through, I couldn't sleep until I finished it.

I am a big fan of the Arsene Lupin stories. I listened to this as an audiobook narrated by BJ Harrison. This book is a collection of stories which introduce the intrepid burglar. There is a lot of exposition in these stories as the characters are being introduced. Some of this is handled well by the author, but some of it is awkward. The narrator does his best to ease you through the awkward moments. In fact, I believe this narrator elevates the story and improves it immensely from what you might perceive if you were reading a printed version.  The pacing of the narration is excellent and each character speaks in a distinctive voice that brings them alive.

The first four stories could actually stand together as a novella, and they are worth the price of the entire book. We meet Lupin without knowing who he is, then he is arrested, imprisoned, and escapes. We meet his nemesis, Detective Ganimard, who will play a bigger role in future stories.

In the final story, Lupin meets Sherlock Holmes, setting up the conflict which will occur in the next book in the series.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook and highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys classic detective stories in the vein of Sherlock Holmes.

Exquisite writing. I laughed and cried and marveled my way through this book.