With September's back-to-school vibes, I find it's a good time to renew my reading resolutions! In my ongoing quest to reduce the size of my unread book pile, this month I finished seven books – six new, and one re-read.

“Every night and every morn Some to misery are born. Every morn and every night Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to sweet delight, Some are born to endless night.”

“I feel as though I’ve been marking time all my life, and now, just when it might begin, this beastly war will spoil it all.”

With all the sunshine of August I tried to choose some suitably summery reads – and this month I finished eight books; seven new and one re-read!

"In short, a brutal murder was committed and the murderer recently sentenced. My colleague believes there is more to this emotive case than meets the eye, yet his client is reluctant to appeal, having pleaded guilty. Given our past experience, he hopes we will read the evidence and see something he has missed, perhaps something unsaid that might convince his client to proceed."

“She put down the empty glass and leaned back in her chair, her eyes half closed. Tuppence thought that perhaps this was the moment in the morning when she took a little nap, so she remained silent. Suddenly however, Mrs Lancaster seemed to jerk herself awake again. Her eyes opened, she looked at Tuppence and said, ‘I see you’re looking at the fireplace.’ ‘Oh. Was I?’ said Tuppence, slightly startled. ‘Yes. I wondered—‘ she leant forward and lowered her voice. ‘—Excuse me, was it your poor child?’”

"Lord Blackwood had come out here with a gun and confidence and the assumption that the land would submit to him. The land, Theo suspected, had other ideas."

This is a catch-up wrap-up of my July reading – but better late than never!

"If you had nothing but yourself to think about what would you find out about yourself?"

“You are perhaps aware of his predilection for involving himself in criminology? It would surely be disastrous to his health if at this time when he so sorely needs rest he were to be brought in contact with something which would disturb his repose and retard his recovery?” Dr Thomas smiled. “I don’t know. He likes that sort of thing. It might do him a power of good.”

It's been a warm few weeks in my part of the world, and what better way to keep cool than to sit quietly and read a book?! This month I read 8 books – 1 new to me and 1 re-read.

"To tell the truth, I was considerably upset and worried. I am not going to pretend that moment I foresaw the events of the next few weeks. I emphatically did not do so. But my instinct told me that there were stirring times ahead."

"My dear Judge, I would like one man, just one, to understand me. And I really hope that man can be you. We spent many hours together during the weeks you were investigating my case. But it was too soon then. You were a judge, you were my judge, and it would have looked as if I were trying to justify myself. You know now that's not what this is about, don't you?"

"For the first time in minutes, his view of the track ahead was unobstructed. And there, less than a quarter of a mile down the line, was an object. It wasn’t a shadow or a trick of the light. It was immovable. It was large. Stan’s instinct screamed the final, fatal truth, forcing the word into his mind. Body."

"Dominion – that's what that was about, not love or even pleasure – it was dominion, and that's what bothered me."

I was away from home quite a bit in May, mainly for work; but the good thing about that was it gave me quite a bit of reading time during my travels!

"...my friend, Mr Quin, believes, and I agree, that one can, by looking back over the past, see things as they were and not as they appeared to be."

"A sudden trumpeting sound interrupts those thoughts, and I see two majestic birds flying low overhead. The first cranes of the year. I pause to watch them. Their powerful wings, rhythmically beating the air and carrying their large bodies forward. Before they fly south again, I promise myself, I'll have left this place."

“Like a snow globe, the world had been shaken and disturbed, and although everything would eventually settle and find a place to land, it would never again feel like it used to feel.”

"As far as I know, nobody has ever been deliberately stabbed to death on set. It put The Word is Murder into another league."

Terribly delayed this month, but getting this in quick before it’s time for my May wrap-up! In April I finished 8 books; 6 new to me and 2 re-reads.

“Back at the pool car, Sammi was waiting, eyes narrowed at the unlit stretch of woodland that marked the horizon. ‘You feel it too, don’t you?’ Joe watched the wind bear down on the tops of the trees. A hedge-cutter was at work somewhere; he smelt the split green scent of broken branches. ‘I feel it,’ he told Sammi. Someone or something out there, waiting. Whoever set those traps in Powderhill. Or a bigger danger, as yet unseen. Crouched and clawed, bloodthirsty between the trees.”

"After many months and several requests from me and my solicitor, the police finally forwarded the case file, and that, along with other information not made available at the time, is what I’ll send through for you to read. It paints a picture of Sue and Mal as community-minded people determined to make their new venture a success. From the refreshed decor inside and out, to the weekly quiz nights, they were entirely focused on reviving the fortunes of ‘The Case’ – and this hard work paid off. So where did it all go wrong? That’s what television viewers will want to know. Yet, as you read the following, you’ll see that what you know can be fatal."

"If Major Palgrave had been killed it was not because of secrets in his life or to inherit his money or for revenge upon him. In fact, although he was the victim, it was one of those rare cases where a greater knowledge of the victim does not help you or lead you in any way to his murderer. The point, it seemed to her, and the sole point, was that Major Palgrave talked too much!"

"He sees fights, hears shouts and curses, wounding words that can never be taken back. There is danger here. The river, which loops and bends, bracketed by thick lines of trees and vegetation, is always both public and private. You can do all sorts, especially in those moments of half-light early and late. And whatever else happens, the river keeps going, ever onward. Unlike life, which can be suddenly stopped when you least expect it."

"So many people tell me they are ‘too clever to fall for a scam’ and to those people I say, you’re wrong. There is a scam out there for every single one of us. That is why I have written this book – forewarned is forearmed, no matter who you are."

Spring is starting to feel like it's in the air, and I enjoyed lots of great books in March to celebrate! This month I read 8 books – 7 new to me and 1 re-read.

"I know your reputation. I know something of your methods. This is the ideal case for you. To look up the antecedents of all these people, to discover their bona fides – all that takes time and endless inconvenience. But have I not heard you say often that to solve a case a man has only to lie back in his chair and think? Do that. Interview the passengers on the train, view the body, examine what clues there are and then – well, I have faith in you! I am assured that it is no idle boast of yours. Lie back and think – use (as I have heard you say so often) the little grey cells of the mind – and you will know!"

"It is often interesting, in retrospect, to consider the trifiling causes that lead to great events. A chance encounter, a thoughtless remark – and the tortuous chain reaction of coincidence is set in motion, leading with devious inevitability to some resounding climax. For instance, it is virtually certain that if Emmy Tibbett had not broken her shoulder strap in a small, smoky restaurant just of King's Road, Chelsea, one spring evening, the Berrybridge murderer would have got clean away with one of the most apparently foolproof crimes of the century."

"Across the coming pages, I will teach you everything you need to know about getting away with murder. You will discover my methods and practices. Not only will you learn, in great detail, about the crimes that I’ve got away with, but also how I’ve avoided being on the radar of law enforcement. I’ll blend anecdote with advice and information for budding killers, such as yourself. I might throw in a joke or two; even serial killers have a sense of humour."

“Simon and Jane, your case, if you choose to accept it, is the recurring disappearance of Nellie Thorne.” “Oooh,” said Simon. “Sounds Agatha Christie-y.”

I'm late posting my February wrap-up because of a lovely family holiday... but I managed to squeeze my reading in around roller coasters! This month I read 9 books – 6 new to me and 3 re-reads (which includes "The Body in the Library", which I talked about in my January wrap-up!). #TBRChallenge Via this month's #TBRChallenge prompts from…

"Casting her white fur wrap on one chair, and her small jewelled bag on the table, the actress sank on to a chair and exclaimed: 'M. Poirot, somehow or other I’ve just got to get rid of my husband!'"

“I’m writing from the middle of nowhere, or close enough, southern Mesopotamia. The Woolleys are excavating royal tombs at Ur. It’s all rather grand, with ancient staircases, crumbling walls, and heat thick as soup. And yet, I feel something is wrong, or at least not what it seems.”

“ …if the woman had informed me that bloodcurdling screams could be heard emanating from the shop in the dead of night, still I would have made my enquiries. This likely sounds absurd, akin to the follies of silly fairytale heroines who cannot stop themselves unlocking doors they have been expressly told not to open, but the fact those stories often leave out is that paying heed to vague warnings is the prerogative of those comfortably situated in life.”

“If the wild gets inside you, you can’t ever get it out.”

It's another year of reading, and once again my priority is to work through some more of the books I already own and bring down my tottering TBR pile! This month I made a good start, reading 6 books, all new to me. I'm also including the first #ReadChristie2026 book of the year below, as it was the January prompt and I finished on 1st February!

"Downstairs in the lounge, by the third pillar from the left, there sits an old lady with a sweet, placid spinsterish face, and a mind that has plumbed the depths of human iniquity and taken it as all in the day’s work. Her name’s Miss Marple."

"The man or woman who is rarely lost, rarely discovers anything new."

"People who could sit in a chair, open a book, and just think themselves around the world were magicians as far as she was concerned."

"As the last of the daylight died away, Riddick struggled to keep himself together. He felt a desperation he’d never felt before. The most peculiar yet. The desperation to help a killer."

2025 finished with a good reading month for me, and in December I finished a total of 10 books – all new to me and including two I finished as part of slow reads.

“The branches scrabble against the roof again. I can see them through the windows, pressing against the glass. I get up and draw the curtains, but it doesn’t make me feel all that much better. The questions I’ve been asking myself since I first read about the opening of The Manor come to me again. Who sent me that article? Why? And more importantly, most important of all: what do they know?”

"CONNOR: ‘We’re going to begin by admitting that we aren’t yet sure what the crime is here – bear with us and you’ll see what we mean as the mystery unfolds. It begins with a written story, or an extract from one, that has its roots, we’re sure, in some pretty strange facts.’ CRISTY: ‘It was brought to us by a young woman called Sadie Winters who has no idea of who she really is, where she came from or what actually happened to her when she was just under two years old. But something certainly did.’"

"You had planned to drive down to Hurley Court in the morning to keep your promise to Algy. But Melissa also needs your help, and it sounds like it could be more urgent. What will you do?"

"My heart is a dark passage, lined with ranks of gleaming jars. In each one something floats. The past, preserved as if in spirit. Here is the scent of grass and the sea, here the creak of wheels on a rough path, here a bright yellow gull's beak. The sensation of blood drying on my cheek in the wind. Abel crying for his mother, Uncle's hand on me. Silver on a white collarbone. The knowledge of loss, which comes like a blow to the heart or the stomach. It does not reach your mind until later."

I had my reading mojo back in November, and this month I read nine books, all new to me (unusual for even the Christie to be a new one!).

“Later, Libby replayed that moment, twisting it this way and that like a Rubik’s Cube, trying to find the combination of actions that would provide a different outcome. But in the end, it was simple. The music roared, as did everyone around her and there was nothing Libby could do to stop Dawn’s fingers from slipping out of her grasp as the throat of the crowd swallowed her friend whole.”

“Look here, Tuppence,” said Tommy, “you’re not going to get a thing about this, are you?” “What do you mean, a thing, about this?” “Well, I mean working up a story of mystery.” “Well, it’s a mystery to me,” said Tuppence. “Mary Jordan did not die naturally. It was one of us. I think I know which one. Oh, Tommy, you must say that it is very intriguing.”

“You were twenty-two, a waitress at March House – a private members’ club in the heart of Mayfair, whose patrons were some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in London. You were accused of murdering four of them.”