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Gma book club picks, 'listen for the lie' by amy tintera is our 'gma' book club pick for march, 15 books to read heading into spring, 'come and get it' by kiley reid is our 'gma' book club pick for february, more 'gma' book club picks, ‘several people are typing’ by calvin kasulke is the ‘gma’ september book club pick, 'mika in real life' by emiko jean is our 'gma' book club pick for august, 'the dead romantics' by ashley poston is our 'gma' book club pick for july, 'more than you'll ever know' by katie gutierrez is our 'gma' book club pick for june.

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Shop 'gma' book club picks, 'just for the summer' by abby jimenez is our 'gma' book club pick for april, 'fourth wing' author rebecca yarros announces title of 3rd book in the empyrean series, 'the frozen river' by ariel lawhon is our 'gma' book club pick for december, new york times bestselling author xochitl gonzalez picks 4 latinx new releases to celebrate hispanic heritage month, 'the list' by yomi adegoke is our 'gma' book club pick for october, 'happiness falls' by angie kim is our 'gma' book club pick for september, 'family lore' by elizabeth acevedo is our 'gma' book club pick for august, 19 july books to dive into this summer.

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Dr. Seuss's ABC (Beginner Books, I Can Read It All By Myself) Hardcover – Picture Book, January 1, 1991

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• Print length 63 pages
• Language English
• Grade level Preschool - 2
• Lexile measure NP
• Dimensions 6.81 x 0.41 x 9.31 inches
• Publisher Random House Books for Young Readers
• Publication date January 1, 1991
• ISBN-10 0394800303
• ISBN-13 978-0394800301
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• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Books for Young Readers; First Edition (January 1, 1991)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 63 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394800303
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394800301
• Reading age ‏ : ‎ 1 - 3 years, from customers
• Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ NP
• Grade level ‏ : ‎ Preschool - 2
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
• Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.81 x 0.41 x 9.31 inches
• #40 in Poetry for Early Learning
• #48 in Stories in Verse
• #100 in Children's Beginner Readers

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About the author

Theodor Seuss Geisel—aka Dr. Seuss—is one of the most beloved children’s book authors of all time. From The Cat in the Hat to Oh, the Places You’ll Go!, his iconic characters, stories, and art style have been a lasting influence on generations of children and adults. The books he wrote and illustrated under the name Dr. Seuss (and others that he wrote but did not illustrate, including some under the pseudonyms Theo. LeSieg and Rosetta Stone) have been translated into 45 languages. Hundreds of millions of copies have found their way into homes and hearts around the world. Dr. Seuss’s long list of awards includes Caldecott Honors, the Pulitzer Prize, and eight honorary doctorates. Works based on his original stories have won three Oscars, three Emmys, three Grammys, and a Peabody.

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The Best ABC Books for Little and Big Readers

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ABC books are one of the most effective ways to teach young children the alphabet, and reading them together allows you to bond with your little one while they learn. They’re also a great way to instill a love of reading in your child from a very early age.

But ABC books are more than just a learning resource for babies and toddlers; there are all kinds of alphabet books for readers of all ages!

In this article, I’ll discuss some of the different types of ABC books out there and how best to use them. I’ll also give you a rundown of my top picks for both early learners and bigger kids. So whether you’re looking to help your preschooler embark on their alphabet learning journey, or you’re in the market for a more grown-up alphabet book, there’s something on the list for you.

Table of Contents

What are ABC Books?

Also known as alphabet books, classic ABC books list each letter of the alphabet (usually in A-Z order) alongside a corresponding illustration or photograph, for example, the letter A next to a cartoon drawing of an apple.

Often, only the uppercase letter is listed, but many ABC books include the lowercase letter too. Some also include simple words to help young children become familiar with the shapes and arrangements of letters long before they officially learn to read.

When most people think about ABC books, they picture those chunky, colorful board books designed to give babies and toddlers their first introduction to the alphabet. But ABC books come in all shapes and sizes, and there are plenty intended for older kids, and even adults, too. Many of them feature full-length descriptions and comprehensive information about a topic corresponding to each letter. They’re often presented as a kind of visual encyclopedia, providing a deep dive into a particular subject, using the alphabet as a framework for exploration.

Using Classic ABC Books with Early Learners

Although we might not remember it now, many of us had ABC books when we were tiny, or at least had one read to us in kindergarten. They’ve been around for centuries, and even today, they’re one of the most popular types of children’s books around.

But there’s more than one way to use an ABC book with a baby, toddler, or preschooler. Here are a few things to bear in mind when reading along with little ones.

• Make it fun

Going through the alphabet with very young children can help give them a head start on their future reading journey, but at this young age, keep the focus on bonding and having fun.

There’s no need for intense practice or memorization; instead, simply enjoy the processes of spending time together while having fun with letters. This approach helps to give young children a positive association with books and reading that will set them up on the right path for the future.

• Make it tactile

Many classic ABC books feature different materials that help youngsters explore their sense of touch and sound. Some of the most popular formats are chunky board books, which are easier for toddlers to handle (and chew!). These often have built-in textures like fuzzy fur or crinkly plastic that makes a gentle crackling noise when touched.

Others are made from a soft cloth material, and some are even inflatable, so little ones can learn their ABCs while splashing around in the bathtub.

At this young age, toddlers are learning to explore the world with all of their senses, so these additional tactile elements are always a hit.

• Make it relatable

Opt for an ABC book that features common vocabulary that your child will recognize. Associating these new letters with everyday objects will help reinforce meaning and allow them to practice their alphabet all day, any time, by pointing at the things they see around them!

• Make in interactive

Any ABC book can be interactive if you approach it the right way. For example, maybe the two of you take turns saying the letter and naming the object on each page, or perhaps you sing the letters and words together instead of just reading them out loud.

You can also incorporate fun sound effects and actions. For example, if B is for Bee, have some fun and demonstrate your best buzzing bee impression!

Some alphabet books also have built-in interactive features, like sound effects, buttons to press, or flaps to lift up that reveal a picture or letter underneath. All these tools can help keep little ones engaged and having a blast while learning their ABCs.

• Make your own!

Once your child is accustomed to the basics of the ABCs, why not help them to make their very own personalized alphabet book?! It can be a super fun project to help kids connect with letters and bring them to life in a whole new way. They’ll love hunting around the house, yard, or neighborhood with you in search of objects for their alphabet; plus, it’s a great opportunity for the whole family to get creative with drawing and painting too.

The Best Classic ABC Books for Early Learners

Here’re our top picks for alphabet books designed for little ones aged 0-4.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s ABC by Eric Carle

In this 2015 release board book, Eric Carle adds an alphabetical twist to his classic children’s tale. Every new letter introduces a beautifully illustrated animal to create Noah’s Ark-style collective of creatures, each drawn in his eye-catching signature style.

Dr. Seuss’s ABC: An Amazing Alphabet Book! By Dr. Seuss

This classic ABC book is packed with Dr. Seuss’s famously kooky characters. It’s one of the most beloved alphabets learning resources across the English-speaking world; you may even have had a copy when you were young!

Even today, this adventure through the alphabet from Awesome to Zany and everything in between is still as captivating as ever. Plus, it’s now available in board format to suit little hands.

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ABCs of Kindness by Samantha Berger, illustrated by Ekaterina Trukhan

This is an ABC book with a compassionate twist. A diverse cast of cartoon children introduces each letter alongside a demonstration of kindness to encourage little learners to spread goodwill to others in a myriad of different ways.

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault, illustrated by Lois Ehlert

This classic sing-along alphabet adventure has been a family staple across America for over 30 years, and now it’s also available in an accessible board book format.

The anthropomorphized letters guide children through a playful rhyme as they race each other to the very top of a coconut tree. But with 26 letters in the alphabet, will there be room for all those creatures up there? Or will it end up in a Chicka Chicka Boom! Boom!?

TouchThinkLearn: ABC by Xavier Deneux

TouchThinkLearn has everything you could ever want in a classic ABC board book. There are beautiful, bright, and eye-catching illustrations, tactile textures, pop-out pictures, and an easy-to-follow alphabet adventure that toddlers love.

This is a family bookshelf favorite that offers a multi-sensory experience to keep little learners coming back for more.

Also Read:- 14 Excellent Preschool Books for Your Little Ones

The Best ABC Books for Bigger Kids

Alphabet books can still delight and enchant kids long after they’ve learned their ABCs. Here are our favorites for bigger kids from ages five and up.

Alphabreaths: The ABCs of Mindful Breathing by Christopher Willard and Daniel Rechtschaffen, illustrated by Holly Clifton-Brown.

As kids turn the pages of this gorgeously illustrated book, not only are they reinforcing their familiar ABCs, they’re also invited to practice playful breathing techniques that introduce the concept of mindfulness in a fun, accessible way.

This educational introduction into the basics of meditation and breath awareness encourages kids to live in the moment, appreciate what they have, and spread kindness and positivity throughout the world.

And it’s not just helping little ones; the whole family will feel better after an alphabet session with Alphabreaths!

The ABCs of Black History by Rio Cortez, illustrated by Lauren Summer

This New York Times bestseller takes kids on a fascinating journey through Black history and culture, not just in America but also across the world.

Every letter of the alphabet introduces a brand new topic, from iconic trailblazing figures (X is for Malcolm X) to significant events that have shaped the world today (G is for the Great Migration).

It’s a good way to reinforce those ABCs, but even more importantly, it’s a compelling, hopeful, and joyous exploration of global Black history to empower the next generation.

P Is for Pterodactyl: The Worst Alphabet Book Ever by Raj Haldar and Chris Carpenter, illustrated by Maria Beddia.

This unconventional alphabet book is a fun, whimsical, and downright hilarious exploration of the English language. The New York Times described it as “a raucous trip through the odd corners of our alphabet,” and raucous it is indeed.

Every page examines some of the more bizarre, complex, and downright absurd words that define the English language, from their nonsensical spellings to their mind-boggling pronunciations. This is not just a book for kids; it’s for anyone with a sense of fun and a love of words.

An ABC of Equality by Chana Ginelle Ewing, illustrated by Paulina Morgan

This thought-provoking book introduces kids to some of the most important topics surrounding equality and social justice as they journey through the alphabet, one letter at a time.

Some words might already be familiar (U is for Understanding, Q is for Questions), while others might be new (X is for Xenophobia, P is for Privilege). But they all open up dialogue about the meaning of equality in our wonderfully diverse world.

The Dangerous Alphabet by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Gris Grimly

In quite possibly the most exciting ABC book of all time, two children head off on a dangerous underground quest filled with monsters and mayhem. But, armed with nothing but an old treasure map and their pet gazelle, this alphabetical adventure may just be their last.

This is a book for big kids who want a little more action, intrigue, drama, and danger from their ABCs.

ABC books are one of the most popular ways to introduce children to the written word, but it’s essential to find a good one for your future bookworms-in-training.

And it’s not just little kids who can reap the benefit of the ABC book format; there are plenty of fun, educational, and captivating versions for bigger kids to enjoy long after they’ve mastered the alphabet.

What are your favorite ABC books? Let me know in the comments below!

Bonus Read:- 13 Powerful Children’s Books By Black Authors

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Book Review: Emily Henry is still the modern-day rom-com queen with 'Funny Story'

“Funny Story” isn’t a funny story at all, but it is a good one

“Funny Story” isn’t a funny story at all. But it is a good one.

Emily Henry's new romance novel starts with dueling breakups that have rocked the two main characters’ worlds — and forced them to bond over their shared broken hearts.

Daphne is a planner who is always on time. She’s a buttoned-up librarian who hosts a lively children’s reading hour and keeps her personal life closed off from her colleagues.

Miles is more subdued. He’s nice, thoughtful and able to win over anyone he’s talking to, especially the regulars he sees on his weekend trips to the farmers market. He doesn’t have much of a relationship with his parents, for myriad reasons, but he’s very close to his younger sister.

Daphne and Miles’ story starts as they navigate their newly single lives now that their exes are dating ... each other.

They go through the throes of grieving together, with a soundtrack of love songs accompanying each phase. It's practically begging for a movie version, to go along with the several other Henry books already in various stages of production.

Early on, they decide to pretend they’re dating to make their exes jealous. But as time goes on, they discover that they see each other as more than friends, that they really are falling for each other.

“Funny Story” is Henry’s latest romance — and her steamiest one so far. It’s a mixture of will-they-won’t-they in a way that makes you really want them to. They’re the protagonists in separate love stories who are brought together by heartbreak. Daphne and Miles are characters you can empathize with and root for.

And “Funny Story” is classic Henry. It’s a meet-cute in a non-patronizing way. It’s a modern love story, and one that you won’t be mad is slightly predictable — because it makes you feel good and makes you believe in a thing called love.

“So many of the most beautiful things in life are unexpected,” Henry writes.

It’s funny how life and love are both that way.

AP book reviews: https://apnews.com/hub/book-reviews

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The Other Side of Daylight: New and selected poems by David Brooks

The final poem of this superb collection, ‘The Darkness’, identifies a primal scene. The young protagonist is a nascent poet, watching over the embers of a desert fire in early morning, awaiting the breath of a Pentecostal wind to rekindle the flames. It is a parable which emblematises the difficult task of transformation that is central to poetry itself: the boy contends with ‘fragments / that will not alchemise to song / that yield not / to the metaphrast’.

The Penguin Book of Elegy: Poems of memory, mourning and consolation edited by Andrew Motion and Stephen Regan

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Birds and Fish: Life on the Hawkesbury by Robert Adamson, edited by Devin Johnston

In the year leading up to his death, the poet Robert Adamson (1943-2022) gathered together a selection of his work that focused on one of his enduring passions: the birds and fish of the Hawkesbury River, beside which Adamson lived much of his life. Adamson was best known for exploring this passion in poetry, but the pieces collected in this new book are works of prose and include selections from Adamson’s autobiography Inside Out (2004), and from his late collection, Net Needle (2015). They also include material that is likely to be less familiar to readers, pieces published in the magazine Fishing World , and extracts from a journal Adamson kept between 2015 and 2018 titled ‘The Spinoza Journal’ .

Selected Stories by Franz Kafka, translated and edited by Mark Harman

In Selected Stories , Mark Harman gives us crisp new translations of Franz Kafka’s best novellas and tales and also a substantial scholarly introduction to his life and work. Like most biographers, he explores Kafka’s painful relations with his family, particularly his father, and his anxieties about marriage. The women in Kafka’s life – particularly his twice-rejected fiancée Felice Bauer and his gifted Czech translator Milena Jesenská – are powerful presences. But Harman looks beyond Freudian family romance for insight. He sees Kafka as a man in search of transformative experience. Kafka tried to enlist during World War I; he reflected with increasing urgency on what it meant to be a Jew; he wrestled with philosophical and religious doubt. Set against all this, there was his absolute commitment to an ascetic writing life, which he sometimes feared was no life at all, making him a man made only of words, a literary fiction, truly absurd – and so in the midst of all these struggles he laughed, primarily at himself. Irony is thus the hallmark of his writing, with, as Harman says, ‘humour hidden in the interstices of his sentences’.

No Country for Idealists: The making of a family of subversives by Boris Frankel

I first met Boris Frankel when he was a thirteen-year-old, in the pages of a file at the National Archives of Australia. I was working on Russian migrant families in Australia that decided to return to the Soviet Union, but then tried to come back to Australia. Boris and his sister Genia had travelled more than 1,500 kilometres from the Crimea to Moscow, alone, in 1959, in the hopes of persuading British authorities to allow their return to Australia. It was a remarkable story: two teenagers who negotiated Soviet bureaucracy and surveillance, made an impassioned plea, and secured the support of a British ambassador. The file even contained letters the children had written to Prime Minister Robert Menzies – their own, teenaged voices. Letters like this are a historian’s dream: I felt I had got to the heart of the story. And yet, in Boris Frankel’s historical memoir, No Country for Idealists, I saw the trip to Moscow anew. In the texture of Frankel’s narrative – their Siberian cabin-mate on the train journey (named Rasputin!), the ambassador’s chef who cooked them breakfast – the wonder of the journey emerged afresh.

Ghost Cities by Siang Lu

Siang Lu’s polyphonic début novel, The Whitewash (2022), occupied a unique place in Australian fiction. It was written as an oral history, with a cast of voices, sometimes in conflict with one another, coalescing to tell the story of the rise and fall of a Hollywood spy blockbuster. The film was supposed to star the first-ever Asian male lead in such a role, but he was replaced by a white actor at the last minute. Blending real and invented film history, The Whitewash was an original work of satire, providing a breath of fresh air in the local literary landscape – even more so considering that it dealt so adroitly with matters of race and representation, normally approached in a much more conventional, and predictable, way.

Deep Water: The world in the ocean by James Bradley

On the surface, this encyclopedic work offers a gloriously lyrical exploration of the sea. It could be part of a recent shoal of books about the more-than-human world, limning the wondrous and astonishing. In Deep Water: The world in the ocean, whales learn rhyme-like patterns to remember their songs, a ‘babel of strange, eerie sounds: skittering blips, long cries, whoops and basso moans’. A loggerhead turtle travels more than 37,000 kilometres to return to her birthplace. Sharks’ chemo-receptors prove acute enough to detect blood ‘in amounts as low as one part in a million’. Port Jackson sharks socialise with their peers, and evidence emerges that some fish species use tools.

‘Information and transformation: The continuing expansion of AustLit’ by Maggie Nolan

Say, you’re a school teacher in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and you’re looking for a play for your class to perform that is set in Broome. Or maybe you’re a crime writer playing with the idea of writing a novel set in Sydney and want to check out what other crime novels have been set there. Perhaps you just found out that your great aunt once wrote a series of poems, and you want to know more. It could even be that you’re an author wanting to find the reviews of your latest short story collection. All this, and more, can be found in AustLit. Scholars of Australian literature know how valuable AustLit has been for over two decades, but anyone with an interest in Australian literary culture will find something worth exploring in Australia’s national literary database. AustLit will not only answer your questions, it will surely inspire more.

Woven: First Nations poetic conversations from the Fair Trade project edited by Anne-Marie Te Whiu

The concept of Woven , a Fair Trade project from Red Room Poetry, seems simple but the reality is complex: one local First Nations poet is paired with another First Nations poet from another continent, and together they create a poem. This is an ambitious undertaking for the poets themselves and especially for the editor, Māori poet Anne-Marie Te Whiu, who should be commended for stewarding this project through the last few tumultuous years. The resulting book is a gorgeous tapestry of weavings from some fine poets.

Fremont  

Long Day’s Journey into Night  

Things I Know to Be True  

A Case for the Existence of God  

The Picture of Dorian Gray  

Challengers  

Book of the week.

Thunderhead by Miranda Darling

A feminist triumph and homage to Virginia Woolf, Miranda Darling’s Thunderhead is a potent exploration of suburban entrapment for women. The novella opens with a complex satire of Ian McEwan’s response to Woolf’s Mrs Dalloway (1925) in his novel Saturday (2005). All three books are set over the course of a single day, where the intricacies of both the quotidian and extraordinary occur. In this novella’s opening paragraphs, Darling’s protagonist, Winona Dalloway, wakes to see the sky ablaze through her window. While ‘it is dawn in the suburbs of the east’ – rather than a burning plane, evoking 9/11 terrorism, as in McEwan’s novel – she believes it ‘telegraphs a warning, red sky in the morning ’. This refers to the opening of Mrs Dalloway , where Clarissa Dalloway feels, ‘standing there at the open window, that something awful was about to happen’.

Short story

'contributory negligence', a new story by stevi-lee alver.

[after the painting of the same name by Daniela Bradley , 2012]

Contributory Negligence n. 1 occurring in circumstances of negligent conduct on the plaintiff’s behalf that has contributed to the harm they’ve suffered.

'Call it a revolution'

W ith protests by members of the Iranian diaspora burgeoning across Europe and the rest of the world, I attend a demonstration in central Athens. A group assembles in front of the Greek Parliament, with two banners outstretched. The first reads ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’, the second, ‘the Iranian people no longer want the Islamic Republic’. The mise en scène seems to capture the genealogy of a movement that began with the death of a twenty-two-year-old Kurdish woman, Jina (or Mahsa) Amini, on 16 September in Tehran following her arrest by the notorious morality police, and has since grown into what has been deemed the biggest domestic threat yet to the existence of the Islamic regime. 

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Open Page with Stephanie Bishop

Madonna Duffy is Publisher of the Month

Chris Feik is Publisher of the Month

From the archive.

The Art of Graeme Base by Julie Watts

W hen Graeme Base’s first picture book, My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch , was published in 1983, his exuberant illustrations and rollicking text produced a frisson. However, it was the incomparable ‘alphabet’ book Animalia (1986) that really launched Base’s career as a picture-book author–illustrator, and made him a publishing phenomenon in both Australia and the United States. In celebration of twenty-five years of Graeme Base picture books, his publisher, Penguin, has produced a glossy retrospective look at his work. Written by Julie Watts, a former editor and publisher at Penguin Books, The Art of Graeme Base is lavishly illustrated and engagingly written. The first chapter documents Base’s idyllic childhood in Britain and his migration to Australia with his family. The second charts his early adult life as a struggling graphic designer, aspiring rock star and budding illustrator. These chapters introduce the many talents, enthusiasms, influences and mentors that have shaped the Graeme Base ‘brand’. The next twelve chapters are devoted to in-depth revelations about the evolution and production of each of Base’s twelve books, including his most recent title, Enigma (2008). Many chapters also have a ‘Beyond the Book’ section, which explores the other formats that the indefatigable Base has ventured into as spin-offs from his books: television series, board books, dioramas, exhibitions and stage plays.

Vital Signs, Vibrant Society by Craig Emerson

Craig Emerson is a good man to have around in federal politics. He has ideas, which is what politics should be largely about. And ideas, in the barnyard of Canberra politics, are almost as scarce as hen’s teeth. Emerson has a PhD in Economics from ANU. In earlier times, as an adviser to Prime Minister Bob Hawke, he had a reputation for being a bit of an environmentalist. Traditionally, the two disciplines don’t sit happily together. He managed to embrace them both.

Just City and the Mirrors: Meanjin Quarterly and the intellectual front, 1940–1965 by Lynne Strahan

F or thirty-four years Clem Christesen endured financial stringency, public apathy, political vilification, academic indifference, and institutional hostility in order to provide in the literary journal Meanjin a mirror that would provide for his fellow Australians the image of the just city.

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The best new books to read in November as selected by avid readers and critics

Welcome to ABC Arts' monthly book column. Each month, we'll present a shortlist of new releases read and recommended by The Bookshelf's Kate Evans and The Book Show's Claire Nichols and Sarah L'Estrange — alongside freelance writers and book reviewers. This month, we're thrilled to present recommendations from Declan Fry and Khalid Warsame.

All five read voraciously and widely, and the only guidelines we gave them were: make it a new release; make it something you think is great.

The resulting list features Helen Garner’s riveting, better-than-fiction diaries; Hannah Kent’s highly anticipated queer historical fiction; a dystopian thriller set in Australia; a perceptive debut; and “the best book of 2021” (!).

Devotion by Hannah Kent

First up, a confession: historical fiction – especially historical fiction that includes a long boat trip – is not my favourite genre of writing. So, who would have guessed that this historical novel, which centres on a long boat journey from Prussia to South Australia, would be one of my favourite reads of the year?

Hannah Kent's sumptuous novel opens in Kay, in Prussia, in 1836. The community of Old Lutherans holds secret church services in the forest, and dreams of a life free from religious persecution. Eventually, they are offered the chance of a new life in Australia – but to get there they'll need to travel for six months on board a cramped and disease-ridden ship.

This migration story will be especially familiar to South Australian readers, as Kent's boatload of religious refugees is closely modelled on the group of German settlers who established Hahndorf, now a popular tourist village, in the Adelaide Hills.

But at its heart, Devotion is not really about history. It's a love story. Our heroine is Hanne, the teenage daughter of one of the community elders. Tall and awkward, she describes herself as "the cuckoo born to a songbird. The odd, unbeautiful daughter". She doesn't have a friend – until a new family arrives in Kay. Their daughter Thea is a kindred spirit for Hanne, and their friendship soon blossoms into something more – something that the teenagers are initially unable to name.

As Thea and Hanne make the dangerous journey to Australia, their connection deepens. And when they arrive in their new home, it blooms into something greater than them both. Within the wondrous Australian landscape, Hanne and Thea's love becomes something mythic and eternal.

Hannah Kent is known for her dark historical novels Burial Rites and The Good People. And while there is great sadness and hardship here, this surprising novel is ultimately about beauty, nature and an epic love. I adored it. CN

How to End a Story: Diaries: 1995–1998 by Helen Garner

Not all diaries are as riveting as this, surely? Fragments, observations, acute detail; conversations shared or overheard; moments of work and reading and agonising; a marriage coming to an end.

But these diary moments are pared back, chosen; they move forward with a momentum that is as much "What is going to happen?" as it is "Oh for god's sake, truly?!", interspersed with internal shouts of "Run away! Leave him! Get. Out. Now." And the occasional cackle.

These are the diaries of a writer who has been crafting her sentences beautifully for decades now: Helen Garner, author of novels, non-fiction, essays and screenplays. Filler of notebooks, writer of diaries.

And now she has shared them, and this is her third. They have been shaved – and we don't know what we've missed. Which means they have been shaped, of course, and what's left is three years of this Melbourne writer in Sydney, describing golden light and aching for a lost garden, family, friends.

Revelling in moments – but so strongly hemmed in; eggshell walking, gasping with suppressed rage.

Because she is married to a writer (who is only ever referred to as V), and that marriage is coming apart. We see the terrible tension of two working lives at odds with each other, the divisions of space, the casual (and really, not that casual) misogyny. Who cleans the dunny, looks after old friends, gives feedback, and who has a secret affair. It's all there.

Amidst the glee and the pleasure, the humour and cleverness, and the sense that we're inside this intense, emotional moment – we are also complicit in a strange unease, knowing this is A Diary, one person's take, and knowing that the book is full of Real People. Some of them have only initials, some are given epithets; some we can 'discover', others we can't. So we come face to face with the ethics of entering into other people's lives, with all the pleasure of fiction, but with the artifice skinned off. KE

Byobu by Ida Vitale

  Charco Press

I have some good news: the best book of 2021 just arrived. Search no further. All the other contenders tapped out while this masterpiece was being completed.

Poet, translator, essayist, literary critic: Uruguayan author Ida Vitale, to paraphrase the esteemed scholar Ron Burgundy, is kind of a big deal. She celebrated her 98th birthday this month and was 80 when El ABC de Byobu was first published in 2004. She has more than 20 books to her name, including memoirs of her years spent in exile in Mexico, titled Shakespeare Palace.

Byobu is her first prose work to appear in English.

The titular narrator is a man possessed by the urge to notice, a "knack for stopping to look at minuscule things lacking in importance, things with no need for anyone's attention".

Everyman, comic, humourist, philosopher, punk, poet, Byobu struggles to make sense of the mundane world, a confrontation in which we all share. "The sum of the angles I long for is undoubtedly greater than 360," he tells us; and, poignantly: "No loss is more irreparable than that of mystery, which has vanished for the benefit of no one."

So, yes, echoes of Italo Calvino, especially Mr Palomar; but also the thoughtful seriousness animating Xavier de Maistre's Voyage Around My Room. Sean Manning, Byobu's translator, describes the experience of encountering Vitale's prose well: "[T]o read her work is to feel the beauty and power of precision, of sentences and verses that place you in nuances, not generalities."

Byobu's world is beautiful and endlessly surprising, suffused with joy and high-mindedness in equal measure — joy especially at the textures and quotidian multitudes that attend our smallest actions and experiences: stopping at a traffic light, being bored to tears at a conference, home renovations. I couldn't stop smiling during chapters like Oral Frustrations.

Intense, graceful, impossibly thrilling: Ida, thank you for Byobu. You may not know it yet, but it's the best book of 2021. DF

The Last Woman in the World by Inga Simpson

As we're breaking out of lockdown in Melbourne and leaning into summer, I didn't think my heart or mind would cope with reading a dystopian thriller about a bushfire- and pandemic-ravaged Australia. But it turns out I was wrong.

The Last Woman in the World is Australian author Inga Simpson's fourth novel. It is about Rachel, a glass artist who has cut herself off from a world afflicted by disease and drought, living in idyllic bushland near the rural NSW town of Nimmitabel and protected by a wall she built around her property.

But then a woman, Hannah, with a sick baby knocks on Rachel's door, destroying her illusion of peace. Hannah's on the run from a strange presence sweeping the world that is causing people to drop dead in terror: there's no warning or symptoms but images of the zombie apocalypse come to mind (although there are no zombies).

Rachel must choose whether to help the woman or stay a recluse. Of course, being a hermit doesn't provide much narrative momentum — so you know what she chooses. Together, they trek across the countryside seeking safety and answers, while trying to avoid people (living and dead) and the horrifying presence that's tearing at society.

Rachel is proud, anti-authoritarian and self-sufficient and her character fits into the literary trope of fiercely independent women that have populated recent Australian dystopian fiction — in Laura Jean McKay's The Animals in That Country, Lucy Treloar's Wolfe Island, Robbie Arnott's The Rain Heron and Charlotte McConaghy's Once There Were Wolves. These novels lament the environmental destruction that our society seems intent to fulfill.

This novel is fast-paced, adrenalin-fuelled — and different enough from present circumstances to shuttle me from the bleakness of enduring Melbourne's second winter lockdown, and dramatic enough to keep me reading into the night. SL

The Four Humors by Mina Seçkin

Mina Seçkin's charming debut novel, The Four Humors, introduces us to 20-year-old Turkish-American student Sibel. Visiting her parents' homeland of Turkey following her father's unexpected death, she watches soap operas with her grandmother and follows the political unrest in the country on television and Twitter — avoiding visiting his grave.

She is troubled by a persistent headache, which her boyfriend Cooper, who has travelled with her to Istanbul, believes is caused by grief.

Sibel is not so sure. Researching treatment options, she becomes obsessed with an ancient and discredited medical theory practiced by the likes of Galen and Hippocrates — the titular 'Four Humors' theory — and becomes convinced that her bodily fluids (blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile) have become imbalanced.

At a dinner at a kebap shop, Sibel's grief is obvious to her family, who walk on eggshells around her, even amidst their own mourning. "They're afraid of me, and the shape my grief has taken," she observes.

Midway through the novel, Sibel makes a breakthrough and begins to unravel the complicated truth of her father's past, a story that belongs to her grandmother and another woman who has her own connection to Sibel's father.

Sibel's sense of herself as a tragic figure from a long line of tragic figures isn't far off from the truth: her mother tells her "that as the daughter of an unhappy mother, you will always know that your mother is unhappy, and knowing this will make you try to change something, anything, about yourself".

At one point Sibel, attempting to translate the Turkish word hüzün, describes a collective state of suffering shared amongst the people of Istanbul, a city which we grow to love through Seçkin's characters.

"The ideal is not to escape this suffering, but to carry this suffering. It is possessing the weight of the city as you wade through its past and present and, by doing so, you dissolve among many," she says.

Her perceptiveness is beautiful and a little tragic: it is when she is talking about Istanbul that she comes closest to describing herself. KW

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Celebrating Black History Month

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The abc's of black history, common sense media reviewers.

Colorful book is rich in history and positive messages.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Teaches about people, ideas, and moments in Black

We belong. Let freedom ring. Black is beautiful, b

The book pays homage to Black Americans who have m

The book celebrates the lived experiences of named

Parents need to know that The ABC's of Black History is not your average introduction-to-the-alphabet book. With distinctively beautiful illustrations, remarkable rhyme, and an education on familiar and not-so-familiar figures and events, the book pays homage to Black history and culture, offering varying…

Educational Value

Teaches about people, ideas, and moments in Black history using the alphabet as the structure. For example, "E is for education, for expanding the mind, like Ruby Bridges , Linda Brown, the Little Rock Nine -- the first Black children in all-White schools, they opened the doors and challenged the rules."

Positive Messages

We belong. Let freedom ring. Black is beautiful, brave, bright and bold. Black people have made creative and innovative contributions to society. Black lives matter. Black history is a story of hope and love.

Positive Role Models

The book pays homage to Black Americans who have made significant contributions to society like Alvin Ailey, Ruby Bridges, Mae Jemison, Barack Obama , Gabby Douglas , and many, many more. In some instances, the names are simply mentioned, so readers would need to do some other research to understand that the person is a role model. Some names are followed up with details that would allow readers to infer why they are role models.

Diverse Representations

The book celebrates the lived experiences of named and unnamed, famous and not famous Black Americans.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The ABC's of Black History is not your average introduction-to-the-alphabet book. With distinctively beautiful illustrations, remarkable rhyme, and an education on familiar and not-so-familiar figures and events, the book pays homage to Black history and culture, offering varying levels of depth that everyone in the family can tap into. The book is best suited for 8-year olds, who will be ready to learn about topics like Kwanzaa and Juneteenth and to learn about people like Mae Jemison and Zora Neale Hurston ; however, there is A LOT of information in this book, and it will take many reads to fully digest most of it. Two-year- olds will be drawn to the vibrant colors and illustrations, while preschoolers may read for the letters, phonics, and rhyme. Even tweens and teens will benefit from the empowering messages and can use it as a starting point for researching figures in Black history. A "More to Explore" section on the copyright page provides books, websites, museums, and poetry that readers can refer to for more information on the people, places, and ideas in the book. There is also a significant bank of terms and figures at the end that provides additional details about information in the book.

Where to Read

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What's the Story?

THE ABC'S OF BLACK HISTORY honors Black history and culture by using the ABC's to highlight important people, moments, and ideas. The book uses an African American voice in the first person point-of-view to educate, encourage, and empower African American readers, though this is an important text for readers of all backgrounds. Author Rio Cortez makes reference to the well-known names and topics in Black history -- like Martin Luther King Jr., Kwanzaa, and voting rights. But it also introduces readers to lesser-known facts and figures -- like the varying viewpoints of Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois, J'ouvert, and the Great Migration. The illustrations are colorful and captivating, and several resources will help readers continue their education on the triumph and trauma of Black history.

Is It Any Good?

Author Rio Cortez and illustrator Lauren Stemmer's creative alphabet book is a love letter to Black culture. A true gem, The ABC's of Black History is loaded with information yet presented in a way that kids, tweens, teens, and adults will enjoy. Though there are a lot of facts and figures, along with a reference section, it isn't overwhelming. The book's down-to-earth tone and vibrance in rhyme and illustration will motivate readers to want to learn more. Inspirational, relevant, and certainly fun , it's an important text for all readers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the people and topics in The ABC's of Black History . Focus on one letter of the alphabet each day of Black History Month (or any month!) and learn more about the people, ideas, and moments that are connected to that letter.

How does the author showcase the beauty of Black history? Does the book teach, entertain, or both? How?

What are some positive messages throughout the book? Which of those positive messages mean the most to you? Why is it important for readers of all backgrounds to read this book?

Make a list of what names and facts you already knew and which ones you're learning for the first time. Use the More to Explore section on the copyright page and the bank of terms and figures in the back of the book to guide your learning.

Book Details

• Author : Rio Cortez
• Illustrator : Lauren Semmer
• Genre : Picture Book
• Topics : Activism , Great Boy Role Models , Great Girl Role Models , History , Numbers and Letters
• Book type : Non-Fiction
• Publisher : Workman Publishing Co.
• Publication date : December 8, 2020
• Number of pages : 64
• Available on : Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Kindle
• Last updated : April 21, 2022

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

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9 New Books We Recommend This Week

Suggested reading from critics and editors at The New York Times.

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Parenting and its attendant anxieties underlie a number of our recommended books this week, from Jonathan Haidt’s manifesto against technology in the hands of children to Emily Raboteau’s essays about mothering in an age of apocalypse to Clare Beams’s novel about a haunted hospital for expectant mothers.

Also up: a double biography of the Enlightenment-era scientists and bitter rivals who undertook to catalog all of life on Earth, a book arguing that the ancient Greeks’ style of debate holds valuable lessons for the present, and a surprising history of America before the Civil War that shows how German philosophers helped shape abolitionist thinking. In fiction, we recommend an Irish novel about a bungled kidnapping, a political novel based on Barack Obama’s first presidential campaign and a three-part novel of ideas about the hidden costs of our choices. (That one also deals with parenting anxieties, in its way.) Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

EVERY LIVING THING: The Great and Deadly Race to Know All Life Jason Roberts

Most of us have heard of the 18th-century taxonomist Carl Linnaeus and his systems of categorization; less familiar is his rival, the French mathematician and naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon. In Roberts’s view, this is an injustice with continued repercussions for Western views of race. His vivid double biography is a passionate corrective.

“Roberts stands openly on the side of Buffon, rather than his ‘profoundly prejudiced’ rival. He’s frustrated that human society and its scientific enterprise ignored the better ideas — and the better man.”

From Deborah Blum’s review

Random House | $35

THE ANXIOUS GENERATION: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness Jonathan Haidt

In “The Coddling of the American Mind,” Haidt took a hard stand against helicopter parenting. In this pugnacious follow-up, he turns to what he sees as technology’s dangers for young people. Haidt, a digital absolutist, cedes no ground on the issue of social media. Sure to provoke both thought and discussion, his book rejects complacency.

“Erudite, engaging, combative, crusading. … Parents, he argues, should become more like gardeners (to use Alison Gopnik’s formulation) who cultivate conditions for children to independently grow and flourish.”

From Tracy Dennis-Tiwary’s review

Penguin Press | $30

AN EMANCIPATION OF THE MIND: Radical Philosophy, the War Over Slavery, and the Refounding of America Matthew Stewart

In this absorbing intellectual history of the lead up to the Civil War, Stewart shows how German philosophers like Ludwig Feuerbach and Karl Marx influenced the American abolition movement.

“Engaging and often surprising. … Two decades before the outbreak of war, abolitionism was still a skulking pariah, a despised minority in the North as well as the South. The abolitionists clearly needed help. Enter the Germans.”

From S.C. Gwynne’s review

Norton | $32.50

CHOICE Neel Mukherjee

Narratives linked to a frustrated London book editor explore the gap between wealth and poverty, myopia and activism, fact and fiction, in an exquisitely droll heartbreaker of a novel.

“Full of characters deciding how much truth to tell. … To be in the company of his cool, calm, all-noticing prose is to experience something like the helpless wonder his characters experience.”

From Jonathan Lee’s review

Norton | $28.99

THE ANCIENT ART OF THINKING FOR YOURSELF: The Power of Rhetoric in Polarized Times Robin Reames

To bridge our nation’s political divide, we must learn to argue not less but better, contends Reames, a professor of rhetoric, in this wryly informative primer on ancient Greek and Roman oratorical techniques and the Sophists and sages who mastered them.

“Reames’s conceit for the book is intriguing. … In our era of Fox News and chants of ‘from the river to the sea,’ it is difficult not to gaze in admiration upon a people so committed to soberly debating ideas rather than settling for sloganeering.”

From John McWhorter’s review

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LESSONS FOR SURVIVAL: Mothering Against “The Apocalypse” Emily Raboteau

The perils — political, racial, climatic — multiply fast in this collection of elegant and anguished essays, by Raboteau, a writer and mother struggling to retain hope for the future while bearing witness to the encroaching threats all around her.

“A soulful exploration of the fraught experience of caretaking through crisis. … Her central concern is how to parent responsibly in perilous times, when the earth is warming, the country is divided and even the grown-ups feel lost and afraid.”

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THE GARDEN Clare Beams

Maternal body horror finds its eerie apotheosis in Beams’s pleasingly atmospheric novel, in which an isolated home for expectant mothers circa 1948 turns out to contain more life-giving powers than its medical staff lets on. (If you’re thinking “Pet Sematary” meets “Rosemary’s Baby” with a literary sheen, carry on.)

“The genius of the novel is the way Beams continually intertwines fictional elements with true-to-life obstetric practices. … Humor blooms at the least expected junctures. [But] make no mistake, this is a serious story.”

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WILD HOUSES Colin Barrett

In Barrett’s debut novel, a poorly planned kidnapping upends the lives of several young characters in a rural Irish town. Barrett, the author of two standout story collections, shifts gracefully between the kidnappee, who’s being held in a basement by two unstable brothers, and his intrepid girlfriend, who sets out to find him.

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GREAT EXPECTATIONS Vinson Cunningham

In this impressive first novel, a Black campaign aide coolly observes as aspiring power players angle to connect with a candidate who more than resembles Barack Obama.

“Dazzlingly written. … Captures the grind and the mundanity of the campaign with precision and humor.”

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Book Review: Novelist Amy Tan shares love of the natural world in ‘The Backyard Bird Chronicles’

By ANITA SNOW Associated Press

Best-selling novelist Amy Tan of “The Joy Luck Club” fame combines entries from her nature journal with astonishing illustrations thanks to lessons in bird illustration in “The Backyard Bird Chronicles,” to share a birdwatching obsession that dates back to before the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s among recent books grabbing onto the hobby of watching and cataloguing birds that soared in popularity when people were home for months and looked outside their windows for entertainment. Coming out in May is another book sure to delight amateur naturalists: Kenn Kaufman’s “The Birds that Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness.”

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Book Review

The a.b.c. murders.

• Agatha Christie
• Mystery , Suspense/Thriller

Readability Age Range

• G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a member of Penguin Group USA, HarperCollins Publishers - The edition reviewed was published in 2011.

Year Published

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie has been reviewed by Focus on the Family’s marriage and parenting magazine .

Plot Summary

In 1935, narrator Arthur Hastings returns to England and visits his old friend, the renowned Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Poirot has received a letter about an impending murder signed “A.B.C.” Soon afterward, a woman named Alice Ascher is killed in her shop in Andover. An ABC Railway guide is found near her body.

Poirot begins receiving more letters predicting murders, signed with the same initials. Despite the efforts of Poirot, Hastings and police inspectors Japp and Crome of Scotland Yard, the murders continue. Betty Barnard, a flirty waitress, is killed in Bexhill on the beach, and a wealthy man named Sir Carmichael Clarke is murdered at his home in Churston.

Poirot, Hastings and the inspectors question the victims’ friends and family. Poirot enlists several of them to be part of his “legion” to see if their collective memories will help catch the killer. The legion members are Carmichael’s brother, Franklin Clarke; Alice Ascher’s niece, Mary Drower; Betty’s fiancé, Donald Fraser; Carmichael’s assistant, Thora Grey; and Betty’s sister, Megan Barnard. Carmichael’s widow later recalls seeing a man selling stockings, and Poirot realizes stockings were related to each crime.

A new letter to Poirot promises a murder in Doncaster. It goes awry, and the wrong man dies in a movie theater. Police receive a tip from landlords about a traveling salesman named Alexander Bonaparte Cust who was seen with his hands covered in blood. Cust is epileptic and has constant headaches resulting from a head injury he suffered in World War I. While Cust has been peddling stockings, the stocking company says they never hired him. Cust can’t remember things when he blacks out. So when the police capture him, he confesses he probably did commit the murders.

Poirot finds too many loose ends and isn’t convinced of Cust’s guilt. He soon reveals Franklin Clarke was actually the killer. Clarke wanted the family money, but he knew if his ailing sister died, his brother would likely wed Thora. If Thora had more children, Franklin Clarke would lose the inheritance to them. Franklin met Cust in a pub and realized he could use the impaired man in what would look like a serial killing spree. He pretended to set up Cust as a traveling salesman, committed murders and made sure Cust would be in all the right places to take the fall. Franklin felt he would avoid suspicion if he could make it appear that Carmichael was just one more random victim in a series of murders.

Franklin Clarke tries to laugh off Poirot’s accusation. Then he attempts to take his own life with his gun before discovering Poirot has emptied it. Once Clarke is arrested, Poirot encourages Betty’s fiancé and sister to develop a romantic relationship. He also urges Cust not to sell himself short when newspapers offer to pay him for his life story.

Christian Beliefs

Other belief systems, authority roles.

Chief Inspector Japp is an old friend of Poirot. The arrogant Inspector Crome looks down on Poirot and his methods of crime solving.

Profanity & Violence

The Lord’s name is used in vain several times. A– , h— and d–n also appear. Several people are murdered. Cust finds himself with blood on his hands but can’t remember how it got there.

Sexual Content

Discussion topics.

Get free discussion questions for this book and others, at FocusOnTheFamily.com/discuss-books .

Additional Comments

You can request a review of a title you can’t find at [email protected] .

Book reviews cover the content, themes and worldviews of fiction books, not their literary merit, and equip parents to decide whether a book is appropriate for their children. The inclusion of a book’s review does not constitute an endorsement by Focus on the Family.

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Book Review: The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie (Hercule Poirot #13)

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie is the thirteenth Hercule Poirot mystery that first published in 1936. Featuring a dangerous serial killer, a mind boggling mystery, and Poirot’s genius in one memorable story, read The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie Book Review and Book Quotes in this post below.

About The ABC Murders:

Title and Author:  The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie Print Length: 331 Pages Series: Hercule Poirot #13 Publication Date: Collins (1936) Language: English Genre: Mystery, Classics, Crime Fiction, Novel

Can be read as a standalone? YES

‘ Let us see, Mr Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be.’

Murder is a very simple crime. But at the hands of a maniac, a serial killer, it becomes a very complicated business.

The 1930s is a time when the nation is dangerously divided and suspicion and hatred are on the rise. In the midst of this, Poirot faces a serial killer known only as A.B.C.

First the killer strikes in Andover, then Bexhill. As the murder count rises, the only clue is the copy of The ABC Railway Guide at each crime scene. Poirot’s investigations are thwarted at every turn by an enemy determined to outsmart him. If Poirot is to match his nemesis then everything about him will be called into question: his authority, his integrity, his past, his identity. 

The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie Book Review

…Let us see, Mr. Clever Poirot, just how clever you can be…” Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Things I loved:

Characterisation:.

The author gives gives her views on the general anticipation of people for colourful, filmy style mysteries with devious and brooding characters which are often so far removed from the real noteworthy crimes that are always “simple”. She gives an example of one of her great mysteries, “ Cards on the Table ” and which was yet unpublished when this book came out. Similarly, the author uses Hastings and Poirot to give an in depth insight into human motives, actions and their general character which is eye opening and left me with great respect for the author. Only a person who has experienced life and carefully studied human nature can give this much insight and beautifully use her knowledge to give a mystery that makes its place among the top written mysteries of all time.

There are many memorable quotes that stay with you long after you have finished reading the book.

Some of the quotes that I liked were:

Death, mademoiselle, unfortunately creates a prejudice. A prejudice in favor of the deceased… “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

It’s like all those quiet people, when they do lose their tempers they lose them with a vengeance.. “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

When I know what the murderer is like, I shall be able to find out who he is. “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

…Murder, I have often noticed, is a great matchmaker. “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Our weapon is our knowledge. But remember, it may be a knowledge we may not know that we possess. “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

There is nothing so terrible as to live in an atmosphere of suspicion – to see eyes watching you and the love in them changing to fear – nothing so terrible as to suspect those near and dear to you – It is poisonous – a miasma.’ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

The characterisation is admirably done and each character is diligently kept under suspicion with clues thrown here and there.Their physical appearance is also depicted in such a manner that it is easily relatable to their real character. Agatha Christie keeps one step ahead of the reader throughout and when the climax comes, she succeeds in shocking the reader.

Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul is revealed by your actions. “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

His mind, shrinking from reality, ran for safety along these unimportant details. “ Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

Conclusion:

I loved this book through and through.  The ABC Murders has great dialogues, expertly developed and very teaching characters and a mystery that stays with the reader long after completing the book. So, this is a book that can be read any number of times and that will leave you surprised and awed each time. Hence, I give The ABC Murders 5 out of 5 super shining stars . Poirot shines in this one. So, go buy and read this book, it is not to be missed!

Who are you? You don’t belong to the police?’ ‘I am better than the police,’ said Poirot. He said it without conscious arrogance. It was, to him, a simple statement of fact.”  Quotes from The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie

You will also love reading:

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