Artemis Fowl: Time Paradox

I just finished reading the latest installment of Artemis Fowl. I enjoyed this one and it makes you think about the things you would like to go back and change. But, I'm always in a stupor about some of these time travel things. At least in Back to the Future when he travels back and alters the past his "present" life changed, but why didn't he? In the book Artemis' present life doesn't change like it does in Back to the Future. He just happens to bring back an evil genius pixie with him. So I thought that was wierd.
Artemis's mother has contracted a fairy disease because Artemis used magic on her...or so he thinks. The only cure is brain fluid extracted from an extinct Lemur, which he was responsible for. 8 years prior he kidnapped the last lemur and sold it to the Extinctionists. In order to save his mother he has to go back in time and undo what he has already done and go against himself. Of course, when he comes back he finds out that Opal had taken over his mother's body and had staged the whole thing because she wanted the Lemur's brain fluid so that she could be all powerful and invincible...as all maniacal geniuses want. Artemis discovers that because he went back in time to change all of this he allowed Opal to come to the future and arrange all of this and make it so that Artemis would bring the Lemur to her. He discovers that if he would have left things the way they had happened, things in the present wouldn't have gotten so out of hand. His mother was not in any real danger. I didn't quite understand this whole part...but ok!
The author left it wide open for another book which is great because I really like these books. I wonder what Opal Koboi will do next? What if she releases her present self from confinement? What kind of havoc will this evil pixie wreak on the fairy world? Or the human world for that matter.
Anyway, it was a good book and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love books that only take me a few days to read instead of a few weeks!

Agatha Christie's The Murder of Roger Ackroyd

Another great mystery by Agatha Christie! I really liked this one. For those of you who don't know much about her novels (like myself) I guess she has several different mysteries categorized by Ms. Marple and Hercules Poirot. I have now read the first one of each series and I like them both. I like Ms. Marple in the fact that she is older, a woman, and not in everybody's face about things. She just sits back and "watches." Hercules Poirot is an actual detective. In this novel he was "retired" and had come to live in this town to live a peaceful, retired life. But of course, there is a case for him to solve. I have to admit that I was very shocked at the end of this book. I had suspected this person at the beginning, but immediately dismissed him, as all the other characters did as well. Unfortunately I cannot give anything away about this book because it would spoil the entire story. But, it was very good. With Poirot you get to walk in the detective's footsteps and follow along with him on the case. The story is not written from his perspective, but the person whose perspective it is-follows him on the case every step of the way. Although Poirot is French and hard to understand sometimes, you like him and try to think like him. I kept going back to my original suspicions about this particular person, but could never find any real evidence to support that it was him. Read this and then we can chat. I hate reading these types of books and then trying to give a review because the whole review could be a spoiler alert...but this was very good and I thoroughly enjoy reading Agatha Christie. She is my new favorite author!

The Trapp Family Singers

I read the book about the Von Trapp Family-the Sound of Music. I was surprised to find that the movie only comprised about 100 pages or so of the book. The rest of the book was about what happened after the went up into the hills. I really enjoyed it but have to say that I don't if Maria was a real person. I mean she never complained about anything and always found the positive in everything. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that she can be so positive, but I was getting kind of sick of her cheery disposition about everything. I mean throw a fit already! Things did not go so well for all the time and nobody is really that positive are they?
Anyway, enough of that. I liked it and it was nice to know what happens after the movie. I've always wondered if they escaped and what happened to the family after the war, where they went and what they did. And now I know. If you like the movie you'll like the book. I only say that because if you don't care about the hills being alive with the sound of music, then you won't care about what happens to the family. I have to warn you though, this is not an easy read. I like to read at night in bed when it's nice and quiet and I could not get through more than a few pages without falling asleep. I don't know why it's so hard to get through, but it is. Enjoy!