Throughout elementary and middle school, I hated reading. I couldn’t explain why, but reading was never something I looked forward to— it was always a chore. Maybe it had to do with the fact that my mom and dad were both huge readers, and I didn’t want to obey them when they encouraged me to read.
They would end every night sitting side by side in bed; my mom was usually reading a book assigned by one of her 627,819 book clubs and my dad was reading anything from the newest Sports Illustrated to the collective works of a poet that only he had heard about.
Although I eventually learned to like reading, I was never consistent; I would find a book I loved, finish in a day and a half, then not read another book for two months. There were a couple authors I loved, like John Green and Suzanne Collins, but after I sped through their handful of titles, I would stop reading again.
But then I found Agatha.
Agatha Christie wrote over 66 detective novels between 1921 and 1960. What I first liked about her novels were that they were short (around 300 pages) and kept me reading; the plots were so complex that you couldn’t just stop, you needed to finish.
I also knew that I liked her writing style, so once I finished one of her books, and I could just pick up the next one and know I would enjoy it. So far, I’ve made it through 10 of her novels, which may not sound like a lot, but it is quite the feat for me.
Agatha Christie is the best selling author of all time. I’m not joking; many people do not believe this because they have not heard of her. Google “the best selling author of all time” and click on the Wikipedia page— she will be #1 on that list, with Shakespeare coming in at #2.
Honestly, I was shocked by this fact; after years in high school reading Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet, I had assumed Shakespeare was far-and-away the best selling author.
In a man’s world, Agatha Christie became an early feminist icon, not necessarily through her actions, but through her work. After her divorce in 1928, she threw herself into her writing, creating dynamic female characters in a time where female characters were usually ditzy secretaries and wives. She created witty female detectives, like Lucy Eylesbarrow in 4:50 from Paddington, and Miss Marple, an unassuming older woman who regularly shuts down men for “mansplaining” evidence to her. Additionally, many of the murderers end up being women, a phenomenon not often explored by other authors, who thought that women were too naive and emotional to kill another person.
If you are looking for suggestions, you know I have them. Here are many favorite Agatha Christie novels, in order.
- And Then There Were None (1939)
- The A.B.C. Murders (1936)
- Death on the Nile (1937)
- The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (1926)
- Murder on the Orient Express (1934)
- A Murder Is Announced (1950)
- 4.50 From Paddington (1957)
- Crooked House (1949)
- Peril at End House (1932)
- N or M? (1941)
