This was a really popular fantasy pick a few years ago, and I picked it up at the bookstore at one point, but never read it. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue follows the story a French girl named Addie. Addie grew up in a small French village called Villon-sur-Sarthe in the early 1700s. Addie is promised to an older man, and despite her best efforts, she cannot get out of the marriage. Eventually she summons a dark entity in a last ditch effort to avoid the wedding. This entity promises her that she will live as long as she wants, but the promise has a dark side. She can live forever, never aging or changing, but no one will remember her, and she will be able to make no marks on the world. She can meet a person, but as soon as she leaves their line of sight, they will not remember seeing her. She cannot speak her name. She can't write, or draw, or alter the world in any way. Then, in 2014, she steals a book from a used bookstore, but when she goes the next day, the clerk re...
I rolled this as part of my mystery rolls. When it finally came in from being on hold, I was able to finish it pretty quickly. The Mysterious Affair at Styles follows the story of Arthur Hastings as he stays with friends in a village called Styles St. Mary. The friend, John Cavendish, lives with his step-mother Emily Inglethorp, his wife, his brother, his step-mother's new husband, and a host of servants. One night, while staying at the mansion, Hastings and others in the household are awoken to discover that Mrs. Inglethorp is in significant distress. She has been poisoned. Hastings summons his friend, also living at Styles, Hercule Poirot. Poirot is a Belgian detective, and he quickly steps in to help solve the murder. Will they be able to find the murderer? This book is certainly a product of its time, and the language felt like 1920 when the book was written. It took a little bit to get used to the writing style of the novel, but once I did, the book went quickly. This i...