THE MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR AT STYLES (Agatha Christie) - February 18/17

Big ol' nope for this one. I like the character of Poirot but the book's relentless emphasis on his investigation grows increasingly interminable and intolerable. Seriously, I feel like you could've boiled this whole thing down to a five page short story without losing any "character development" (of which there's virtually none). It's gonna be a while before I tackle another Poirot story, that's for sure. * out of ****

FIFTY SHADES DARKER (E.L. James) - Feb. 3/17

Okay, this is *way* too long. I don't remember there being this many sex scenes in the first one and I'll admit they grew awfully tedious as the book went on, to the point where as soon as one showed up, it was my cue to start speed-reading that portion. But I otherwise enjoyed the melodrama of Christian and Ana's relationship, and the various complications (eg Elena, Jack, etc). Solid ending, too, where Elena is forced out of Christian's life and Jack re-emerges as a villain! **1/2 out of ****