"Love That Dog" by Sharon Creech is about a boy in school who doesn't think he likes poetry and even less doesn't believe he can write poetry. Through his journal entries we learn about the poems that he is introduced to in school. Slowly his writing takes on the appearance and tone of poetry. He is fascinated with a poet, Walter Dean Myers, whom his teacher is able to plan a visit to the school by this poet. That fascinates the boy and his poem about his dog Sky is influenced by Myers' poem, "Love That Boy." This is a book recommended for reluctant readers in the 4th to 6th grade level. I am glad I read this novel and was impressed by the method of introduction to poetry for the teacher's students.

Reading Agatha Christie

I keep telling myself that I am going to read all of Agatha Christie in order by publication date. I have made a start but haven't gotten that far. Here is an introduction list I should try to remember:
 The Mysterious Affair at Styles
The Secret Adversary
Murder on the Links
Poirot Investigates (short stories)
Poirot's Early Cases (short stories)
The Man in the Brown Suit
The Secret of Chimneys
The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
The Big Four
The Mystery of the Blue Train
Black Coffee (play novelization by Charles Osborne)
Partners in Crime (short stories)
The Seven Dials Mystery
The Murder at the Vicarage
The Mysterious Mr Quin (short stories)
The Sittaford Mystery
Some of these I read many years ago, but I think I should just start over and watch the progression of her work by reading them in order. From this list I don't think I've ever read " The Big Four." Once I tried to read "A Caribbean Mystery" but just couldn't get into it. "The Sittaford Mystery" always grabs me on the first page and draws me right into it. I do like a good mystery.

Too Bad To Die by Francine Mathews

Francine Mathews has written a spy novel in Too Bad To Die. She recreates the drama around the Cairo Conference with chief players Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt. In her fictionalized version she has Ian Fleming working as a Naval Intelligence officer becoming involved in the protection of the three players that are to meet in Tehran, Iran in the coming days of 1943. It is Franklin D. Roosevelt's first meeting with Joseph Stalin. Word is out that there is an assassination plot to kill all three in Tehran as Churchill, Roosevelt, and Stalin work out the details of the western invasion of Europe to conquer Htitler. The thriller suspense novel is excellent, the pacing is suburb and the details of the locale all standout to make an excellent novel. Many characters are drawn in the drama, some fictitious but many are drawn on real players at the time. Churchill is traveling with his daughter in-law, Pamela Churchill and his daughter Sarah Churchill Oliver. He also has his communication specialist who helps Ian Fleming send and receive messages to Alan Turing, who has broken the Enigma Code. Ian Fleming learns there is a spy among the American and British entourage and he goes undercover to learn the identity and protect Churchill. "Absolutely marvelous! This novel masterfully weaves fact and fiction into a high-pitched thriller that keeps us spellbound from the very first pages. Great plotting, exotic locales, and historical characters who positively come alive on the page, with some delightful sly winks along the way." Jeffrey Deaver, New York Times