The Rise of Kyoshi by F. C. Yee

I was very excited when this book came out as I had found the glimpses of Kyoshi in the Avatar the Last Airbender series absolutely fascinating. She is imposing! She has cool makeup! She fights with metal fans and wears a cool outfit! She founded an entire island of warrior women! Of course I wanted to find out more about this interesting character. I did not expect Kyoshi to become my all time favorite Avatar. Though we see her in the show in her adult years as an imposing and wise Avatar, Kyoshi wasn’t always that way. I found her so easy to connect with as a character.

Kyoshi is an orphan. She had to fight for everything she has which is not much. Not only that, she is terrible at earth bending. She can’t seem to control the smallest of pebbles! Being an orphan, no one considers that she could possibly be the Avatar. The elders believe that the next Avatar will be a strong bender at birth. Kyoshi is abnormally tall, clumsy, and does not fit the beauty standards of those around her. She has to face her share of bullies. Thus Kyoshi ends up working as a servant girl in the mansion that belongs to a boy the elders believe is the real Avatar!

The Rise of Kyoshi follows our hero as she finds out who she really is. As Aang had his faithful companions, we get to meet Kyoshi’s gang of close friends. One stand out is Rangi, a fiery spark of a fire bender who is such a strong and loyal friend. The relationship between Kyoshi and Rangi was a pleasure to read. Being an orphan, Kyoshi deeply values the friendships and connections she makes. She feels that she is a guardian of sorts and will not let anything happen to those she cares about.

There is plenty of epic bending fights with bandits and other baddies the team comes across. The overarching villain is so well written. His motives are understandable from a power hungry twisted perspective. He is a very powerful and worthy opponent for Kyoshi.

There were points in this book I wanted to cry, cheer, and laugh with the characters. I really felt a connection with them and the author did really well exploring these relationships. Kyoshi is a LGBTQ Avatar, but I am not going to spoil who she has feelings for. I can say that the relationship was very well written and believable. The novel takes the reader on a journey as Kyoshi grows as a person and learns how to control the four elements and assume her role as the true Avatar. (Questions about where the fans and face paint came from are also answered.) This book ends making you want more! I read this book so fast as I could not put it down! Luckily there is a sequel. The second book in the series reviewed below resumes Kyoshi’s story.

Recommended for fans of Avatar the Last Airbender, epic battles, fantasy worlds, political intrigue, LGBTQ, magic, and flying bison.

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Before I moved to Sheboygan I had to commute to work. I had about a 40 minute drive at the time. I fought the boredom of the long drive by listening to audio books on CD. I had been getting into mysteries and knew that Agatha Christie was one of the big names in that genre. My journey began by picking up The Mysterious Affair at Styles (narrated by Hugh Fraser, who stars as Hastings in the Poirot TV show.) From that mystery I was hooked and needed more of the little Belgian detective and his excitable sidekick. After moving to Sheboygan a few years ago I switched from audiobook to paperback, the voices from the audio series still in my head for the various main characters. I finally came to the end of my journey with Hercule Poirot this past week with finishing the final book: Curtain. What a worthy ending to a great series and brilliant detective!

The Hercule Poirot Series by Agatha Christie

Agatha Christie started writing her Poirot series in 1916 and had the first novel published in 1920. While the series is of the mystery genre it is fascinating as it provides a window into the time period it was written in. The series kicks off with Captain Hastings coming home with a war injury. WWI and WWII are not the focus of the books, but the impact of the wars are clearly seen throughout the series. From a historical standpoint it is interesting to get a glimpse of how WWII was affecting the English people as they tried to continue with their daily lives. This is most clearly shown in the title Taken at the Flood in which Poirot casually waits in a bomb shelter during a raid and listens to a stranger discuss a suspicious death. The series continues into the 1960’s where they provide a glimpse into the changing times and culture of that era. As I enjoy historical fiction as well, I found this element to be just as engaging as they mysteries themselves.

The mysteries kept me guessing from beginning to end. If you are a fan of mysteries like myself, you probably find yourself trying to solve it before the detective by the end. As for this series, just when I thought I had the system figured out, there would be some huge twist that I certainly was not expecting. If you are a fan of twist endings the book I most recommend in this series is The Murder of Roger Ackroyd as I believe that book had the biggest twist of the lot.

As for the characters, after the first book it felt as if they were already friends I had known for ages. Captain Hastings is young. He has a hopeless romantic personality and always tries to see the bright side of life. He is Poirot’s best friend and sidekick in the early books. In the later books Poirot meets Ariadne Oliver, the author of a mystery fiction series. She is also a lot of fun and has a quirky personality. Due to her fame as a writer of mystery fiction in the series, she ends up getting caught up in real murder mysteries and often has to come seek out Poirot for help. Hercule Poirot is of course the main hero of the series. He is a short Belgian detective who is known for his impressive mustache. He believes that any mystery can be solved by “using the little grey cells”. A student of psychology and the study of human nature, Poirot uses this to figure out the connections and motives in cases. It is interesting to see how the human mind works from his point of view. He has a very analytical mind which often plays against Hastings’ more fantastic theories. Poirot is a very immaculate person with an obsession for symmetry. These quirks provide often needed humor and serve to make him a rather endearing character in addition to helping him notice anything suspiciously out of place while solving a crime.

I started trying to compile a list of favorite titles to share in this article. Going back over each book I realized that I loved almost all of them. Elephants Can Remember seemed perhaps the weakest of them as Poirot did not seem to be in it as much as I would have liked. However that title comes right at the end before Curtain. Curtain, being the last novel, finished the series with a bang! (No pun intended). I was very satisfied with the ending and felt Agatha Christie did right by her characters and the series to wrap it up in the way she did.

Now that I have finished the book series I have been binge watching the TV show Poirot staring David Suchet and Hugh Fraser. I find it to be just as good as the books! There have also been three new movies based on Poirot books (A Haunting in Venice VERY loosely based.). The movies star Kenneth Branagh. You can also listen to Agatha Christie’s Poirot series on audio. When I first started searching for audio, I found there are a few different voice narrators. I recommend finding the set narrated by Hugh Fraser. He does the best in doing the various voices and pulling the reader into the story. Of course, you can also find all the titles in book format at the library or through our online catalogue. Happy reading!

Hercule Poirot books in order:
1. The Mysterious Affair at Styles
2. The Murder on the Links
3. Poirot Investigates
4. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
5. The Big Four
6. The Mystery of the Blue Train
7. Black Coffee
8. Peril At End House
9. Lord Edgware Dies
10. Murder on the Orient Express
11. Three Act Tragedy
12. Death in the Clouds
13. The ABC Murders
14. Murder in Mesopotamia
15. Cards on the Table
16. Dumb Witness
17. Death on the Nile
18. Murder in the Mews
19. Appointment With Death
20. Hercule Poirot’s Christmas
21. Sad Cypress
22. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
23. Evil Under the Sun
24. Five Little Pigs
25. The Hollow
26. The Labors of Hercules
27. Taken at the Flood
28. Mrs. Mcginty’s Dead
29. After the Funeral
30. Hickory Dickory Dock
31. Dead Man’s Folly
32. Cat Among the Pigeons
33. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding *only in audio CD format in the catalog*
34. The Clocks
35. Third Girl
36. Hallowe’en Party
37. Elephants Can Remember
38. Curtain