It was a slow week last week. I spent the bulk of the week working through two thick books. Both were due on the same day at the end of the week and I managed to get one done, the other I might have kept a few extra days. What’s a few cents worth of a fine? Right? Does this go on some record somewhere?
As always I will talk in a video if you’d rather watch, link to the channel is in the side.
The first of the big chunkers I finished was War of the Roses : Stormbird by Conn 
Iggulden. This is a big step out of my comfort zone. This is a historical novel, one that isn’t Victorian or classical, but more contemporary in publication. This is part of what I think is a quartet outlining the events leading up to, and what happened during the War of the Roses. I know very little about the actual royal line and government of that era and place (about as much as my own government sadly, maybe less) so I thought I’d try something out like this to give me some lessons, but in a fun way. This managed to do that! It was engaging throughout, starting with marriage of the English King to a French princess and how everything crumbled from there. I particularly found myself attached to a lot of these characters even though I repeatedly reminded myself ‘everyone will probably die’. For the record some of them did, and I was sad and disappointed. I was overall impressed with this and the juggling of so many different characters and timelines, I say try this one! Even if you aren’t a huge fan of the historical novel genre this might work. The talk about war and weaponry alone was almost enough to convince my husband to read it.
The second chunker I finished was The Magpie Murders by Anthony Horowitz. This has been a fairly buzzy new mystery release that gives you a book within a book, and a 
mystery within a mystery. Our main narrator Susan is an editor for a big name mystery writer and she receives what is going to be the last book in his series. We read, first Susan introducing herself and the book, giving us some usual forewarning and teasing of the drama that fell out from this book then we read the book itself. It cuts off at the end of what would have been that book and we take up the mystery in Susan’s timeline, having not been given the resolution of the inside novel. It was a puzzle. I really loved the book within the book, the last Atticus mystery. That was a solid cozy mystery. The mystery that involved Susan felt more modern and didn’t seem as strong to me, her plot seemed weak and not nearly as well thought-out. Still I was sucked in wanting to know what happened to the inside mystery. Ultimately I’m torn on if I like the structure of a stronger story propelling the weaker one or if I find it cheesy. I also can’t help but think they’re inseparable, I just wish Susan’s story had worked better for me. It was also an interesting meeting of new and old in the mystery style. Overall I do think it’s a must read for any mystery reader.
That sums up my non-Victober reading. The two books I did read in the past week for Victober were The Poor Clare by Elizabeth Gaskell and Garthowen by Allen Raine. So look for those in a Victober wrap-up tomorrow! Thanks for reading friends!
Sarah Evermotion's Book Thoughts 
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