Hey guys! It’s time to look back at my reading list for this month, and I’m actually pretty happy with it! Unlike September, I was able to get some stuff read even though I was pretty busy most of the time. October feels like it’s been a terribly long month, and I honestly don’t remember what order I read these in, but I suppose that’s not important, haha! As you might have seen at the beginning of this month, I was doing a little reading challenge where I could only read spooky/autumnal reads. I made an exception for one book, as you will see on the list, but I did my best to stick to it! Take a look!

The Pale Horse by Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery/Crime

Synopsis: The dying woman turned to Father Gorman with agony in her eyes. “Stopped….It must be stopped….You will….”

The priest spoke with reassuring authority. “I will do what is necessary. You can trust me.”

Father Gorman tucked the list of names she had given him into his shoe. It was a meaningless list; the names were of people who had nothing in common.

On his way home, Father Gorman was murdered. But the police found the list and when Mark Easterbrook came to inquire into the circumstances of the people listed, he began to discover a connection between them, and an ominous pattern….

Every name of that list was either already dead or, he suspected, marked for murder.

~ ~ ~

I decided that I didn’t really like this one, even though I was pretty fond of Mark. It was pretty strange, and as far as Christie’s plot twists go, this one wasn’t as shocking and I could kind of see coming. It was pretty easy to tell who was lying and who wasn’t. Still, I am biased towards her writing, so I can’t say it was a bad book in any way. I mean, it wasn’t a bad book! It just didn’t really capture my attention as well.

As I mentioned, the plot was sort of predictable, though there were plenty of things involved that I wouldn’t have been able to guess. The characters were honestly a little flat at times, but again, I did like Mark. And hey, I’ve got to give some points to Hugh Fraser, the narrator of the audiobook, because he honestly makes these stories come to life!

If you like Agatha Christie, I would say go on a read this one! But if you haven’t gotten into her books yet, I wouldn’t start with this one.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Kingdom Hearts II Vol. 1 by Shiro Amano

Genre: Manga

Synopsis: A young boy named Roxas whiles away the last days of his summer vacation with his three best friends in their quiet little home of Twilight Town. But all is not as it should be in this hamlet nestled between night and day. Strange things keep happening around Roxas, which always seem to involve mysterious creatures…and he is plagued by dreams of a boy named Sora, whom he has never met. Bewildered, Roxas searches for answers . . . Will they lead him to Sora, Donald, and Goofy?

~ ~ ~

This is the exception I mentioned above. My dad had found this in the San Antonio Library, so of course I asked him to borrow it for me. I had to give it back to the library pretty quickly, so I ended up breaking my challenge for it. But hey, it’s Kingdom Hearts! Of course I broke a challenge to read Kingdom Hearts content!

I was pretty happy with what I read, and it gave me all sorts of nostalgia. KHII is my all-time favorite video game, so reading at least the beginning part of the game (as it says, it was only volume 1) was just the thing I needed to get me out of my reading slump. I talk about Kingdom Hearts all the time on here, so I feel like there’s not really much to say about it (unless any of y’all requested a single book review on it, I could cook something up, haha!).

If you are a Kingdom Hearts fan, I highly recommend this!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning | The Reptile Room | The Wide Window | The Miserable Mill by Lemony Snicket

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: I’m sorry to say that the book you are holding in your hands is extremely unpleasant. It tells an unhappy tale about three very unlucky children. Even though they are charming and clever, the Baudelaire siblings lead lives filled with misery and woe. From the very first page of this book when the children are at the beach and receive terrible news, continuing on through the entire story, disaster lurks at their heels. One might say they are magnets for misfortune.

~ ~ ~

I thought it was high time I got into this series, and to be honest, I don’t really know what to think about it. It was nothing like I expected. I always thought it was funny how the synopsis tells you to read a different book if you want something happy. I was like, “well, of course I usually don’t read happy things, so this should be fine!”

And…

Honestly this series really bums me out. In fact, it actually creeps me out a whole bunch, too. Yes, it may be a series for kids, but it just digs right into one of my greatest fears. I mean, it literally gave me a nightmare. I feel silly saying that, but if you have read this series, maybe you know what I mean. The kids literally don’t have anyone, and no one will ever believe them when they’re in like, life or death situations. I really hate that!

So that being said, it was strange to read these books, because sometimes I could see where they would be for kids, and I would be bored. But then there’s moments when they talk about suicide, or murder (which happens a lot), and I’m like, “this is a little much for a kid.” All the same, it’s a very strange book.

Still, I like them. They’re entertaining at any rate. I like the kids, especially Klaus, but all the adults are just plain dumb. I guess that’s what Snicket was trying to do though, make the adults dumb. It made things annoying a lot of the time, but then again, the kids were awfully annoyed by it, too!

And now it’s story time, because I happened to encounter a very unfortunate event myself. The other night I decided that since I was four books in, I might as well try out the TV show. If you’ve watched the TV show, you know where this is going, haha! So I’m watching it, and I just know I probably shouldn’t be, since I haven’t read the whole series. Turns out my gut feeling was right, because lo and behold at the very end of episode one, the biggest spoiler in the series is revealed!

The A.B.C. Murders by Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery/Crime

Synopsis: When Alice Asher is murdered in Andover, Hercule Poirot is already looking into the clues. Alphabetically speaking, it’s one letter down, twenty-five to go.

There’s a serial killer on the loose. His macabre calling card is to leave the ABC Railway Guide beside each victim’s body. But if A is for Alice Asher, bludgeoned to death in Andover, and B is for Betty Bernard, strangled with her belt on the beach at Bexhill, who will then be Victim C? More importantly, why is this happening?

~ ~ ~

This was an excellent example of Agatha Christie’s works! I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one, but I knew it was pretty popular. I was not disappointed! I felt like I knew who the killer was all along, but of course, nothing is as it seems in this one. What a twist!

As per usual, I loved Poirot in this one, and I was pretty fond of the other characters (especially Donald). This one is pretty fast-paced, and it’s full of twists and turns. I thought it was interesting how Christie wrote Alexander. I honestly felt bad for him!

I don’t really want to give too much away, but I will say that if you have not read any Christie books, this is a good one to start with! I highly recommend!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

The Mystery of the Blue Train by Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery/Crime

Synopsis: A mysterious woman, a legendary cursed jewel, and a night train from London to the French Riviera — ingredients for the perfect romance or the perfect crime? When the train stops, the jewel is missing, and the woman is found dead in her compartment. It’s the perfect mystery, filled with passion, greed, deceit, and confusion. Is Hercule Poirot is the perfect detective to solve it?

~ ~ ~

I thought this one started off a little slow, but I was hooked before long. I liked the characters pretty much right off the bat, especially Rufus. I was clueless nearly the whole time as to who committed the crime, but it hit me closer to the end. I did NOT want it to be this particular character, but alas, it ended up being this character. Oh well!

Still, I was glad Poirot once again caught the murderer. I mean, of course he did! I find it funny that I actually like Poirot, because usually I’m annoyed with characters who think so highly of themselves. It’s just, he really is the greatest, haha! Anyway, I couldn’t decide whether I liked Rufus’ daughter or not, but I did like the dynamic between her and her father. I was kind of sad when she got hers. Honestly I thought it was her husband who did it half the time, but… Did he? I won’t say, haha!

In regards to recommending this one, I’m not really sure what to say. For beginners, I would say to turn elsewhere, like to And Then There Were None or Murder on the Orient Express. But if you’ve read a few of her books, go for it (I mean, any of y’all can go for it whether you’re a beginner or not, of course!).

Rating: 3.75/5 Stars

The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie

Genre: Mystery/Crime

Synopsis: The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells” before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

~ ~ ~

Y’all. WHAT?! My friend had been telling me how this one was the biggest Christie twist he’d ever read, and I kept seeing this one ranked as the number 1 Christie mystery. So, of course, I had to see what I’d been missing out on! Let me tell you, I was nervous the entire time I was listening to this. I was worried I wouldn’t find it as good, or as surprising. But there was absolutely no reason to worry. I was surprised all right, and this is a great book! Definitely one of her best works!

I loved the characters right away, especially Dr. Shepherd. It was fun to see Poirot come out of retirement for the 1000000 time to solve another case, and I feel like he knew all along what was happening, he jut didn’t want to say for one reason or another. I tried to figure out who it was the whole time, and I will say that the truth crossed my mind more than once, and towards the end I was pretty sure of who it was. But I was still surprised when the twist was revealed! It definitely gave me Endless Night vibes, which is still probably my favorite Agatha Christie book.

I highly recommend this one, especially if you’re new to Agatha Christie!

Rating: 5/5 Stars

That’s nine books! I was SO CLOSE to being done with Halloween Party by Agatha Christie, and I had an Edgar Allan Poe manga I was trying to finished, but school got to be a lot towards the end of this month. I’m really hoping to get even more books read in November, because the end of the year is coming up fast and I need to catch up on my reading goal! I’m not going to press myself too hard though, because I still want to enjoy reading and everything. However many I read, I’ve still read quite a bit and I’m happy with the number!

What did you read in October? Let me know in the comments below! And as always, God bless y’all and have a wonderful week!

Synopses taken from Goodreads.