The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids tells the story of Amra, a careful thief who is drawn into the revenge game when her friend is murdered in the middle of the night. While following the trail of his killer, she finds herself thrown in jail for no reason, running from a price on her head, befriending a wizard and closing a hell gate. In other words, this is a very plot focused book where the setting could really be any fantasy town and the character development is minimal.

That’s not to say that The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braid’s is a bad story, in fact there is simply the assumption that you have read a fantasy novel before and have an understanding of what the general rules are. For example: there is a huge power differential between those with money and those without, magic always comes with a price, gods speak through their priests who expect offerings in exchange for favors. The fun thing about the lack of world building and following the tried and true rules is that you can plunk the story into the world of your choosing and imagine your favorite characters running around elsewhere while Amra makes decisions like shaving her head to get rid of lice and maneuvers over cliff edges to sneak into fancy houses.

I don’t see myself reading any more books in the series, but The Thief Who Pulled on Trouble’s Braids was a fun ride. Perhaps there is more world building in future books, but in my experience first person narratives lead to short scenes due to the limits of narrator perspective. That aside, I do find myself super curious about the eight armed goddess apparently coming out of her prison and wonder how else Amra is going to contribute to that.

It’s hard to believe that I’m already selecting a book for October and that we’re three book clubs away from the end of the year. Let’s hop back into historical fiction and read something from Reese’s Book Club (I’ve never tried one of her recs before!): The Giver of Stars. I’ve read and enjoyed Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, let’s find out if this one is also a tear jerker together.

Alice Wright marries handsome American Bennett Van Cleve hoping to escape her stifling life in England. But small-town Kentucky quickly proves equally claustrophobic, especially living alongside her overbearing father-in-law. So when a call goes out for a team of women to deliver books as part of Eleanor Roosevelt’s new traveling library, Alice signs on enthusiastically.

The leader, and soon Alice’s greatest ally, is Margery, a smart-talking, self-sufficient woman who’s never asked a man’s permission for anything. They will be joined by three other singular women who become known as the Packhorse Librarians of Kentucky.

What happens to them–and to the men they love–becomes an unforgettable drama of loyalty, justice, humanity and passion. These heroic women refuse to be cowed by men or by convention. And though they face all kinds of dangers in a landscape that is at times breathtakingly beautiful, at others brutal, they’re committed to their job: bringing books to people who have never had any, arming them with facts that will change their lives.

Based on a true story rooted in America’s past, The Giver of Stars is unparalleled in its scope and epic in its storytelling. Funny, heartbreaking, enthralling, it is destined to become a modern classic–a richly rewarding novel of women’s friendship, of true love, and of what happens when we reach beyond our grasp for the great beyond.