A Divided Duty

A Divided Duty by Seanan McGuire, 400 pages.

 

Toby Daye is finding a new normal in her makeshift family after her baby was born, a normal which may be upended as Rayseline Torquill original term of offense runs up and her mother tries desperately to pull her from October's home (where she has friends and a therapist) to her own domain. Raysel does in fact find herself kidnapped, and Toby has to return to the dark shadows of her past to get her back.

 

This is the 20th book in the October Daye series, and honestly it was mostly fine. I feel like it really needed another pass with the editors. Most of the book felt like rising action, and the payoff felt underwhelming, leaving the pacing sort of lackluster. It's not a terrible book, but if this was the quality of the earlier entries I probably never would have gotten into the series. 

Swindle Series

Swindle series by Gordon Korman

Swindle (2008), 252 pgs.

Griffin Bing does not stand for injustice. In fact, more likely than not, you will find him outlining and executing a plan to right some wrong. Along with a group of friends, each with their own set of skills, Griffin makes a plan to get back a baseball card which he was swindled out of. These kids are constantly underestimated, but with the right plan, they can show the world that they are not to be messed with.

Zoobreak (2009), 230 pgs.
Griffin and his friends continue their mission of fighting for the little guy--this time for the little furry guys! After a field trip to a floating zoo, the classmates are horrified by the poor living conditions for the creatures in the exhibit. The animals must be freed, and this is just the team to do it. 

Framed (2010), 234 pgs.
When a Super Bowl ring belonging to the school goes missing, all signs point to The Man With a Plan. The thing is--Griffin did not take it. Given his history with heists, Griffin has trouble proving his innocence, so his friends must step up and make a plan to clear their leader's name. 

Showoff (2012), 248 pgs.
Luthor, the hulking Doberman belonging to one of the friends, is in trouble. After going berserk at a dog show and injuring the star canine, his owners are forced to give him up to the pound. Griffin cannot stand to see a member of the team behind bars--even when it may be deserved--so he picks Luthor up and comes up with a plan to tame the beast--by training Luthor to win a dog show of his own. 

Hideout (2013), 275 pgs.
The team must band together again to help Luthor after his malicious previous owner begins suing for custody. The friends decide to take the dog with them to their summer camps and hide him while they figure out what to do. 

Jackpot (2014), 200 pgs.
Someone in Cedarville has won the lottery, but they have yet to claim their prize. As time runs out for the winner, The Man With a Plan takes it upon himself to discover what happened to the winning ticket. If that weren't stressful enough, Griffin must complete this plan alone after a new student moves to town and disrupts the friend-group.  

Unleashed (2015), 202 pgs.
Since his dad is an inventor, you'd think that Griffin would be a shoe-in to win the inventing contest at his school. However, competing against his technology-genius friend, Melissa, is never a good idea. Despite the invention rivalry, when Melissa's invention goes missing, the team must come together once again to make sure it's a fair competition. 

Jingle (2016), 199 pgs.
After being unwillingly signed up for the annual Christmas extravaganza, Griffin and his friends begrudgingly participate--dressing as elves and handing out gifts. When the event is cancelled after a priceless artifact is stolen, the group is slightly relieved to be out of elf-duty--until the blame is shifted their way. In order to clear their names and keep the spirit of the holidays alive, the team completes another plan... this time to save Christmas. 

Dungeon Crawler Carl vol. 1

 

Dungeon Crawler Carl vol. 1 by Matt Dinniman, Tevagah, and Laurel Pursuit Studios, 320 pages.

Chasing his ex-girlfriend's cat through the snow is the only thing that saves Carl's life when aliens crush every structure on the surface. Carl follows a stairway underground that leads him to Dungeon Crawler World, the universe's premier game show and exceptionally lethal death game. Carl better learn the rules of this new world fast, because any mistake could be deadly. 

I was skeptical of this graphic novel of the popular book, not because I don't like the books, but because I suspected this would mostly be a simplified version of the novel I already read with the addition of some occasionally gnarly art. However, I decided to give it a try when it came across the desk at the library, and I'm glad I did! The art here is very expressive, and conveys the action and feelings of the characters very well in a way that felt like it was actually adding something to the original. They also showed a lot of restraint with illustrating the grosser elements of the source material, which I appreciate a lot. I will probably read more of these as they come out! 

The Serpent in Heaven

The Serpent in Heaven by Charlaine Harris, 304 pages. 

 

 This 4th entry in the Gunnie Rose series doesn't actually contain the titular Gunnie Lizbeth Rose, but rather her little sister Felicia. Felicia has been studying at the Grigori Rasputin school in the Holy Russian Empire, although not being taught the kind of magic she wants because nobody there thinks her capable of it. However, when danger comes to the school in the form of Felicia's past, she will have plenty of chances to prove herself. 

 Unfortunately, this is by far the weakest book in the series. This is partially because Felicia is a much weaker than Lizbeth, but not entirely. I also found the hand of "people making nonsensical decisions to make the plot work" to be extra heavy this book, and I had a hard time telling the difference between when 15-year-old Felicia was jumping to crazy conclusions and when those nonsensical conclusions were somehow true. This was weak enough that I'm not sure I will continue the series, but the next book is back to Lizbeth and the fantasy western concept that caught my interest in the first place, so I may give it another chance. 

This Inevitable Ruin

 

This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman, 870 pages.

Floor nine of the dungeon means Faction Wars! And, for the first time in history, the rich and powerful aliens who come to the dungeon to play games with their lives can die too. In this seventh book of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, the chaos is escalating as the system AI goes of the rails and pandemonium spreads outside the dungeon. 

I was really looking forward to this floor, and in some ways it met my expectations, and in some it didn't. On one hand, the out-of-dungeon politics are really interesting, and this book does a great job crystalizing a lot of details of the larger scale plot. On the other, I do feel like this book got a little bogged down in the logistics of a many factioned war, and it often felt less fun and breakneck than many of the other books because of it. I did still enjoy this book, and I will be reading more of the series. I'm excited to be almost caught up!

 

A Longer Fall

 

A Longer Fall by Charlaine Harris, 291 pages.

After the dramatic events of An Easy Death Lizbeth Rose has signed up with a new gun crew for what she hopes is a pretty straightforward job guarding a crate into the neighboring nation of Dixie. Unfortunately, no such luck. A disaster leaves Lizbeth stuck in Dixie, whose conservative norms make it the last place she wants to be, trying to track down her cargo again. When Eli shows up she can't decide if it is a good sign or bad, she is happy to see him again despite herself, but it's also obvious he is hiding things from her. 

This was a fun book, quick and easy to read. I'm enjoying seeing a little more of this post-fractured United States setting. I do think that the plot was weaker in this book than the first one, and the pacing of the climax was a little strange, but I still enjoyed it. I actually listened to the GraphicAudio version of this audiobook on Hoopla, which made it even easier to consume, and I found myself sucked in. I expect to be listening to more of this series soon. 

Think Twice (Myron Bolitar #12)

Think Twice by Harlan Coben (2024), 368 pages 

Again, I have fallen into a book that I did not realize was a whole series. My father often gives me boxes of books when he is finished with them and this was included. I think if I had read the previous novels, this one would have been more impactful. It was a fine read. Coben is always a master of a twisty tale and this is no exception. Was it believable - no. Was the ending a bit of a stretch - yes. So, if you are a fan of the Bolitar series, give it a go. I think you will find it entertaining. If you are jumping into it like me, you might want to reconsider and start with book one. 

Ungifted Series

Ungifted series by Gordon Korman 

Ungifted (2012), 280 pgs.
Donovan Curtis is not the first student that teachers would describe as particularly "gifted." Impulsive: yes. Creative: certainly, in terms of developing unique ways of getting into trouble. Gifted: not the first word that comes to mind. So, when Donovan mistakenly ends up at the Academy for Scholastic Distinction in classes with kids who have IQs twice his own, he feels a little out of place. However, for the sake of his family and his dignity, he is determined to fit in. So what if he is not academically "gifted," Donovan brings his own strengths to the table. 

Supergifted (2018), 297 pgs.
Noah Youkilis has always been extraordinary. With an IQ over 200, he can perform complex calculations and analyses in his sleep; he can master any academic skill without even trying; but what he'd really like to perfect is the ability to be normal. Finally, Noah's chance has arrived, now that he has been given the chance to attend the "regular" middle school in his district. With Donovan's help and Noah's enthusiasm, what can go wrong?

Hypergifted (2026), 260 pgs. 
Donovan Curtis is going to college--four whole years early! Noah Youkilis, the thirteen year old certified genius, has been accepted into Wilderton University, and he needs someone his age with him to help ease his transition from middle school into college. That's where Donovan comes in. Working as a camp counselor while Noah attends classes, Donovan does his best to make the most of his "free" time, which as it turns out is mostly spent keeping his campers--and Noah--out of trouble. It doesn't take a high IQ to know that this summer will be a chaotic one.  

The first book in this series was one of my favorites growing up, and I think it is the strongest so far (although that could just be my nostalgia talking). Ungifted does a good job of recognizing that there are many different ways to be "gifted," you just need to give people the attention and space to show it. With Supergifted, Korman took a turn for the dramatic, upping the ante quite a bit, but still included a good message: if you give people a chance, they might surprise you. These first two books are all about perception--how people perceive others based on certain assumptions and how to cut through those assumptions and get to know the person underneath. Hypergifted is more of a story written for entertainment. Reading about Noah and Donovan getting into shenanigans on a college campus is fun, but there doesn't seem to be a deeper message--which is okay! Overall this series is a pretty fun ride for middle-grade readers (and fully grown adult me). 

Unshelved

Unshelved collections by Bill Barnes and Gene Ambaum

Library Mascot Cage Match: an Unshelved Collection (2005), 120 pgs. 

Book Club: an Unshelved Collection (2006), 120 pgs. 

Frequently Asked Questions: an Unshelved Collection (2008), 135 pgs.

Have you ever wished for a comic about libraries? Well it already exists in the form of Unshelved, a web comic which ran from 2002-2016. These strips, created by librarian Gene Ambaum and cartoonist Bill Barnes, include everything from the mundane, everyday situations that occur in the public library, all the way to the most absurd. If you can't get enough of your library, give these comics a read.

There are some real gems in here and a few duds (as is to be expected in a few years worth of weekly comics). Overall, though, most strips hold up pretty well and are still relatable to daily life in the library! (Thankfully not the jokes involving the nudist patron.)

Delicious in Dungeon vols 9-14

 Delicious in Dungeon vols 9-14 by Ryoko Kui (trans. Taylor Engel), 1256 pages.

This final arc of Delicious in Dungeon follows the party as they finally reach the lowest levels of the dungeon, and find deeply hidden secrets about its basic nature. While previous volumes have dealt a lot with exploration and eating monsters, this gets more deeply into the meat of the plot (if you'll forgive the pun). Reaching the mad mage is only the beginning. 

 This was a very satisfying end to a series I was really enjoying. The twists felt well implemented, and I really liked the arcs for all of the characters. I want especially to shout out volume 14, which allowed the series one slow volume right at the end to wrap everything up in a way that felt very relaxed and complete. This, as much as anything else, really emphasizes what a character focused series this was. Highly recommended as a relatively short, approachable manga to enter the genre through. 

The Maze Runner Trilogy

The Maze Runner series by James Dashner

The Maze Runner (2009), 375 pgs.
Imagine waking up in a dark elevator, ascending to God-knows-where, with no memory of how you got there or--more importantly--who you are. That is what happened to Thomas when he entered the Maze. After arriving in "the Box," as the other boys called it, Thomas stepped out into a world entirely new to him, but somehow slightly familiar. The group of guys who greeted him explained that he was the newest member of the Gladers, a group of teenagers who lived in the center of a huge maze with no memory of why they are there. Thomas knew he must have a purpose, and when the newest arrival came up in the Box, that purpose became all the more clear: he must escape the Maze. 

The Scorch Trials (2010), 360 pgs.
After the dramatic conclusion to The Maze Runner, Thomas and his closest friends find themselves once again trapped in another large test, grasping for ways to survive. This time, the team of teenage boys--and some new friends--are given a mission: cross the desert and receive the cure for a deadly disease to which they have all been exposed. As the friends fight their way across the "Scorch," encountering other desperate, infected people, they begin to see more clearly the terrible state of the world outside of the Maze, and they start to uncover more about the mystery of why they were put there.

The Death Cure (2011), 325 pgs.
In this third and final installment of The Maze Runner series, Thomas faces all that has happened. He must finally confront the corporation which has been running experiments on him and his friends in the name of scientific discovery. He must determine what his role will be going forward, and how he will save his friends--those who are still alive--and the rest of society. It all comes down to Thomas, and after the trials he has been put through, he better be ready.

This series very much runs in the same vein as other YA dystopian novels-turned-movies from the early 2010s like Hunger Games and Divergent, but beyond similarities in terms of setting and overall themes, The Maze Runner books are nowhere near as good as those other genre legends. The first book is the strongest, with the most interesting and well put-together plot, but after that the series loses focus and wanders in different directions, seemingly without a point or destination in sight. The characters and their relationships are pretty shallowly written. The main character especially is also reallllyyy annoying in my opinion. Dylan O'Brien plays him much more likeable in the movies than he is written. I was not a big fan of this series on my re-reading, but the first one is still a fun pick if you're craving a nostalgia read from that era of YA dystopia (although you would be much better off just reading The Hunger Games).

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold

 Through Gates of Garnet and Gold by Seanan McGuire, 149 pages.

Everyone thought that when Nancy found her door and got to go home, nobody at Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children would ever see her again. But when ghosts start devouring the living statues in the Halls of the Dead she realizes she wants to live more than she wants to be in the place it feels like she belongs, so she is back at the school asking Eleanor to break the school's "no quests" rule again. 

It was so nice to spend time with Nancy again! Overall, this book does a good job bringing back a lot of the original cast from the first book, and giving them a chance to interact again. I also found the descriptions of the Halls of the Dead very striking. That being said, I feel like that character work in this book is a little weaker than many other in the series. Despite the fact that Kade is in this book the whole time, I don't feel like I know much more about him then when we started, and even Nancy's major changes seem to happen mostly off-page. I'm still really enjoying this series, but I don't know that this is the strongest entry.

Percy Jackson Series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief (2005), 375 pgs.
Percy Jackson is not your typical twelve-year-old. He sees things other people don't seem to notice--things that seem impossible. He has been kicked out of every school he has attended due to the many strange things that seem to happen when he is around. Things only get stranger for Percy when he finds out that he is a child of one of the Greek gods! He makes his way to Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigods like him, and embarks on an adventure with his new friends, Grover and Annabeth, like the ones he had only read about in Greek myths. All of a sudden, the fate of Olympus is in Percy's hands, and he must do what he can to defend this world he only just discovered.

The Sea of Monsters (2006), 279 pgs.
A year has passed since Percy realized he was a child of one of the Olympians, and he is excited to return to his newfound home-away-from-home--Camp Half-Blood. After miraculously making it through most of the school year without any strange incidents, Percy's summer starts off with a bang, and he is thrown right back into the chaos of Greek mythology. After finding out that camp is in trouble, Percy and Annabeth embark on another epic quest, this time into the Sea of Monsters, to retrieve the one thing that could save their friends and their home.

The Titan's Curse (2007), 312 pgs.
A blustery snowstorm sets the mood for this darker third book in the series. Grover has found two young demigods at a boarding school, and Percy and his friends have arrived to bring them to camp. When things go horribly wrong, and one of his best friends goes missing, Percy is left feeling helpless. A team leaves from Camp Half-Blood, traveling across the country in search of their missing friend, and one thing is very clear. Something sinister is looming over Camp Half-Blood, like a dark storm rolling in, and they must figure out what is going on before it's too late.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008), 361 pgs. 
Camp Half-Blood's enemies grow stronger every day. New demigods join their ranks to fight against the gods of Olympus and everything the camp stands for. As the enemies look for ways to invade Percy's home-away-from-home, they turn to the labyrinth--a humungous maze designed to confuse anyone who dares enter. Percy and his friends must figure out how to navigate the labyrinth before their foes, otherwise they must prepare for battle on their home turf. 

The Last Olympian (2009), 381 pgs. 
Things have changed at Camp Half-Blood since the events of last summer. The date of Percy's sixteenth birthday, the day that a terrible prophecy is set to begin, creeps nearer, and the campers seem to be preparing for war. Percy himself is training harder than ever, but he still isn't sure he is ready for what is coming. Their enemies are strong, and the campers may not be able to count on the gods to come to their rescue this time. The fate of Olympus is once again at stake, and this is the summer when everything will change. Will Percy be the hero everyone expects him to be? Or will Olympus fall once and for all?

Anyone who enjoys Harry Potter and/or Greek mythology will love this middle-grade series. The characters are loveable, and they really grow throughout the series. Rick Riordan does a great job balancing humor and drama, and each book has higher stakes than the last, but it never feels overdone. 

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride

 The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman, 832 pages.

The eighth floor of the dungeon is haunted by the past. Partially in the obvious sense that the floor is made up of memories reconstructed of the last days before the world ended, and partially because old gods and grudges are coming into play at every level. The crawlers are scattered across the globe (or at least representations of the globe) and set to capture monsters to turn into assets to use for a trading card game to fight the dungeon's bosses. The crawlers are mastering working together, and it's almost time to make everyone profiting on their extermination pay. 

This is the sixth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and it's exciting to see many of the overarching plot elements from outside of the dungeon come into play. The mechanics of this floor were interesting, as was seeing the crawlers get around them. These books remain compulsively readable (I always stay up too late when I'm reading one) and I'm having a great time with the series! I expect the next book is where many of the most important plots are going to come to fruition, so I am very excited to get to it!

Silver and Lead

 Silver and Lead by Seanan McGuire, 389 pages.

In this 19th installment of the October Daye series, Toby has to deal with the fact that she is much less indestructible then she has gotten used to. Well, technically she is nearly as indestructible, but she is also more than eight months pregnant, which really limits how much danger she can throw herself into. But when Queen Windermere demands that Toby investigates some dangerous items that were stolen from the royal treasury she doesn't fight the assignment too hard. Her loved ones have hardly let her leave the house for the last four months, and heroes were not made to sit peacefully on the couch indefinitely. 

I love how much fun McGuire is clearly having putting Toby in very different situations than she has been in previously. There was good action in this book, and it gave many series staples a chance to shine. That being said, I do also feel that this book was a little weighed-down by nineteen books of background information being presented as exposition. I was also hopeful that this book would be a return to Toby doing detective work, but unfortunately it was more of a book where plot happens to her. The villain at one point says that Toby has never been smart so much as persistent, but that persistence works surprisingly well when you're nearly indestructible, and unfortunately Toby doesn't do a whole lot to disprove that claim in this book. Not a bad entry to the series, but not likely to be my favorite either. 

Wind and Truth

 Wind and Truth by Brandon Sanderson, 1330 pages.

This book marks the end of the first arc of the Stormlight Archive, and ties the many interwoven threads to their conclusion. It is difficult both to summarize the fifth book in a series, and also one that is well over 1000 pages, so I'm going to be very brief. This book takes place in the 10 days between the agreement between Dalinar and the god Odium at the end of the last book, and the contest that they agreed upon. Both sides are desperately trying to gain or keep ground before borders solidify at the time of the contest. Meanwhile, others seek answers from the ancient past and the Heralds to find any long-term advantage against Odium. 

For the first section of this book I finally experienced some of the issues that people who don't like these books have complained about. There was a perspective character whose story I didn't care much about, and I was impatient to get back to story lines I cared more about, while also feeling like the perspectives shifted a little to fast to really settle into any story. That being said, once it hit its stride I found myself completely hooked as usual. There were a whole lot of really standout scenes in this book, in addition to the answers to many deep lore questions. I love that characters in this series, which despite being classic high fantasy is ultimately about mental health, are able to not only make meaningful progress, but to maintain that growth from book to book. The end of this book managed to really surprise me, and I am ready to settle into the expected tragically long wait until book six. 

The Butcher's Masquerade

 The Butcher's Masquerade by Matt Dinniman, 707 pages.

It's the sixth floor, which means the hunters are here and it's time to fight. The hunting grounds is a lush jungle full of both normal dungeon dangers and hunters from outside the game looking to murder crawlers for this equipment. But this floor is also the only place where outsiders can truly die in the dungeon, and Carl intends to make them bleed for it. It's time to start fighting back. 

I really enjoyed this entry to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series. It is becoming increasingly obvious that this production is going off the tracks, as more and more elements from outside the game are becoming very relevant inside the dungeon. The alien corporation who runs Dungeon Crawler World is clearly losing control, and I'm very excited to see what kind of wild and chaotic plans can come out of that. I continue to find this series unbelievably addictive, and I'm looking forward to continuing it after what I'm sure will be a pretty short break.

The Gate of the Feral Gods

 The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman, 589 pages.

This is the fourth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, you can read my review of the first one here. After the crawlers started getting a little too unified at the end of the fourth floor, the powers-that-be decided that this floor they would be randomly split apart into hundreds of bubbles, each with four castles that must be defeated before anyone would be allowed to leave the bubble and meet up with anyone else. While less complicated than the train puzzles of the 4th floor, nothing is ever easy on Dungeon Crawler World, and Carl will have to rely on the low level and minimally confident people in the bubble with him to get out alive. 

I continue really enjoying watching this series build on itself. Each floor presents something similar enough to the rest of the series to be a satisfying continuation, while also being new and different enough to present really interesting problems. On top of that, events outside of the dungeon are becoming increasingly visible and relevant. I don't know if this is my favorite book in the series, it's a little simple compared to some of the others, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it. 

The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

 The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook by Matt Dinniman, 544 pages.

The third book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series takes us to the fourth floor, a very different type of dungeon level. This level is more puzzle than adventure game, with hundreds of train lines winding and twisting in an incomprehensible tangle. Luckily the crawlers, the last remnants of what was once humanity, have started unionizing. Huge networks of crawlers are getting connected, and it seems like together they may just survive this yet.

This was a slightly different type of book than the first two, but I think it did a really good job delving deeper into the themes of the series. I also don't think I've ever been more grateful for an author's note, which assured me before the book started that I didn't have to remember the many, many, many train line names and station numbers, thereby freeing me up to actually think about the story. I'm having a lot of fun with this series! I am currently impatiently waiting for book four to come in on hold. 

Carl's Doomsday Scenario

 Carl's Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman, 384 pages.

Carl and Princess Donut have reached the third floor of the giant dungeon themed game-show that used to be their planet, and the tutorial levels are over. The billions of people who died so far were just the start, and things only get more dangerous as they reach the Over City, the first of the urban dungeon levels. 

This book is a strong follow-up to Dungeon Crawler Carl, the first book in the series. I am really enjoying watching the seeds being planted that I don't expect to come to fruition for several books yet. This is the kind of series that feels like it has its road-map from the start, and I think it's going to be very satisfying to follow along and see everything come together. This book continues to balance humor and emotional depth in a way I find impressive, and all of the things I loved in the first book are still present in this one. I find these books addictive, and I learned from my last mistake and put the next two on hold at once.