Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl Book 8 - A Parade of Horribles

 Book: A Parade of Horribles

Author: Matt Dinniman

Pages: 704

This is my 201st read for the year

What Amazon Says:

As chaoe and mass panic spread outside the dungeon in the wake of Faction Wars, Carl and Donut find themselves on the tenth floor, where they're forced to compete in a surprisingly normal set of tasks.  Well, normal for the dungeon.  Races.  Get from point A to point B, and don't come in last.  After each race, they pick an upgrade for their vehicle and the track gets more challenging.  It all seems a little too normal, a little too simple.  Ignore those strange glitches that are occuring with increaing frequency.  Don't listen to those whispers about what's happening on the mysterious eleventh floor, something the system AI calls A Parade of Horribles.  Nobody, not even the showrunners, knows what that means.  Just that the AI has ominously dubbed it "a coming-out party for the ages".Everthing is fine, Crawler.  I repeat, evertyhing is fine.  Carl hates that it's business as usual.  The rules of this floor have taken away his agency.  That just will not do.  So Carl is planning a party of his own.  It's a plan so dangerous, so insance, he can't even consult his friends lest the AI put a stop to it.  Because if it goes wrong, it's not just the end of Carl and Donut.  No.  The stakes are higher than they have ever been. 

Another great installment in the Crawler world.  Dinniman continues to build this incredible world, adding some new characters, but keeping faithful to old favorites.  Happy to see the reappearance of Uzi Jesus.  I continue to take in these books in audio form and I continue to believe this is the best way to consume them.  Jeff the narrator is phenomenal.  So talented.  What a pair he and Dinniman make!  If you are into incredible world building, humor, high stakes, and quite the game, these books are for you.  I am sad I have reached the end of the released series.  Going to be an impatient wait for book 9.

Stars: 5 

Book: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Book: Good Joy, Bad Joy

Author: Mikki Brammer

Pages: 304

This is my 200th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

For over 80 years, Joy Bridport has played by the rules"  She's been a devoted wife and mother, contributing to the community in her small Hudson Valley town.  But her quiet existence is jolted when she learns that her best friend, Hazel, only has months left to live.  Hazel has always been the more adventurous one of their due, and she seems at peace with all that she's squeezed out of her long life.  Yet Joy realizes she can't say the same.  Determined to live boldly and make the most of the time that she and Hazel have left togehter, Joy steps outside of her comfort zone - and into a bit of trouble.  But as her foray into rule-breaking escalates into committing petty crime, Joy must consider what kind of legacy she wants to leave behind, and whether there's a way for her to embrace the liberation that "Bad Joy" offers without losing all that she holds dear.  Is it ever too late to become who we're meant to be?  

Stars:3 

Book: Ten Nights of Dreams

 Book: Ten Nights of Dreams

Author: Natsume Soseki

Pages: 220

This is my 199th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

This collection of 10 connected stories or dreams has a surrealistic atmosphere.  Some are weird, others are grotesquely funny.  Among the 10 nights, the first, second, third and fifth night start with the same sentence.  "This is the dream I dreamed".  Whether Soseki actually had these dreams or whether they were complete fictions is not known.

Stars: 3 

Book: Mostly Human Resources

 Book: Mostly Human Resources

Author: Grace Viall

Pages: 352

This is my 198th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Working in human resources was not what Alexys had in mind when she joined Entity, the private company that categorizes and manages the world's cryptids.  But after her dad was killed on the job as a Warden in the Appalachian Mountains, she was filled with noble ideas of carrying on his legacy - from a safety of a desk.  Alexys dreams of climbing the corporate ladder while managing the Appalachian Wardens and sparring with Nic, the frustrating (and annoyingly attractive) Director of Research and Cataloging.  When one of Alexy's new Wardens goes missing after inquiring about a mysterious and highly dangerous monster, her chances of promotion disappear along with him.  Determined to save her career - and to shield the Warden's family from the trauma she experienced after losing her father on the job - she marches off into the monster - infested wilderness to find him herself.  Meanwhile, Nic, with ambitions of becoming the youngest Entity employee to discover a new monster, follows Alexys on her hunt.  But the work nemeses are about to discover why the Appalachian Mountains are the last place you want to find yourself after dark.  Among mountains older than bones, the jackalopes and ghouls are the least of their worries.

Stars: 3 

Book: All My Mothers

 Book: All My Mothers

Author: Joanna Glen

Pages: 480

This is my 197th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

Story of one girl's journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers - and family - can be discovered in the most unexpected of places.  London, 1980s.  Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martinez-Green is deeply unhappy.  The only child of an emotionally absent mother and a physically absent father, Eva has grown up in a cold, unloving house.  But Eva is convinced that all is notas it seems.  Why are there no baby pictures of her?  Why do her parents avoid all questions about her early years?  When her parent's relationship crumbles, Eva begins looking for a different, better life: a proper family, a perfect mother, and importantly, real love.  Her desire to find where she belongs leads Eva on a journey spanning years and continents - and, along the way, she meets women who challenge her idea of what a mother should be, and who will change her life forever.  

This was a good book.  I wasn't sure about it at first - the main character is obsessive about her past, but it smooths out and starts to flow well.  I like the pace of the book.  This was a complaint by a few people in the comments on Amazon, but honestly - I felt like it spanned a lot of years at a really good pace.  No overwiting just to make the book longer felt right for this one.

Stars: 4

Book: Something is killing the children

Book: Something is Killing The Children

Author: James Tynion

Pages: 512

This is my 196th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

When the children in a sleepy Wisconsin town begin to go missing, all hope seems lost.  Most children never return, and those that do have terrible stories of terrifying creatures that live in the shadows.  But even monsters fear the mysterious stranger that arrives shortly after.  She believes the chidlren and claims to be the only who sees what they can see.  Her name is Erica Slaughter.  She kills monsters.  This is all she does, and she bears the cost because it must be done.

This was a good series.  I have been wanting to read it for a year, and after I read another of Tynion's graphic novels, I decided to take the leap.  Well written.  Very bloody.  Looking forward to the second omnibus.

Stars: 4.5

Book: Old Man's War

 Book: Old Man's War

Author: John Scalzi

Pages: 320

This is my 195th read for the year

What Amazon Says:

John Perry did 2 things on his 75th birthday.  First he visited his wife's grave.  Then he joined the army.  The good news is that humanity finally made it to the stars.  The bad news is that, out there, planets fit to live on are scare - and alien races willing to fight us for them are common.  So: we fight.  Far from Earth, the war has been going on for decades: brutal, bloody, unyielding.  Responsible for protecting humanity, the Colonial Defense force doesn't want young people; they want people who carry the knowledge and skills of decades of living.  You'll be taken off Earth, never to return.  You'll serve 2 years in combat.  And if you survive, you'll be given a homestead of your own on a hard-won planet light years from home.  John Perry is taking that deal.  He thinks he knows what to expect.  But the actual fight is far, far harder than he can imagine - and what he will become is far stranger.

This was a pretty good book.  I have read all of John Scalzi's recent books, and do not know how I missed this Old Man's War series.  So far it is a 7 books series.  It was well written and the story flowed well, but you could tell this was a first book.  He is a very talented author, and was from the start, but missing was the Scalzi semi-humor to all of his books that I have come to love.  This one ends on a cliff hanger - not sure I will continue this series, but we shall see.  I am interested in where it is going.

Stars: 4