Defenders: Reign of the Bugs (Greenwood)

Defenders: Reign of the Bugs
by Leslie Greenwood (2026)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This book was a free Advanced Reader Copy from Library Thing. I'm encouraged (but not required) to leave reviews in exchange for the free books.

It seemed like an interesting enough premise, so I requested this book (along with maybe ten others), and this was one of the two that received last month. I was a bit behind with some other books, so I didn't get to it right away. And then when I did, I was a little sorry that I picked it.

Aliens take over the Earth, and give certain people superpowers so that they can defend the plaent from 20 invasions of the planet. This is book one, so there is a series planned from here.

I left the following review on the Library Thing website:

The comparison to Dungeon Crawler Carl is unavoidable, but instead of aliens creating an underground fantasy computer roleplaying game that Earth's survivors are pulled into, these aliens have created a reality show where some of Earth's population have been giving superpowers to defend the Earth from wave upon wave of invasions. Doing well gets you sponsors and better powers but not for a while. And this becomes a problem.

For one thing, a lot of the book deals with negotiations for better powers that won't come until a later round. This means that the main character, Chad, whose power is healing himself, has little to offer his team, and he tends to die a lot in the meantime. He's looked after by a Bigfoot, and android, and a leech monster (who gets refered to as literally "lecherous", which might be more amusing if she weren't a kid).

After the first space bug boss is killed, the rest is anticlimactic (with much of it happening "off camera"), and even the aliens agree. They want the heroes to fight and defend their planet, not shoot missiles at targets from afar.

There's a final side quest in Antarctica, not involving alien invasion, for a more exciting ending, and then everyone has to get ready for the next wave.

---

Basically, this is not a great book. And I can't even say that there's a good story under it, so if an editor stepped in to suggest a rewrite, it'd probably require a thorough redesign from the start.

As I told the author in email (and I will refrain from revealing email stuff), it reads like the two of us are at a con and Greenwood is telling me about this great story rather than telling the story. I realize that this might not make sense, but my first problem is in the narrative structure.

Other things that might've caused me to DNF the book if it wasn't an ARC: when the aliens invade, there's a very long info dump about the invasions, the tiered structure of superpowers, the frequency of each tier and their relative strengths, and other stuff; this dump ends with the alien "hanging a lantern" on the info dump, which is really just a sign of giving up on figuring out how to write it coherently and working it into the narrative when necessary; there are things other things that don't work.

In Carl the dungeon crawlers are living in a computer game, so everything acts like a game, including getting information on things. Here, everyone has information hanging over their heads with their names, their tiers, and their power set. This makes no sense because it's a reality show and these graphics would be on screen, not visible in real life. Consider the yellow lines that appear on TV at football games -- they don't appear on the field! Toward the end of the book, one character looks up at them and says, "oh, I keep forgetting about those." I don't see how any of them could forget about them, but I could see how the author (and the reader) might.

The four main heroes manage to take out the first bug boss (which was described as a space bug like in the movie "Starship Troopers", which, oddly, I haven't seen). After that, they get caught up with the military to go to South America and then to Antartica. Chad convinces them to practice their powers with a tournament, which would help them discover and develop their abilities and get an audience. While this is going on, five of the other six bugs are destroyed offscreen by missiles, annoying the showrunners. The military and the defenders, now with an indestructile superdog, sail to Antarctica along with a whale with mind powers, to find the last bug.

SPOILER: While the group of defenders is making their way through an ancient alien base under the ice, they receive word that the whale killed the bug. Done. First wave over. HOWEVER, a group of them are caught behind an unmovable wall and Chad figures that there's something that the producers would them to face, so they continue -- and find NAZIS. Except that they're not just Nazis, they're genetic clones of Nazis from WWII, including several clones of Hitler. And one Hitler has a S-tier level mecromancer power. ("Technomancer" might've been a better term, but then it couldn't be confused with "necromancer".)

Everything is televised on channels that the characters can view. These are shows on various networks (of which there are many) but they'll concentrate on any group that is doing something interesting. This means that this reality show has real-time cameras literally everywhere, but there are no cameras anywhere. I guess it's Microbots or Nanobots "or whaterver".

Through the entire book, there are side conversations with an agent trying to get good deals with sponsors (but not until the third level) which would add extra superpowers or abilities to each character, and another one trying to arrange interviews and instruct them with general tips how to survive longer. Again, a clumsy copy of Carl missing the logical structure to place these things.

My pettiest pet peeves: I had an ebook, so I couldn't toss the book across the room when I encountered the over-overuse of "or whatever" at the ends of sentences and responses of "Oh, I see." Both of these could be forgiven if each was confined to a single character that could be identified with it. Further, "or whatever" should only appear in dialogue and not in the narration. Either give me another option or delete those two words."

This was an ARC, and not a final copy, so I tried to ignore the typos, but there were a lot of them and some were some atrocious examples of misuse of language. (I didn't highlight these, so I can't reference them.)

One last thing: the only reason I had an email exchange with the author was because Greenwood emailed me asking if I could post a review by June 1 when the book launched (I was barely 20% in at the time), and I was offered the second book to review, which is launching July 1. I didn't respond to that, and I'm glad I didn't because I can't see how it could be better when they had to be written at the same time or at least during the time when the first one was being edited.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Everything Is Ok (Tung)

Everything Is Ok
by Debbie Tung (2022)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I saw this book listed as a recommended graphic novel. I don't remember where, or if it was in one of the lists of nonfiction that I was scanning (probably). It mentioned it was from the author of "Quiet Girl in a Noisy World", which sounded familiar. I requested both from the library. This one arrived first, but I waited for the first one before reading both. What I didn't realize is that Tung has published several other books in between the two, but this one continues the themes of the first book.

And it takes those themes to a really dark place.

Tung gives an account of living through a panic account and the stress, anxiety, and depression that accompany it. She details the ongoing troubles continuing to work her first job when trying to earn commissions for her artistic work. It goes well beyond just being shy and introverted.

Unlike Quiet Girl in a Noisy World, this book isn't episodic. Each page doesn't have a (self-deprecating) punchline or even a conclusion. The narratives continue for pages at a time, particularly in the beginning of the book. We are included in her therapy sessions, and we are witnesses to her internal thoughts.

I can see why this book came so highly recommended, and I'll add it to my recommended reading list next year if I get to teach this course again. Hopefully, I can acquire a couple of copies.

I'll also check out some of her other books that are more about her life as an introvert. (One is about books.)

Note: I added "memoir" as a tag to this one because the panic attack is central to the book. I didn't add the "biography" tag because it's not really a life story.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story (Tung)

Quiet Girl in a Noisy World
An Introvert's Story by Debbie Tung (2017)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I looked for recommendations online for nonfiction graphic novels that I could mention to my class to show them that that not everything is superheroes. I did have an interest in history -- anything that they could tie into their studies. I've mentioned George Takei before. And I was hoping to find examples about the American Revolution with America 250 coming soon. (Side note: anything from that time period would be works of fiction. "Creative nonfiction", whatever that actually is, would be the closest thing. I've seen such books at the Dyker Heights library.)

Among every list are Persepholis and Maus, though it took time for the latter to be nonfiction because of the imagery used. A lot of other nonfiction books seemed to deal with tragic issues like war in their homeland, poverty, emigrating to America, racism. It almost made me wish for run-of-the-mill teen angst -- almost. But, I had to be honest, what tops the nonfiction charts for regular books? Usually issues. Graphic novels combine these with compelling stories to varying degrees, and the trick is to get you to care, even if for only a couple hundred pages.

Quiet Girl in a Noisy World: An Introvert's Story caught my attention as it was something that I thought I could relate to. Most people who know me would say I wouldn't know anything about being an introvert. Some people who really know me, might say otherwise, maybe. There was a period were I thought my awkward extrovert moments were covering up for my introverted tendencies. And sometimes it was the reverse.

However, over the years, I've met some real introverts, and I'm not sure that I could count among their numbers, so maybe there's something else going on.

And that digression brings me back to the book at hand. I actually got the second book first from the library, but I waited to get this one to read either one.

Debbie Tung is a cartoonist. This self-referential book is more episodic than an actual story, but it does move forward with life even if even page (or two) seems to be a standalone strip. It's more cohesive than the recently read Huda F book, Yes, I'm Hot in This. (Side note: I was attracted to the title "Huda F Cares" and then went back to the first book in the series.) The Huda book just seemed with endless "gag" strips, many of which seemed to repeat, at least in theme. Granted, that repetition could stem from the fact that she hears those comments constantly.

In Tung's book, any repetition seems to reinforce what she's already feeling, even as she moves forward with her life, or as she retreats back into the familiar in her life. And she celebrates little victories even while she's completing major achievements.

I enjoyed this book. I might buy a copy of this for my classroom next year if I'm given this class to teach again.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

A Silent Voice #01-03

A Silent Voice, Volume 1-3, by Yoshitoki Ōima (2015)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I was out for a walk when I came across a Little Free Library on a one-block-long side street between Atlantic Ave and Herkimer Street. Inside were six of the seven Harry Potter paperbacks, a copy of the Once and Future King, and three manga books from a series called A Silent Voice. A quick scan showed by it was a teen drama and I didn't see any images that would be awkward in my classroom. (Yes, I know they've seen worse, but I don't have to bring them in.)

I read one, and then decided to read all three. I've since discovered that there were seven books, which appear to be available as ebooks. Also, there was a movie based on the series that covered the main plot lines. (A student of mine told me.) However, it seems that Netflix won't show it to me because I have Netflix with ads and their licensing agreement won't allow it to be shown on a platform with ads.

The books follow Shoya Ishida, a bully who get ostracized by his friends and years later seeks redemption. The target of his bullying is a deaf classmate,Shoko Nishimiya, who he tormented so much that she switched schools. They meet in high school. He doesn't think he deserved to be forgiven or have anything good in his life (in fact, he's contemplating suicide but doesn't go through with it), and Shoko starts to like him as he starts to care about her.

I'm enjoying it so far, and I'll probably continue reading this during the summer when I have more time. (I have other things to catch up on.)

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Dragon Teeth (Crichton)

Dragon Teeth
Michael Crichton (2017)

[AUDIO ONLY -- but I added the picture anyway -- maybe I'll read it later]

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a random audiobook suggestion from Libby. I hadn't heard of it before, and from the cover I was thinking that it was something connected to Jurassic Park. Nope, it's connected to dinosaurs, but to the hunt for their fossils, including the discovery of the brontosaurus, with teeth so large, like giant rocks, that scientists were forced to rethink the size of the animals that help such teeth in its mouth.

The story starts with a Yale student named Johnson who makes a dumb bet with another student about going on an expedition during the summer of 1876 with one of the school's professors to find dinosaur bones. Prof Marsh originally refuses Marsh because he's made his selections already but allows him to come when he discovers that Johnson is a photographer. Johnson doesn't know anything about photography but he takes classes and gets good at it.

Marsh is delusional and paranoid, and starts to believe that Johnson is a spy, so he abandons him in Cheyenne when he allows him to oversleep while everyone else catches their train. With nowhere else to go, Johnson joins the expedition of Edward Cope, Marsh's rival who Marsh believes to be a criminal, thief, and lowlife.

I was not aware while listening to this that these two paleontologists were real people who had a real rivalry during the "Bone Wars". (Johnson is a fabrication, as is the story in general.) Also, although it was published in 2017, after Crichton's death, the book was written in 1974.

Marsh causes trouble for Cope and his men. Marsh bribes officials, poisons water, and plans ambushes to steal Cope's bones.

Johnson finds the "dragon teeth" without realizing what he found, which causes Cope to rethink how large dinosaurs could've been -- given the size of the jaw that would be needed for those teeth and the size of the head that would be required for that jaw, and so on. The timing is after Custer's Last Stand, and everyone wants to put distance between themselves and the Sioux, who will be on the move soon.

Johnson, another student (Toad), and a Snake scout named Little Wind are separated from the rest of the men when Sioux scouts approach. Little Wind drives them west. Johnson is wounded when the wagon arrives in Deadwood with the bodies of Toad and Little Wind, whom he buries.

Johnson leaves his wallet in his room, which is robbed, leaving him penniless. He wants to get out of there and get the boxes back east. (Everyone in Deadwood believes that these boxes must be valuable. No one believes that they are animal bones.) But he has no money and will be stuck there for the winter if he can't figure something out. Luckily, he still has his photography equipment and opens a studio.

One thing that annoyed me: The army comes through, and Johnson sees a way out. But Johnson is also a witness to a crime and the sheriff locks him up to prevent him from leaving. It didn't add anything to the story, except to add some false hope. (This did explain something that happened later -- how someone could've heard a rumor.)

Wyatt Earp shows up later on and plays a part in the narrative.

This was a good book to listen to. Marsh was annoying before I knew that he was a real person and that his behavior might've been toned down. And I generally dislike when someone is conveniently robbed, with no recourse, and has to continually struggle with having nothing. It makes more sense in this scenario, of course, instead of a random druggie jumping out of an alley. When I clear a few other books from my "Holds" at the library, I might borrow a copy of this one to read.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

One Piece, Volumes 30-40 (Oda)

One Piece, Volumes 30-40, Eiichiro Oda, 1997-2003

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

Sometime in 2017, I made an entry for the first 29 issues of One-Piece. I read more after that, but I never made another entry. I guess I was waiting until I read another bunch of issues. For whatever reason, that didn't happen.

I will say that I took a break from the comic for a while because it did seem to drag quite a bit. This is by design. Manga unfolds slowly. But the pacing was really slow.

The break lasted long enough that when I started rereading sometime in the past year, I couldn't remember what issue I'd been up to. The first couple of guesses were incorrect. I had no idea because I hadn't posted anything. And yet I didn't fix this then, either.

Just recently, I finished Vol 41, and I'm starting volume 42. There are waits for the ebooks, but I got Volume 40-42 in one big book, so I had two choices.

In brief:

The Sky City arc finished and the Straw Hats come crashing back down to Earth -- or rather sea.

There's a short arc where the Monkey Go is challenged by another pirate to a Davy Back Fight where the losing ship must give a member of its crew to the winner.

And, finally, there's the Water 7 Arc with the Galley-La Shipbuilding Company, which is winding down, except that many people from the Water 7 arc carry over to the Eines Lobby arc and the rescue of Nico Robin.

Next update soon. Not nine years from now.


If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Jen & Gary's Infinite (Quantum) Entanglements (Gregorio)

Jen & Gary's Infinite (Quantum) Entanglements
by Nick Gregorio (2026)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This book was a free Advanced Reader Copy from Library Thing. I'm encouraged (but not required) to leave reviews in exchange for the free books.

I've read my Book Club books (and the meeting was delayed because of the holiday), so I had time to catch up on other books. This should've been a quicker read but I didn't read it as quickly as I expected to. I couldn't point to any particular reason for this.

Still, I gave it five stars on Library Thing because I thought my quibbles were minor, and because I started the next book I won, which looks like it's going to be terrible. I seem to be a bit judgy with many of these Library Thing books. On the other hand, I haven't had the best of luck picking books based on the small descriptions. I would hope anyone looking at my reviews believes I'm being fair and consistent.

I'll probably give it four stars on Good Reads.

I left the following review on the Library Thing website:

Jen & Gary's Infinite (Quantum) Entanglements is a romantic sci-fi novel that doesn't take itself seriously... until it takes itself seriously so it can resolve the plot. When Gary tells Jen he loves her, the result sends him spiraling through the multiverse, landing in other versions of himself. But unlike, for examples, "Sliders" or the MCU, the worlds Gary lands in are occupied by dinosaurs, killer robots, living islands, and even crazier. And through it all, Jen is always there.

Running parallel to this, in yet another multiverse, Jen and Gari are a couple who watch over the multiverse. Gari knows its going to be a long night as she watches a version of herself tumbling through universes, wreaking havoc and leaving a path of destruction if they can't wrangle him and find a patch. Gary then procedes at a right angle to what he should do when it starts to get more serious.

The story is fun and enjoyable. If I could ding it for one thing it would be the overuse of parenthetical asides (the kind that can be funny while providing extra information (and which can be nested for humorous effect (and sometimes drop three levels deep))).

---

The fact that the first alternate Earth Gary landed in was a world of sentient dinosaurs, which had analogue identities to the people from his original Earth caught me offguard. I found it funny because he didn't start with something similar but a little different and then skirt off into ridiculous realms. It was there from the beginning. And if that didn't set the tone, jumping into killer robots solidified it. (To be fair, the robots had absorbed the identities of people they'd just killed.)

After this, we get Jen and Gari, who are overseers -- sort of like characters that I wrote about four or five years ago in a story that I need to get back to.

We find out that Jen and Gari is a gender-swapped universe, but Jen had a procedure to be female. This is the first instance where we see that Gary and Jen could work out together. We also find out that the original Gary was from a universe that actually did revolve around him, so when he professed his love for Jen in that world, it caused him to be propelled into null space and cause his universe to leak out into null. I never quite bought that explanation that he couldn't be with Jen in his universe.

If anything, I would've preferred seeing a bunch of different universe when something prevents them from being together until he finds one that works, or until he realizes why he's in his own way (so that there's character growth or an "arc").

Another quibbly thing: each section (not chapter) is label case file #001, #002, etc. But each world takes many of these case files, some of which are only a couple of paragraphs long. I will give credit that each case file has a title, even if it's just a sentence from one of the paragraphs. I don't know the purpose that those served.

Anyway, I enjoyed the book although I think it could've been better. I have to remind myself that these are ARCs and not final copies, so there will be typos, but occasionally I wonder if another round of editing mightve helped.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

1634: The Baltic War (Weber / Flint)

1634: The Baltic War, David Weber and Eric Flint (2008)

I found a draft for this entry that was dated Jul 25, 2018.

I found it on May 18, 2026.

Apparently, I read this and never wrote it up. I honestly don't remember reading it. However, as I type this, I vaguely recall how this book had only half the cast of the previous books because this was the point where Flint started publishing multiple books per year -- year as in 1634.

What makes this discovery more amusing is that I picked up a copy of this at Philcon last November. Charles E. Gannon was doing a "coffee talk" that I attended and he had freebies that he gave away. Someone got the "Gazette" before I could reach it -- these have stories by various writers that are set in the world of the Ring of Fire, and some of these stories are incorporated into the main timeline. It's a way to find out what else is happening in the world without burdening the main books. Anyway, with that gone, I went with the book with the earliest date, so I could get to it sooner. It's sitting on my dresser, waiting to be read.

I guess I don't have to read it now.

The funny thing is that I wanted to read more of this series because it is interesting. There was too much of it to absorb to get to write for the shared world portion of it -- and now with Flint gone, I don't know what's going to happen with that anyway. But the books are thick, and it'd be a while before I could reread those first three books to get ready for book four. With a book club and Library Thing plus my own interests (and graphic novels), there just isn't time.

There isn't anything to add. I don't remember the book at all other than that I enjoyed it and planned to read more -- which I haven't done in the past six years.

Luminous Beings (Arnold)

Luminous Beings, by David Arnold, illustrated by José Pimienta (2024)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was another graphic novel that I picked up at random at the library based on the cover. At this point, I'm looking for interesting panels that I can incorporate into a class slide presentation or worksheet or just something that I could recommend to the students.

This book isn't one of those things. I could use it as an example of poor dialogue placement, but I already have several of those. What I mean by this is that the tails of some word balloons go behind other word balloons to the point that you aren't sure who is speaking.

Other than that, I have no complaints about the layout, which seems to be standard with many graphic novels.

The book is about a "faux-pocalypse". They don't call it that. I just did. It looked like it was going to be about more than it actually was.

The story takes place over the course on one night. There are pink streaks coming out of the sky. Everyone is wearing hazmat suits, or "hazzies". The hoods have face masks that can be opened to use an inhaler (one character has for no stated reason, and it never comes into play) or to take a drink or just about any reason outside. Also, one guy (not shown) urinated behind a dumpster outside a club.

The only thing that this apocalypse seemed to do was turn all the squirrel into zombies with glowing red eyes that attack humans -- except that none are ever struck. The squirrels are always batted down and crushed behind someone's heel.

Of the four main characters, two are budding filmmakers, making a documentary about the squirrels, the end of the world, and a missing friend who went to live off the grid (and claim a reward for finding him). One of them has a secret -- she's decided to move away to go to Brooklyn College to study film-making. (Side note: I am a BC alumni, and I know that BC has one of the two best Film Departments in the city. The other is at NYU, which is about 10-20 times more expensive. One had Robert Redford as an advisor; the other had Paul Newman.)

The other two boys are friends and one of them secretly has a promise ring that he has to work up the nerve to give. As far as B stories go, it's pretty pedestrian. There are no complications, tension, drama in this.

The four follow a few clues and find the guy, who already knew the world wasn't actually ending but wanted to disassociate from the world anyway, and they make it back home by morning.

The artwork is pretty cool, primarily with pinks and purples for the night sky.

One scene that stands out was when two of them are in the club -- the boy who's 18 and the girl who's underage because the club lets in underage girls. The other two boys are outside (by the aforementioned dumpster). The couples are mixed, so everyone is free to spill what's on their mind. And here's were it goes wrong. The writer tries to do a movie trick of intercutting the two scenes and mixing the dialogue. This sometimes works in movies, because the jump cuts are obvious. It's less obvious here with the dark, near empty backgrounds with the "camera" close-up on whichever teen is speaking. It jumps from inside to outside back inside again to give the impression that the outside teen is responding to the inside teen's dialgoue. It doesn't work.

Luminous Beings was an okay read, and not something that I'll recommend. I wouldn't discourage anyone from reading it -- maybe it'll mean more to them.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

The Parable of the Sower (1993)

Parable of the Sower
Octavia E. Butler (1993)

[AUDIO ONLY]

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

This was a random audiobook suggestion from Libby. I've heard of this book, and of Octavia E. Butler, but hadn't read it. For some reason, I thought this book was older. Then again, I find it hard to believe that 1993 was over 30 years ago.

The book is narrated by Lynne Thigpen. Normally, I don't pay attention to this, but I saw the name and remembered her from TV. She did a great job.

The timing of listening to this book was ironically amusing (it's not supposed to be). The setting is a dystopian California in 2026 where the poor huddle together behind walls for protection against the really poor who will rob, steal, burn, and kill to get want they need and take what they want. (They commit more unspeakable crimes to women as well.) Cops and firemen are next to useless, or worse. Criminals rarely get caught, and innocent people get punished.

In this instance, the country has been ravaged by climate change, wealth inequality, and social collapse. Climate change was a little ahead of its time in the early 90s, but it was typical scifi cannon fodder to set up a novel.

Jobs are hard to come by, particularly ones that pay cash. It's hard to imagine that there are still stores, and that those stores can be supplied, but they have security. Some jobs are basically indentured servants (paid in room and board, so you can never leave). And some pay in "company scrip" which can only be spent at the company store, and worthless elsewhere. The allusions to slavery are noted.

Lauren Olamina starts off as a 15-year-old. (She'll age at least three years over the course of the book.) She's also an empath. She has a condition, as others will have in the book, that she can feel other people's pain to the point where it can be debilitating. If she were to punch someone, she would feel it. This becomes problematic later on when she needs to shoot someone. She hides this condition.

The first part of the book sets up Lauren's home and family life and how bad it is. At the same time, she narrates her discovery of a new religion. She was baptised a Baptist, but she doesn't identify with that God. She writes poetry about her philosophy, which she calls Earthseed, and she refers to her writings as The Book of the Living (as opposed to the Books of the Dead).

People live together for safety. People who live alone are more likely to be robbed and killed (and raped). When a fire starts at one house, the community comes out to help, which leaves houses empty for thieves. Lauren wants to leave, and she has a to go bag. Her father says that to go bags are a bag idea because it puts everything valuable in one place for a thief to steal quickly.

The book switches gear when the really poor, the homeless, attack and burn down the entire community. It's their way of sticking it to the rich. No one here is rich, but some are richer than others.

Lauren escapes with her bag and then returns the next day along with the looters to get more of her stuff. She can't find the rest of her family, who she hopes escapes but comes to belive they're all dead.

The rest of the book concerns escaping and traveling north, trying to find someplace safe. The roads are dangerous and so are the towns. Getting into Oregon will be difficult and getting into Canada would be nearly impossible. Lauren and others that can be trusted try to form a larger group for safety as they travel north.

I enjoyed listening to this. I don't know if I would've stuck with it were I reading it.

I might listen to the sequel at some point.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

Remote, Volume 02

Remote, Volume 02, by Seimaru Amagi and illustrated by Tetsuya Koshiba (2005)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

I couldn't find the correct cover online, so I posted the one above from an eBay auction. It looked better than the photo I took.

I believe I found this book in a Little Free Library although I suppose it could've come from Philcom. I saw it was volume 2, but I figured there would be a recap to bring me up to speed. Not really, just a description of the two main characters.

As with all graphic novels I find (and the ones that are donated), I flip though them before I put them into my library. Like Crazy Food Truck, this one had nudity in the first few pages as the young woman from the cover steps out of the shower. Unlike CFT, she's only naked this one time. Unlike CFT, this manga gets its kick with unnecessary, gratuitous upskirt shots. This is a specific camera angle used multiple times, instead of just showing the woman in her underwear or a skimpy bathing suit. If anyone wants to discuss my concerns offline sometime, come find me, possibly at the next convention. (Also, to highlight the fact that she's wired, there is only panel where her clothing is transparent but her body and underwear are not grayed out.)

The crux of the matter: this book is not going into the rotation in my classroom. It's going back into a Little Free Library in my neighborhood -- and not the one in front of the K-5 school!

Kurumi Ayaki is a police officer who is assigned to an elite unit in charge of solving crimes that have been classified as unsolvable. She does the legwork for Kōzaburō Himuro, a recluse, a "guy in the chair", who lives in the basement of his manor and doesn't come out. He's a genius with a tragic, traumatic past.

There are 9 or 10 chapters (I forget) in this book. The first few are dedicated to the crime from the first book, which gets solved here. This segues into a second crime involving students from a local high school. Ayaki goes to investigate -- to ask questions while her boss feeds her questions. While she's there, the school is threatened will bombs in the building, so Ayaki goes under cover as a new student, which catches the interest of a number of possible suspects. (The calls are coming from inside the school.)

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.

The Case of the Culvert Puppies (Olis)

The Case of the Grounded Ferry
by Thomas Olis (2026)

(Not a review, just some notes to help me remember the things I've read. But written this way because it's the Internet, and some people will stumble across this page.)

When I won "The Case of The Grounded Ferry" a few months ago, the book wasn't ready. The author, Tom Olis, emailed me his first two books in the series to read in the meantime. I actually wasn't planning on doing that. And after reading book three, I wasn't in a hurry to read book one. However, ...

Sometimes the stars align. I'm in between book club books at the moment. I hadn't started another Library Thing book yet. And my reading goal "scavenger hunt" type list includes two entries for two books written by the same author. I had other prospects lined up, but this one was right in front of me.

The first book, The Case of the Culvert Puppies, reads better than the third. Partially, this is because the characters are introduced better here, and partially because Olis doesn't do a good job (or any job?) reintroducing them to new readers in book three. I never got a feel for them. Once again, however, almost everyone is on a first-name basis, which gets confusing, and I forget which parent goes with which child.

Speaking of adults, they play significant roles in this book. It's not all kids saving the day. In fact, they acknowledge that there are parts of the investigation that are grown-up business.

There's a Russian plot to sow discord in the area that involves stealing a dog, which escapes long enough to give birth to puppies in an illegal culvert on a property that's illegally being developed. Then a flash drive is found that has a bunch of files in it. The police and feds step in after this.

It wasn't bad. I liked it better than book three. The back of the book lists five mysteries, but the third one just came out. I hope the author makes corrections to his writing before publishing those next two.

If you stumbled across my page via the Internet, please check out my short book series, Burke Lore Briefs. A fantastical foursome of flash fiction and short stories.