John Dies at the End felt very much like a book that was written in pieces without a particular goal in mind, with weird episodic sections that didn't always tie together too neatly.  This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously Dude, Don't Touch It comes together much more tightly, with a plot that's (mostly) coherent and character motivations that make a little more sense.

After the events of the previous novel, things haven't really settled down much in the town of "Undisclosed".  It's still a terrible town, with nothing much to recommend it.  David and John still are useless layabouts.  Only now, and infestation of weird spider-like parasites are taking over and zombifying people.  With humans mutating into super-killers and a government unable to quell the fears of the nation, the infected are quarantined in the hospital where they think the outbreak began.  Obviously David and John know better.

This book is slightly less insane than the first, but what it loses in crazy it picks up with a better story, even if it feels like a messed up comedy version of the Walking Dead.  There are still the swears and the reference to drug use as in the first, but it feels tamer, more accessible.  You certainly need to have read the first book to understand why John and David are special, and why David's dog Molly seems unusually clever.

Lisa McMann, author of the popular teen series The Wake Trilogy, moved into the kidlit world with her Unwanteds series. The first book, which came out in August 2011, introduced us to a town called Quill where creativity is forbidden and anyone showing signs of it will be named an "unwanted" and sent to die at the Death Farm. Alex, one of the Unwanteds, thought he's going to die at the age of 13, unlike his twin brother Aaron, who is going to attend a prestigious university to be trained to be a government official. Instead, Alex discovered the secret world of Artime, right next door to Quill but cloaked by magic, where residents embrace their creative powers, train them up and transform them into combat skills. At the end of the first book, with the archvillain defeated and the Quill government overthrown, there's no need to hide Artime anymore.

The second book begins with Alex struggling with his new responsibilities and believing in himself, being singled out as a possible successor to his mentor Marcus, the creator of Artime. Meanwhile, his twin Aaron, who has lost all power because of the co-existence of Quill and Artime, is plotting his revenge against his brother and all of Artime by inciting all the disgruntled Quill residents.  And in the midst of the brewing conflict are a boy and a girl, who came to Artime unconscious on a sinking raft, each of them wearing "a thick band made of metal thorns that weave(s) in and out of the skin around their necks". Where did these mysterious visitors come from?

Even though the promo quote on the cover says this book is "Hunger Games meets Harry Potter", the magical part is more prevalent throughout the two books. Awesome covers and generous spacing between lines will appeal to readers who like fantasy but don't want to feel overwhelmed, and once the story is set into motion, it is non-stop action and chaos and you can't read fast enough to find out what is going to happen next and who can be trusted. It does take some time for things to get started, but I think the characters are likable enough that you wouldn't mind getting to know them a bit more. Eagerly waiting for the third book.

Samuel Johnson just wants to take more advantage of the whole Halloween business by trick or treating a few days earlier than everyone else. He never would have thought he would witness the opening of the Gates of Hell at his neighbour's house at 666 Crowley Avenue.

The Abernathys, aka the neighbours, just want to have a fun evening by pretending to contact the dead. They never intend to summon the one and only Great Malevolence himself.

Of course, it can't be that easy to open a portal between us and the Underworld, but a group of scientists in Switzerland have made a particle accelerator in the hopes of recreating the Big Bang, and just at the right time, something "escapes" from it and creates an opportunity. Thanks!



Samuel tries to tell his mom about what he saw at the Abernathys, but of course she doesn't believe him.  When will adults ever learn? Now demons, monsters, unpleasant things in general, are taking over the human world, trying to pave the way for the Great One, but humans are not going down without a fight.

John Connolly is most famous for his Charlie Parker detective series. This standalone novel is in the adult section of my library, but the whole time I'm reading it I feel like this can be an older kids'/teen book, and it looks like it's been re-released as such just a few months ago. The Gates is a lot of fun to read, complete with cheeky footnotes and over-the-top characterizations. The demons' naivety, like Nurd's first experience in a Porsche and encounter with the police, is rather amusing. Other reviews have pointed out the humour in this is quite similar to Hitchhiker's Guide or Christopher Moore or Neil Gaiman, and I think those are all fair comparisons. As my co-worker, who recommended this book to me, pointed out, you need to be able to accept and like strange and twisted things to enjoy this book.

Anyone out there read his crime novels? What do you think of them? Leave us a comment.

What is the most boring book in the world? Luke thinks it's The Last of the Mohicans, because that's the book he's been assigned to read. The only way to get out of reading it, according to his very generous principal, is if he can actually prove that it is indeed the most boring book in the world. As Luke googles away, he knows he's out of luck, because a book called Leonardo's River has already claimed the title. It has something to do with Leonardo Da Vinci supposedly, but the book is so boring that during its printing, when the printer started to read it, he fell asleep, a fire broke out and only one copy of the book survived. This one copy has gone missing too, and some guy is offering one million dollars for it. All this just means Luke is going to spend his summer reading The Last of the Mohicans...except during a library book rescue from the raging flood in his town, he found Leonardo's River, and this little discovery is going to keep him busy all summer long. Along with his best bud Tommy, he's going to have to rescue his kidnapped teacher, keep the hands of the bad guys off the rarest book in the world, decipher the mystery inside the book, evade remaining members of a dangerous secret organization, and worst of all, Luke may have to visit the library and do some reading.  Tommy tries to convince him that it's "research", stuff spies do all the time, but who is he trying to kid?
New Zealander Brian Falkner, author of The Tomorrow Code and Brain Jack, puts together a book with all the right elements for boys: plenty of chase scenes and bullets flying all over the place, a bad guy's evil plan to rewrite history, and Luke and Tommy are two funny guys and two great friends.  The most holding-my-breath scene is definitely the train stuck in the tunnel one, where Luke has to enter the lion's den so to speak.  The excerpt from Leonardo's River is quite something... and sadly not too far from some "real" books out there. Some reviewers complain that readers have to suspend their beliefs frequently, but I'm willing to overlook some of the "conveniences" in the plot.