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Book Review: Berserkers

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Berserkers
by Donna Galanti

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Middle grade adventure

Danny Hall has lived all of his 12 years in Norse Ridge, Minnesota, a small town with a lot of quirks and quirky people. When his favorite teacher disappears and Danny and his friends find evidence that he may have gone to look for treasure in a nearby cave system, it will take a lot of courage (and the right supplies) for Danny and friends to go into the caves themselves to try to find the treasure before the bad guys do.

This book is a lot of fun in a lot of different ways! First off though, if you’re not a fan of metafiction, you might want to steer clear of this book; the author breaks the fourth wall quite a few times to talk to the reader. I usually enjoy that kind of thing, as long as it’s done well, and that is the case here. There is a lot of humor overall in the book, even beyond the meta. There is also a lot of excitement and adventure, helped along by very short chapters. In fact, the author even uses chapter breaks in humorous ways, including one moment that made me laugh out loud.

We have a group of four friends here—Danny, Dolly, Mulch, and Amazon Shawn. The story and dialog all moves pretty quickly, yet I felt that each of these four kids are fairly well-developed, especially for a middle grade book. They’re all given a least a little more background than a shallow starting point, and they’re not your typical stereotypes either. Other than maybe Danny himself, who I can’t recall much about other than that he’s the one who pushes for the adventure and he doesn’t like change. Danny may have been the main character, but I think Amazon Shawn got more “screen time,” to be honest. The friendships between these four kids and the way they interact with each other is really the heart of the book.

I do have to say that I struggled to follow some of the descriptions in the book, especially some areas in the cave. And the climax was the worst place for this, so obviously that detracted a bit from my enjoyment there. And for others who are like me—Christians who take the Bible literally—the book contains a large amount of references to the earth being billions of years old; it’s something to be aware of and at least discuss with kids that might read this book. Also one very minor passing mention of an adult character that is gay. These things didn’t affect my rating, but in a book for kids/pre-teens, I know there are others who would like to know.

This story reminded me so much of books I’ve read by Chris Grabenstein, especially The Smartest Kid in the Universe. I truly enjoyed the adventure, wit, and style here. And it could be a great way to introduce young readers to metafiction that’s done well and used to humorous advantage. I recommend this to readers 10 and up, including adults that like a good middle grade adventure now and then.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Homicide at Blue Heron Lake

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Homicide at Blue Heron Lake
by Susan Page Davis and Megan Elaine Davis

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Christian romance, mystery

Returning temporarily to the small, lakeside town in which she grew up, Emily Gray and her high school friend Nate Holman stumble upon a body on the island on which Emily’s family has a cottage.

My favorite thing about this book is the setting; the authors (a mother-daughter team) clearly have a lot of experience in this kind of area, and that experience is translated well to the book. As mysteries go, this story is fairly bland. Emily and Nate do look into the death of the body they found, amidst rekindling a small spark of a flame that had started back in high school. Emily also reconnects with locals that still live in the area and uncovers terrible secrets from the past. However, though Emily does investigate and even dig up some of the truth, final details are put together “off-screen” by the police and reported to her later. It’s probably more realistic than the common mystery trope where the amateur detective manages to figure everything out alone and the police do nothing, but it all just felt a little weak for a mystery genre book.

The romance was definitely a heavier aspect in the book, though fortunately, it was very clean. Sometimes even Christian books can’t be trusted in that area, but this one can be. As for the Christian genre side of things (which is part of what kept the romance believably clean), I do have to say that one particular story arc seemed to be the main inclusion of Christianity, but it was also fairly weak. A woman who has basically gone down a New Age-y path to trying to be at one with nature or something has come to realize that it’s not really good enough. She confides in Emily, who gives her a broad explanation of Christianity, and the woman seems to latch onto the idea, but she is never given more than that broad explanation, at least not that we see. It felt a little too much like the real-world tendency toward moral deism, which is pervasive and dangerous. I don’t think it was intended that way, though, it didn’t bother me all that much. Overall, this is a decent mystery book with a Christian worldview and clean romance.

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Book Review: Out of Darkness

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Out of Darkness
The Lightseeker Series #1
by Daniel J. Atkins

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade Christian fantasy

When your entire civilization is underground, sources of light are important. Many of the inhabitants of the underground world are stone hunters, digging for increasingly more rare glowstones, which provide a safer, more efficient means of light than fire does. Fin and Sky, both 12-year-old stone hunters, begin to hear more and more about forgotten, forbidden mysteries and are compelled to seek the answers and the light. This leads them on a wild and dangerous adventure as they unravel the truth that some people want to stay hidden.

I think Fin is meant to be the main character in this book, but Sky really drives the plot. She’s the one who first has a reason to go on this adventure, and though Fin is not exactly dragged along reluctantly, his motivations aren’t as clear. Fin, though, is the one who is more dynamic in this book, growing up a bit throughout the journey. I really like the Christian allegory that’s present in this book; it’s not exactly subtle, but it’s also not over-the-top or preachy. I found myself looking forward to the next way that the “All Mighty” would clearly work in the story. In a book like this meant for older kids and young teens, a clear hand of guidance is a good way to introduce them to the very real, but not always so easily discerned, providence that God can provide in real life. I feel the need to mention that Fin and Sky do defy adults and authorities a bit, since I know parents can be bothered by that, especially if there are no consequences, but my hope is that as Fin and Sky come to learn more about the All Mighty and the light they’re seeking, maybe their actions will be less questionable. And this can be something for parents to discuss with younger readers.

The author’s writing style is…”unusual” is the best way I can think to describe it. He tends to pause the story to share background info with the reader in a very conversational tone. I never had an issue with this, but I wonder if some others might. (I don’t think the target audience would be bothered by it at all.) At least one of these interjections even provides a little humor. There are a few things that did bother me a little, though, like the confusion I had about the fact that the powers that be claim that people have just always lived underground, yet comparisons are often made to “normal” life (like underground goats have larger eyes than normal goats, and it’s mentioned at least once that undergrounders have adapted to living underground). For people who don’t really know their history or origins, it’s strange that they seem to know plenty about how life above ground might be different. I also wish that the author had interjected one less giant snake encounter, maybe including a different peril; it was just a little repetitive after a bit. That being said, the world that the author has set up is rich and intriguing and makes me want to know more about what happens to Fin and Sky.

When I read a self-published book, it is my intention not to let things that a professional editor would help with affect my view too much. I’m not saying that there is no burden of responsibility here, but it’s harder for self-published authors. So while it did not affect my rating, I will at least mention that there are several issues throughout the text—mostly comma errors and formatting issues that I couldn’t help but be distracted by. (This might be as much because I’m self-published myself and have spent a lot of time looking for and correcting formatting issues in my own books before publishing them, so most others may not notice those at all.)

This was an overall fun read. I really think that things that made me stop and scratch my head would not be noticed at all by younger readers. It’s easy for me to recommend this for kids around age 10 and up, anyone that enjoys an adventure with a positive message or fantasy with a Christian worldview. I could also easily see it being a book that parents read with/to kids even younger than that.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Parks and Rec

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Parks and Rec
by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Non-fiction

There was a little bit of interesting information in this book, but it was a slog to get through. Half of the time the author was giving us the backstory of every actor/writer as they joined the show or giving us a synopsis of an episode, sometimes up to a few paragraphs, usually with no reason for it other than to tell us about the next great episode they made. I have seen the show several times, but I am not one who has already read a lot of other books that talk about the show, so in a way, I feel like I’m in the middle of the fandom in regards to knowledge of the show. The explanations of various episodes was completely unnecessary for me, and the background details just didn’t interest me. There were a few tidbits here and there that I appreciated, but it wasn’t enough to keep the book from feeling slow and boring.

Weirdly enough, this book made me question my feelings for Parks and Recreation, a show that I have always liked and rewatched multiple times. I never liked it as much as The Office, though, and I think this book gave me insight into the reasons for that. The show was funny and well-cast, but very liberal (which I am not). Though yes, veiled under a local government trying to be bipartisan and show people from different sides working together, having one libertarian does not cancel out the overall liberal leaning of the show, especially since. I’m used to this from Hollywood, of course (both the people there and what they produce, generally speaking), but this show actually being about government and politics brought all of that more to the forefront. And in this book, the author doesn’t even pretend to be unbiased with her political leanings, praising the Obama era continually, denigrating President George W. Bush, and basically demonizing President Trump. Whatever your feelings on any of these past/current presidents, I really feel like Armstrong crossed a major line. She apparently either assumes that every fan of Parks and Recreation is a hardcore liberal like her or she could not care less about those who aren’t. Being from a rural area in Indiana, the state in which the show is set, and being a Christian (the conservative kind, since there are liberal Christians as well), I was already aware that this show heavily mocks people like me, or to be more accurate, a caricature of people like me, but somehow, this book made it bother me more. I don’t think I’ll rewatch the show anymore after this.

If you are a huge fan of this show, are a liberal, and haven’t already consumed info about how the show was made elsewhere, you’ll likely enjoy this book more than me (though keep in mind that wasn’t my only gripe; if it was, my rating would have been higher). Anyone else…you might want to pass. (I’m currently re-watching The Office (superfan episodes) while slowly going through the book Welcome to Dunder Mifflin by Brian Baumgartner and Ben Silverman. It’s amazing. I was hoping this book would be something at least similar to that. It’s not.)

Thank you to Netgalley and Dutton for providing me a copy of this book to review.

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Book Review: Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch

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Dead Men Don’t Play Fetch
Andy Carpenter #33
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

Though Andy Carpenter dreams of one day removing the “semi” from his semi-retirement from his defense attorney career, he’s not as reluctant as usual to take on a new client when the favor is asked by a man that runs a rehab center and is viewed by all who know him as a lifesaver.

Rosenfelt hasn’t lost his touch 33 books into the series, as Andy is in prime sarcastic, mocking form in this story, and I loved every moment of it. Most of Andy’s team is as enjoyable as I’ve come to expect, though some are absent/extra quiet in this particular book. Since the team is a large part of what makes this series so fun, I’m starting to realize that Andy’s current 2nd-chair lawyer, Eddie Dowd, has almost no purpose. Andy’s always had an underling lawyer on this team who always had his own quirks, and when Hike left and Eddie joined up, I think that spot on the team mostly died. Not a big deal, just an observation I made.

My main gripe with the book, which is not uncommon for me as I listen to this series, is that I lost track of who some of the characters were. When the main culprit was revealed, my mind was completely blank on who that even was for a while, which is obviously not a moment you want that to happen. I don’t know if it would have been better if I’d been reading, rather than listening (and if so, that probably just means that my mind wandered, as it sometimes does when I’m listening to audiobooks, at just the right moments for this person to leave that blank spot). Still, the book was a lot of fun to listen to, and Grover Gardner continues to portray Andy perfectly. If it’s not clear, I recommend this book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, as well as the books that precede it in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Macmillan Audio for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: July 7, 2026

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June in Review

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I read 16 books last month, which, frankly, is insane for June for me, especially this June. Our church’s Vacation Bible School, for which I’m a co-director, is in June, and that’s always a super busy time, not just that week but leading up to it. Plus my family went on a camping trip for a weekend, and though I read a little, it wasn’t much. Even with my recent uptick in audiobook listening time, I’m really surprised by this amount. It was my 2nd-highest monthly book count for the year, and near my all-time record for page count.

Another interesting thing about my June reading is that more of the books were re-reads than I’ve ever done in a month. That was incredibly helpful in keeping me from getting way behind on my review writing, which I definitely would have done, though that’s not the reason I chose so many re-reads. It was various different reasons that all conglomerated in one convenient month.

Here are the books I read in June:

Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton (5 / 5)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (4 / 5)
The Man on the Bench by Hy Conrad (3 / 5)
The Rags of Time by Peter Grainger (3.5 / 5)
The Secret Winners Club by Donna Galanti (2.5 / 5)
The Raven by Mike Nappa (5 / 5)
Daican’s Heir by Jaye L. Knight (4 / 5)
Beatrice and the Basilisk by Bruce McCandless III (3.5 / 5)
A Lady’s Guide to Marvels and Misadventure by Angela Bell (5 / 5)
The Oath by Frank E. Peretti (5 / 5)
Mandie and the Medicine Man by Lois Gladys Leppard (3.5 / 5)
Night Terror by Vincent Ralph (2 / 5)
The Librarians and The Lost Lamp by Greg Cox (4 / 5)
The Hot Marble by Rosemary B. Althoff (2 / 5)
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan (4.5 / 5)
Murdle, Jr.: Sleuths on the Loose by G.T. Karber & Chris Grabenstein (4 / 5)

This list includes 2 ARCs and 8 re-reads. My favorite book from June was The Oath (yes, it was a re-read, but since it was my first time listening to the audiobook of my long-time favorite book, I’m counting it). I started 2 series, continued 4 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Murdle, Jr.: Sleuths on the Loose

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Murdle, Jr.: Sleuths on the Loose
by G.T. Karber & Chris Grabenstein

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Middle grade mystery

Jake is a junior detective who learned everything she knows from the great Deductive Logico (of Murdle fame) himself. When a teacher at her school goes missing, after Jake watched a scuffle between that teacher and an unknown person, Jake, her sidekick Sterling, and school bully Brick sniff around for clues and use logic to try to find the teacher.

Murdle is a daily online logic puzzle, which several printed books also full of logic puzzles. For those that know it, they know that the suspects all have color-based names (Miss Saffron, Sister Lapis, Major Red, etc.) and that each puzzle boils down to figuring out who committed a murder, with which weapon, and in what location. I have to admit that that doesn’t necessarily translate very well to the real world, but Grabenstein does a great job with it anyway. I don’t know what leads Jake to assume that only one weapon could have been present in each of the four possible locations that the suspects were in, but other than that, the story flows decently well. Jake, Sterling, and Brick are are a fun trio of characters, even if they are fairly stereotypical in their individual archetypes. There are several funny moments and jokes in the book, including one related to Sterling’s name, which may have been the entire reason he was given that name in the first place. The book pauses shortly before the resolution, giving the reader a chance to think through what they’ve read so far and see if they can solve the mystery themselves. I kind of wish that, instead of the deduction grid being filled in by Jake along the way, the reader had been given a blank grid and instructed to fill it in for him/herself along the way. But the mystery was more involved than the basic “4 suspects, 4 weapons, 4 locations” it’s set up to be, and I was really glad for that extra depth. I did follow the clues to the right answer, which I’m sure some kids would be able to do as well, just as I’m sure that many will miss some of them. Overall, this is a fun adventure for kids aged 10-14 to enjoy.

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Book Review: The Hot Marble

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The Hot Marble
by Rosemary B. Althoff

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Christian sci-fi

When 10-year-old Patrick and his 8-year-old sister Gracie watch something fall from the sky and find a hot marble. Patrick asks his physicist brother Lewis to analyze the otherworldly marble, and that leads to all three siblings, plus Lewis’s engineer friend Fred to another world. Lanthra has two moons, a near-total ban on electricity, and heavy conflict between two sides—those who follow Earth’s Jesus and those who follow earthly demons.

I was intrigued by the melding of sci-fi and Christianity when I decided to read this book. The author does have some interesting ideas here, particularly on the sci-fi side of things. The ban on electricity and also on traveling to Earth makes this a medieval-type world, but with pockets of technology that come across like magic. But the Christianity side is underwhelming, if not downright confusing at times. First and foremost, the theology of creation, the fall, and the redemption provided through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is questionable here. God created the entire universe, and when Adam and Eve sinned, the entirety of the creation was cursed. This means there can’t be planets out there with people who are not under the curse, but that is what Althoff is presenting here. The people of Lanthra have observed Earth enough to know about the curse (which they say affects only people from Earth, though I guess it can spread to people of Lanthra via demons that travel there?) and the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus. I guess all of this means that people of Lanthra aren’t under the curse of sin (not that they refer to sin or even creation or the fall at all, just a vague curse), so it really don’t matter if they worship Jesus or not, though it still seems to be a bad thing that some worship Satan/demons. Beyond that, one character from Lanthra seems to be a sort of prophet, in direct communication with God in some form. And characters are said to have inner “dragons” that could be seen to simply be their consciences or inner desires, but one character’s inner dragon talks to him? And it’s all presented as if this is some well-known concept that shouldn’t seem unusual to the reader, but I was really lost.

I understand that, even when a book is written with a Christian worldview, unbelievers will have sinful, fallen natures. Fred and Lewis want nothing to do with Christianity, and their character arcs seem to be the driving force behind the religious aspects in this book. But Fred, in particular, made me really uncomfortable ogling women all the time. And there was a line that really stood out to me as a red flag, which involved one character telling Fred that the “Master” wants to enjoy various things about him, including his “taste for busty women.” Um…no…just no.

There truly are some great allegorical moments in this book, and I think I can see what the author was going for. But in the end, I think there was too much going on in too many different directions for me to be able to pick out one cohesive story to enjoy. And the book ends on a cliffhanger that I was fortunately able to see coming. As for recommendations, the book is marketed, at least on Amazon, in teen and children’s categories, but I would not recommend it to those ages at all. All 4 of the characters mentioned in the synopsis have POV sections, but he older brother and his friend are in their 30s, and they are larger characters than the 10- and 8-year-old. There’s also a fair amount of language in the book. (In fact, now that I think about it more, it bugs me A LOT that this book is listed in the categories of “Children’s Action & Adventure Sci-Fi Books” and “Children’s Science Fiction Books” on Amazon with the amount of language and discussion of women’s bosoms that is included in it!) If you’re interested in the premise of spiritual warfare crossed with physics and aren’t bothered by the issues I had with it, you might be interested in this book.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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Book Review: Mandie and the Medicine Man

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Mandie and the Medicine Man
Mandie #6
by Lois Gladys Leppard

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian historical fiction

I read a lot of this series when I was a kid/pre-teen, and I read some of them to my now-teen daughter when she was younger. Nostalgia definitely affects my reviews for this series, and I’m okay with that.

This book felt a like a rehash of book #2, Mandie and the Cherokee Legend, in several ways. Mandie and friends traipse around the Cherokee lands, some of the kids end up tied up by bad people, and Tsa’ni is a jerk. That last one is particularly odd, considering how he was suddenly kinder at the end of book #2. He actually has some POV scenes in this book, though, which I think could have been really good, if the author had delved just a little more into the reasonings behind his choices, rather than him just thinking about how he’d pretend to do nice things but not do them or lie about whatever he was asked but not ever really explaining his justifications for these things other than him not liking white people. Though I suppose that’s about as complicated as anything ever gets in this series meant for 9-12-year-old kids. Overall, though, this book is a decent one for the series. I didn’t care for Mandie’s continued disrespect for her mom, which she gets away with again and is probably something that kids who read the book should be made aware of as something they should not do. So while I think these books can still be good for younger people to read, especially if you’re looking for something with Christian content, I strongly recommend discussing what’s good and bad in them with your kid(s) after they read it.

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Book Review: The Rags of Time

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The Rags of Time
DC Smith #6
by Peter Grainger
read by Gildart Jackson

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Detective procedural, mystery

When DC Smith joins an investigation already underway, he approaches the case in a different way than the other investigators. This leads to him questioning the path the investigation is taking, suspects who are arrested, and avenues he feels are being ignored.

These books have always been pretty laid back, which also describes DC most of the time. Somehow this one seems even more so, with DC kind of wandering his way through the investigation, almost seemingly at random, yet there always ends up being a method to his randomness. Sometimes he reminds me a bit of Hercule Poirot in that regard. Unfortunately, because I was too busy to write a review until over 3 after I finished the book, I’m having a difficult time remembering much in the way of details or even how I felt about the book while I was reading it. I know I enjoyed Gildart Jackson’s narration, because I always do. And I do remember finding the metal-detectorist and badger-digging aspects of the book really interesting, though also quite horrible in the latter case, when I looked up what badger-digging even was. I think that this book wasn’t as good as the previous several installments overall, though. Still a good series, and I look forward to continuing it and also recommend the book/series for fans of procedural crime dramas, especially with a seasoned detective and set in a small-town area of England. Though it’s not strictly necessary to start at the beginning of the series, there are more references to past events and characters than I normally see in series like this, so keep that in mind.

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