Book Review | Dungeon Crawler Carl Series (Books 1-7) by Matt Dinniman

Posted December 11, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 4 Comments

Dungeon Crawler Carl Series by Matt Dinniman

The apocalypse will be televised!

A man. His ex-girlfriend’s cat. A sadistic game show unlike anything in the universe: a dungeon crawl where survival depends on killing your prey in the most entertaining way possible.

In a flash, every human-erected construction on Earth—from Buckingham Palace to the tiniest of sheds—collapses in a heap, sinking into the ground.

The buildings and all the people inside have all been atomized and transformed into the dungeon: an 18-level labyrinth filled with traps, monsters, and loot. A dungeon so enormous, it circles the entire globe.

Only a few dare venture inside. But once you’re in, you can’t get out. And what’s worse, each level has a time limit. You have but days to find a staircase to the next level down, or it’s game over. In this game, it’s not about your strength or your dexterity. It’s about your followers, your views. Your clout. It’s about building an audience and killing those goblins with style.

You can’t just survive here. You gotta survive big.

You gotta fight with vigor, with excitement. You gotta make them stand up and cheer. And if you do have that “it” factor, you may just find yourself with a following. That’s the only way to truly survive in this game—with the help of the loot boxes dropped upon you by the generous benefactors watching from across the galaxy.

They call it Dungeon Crawler World. But for Carl, it’s anything but a game.

The Reason

There was so much hype I couldn’t ignore it!

The Quotes

“Cats are assholes. I get it. But do you know why people like cats, despite their asshole-ness? It’s because they don’t fucking talk.”

“If we get to the point where we don’t help each other anymore, that’s when we stop being human.”

“New achievement! You’ve killed an armed mob with your bare fucking hands! Holy crap, dude. That’s kinda fucked up. Reward: You’ve received a Bronze Weapon Box!”

“You’re not going to break me,” I said. “You might hurt me, or kill me, but you’re not going to break me.”

The Narrator(s)

Jeff Hays. For all the books in the series. I have insufficient words to describe how incredible his narration is. I am spoiled by his narration!

My Thoughts

I decided to do one post for the whole series because I’m so far behind with my reviews and I’m too lazy to do one for each book, so I’ll just put them altogether here in this post.

Book 1 – Dungeon Crawler Carl
This is a reread; I first read this (and the second book in the series) in November last year and loved it, but I wasn’t able to finish the series at the time so now I have to reread to refresh my memory. I had a lot of other books on my TBR and wasn’t initially planning to pick this series back up now, but life has been kicking my ass and I felt like I needed a story that was fun and easy to read but also thrilling and exciting at the same time to keep my interest throughout everything else happening in my life.

This book is such perfect balance of being light-hearted while still dealing with some heavy issues. I love Carl and Donut as a team; they have the cutest relationship and the best chemistry as a duo. It makes me wonder about the kind of relationship I would have with my cats if they turned sentient! Now that I’m back in the DCC world, I intend to complete the series this time and I’m so ready to start the next books!

Book 2 – Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
Continuing the saga of Carl and Donut but now we also have Mongo! I love that they picked their Classes in this book that allow them to get all the perks and upgrades. The side quests are interesting as hell, I am also waiting to see where this goes when they reach the lower levels! I loved the ending of the book and I loved the epilogue even more! It was hilarious! It was incredible! It was amazing! It was (insert all your favorite adjectives here)! I’m sure I’ll be back with another glowing review after I finish the next book!

Book 3 – The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook
This is the third book in the series and I think it might be my favorite one so far! One of the reasons the first book pulled me in is because of the humor and how easy it is to read, but it should be acknowledged that there are some very disturbing themes in the book and a lot of emotional trauma as well. This book delves deeper into some difficult topics that are handled so beautifully and serves to show us the growth and development of the characters. I love them more now than ever. I love that although there is more focus on character development, there is no detraction from the excitement of the Dungeon Crawl and the missions, quests, and scrapes that Carl, Donut, and their friends get into.

Book 4 – The Gate of the Feral Gods
Fourth book in and I am still caught off-guard by how this story manages to surprise me! I love that we are getting to know more of the other characters better now. As we get deeper into the levels and more Crawlers die, we naturally get fewer characters left, of course, and we see some of them over the course of the books as well. It’s weird how Carl creates community and found family without getting too sappy about it, but in a way that makes my heart swell even more. They show love and care through actions rather than cheesy words (although there’s nothing wrong with that!).

There are several characters whose motives I’m still unsure about though, and I guess we’ll find out as we go. I also love how much more openly defiant Carl has gotten, and how he uses his ratings and popularity as leverage. I can’t help it, guys. I wanted to take a break to read other books, but I already started the next book!

Book 5 – The Butcher’s Masquerade
Fifth book in and still going strong! Book 5 gets better and also more traumatic at the same time. I laughed out loud so many times while reading, and probably teared up an equal amount of times. The relationships are the best thing about this book, but there’s also the plot and the humor, and oh, everything! The fact of the premise really allows Dinniman to go crazy with the cast and plot but it also highlights just how f’d up the events in the books are if they happened in real life. There are things set up in previous books that come to fruition in this book, but there are also a lot more that have not come to pass, and I’m sort of scared of what’s going to happen because the story does not go easy!

Book 6 – The Eye of the Bedlam Bride
Book 6 and it’s still so good and hilarious, and completely outlandish in a good way! Where do I begin? The fact that we are now on Book 6 and there’s still so much I can say about it because it never gets boring, there’s always something new, and I only fall more and more in love with the characters.

The fact that this freaking book can make me laugh out loud in one paragraph only to make me cry like a baby in the next, to the point that my husband sitting beside me stared at me worriedly and wondered if I was having a neurological event. The fact that the traumatic events that happen in this book is handled so sensitively and seriously, and at the same time so irreverently and humorously, and still makes me relate to the human condition and everything it means to be human for these characters.

I am excitedly anticipating reading Book 7, but also dreading it because once I finish it, I’ll have to wait a while for the next books and I know I’ll miss Carl and Donut. I’m going to read some other books before starting Book 7, but I’m pretty sure I can’t put it off too long!

Book 7 – This Inevitable Ruin
This is Book 7 in the DCC series, and the last one to date until the next one, which is expected to be released in May 2026. I don’t know how I can wait that long without going crazy. I don’t often do well with long-running series because I forget details, or get bored with the same story and characters, especially if the author tends to be formulaic. But every single book in this series has only gotten better and better, and just when you think it can’t get better, it gets better!

This book plays with my emotions; making me cry, making me laugh, making me feel awed at the plots, missions, side quests, power plays… making me disgusted because some really disgusting things happen, making me scared and on edge with suspense, making me feel so much! I thought I was already so deeply in love with these characters, but I find myself falling more and more in love with them with every book.

I cannot praise this series enough, but I also feel like I should maybe tone it down because it might raise expectations sky high and I don’t want anyone to be disappointed. It is that good though, for me at least, and now that I’ve finished the latest book and have to wait for the next one, I have no idea what to do with myself!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars. I love the whole series and each book only gets better and better!

Have you read this series? Would you read this series? Did you like it or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

Posted December 10, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

Holy work sometimes requires unholy deeds.

Brother Diaz has been summoned to the Sacred City, where he is certain a commendation and grand holy assignment awaits him. But his new flock is made up of unrepentant murderers, practitioners of ghastly magic, and outright monsters, and the mission he is tasked with will require bloody measures from them all in order to achieve its righteous ends.

Elves lurk at our borders and hunger for our flesh, while greedy princes care for nothing but their own ambitions and comfort. With a hellish journey before him, it’s a good thing Brother Diaz has the devils on his side.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
N/A

The Reason

A bookclub friend recommended it and I had enjoyed the author’s The First Law trilogy.

The Quotes

“Happy endings are just stories that aren’t finished yet.”

“You need to stop clinging to the notion that there is only one right path. You’ll waste half your time panicking you’re not on it, and the rest backtracking to find it.”

“Show me a man who regrets nothing and I’ll show you a man who’s achieved nothing.”

The Narrator(s)

Steven Pacey. I loved him when listening to The First Law books and I love him for this one too!

My Thoughts

Abercrombie’s books usually start out really well for me. I read The First Law trilogy and really enjoyed his writing style and humor. This book is no different. I especially love how interesting and imperfect his characters are. They are all broken in their own ways, but I always feel like there’s hope for them and I want to see it play out in the story. Unfortunately, I feel like this book didn’t hit the mark for me. All the feels I initially felt, with a band of people forced together for some sort of mission, the way they worked together, getting to know each other, their chemistry…

I wanted some sort of resolution for them as a group, but after everything they went through together, the ending was so disappointing. To be fair, this is supposed to be the first book in a series so there’s the possibility that things might get better for them in subsequent books. However, I remembered how disappointed I was with the The First Law trilogy after having such high hopes for the story, and I feel like it’s not worth it to go through this whole journey if this is going to be more of the same.

As a reader, the journey is often more important than the destination for me, but somehow in this case, a lot of the journey felt meaningless when we got to the end of the book. Perhaps it’s unfair to compare the two different stories, but this first book by itself reminded me of how I felt reading the whole The First Law trilogy, and I just feel like the journey isn’t worth the destination.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

Posted December 10, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 0 Comments

Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman

The year is 1348. Thomas, a disgraced knight, has found a young girl alone in a dead Norman village. An orphan of the Black Death, and an almost unnerving picture of innocence, she tells Thomas that plague is only part of a larger cataclysm—that the fallen angels under Lucifer are rising in a second war on heaven, and that the world of men has fallen behind the lines of conflict.

Is it delirium or is it faith? She believes she has seen the angels of God. She believes the righteous dead speak to her in dreams. And now she has convinced the faithless Thomas to shepherd her across a depraved landscape to Avignon. There, she tells Thomas, she will fulfill her mission to confront the evil that has devastated the earth, and to restore to this betrayed, murderous knight the nobility and hope of salvation he long abandoned.

As hell unleashes its wrath, and as the true nature of the girl is revealed, Thomas will find himself on a macabre battleground of angels and demons, saints, and the risen dead, and in the midst of a desperate struggle for nothing less than the soul of man.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
N/A

The Reason

It was the BOTM for my in-person bookclub.

The Quotes

“Well, I do what I say. Which is why I don’t say much.”

“Love is always harder. Love means weathering blows for another’s sake and not counting them.”

“Hell, like prison, is worse when you don’t feel you earned it.”

“The injuries of spring are forgotten in the summer, but remembered in the winter.”

The Narrator(s)

Steve West. He was mostly fine, but I really didn’t like his voice for the girl!

My Thoughts

I’m writing this review a long time after reading the book, and for some reason I can’t find my notes so I’m going off a very spotty memory. I remember this being a dark story about a showdown between good and evil, and I remember enjoying most of it. The only issue is that I was rushing to finish it for my bookclub, and there were several parts of the story that included dreams and hallucinations and it was sometimes confusing for me when I didn’t realize what was happening.

In general, I liked the characters, especially the priest. I found the girl annoying (I’m sorry I forgot the names and I don’t have my notes!) but I’m not sure if that’s because I really dislike her character or because I dislike the narrator’s voice for her. I honestly feel that I would’ve probably enjoyed this book a lot more if I was reading it on print and not rushing it like I did. Perhaps one day I’ll revisit the story again.

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Book Review | A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher

Posted December 10, 2025 by Haze in Book Reviews / 2 Comments

A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher

A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm’s Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn’t allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother’s beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.

For the Reading Challenge(s):
2025 52 Book Club Reading Challenge (Prompt #20: A fairy tale retelling)

The Reason

I love fairy tale retellings and I’ve loved many of the author’s books!

The Quotes

“The problem with being rich is that you simply have no idea how expensive it is to be poor.”

“Hester was no hero, but there was nothing in her that would allow her to turn away from a person who had been dropped on her doorstep. Even if that person had brought Doom along with her.”

“I had a terrible feeling when I saw her. You know how people talk about love at first sight? This was like… fear at first sight.”

The Narrator(s)

Eliza Foss and Jennifer Pickens. They were great, I enjoyed the narration immensely!

My Thoughts

I’ve loved several of Kingfisher’s books and I love fairytale retellings in general. I wasn’t familiar with the original story this retelling was based on (Goose Girl) but the description of the book caught my interest. I believe the book first came to my attention back in May during Mother’s Day season, and there were a few books that featured mothers. The mother in question in this book is not a good person; she is an evil sorceress and the MC, her daughter Cordelia, is helpless against her.

I read this in between Dungeon Crawler Carl books, and since I was coming out of my DCC stupor, I expected to take some time to get into this book, but the moment I started reading it, I was completely sucked in and I couldn’t put it down. I was surprised by how hard this book hits and how intense everything was. I loved the characters, and I love how each of them stood out to me in their own ways; Hester, Penelope, Alice, Imogen. A book that vilifies the MC’s mother, but showcases the strength, resilience, and nurturing qualities of the many other female characters. There is so much I love about this book and it reinforces why Kingfisher is one of my favorite authors!

My Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.

Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?

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Monthly Wrap Up | November 2025

Posted December 5, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 2 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

November 2025 Wrap Up

I actually didn’t realize it was a new month already! I mean, I realized it was December but I completely forgot what that means and that I had stuff to get done. I missed the deadline for a couple of books I was supposed to finish in November as well because I wasn’t connecting the fact that time was actually passing. I’m still playing catch up!

Adding to that, my husband recently changed webhosts for our websites, which caused issues with my blog that was a pain to fix, and there might be some I haven’t even realized yet! I think one of the biggest issue is the broken links on my page that I didn’t even realize until recently, because I haven’t been present on the blog! Please forgive me if you came across any issues on my blog, or come across any more issues. I’m still fixing stuff and catching up on things from being unwell last month.

I’ll say one thing; one of the things I’d been catching up on is crocheting Christmas gifts in time for Christmas. And while I feel the pressure of trying to finish as soon as I can, I also get to listen to a lot of audiobooks while crocheting, so that’s a win!

My November 2025 TBR Intentions

I did pretty good with 6 out of 9, I think! I truly intended to read the other 3 as well, but I lost track of the time with due dates and deadlines. Oh well.

  1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
  2. Christine by Stephen King
  3. Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
  4. Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
  5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  6. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
  7. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  8. Watership Down by Richard Adams
  9. Falling by T.J. Newman

Books Read in November 2025

  1. Field Notes on Love by Jennifer E. Smith
  2. Dracula by Bram Stoker
  3. Christine by Stephen King
  4. Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
  5. The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight by Jennifer E. Smith
  6. Vampires of El Norte by Isabel Cañas
  7. Falling by T.J. Newman
  8. Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia
  9. The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
  10. Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi
  11. Travel by Bullet by John Scalzi
  12. Constituent Service by John Scalzi
  13. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
  14. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  15. Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer

Notable Books This Month

I have to say the John Scalzi books were my favorites this month! I’d heard a lot about John Scalzi but haven’t read any of his works. These titles just happened to be available on Audible Plus, and they were short and I was curious and now I feel like I want to read more John Scalzi!

Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer was also really good. I made the mistake of listening to it to sleep when I had about two hours more to go on the audiobook. Things got real at that point and I was so worked up and upset I couldn’t sleep.

Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts by Kate Racculia was another surprise. I didn’t think I’d enjoy it as much as I did and I was very pleasantly surprised!

There were a lot of other great books as well, of course, with some of my favorite authors like Stephen King and T. Kingfisher, but none of them were surprises because I knew they’d be good, so they’re not noteworthy compared to these other ones this month.

December 2025 TBR Intentions

I’m going to take it easy this December with reading obligations. I do have a couple of books I’d like to read before the end of the year, and also a couple of BOTMs for bookclubs, but otherwise I’ll read whatever I please! I’m leaning towards easy, light-hearted romance, possibly even Christmas-themed!

  1. Emma by Jane Austen
  2. Stoner by John Williams
  3. The Wedding People by Alison Espach
  4. My Friends by Fredrik Backman

How was your month in November? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful December with lots of great books!

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Monthly Wrap Up | October 2025

Posted November 7, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 6 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

October 2025 Wrap Up

I’m late with my wrap up this month. I having some health issues and dealing with some adverse side effects so I haven’t been as active both physically and mentally recently. I’ve left a lot of tasks undone too, and I have so many book reviews to catch up on. I’m recovering though and definitely hopeful that next month will be better.

My October 2025 TBR Intentions

I did pretty good on my October TBR intentions, but there were a couple of books I didn’t get to that I still want to eventually. I did manage to read three Stephen King books, which I’m very happy about because that means I’m making progress with my Stephen King Constant Reader Challenge! I’d been slow-moving with the challenge but Halloween season often comes with lots of SK buddy reads and I’m not complaining.

  1. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
  2. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman
  3. This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
  4. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  5. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  6. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  7. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  8. Falling by T.J. Newman

Books Read in October 2025

  1. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  2. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  3. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  4. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
  5. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman
  6. This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
  7. The Wedding Crasher by Mia Sosa
  8. Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
  9. Carrie by Stephen King
  10. Duma Key by Stephen King
  11. The Running Man by Stephen King
  12. Let’s Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson

Notable Books This Month

I am still so obsessed with the Dungeon Crawler Carl series! I finally finished them to the most recently released, but I am anxiously anticipating the next books and I love that I’m still so passionate about them. I don’t usually do well with long-running series because I lose interest or they start to get repetitive, but I don’t feel that way about this series and I truly hope it stays that way until the end.

A Sorceress Comes to Call was also a standout. T. Kingfisher is one of my automatic-read authors, and this book has become one of my favorites by her. I also have Hemlock & Silver on my TBR, and I’m excited to read that next.

Let’s Pretend This Never Happened was an interesting surprise. It’s my in-person bookclub’s BOTM, and my first book by the author. I expected something humorous, yes, but I was surprised by Lawson’s brand of humor. I listened to this on audio with the author narrating, and I love how audacious and unapologetic she is. She finds humor in some serious shit too, which I find a little disconcerting, but I can’t help but love her.

November 2025 TBR Intentions

I signed up for quite a few spooky reads during Halloween season and I’m still paying the price. I also have some classics I’m doing for The Classics Club challenge.

  1. Dracula by Bram Stoker
  2. Christine by Stephen King
  3. Nightmares & Dreamscapes by Stephen King
  4. Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher
  5. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
  6. The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran
  7. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  8. Watership Down by Richard Adams
  9. Falling by T.J. Newman

How was your month in October? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful November with lots of great books!

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Top Ten Tuesday | Ten Non-Bookish Things About Me

Posted October 13, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 40 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Books I Wish I Could Read Again for the First Time 

The topic was originally supposed to be Non-Bookish Freebie, and today is my birthday(!) so I thought I’d do a non-bookish list about me today and share a little more about me. I’m not sure how many of us will do the original topic, but either way, I hope to learn more about you too!

Ten Non-Bookish Things About Me

  1. It’s my birthday! – October 14th! I’m a Libra baby! Unfortunately, I’m not celebrating this week as I got sick unexpectedly, but maybe once I get well.
  2. Yes, I am into astrology, tarot, numerology, and other metaphysical practices – I started practicing tarot and other witchy stuff as a child and became a professional tarot reader and numerologist as an adult.
  3. I’ve also worked at a bookstore and as a wedding singer – I’m pretty sure most of us bookworms have worked at a bookstore or a library, or with books at some capacity, at one point or other! Music is another big thing for me, so singing seemed like another thing I would enjoy, and I’ve sang with a couple of bands for weddings and corporate events.
  4. And was also an investment consultant – This is probably the job that is most unrelated to any of my interests, but I met my husband here so it turned out great!
  5. My husband is a musician and we bonded over our love for music – I have dated musicians before meeting my husband and I swore I would never date musicians again! Joke’s on me, huh?😂
  6. We make beautiful music together! – Not an euphemism! 😂 We actually make music together and have just released a few songs (and more coming soon!) under the name SpaceBlaze! I’ve added our Spotify playlist to the sidebar if anyone wants to check them out, or if you don’t use Spotify, you can try any of these platforms.
  7. We also have three cats together – Button, Pepper, and Loki. We lost Loki a few months ago, but he’s still very much in our hearts and minds. Click the link for the cat tax! They are Malaysian cats, and we brought them with us when we moved to Canada.
  8. We’re Malaysian cats too – We moved to Canada in 2018 and sometimes I’m surprised to realize that we’ve been here for seven years. It’s weird to be an immigrant because after seven years, I still feel like I’m new here. There’s so much I don’t know, and sometimes I don’t even know what I don’t know.
  9. I knit and crochet in my free time – These days it’s more crochet than knit, but I realized I haven’t posted many pictures of my crochet projects here. It looks like I only have this post and this post featuring my crochet pieces. I should really change that!
  10. It was surprisingly difficult to come up with ten non-bookish things about me – Books are such a huge part of my life, and probably the thing I talk most about. In fact, I’m probably cheating with this one, and the one about working in a bookstore, because they’re bookish-related, but this has somewhat inspired me to explore other interests so I’ll have more to talk about next time!

What are some non-bookish things about you? Do we have any non-bookish things in common? What non-bookish things would you like to try?

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Top Ten Tuesday | Satisfying Book Series

Posted October 6, 2025 by Haze in Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Book Memes / 39 Comments

Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.

Today’s topic is Satisfying Book Series 

This was a dangerous topic for me; I ended up reminiscing about so many of these series and wanting to reread them! Plus, it also reminded me of many series I haven’t finished and now I have more books on my TBR!

Top Ten Satisfying Book Series

  1. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Whether you count this series as just the original trilogy, or also include the two prequels, this is one of my favorite series that only gets better with every reread. I get more out of it and see things I missed before every time I read it.
  2. Super Powereds by Drew Hayes – I had so much fun with this series. The writing is definitely not sophisticated at all, but the storytelling is so immersive and I love all the characters! It was fun and thrills all the way from start to finish.
  3. The Prison Healer by Lynette Noni – Objectively, this isn’t as well known as the other books on the list but I have fond memories of reading it, and I think maybe one of the reasons I loved it is because I came in without any expectations and ended up loving it.
  4. The Green Bone Saga by Fonda Lee – This series is incredible in a way I’m not sure how to describe. It feels real. It feels important. It feels like an epic that should be in the realm of LOTR but for urban fantasy. It is intense, and just so good.
  5. Rook & Rose by M.A. Carrick – I love the world-building and magical system in this series. I also really love the characters and their chemistry with each other. It’s one of the newer series I’ve finished (that wasn’t a reread) and that I know I will love even more with every reread.
  6. Oz: The Complete Collection by L. Frank Baum – This is my first time reading the Oz books and I was so surprised at how much more there is to them compared to the movies and Wicked retelling. I’m sure I would’ve loved these stories as a child, but honestly, they are pretty incredible reading as an adult too!
  7. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery – These are books I read as a child and they have remained one of my favorite series ever since. They are some of my favorite comfort reads and I know I can never go wrong with them.
  8. Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor – It’s been a while since I read this series but I remember loving them so much at the time. I’m definitely feeling the itch to reread!
  9. Dragonlance: Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman – I just reread the first three books and have put it on hold because I’m missing the fourth book. I’d forgotten so much of the details and was quite surprised, and shocked, by some of the things that happened, but they are still amazing!
  10. The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer – Another series I haven’t read in a while. I love fairytale retellings and I loved the different perspectives this series offered. It’s time to schedule a reread for these books too!

I’m usually good about limiting my TTT list to ten, but here are some notable ones I loved but didn’t put on the list because they are still ongoing or unfinished, or some other reason. They are all still worth reading though, imho!

  1. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman – Currently reading for the first time and I’m on the 6th book. It’s still ongoing but I love every book so far!
  2. Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown – If you count only the first three books, they’re finished and very good on their own, but the story that started from Book 4 onwards isn’t finished yet and I’m still waiting anxiously to find out what happens to my beloved characters!
  3. Wayfarers by Becky Chambers – This series is finished as far as I know, and I love it more than some of the other books in the TTT list, but every book is pretty much only tangentially related and can be read as standalones, so I decided to keep it off the TTT list.
  4. Fred, The Vampire Accountant by Drew Hayes – This is also a finished series and one I loved, but I already have a series by the same author on the TTT so this one only gets a notable mention.
  5. The Murderbot Dairies by Martha Wells – Still ongoing, and there’s also a TV series out! I am loving it so much so far!
  6. Heartstopper by Alice Oseman – This series has my heart. I love it. I was so sad to hear the TV series has been cancelled, but I’m glad there’s still a book to look forward to.
  7. A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin – I know, I know! But I was already listing unfinished book series, so I might as well, right?! Thing is, whether this series ever gets finished or not, the ones that are already out are amazing, and I honestly think they are still worth reading even if we never get an ending. These books helped me through a tough time and I can’t imagine never having them in my life.

Have you read any of these series? What did you think of them? Would you read any of them?

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Sunday Post | 5 October 2025

Posted October 4, 2025 by Haze in Sunday Post, Weekly Book Memes / 30 Comments

Welcome to the Sunday Post, a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Reviewer to share weekly news and updates on what we’ve been up to on our blog, with our books, and book-related happenings. I am also linking up with Deb @ Readerbuzz for The Sunday Salon.

Good Food with Good Friends

This was a good week for Malaysian food; I made Hokkien Mee yesterday, and today I went to a Malaysian restaurant with my bookclub friends and had Chili Pan Mee. I don’t know, I was craving noodles this weekend! Our bookclub meeting was supposed to be the weekend before, but many of us couldn’t make it in the last minute so we decided to do lunch today instead.

It has been a long, long time since I made Hokkien Mee, and obviously it’s not the same as the ones you find in Malaysian hawker stalls because I’m using different ingredients and I don’t have sambal belacan on hand, but I did make the pork fat crisps and the husband loved it, so yay!

The pictures aren’t great but you can see just from the presentation which one is homemade and which one was restaurant-made! That one veggie piece in the middle of the noodle dish is a weird aesthetic, but it all went happily down our stomachs anyway. Honestly, the picture doesn’t do it justice, it was so good (or maybe I was just too hungry)! The Chili Pan Mee wasn’t the same as the ones back in Malaysia, but that’s to be expected and I appreciate the effort. I have eaten there before and a lot of the other Malaysian food on the menu are amazing, I just wanted to try the noodles today.

The Books

Books I read last week:

  1. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman – I am still having so much fun with this series even though it does actually get more painful in some ways. I think it showcases how we can have hard-hitting stories but still keep our humor intact and make the best out of whatever situation we find ourselves in. Obviously Jeff Hays’ narration plays a big part in making the books so enjoyable too!
  2. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher – I started reading this with three more days to go before I had to return it to the library, and I expected to take some time to get into it since I was so engrossed in the DCC books, but surprisingly and happily, it sucked me in immediately and I finished it in two sittings! I loved it and I’m so glad I read it instead of letting the due date lapse!
  3. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman – I barely finished this in time for my bookclub meeting today! It was good but I feel like I rushed it and that wasn’t fair to the story because there were parts where dreams and hallucintions play an important role in the plot and I got really confused about what was really happening. I also didn’t like the narrator for some of the voices so that played a part in my enjoyment of the story.

Books I’m reading:

  1. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman – I couldn’t resist. I took a break already, reading two other books in between the last one, but I had to come back to Carl and Donut!
  2. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie – My attempt to still continue reading other book obligations even though I can’t stay away from DCC. I’m about 10% in and it’s reminding me a lot of Between Two Fires, so far! But I love the humor here, and I love Steven Pacey as the narrator!

Last Week on The Blog

I got a TTT and a Monthly Wrap-Up in! I should probably get started on the backlog of book reviews though!

This Week

It’s October and you know what that means; spooky books!

I’m doing really well on my October TBR intentions so far! I’ve finished three books on my list already, and started two others. I’m hoping that if I finish them quickly I’ll have enough time for some Stephen King as well and maybe more horror!

How was your week? I hope you had a great week last week, and I hope you have a great one again this week!

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Monthly Wrap-Up | September 2025

Posted September 30, 2025 by Haze in Monthly Wrap Up / 10 Comments

Welcome to the Monthly Wrap Up hosted by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction to share our monthly wrap-up posts that summarizes our month in books, our favorite books of the month, what we did on our blogs, and anything noteworthy we want to share.

September 2025 Wrap Up

This was a busy month for me and I didn’t read a lot of variety, but I did spend time on trying to finish a couple of series, which is good in and of itself, but they’re not completely done yet!

My September 2025 TBR Intentions

My September TBR intentions has been woefully neglected this month. I’ll be migrating them forward into October and hope I have better luck getting to them!

  1. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  2. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  3. Dragons of Summer Flame by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  4. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  5. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  6. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  7. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  8. Falling by T.J. Newman
  9. S. by J.J. Abrams and Doug Dorst

Books Read in September 2025

  1. Dragons of Winter Night by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  2. Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
  3. Taste by Stanley Tucci
  4. What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami
  5. Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman
  6. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman
  7. The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman
  8. The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

Notable Books This Month

Obviously, the Dungeon Crawler Carl series has very much taken over my brain at the moment! I am loving all of them so far, and I’m almost done with Book 5. I have about 4 hours left of it as of this writing. I mean to continue with the rest of the books and finish the series in October, but I think I’ll have to take a break and read some other books first because of library due dates and reading deadlines.

However, I must say that I loved all the books I read this month!

The Dragonlance series were amazing also! I didn’t finish it because I realized there was a book in between Dragons of Spring Dawning and Dragons of Summer Flame, and I have not acquired that book yet. I also loved Stanley Tucci’s Taste, because I love him in general and I love how he talks about food and how food has shaped some of the relationships in his life.

Most notably, I was very surprised by how much I loved What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. I have never read his books, and I didn’t realize who the author was when I picked up this book, but I am very inspired by this book and I’m very curious to read his other books.

October 2025 TBR Intentions

I want to read the rest of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, and hopefully finish some of the books I meant to read last month.

  1. The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman
  2. The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman
  3. This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman
  4. Between Two Fires by Christopher Buehlman
  5. A Sorceress Comes To Call by T. Kingfisher
  6. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
  7. The Devils by Joe Abercrombie
  8. Falling by T.J. Newman

How was your month in September? What were your most memorable bookish moments? I hope you have a wonderful October with lots of great books!

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