First Line Friday: 5/1

Happy Friday everybody! It’s been a couple of weeks!

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here are the first lines:

Welcome, crawler to the third floor.

The previous level will collapse in 3 hours and 35 minutes.

Do you know the book? If not, here are a few clues for you…

Still have no idea? Here’s another hint to help you out…

Are you still thinking about it? That’s all right – here are some great pictures of books to admire while you consider it some more…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman!

(Didja guess it?)

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

SERIES: Dungeon Crawler Carl #2

LENGTH: 364 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Science Fiction, LitRPG, Fiction

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY: Dandy House

ORIGINALLY RELEASED: 6 January 2021

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs to make it to the next level and build the kind of fan following the dungeon masters can’t ignore in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman – now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

“Greetings, Crawlers! The training levels have concluded. Now the games may truly begin.”

The aliens have come, and they’ve transformed Earth into a multilevel, video game–like dungeon. It’s the newest season of the galaxy’s most watched game show, Dungeon Crawler World. Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They’ve already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever feline royalty are an almost unstoppable team. Their ratings are off the charts. Viewers can’t get enough. But the dungeon gets more dangerous each day, and now there’s a whole new problem to deal with: Quests.

They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered women rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. Can Carl and Donut solve the mystery in time?

And can Carl finally find some pants?

Includes part two of the exclusive bonus story “Backstage at the Pineapple Cabaret.”

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 4/29

Hello! Happy Wednesday a second time!

WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme that used to be hosted at A Daily Rhythm, but has been taken over by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words. Now, without further ado, let’s get into the 3 Ws!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m Currently Reading

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

CURRENT STATUS: 50%

CURRENT FEELS: 😃 (enjoying it)

✯✯ Yeah, I didn’t finish it yet. Not because I haven’t been enjoying it – there’s just been too much stuff going on for the past week (and the past month, honestly). I’m hoping to finish this tomorrow. ✯✯

What I Recently Finished Reading

A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson

★★ Yeah, as I’ve mentioned before, A Widow’s Charm wasn’t quite what I was expecting and it didn’t do it for me. The cover art and writing were really good, though. ★★

What I’m Reading Next

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

☆☆ If I like the rest of Dungeon Crawler Carl, I’ll probably read this next. ☆☆

Aurora: Volume 2 by Red

☆☆ I’m absolutely reading this in the near future. Like, in the next week kind of near future. ☆☆

No Gods No Kings by Demetria Paxton

☆☆ Yeah, I might read this coming up. Still somewhat undecided, though, so that might change. Honestly, I got a few books on my immediate TBR again that I think I really want to read, so this might get shafted; at least for awhile. ☆☆

Platform Decay by Martha Wells

☆☆ I’m definitely going to read this. Hopefully sometime next week, around the time it comes out. I think I still want to read Aurora: Volume 2 first and maybe Carl’s Doomsday Scenario. ☆☆

What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 4/22

Hey everyone, Happy Wednesday again!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m Currently Reading

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

CURRENT STATUS: 4%

CURRENT FEELS: 😆 (super excited)

✯✯ Yep, I’m finally doing it! T. I’m really looking forward to this! I hope it lives up to the hype! ✯✯

What I Finished Reading Recently

A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson

★★ Yeah, as I’ve mentioned before, A Widow’s Charm wasn’t quite what I was expecting and it didn’t do it for me. The cover art and writing were really good, though. ★★

What I’m Reading Next

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

☆☆ If I like Dungeon Crawler Carl, I’ll probably read this next. ☆☆

Aurora: Volume 2 by Red

☆☆ I’m absolutely reading this in the near future. Like, probably before the end of April kind of near future. ☆☆

No Gods No Kings by Demetria Paxton

☆☆ Yeah, I might read this coming up. Still somewhat undecided, though, so that might change. ☆☆

What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 4/15

Happy Wednesday to everybody (again)!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m Currently Reading

✯✯ I have to stop doing this post on Wednesdays where I’m not reading anything. I’m gonna read Dungeon Crawler Carl next I swear! …Though I’ve also been tempted by other books. (Ugh. This is what happens when I don’t read a book right away when it starts to call for me.) ✯✯

What I Recently Finished Reading

A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson

☆★ my review ★☆

★★ Yeah, as I mentioned last week and in my review, A Widow’s Charm wasn’t quite what I was expecting and it didn’t do it for me. The cover art and writing were really good, though. ★★

What I’m Reading Next

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

☆☆ I’m definitely gonna read this soon! (… Hopefully.) ☆☆

What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

WWW Wednesday: 4/1

Happy Wednesday again! Cutting it very close with this one!

The 3 Ws of WWW Wednesday:

What are you currently reading?

What did you recently finish reading?

What do you think you’ll read next?

What I’m Currently Reading

A Widow’s Charm by Caitlyn Paxson

CURRENT STATUS: 26%

CURRENT FEELS: 🤔 (unsure)

✯✯ I’m really not sure how I feel about this one yet. It started off much hornier than I expected, which put me off a little, and I wasn’t immediately into either of the protagonists, for various reasons. For now, I’m still giving it a chance, as I’m still interested in seeing where this goes at the moment. ✯✯

What I Recently Finished Reading

One Piece (Volumes 79, 80, & 81) by Eiichiro Oda

★★ I really enjoyed the Dressrosa arc, even if it was a little slower. Far more than the Fishman Island arc in any case. I’m teetering around four stars for the last few volumes I read, though I might end up going up a little with the rating. But yeah, great arc. Looking forward to the Whole Cake Island arc later this year. ★★

What I’m Reading Next

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

☆☆ I’m still super eager to read this, and I really hope I enjoy it. I’m nervous about hyping it up too much, especially since A Widow’s Charm is not hitting so far for me (hopefully I can really get into it soon, though). But yeah, looking to start Dungeon Crawler Carl later this week. ☆☆

What books has everyone been reading lately? What have you thought of them? What are you thinking of reading next?

Anyway, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope that you have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

First Line Friday: 3/20

Hey all and Happy Friday! It’s been a few weeks since I last did this.

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

Here are the first lines:

The transformation occurred at approximately 2:23 AM, Pacific Standard Time. As far as I could tell, anyone who was indoors when it happened died instantly.

Know the book? If not here are a few clues…

Still got no idea? Here’s an extra hint or two to help you out…

Are you still thinking about it? All good – here are some lovely pictures of books to admire while you do so…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman!

(Didja guess it?)

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman

SERIES: Dungeon Crawler Carl #1

LENGTH: 464 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Science Fiction, LitRPG, Fiction

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY: Dandy House

ORIGINALLY RELEASED: 2 October 2020

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman—now with bonus material exclusive to this print edition.

You know what’s worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what’s worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction of all man-made structures on Earth, and the systematic exploitation of all the survivors for a sadistic intergalactic game show. That’s what.

Join Coast Guard vet Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they try to survive the end of the world—or just get to the next level—in a video game–like, trap-filled fantasy dungeon. A dungeon that’s actually the set of a reality television show with countless viewers across the galaxy. Exploding goblins. Magical potions. Deadly, drug-dealing llamas. This ain’t your ordinary game show.

Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the Dungeon. Survival is optional. Keeping the viewers entertained is not.

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar