2025 Book Bracket: Quarter 3 Results

Ok, so we might have skipped Quarter 2, but here are the results including Quarter 3.

April's choice had some tough competition going up against half of the Bewitched and Bewildered series. Strange Beasts by Susan J. Morris ended up being top dog though. April's choice beat out March's choice, as well as February's choice.

I only finished one book in May, so Once Upon a Dark October by Jessie Thomas ended up winning.

June also had some tough competition with some more of the Bewitched and Bewildered series. My Warrior by Alanea Alder from the Bewitched and Bewildered series ended up being the pick. June's choice beat out May's choice, but got smashed by April's choice, putting Strange Beasts in the finals.

July was relatively easy to pick with only three choices, all from Bewitched and Bewildered. My Eternal Light by Alanea Alder ended up winning.

August's choice was another hard pick. In August I participated in the ACS's Read Every Day as such I finished eight books, all except for one of them was from the Kindred of Arcadia series by Alanea Alder. The overall winner ended up being My Haven by Alanea Alder, which is the most recent addition to the Bewitched and Bewildered series. August's choice beat out July's choice.

And now for September's choice, which also had some tough competition. I read some of The 39 Clues series this month, but my top choice was Van Helsing by Kevin Ryan.

I look forward to seeing you all at the end of December with the results of this year's book bracket. 

Book Review: Beyond the Grave by Jude Watson

 

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“They were acting, Amy realized, like Cahills.” And another book done for this series. Beyond the Grave is fast-paced and has some more hilarious interactions between the characters. There’s some more backstabbing which is to be expected, but how many times can you get betrayed by the same people before you stop giving them the chance to do so again? I recommend it to fans of historical mysteries, Ancient Egypt, and the 1999 The Mummy movie.

Book Review: The Sword Thief by Peter Lerangis

 

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“‘Oh, great, I’m in South Korea and my sister has turned into Julie Andrews,’ Dan said.” This series is giving me nostalgia, and reminding me why I spent my formative years researching code breaking. The Sword Thief is just as fast-paced as its predecessors, which makes me sound like a broken record, so what, sue me, I like quick books. My one complaint is the constant backstabbing, which I know is a major plot point, but it’s getting a tad old. Again, I recommend it to historical mystery fans and ninja and samurai fans.

Book Review: One False Note by Gordon Korman

  

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“‘The last church we were in wasn’t boring,’ Amy reminded him. ‘We both nearly got killed.’” And we continue our reread. One False Note is fast-paced and has some great interactions between the characters, but what else would you expect when they’re all related to each other. I don’t tend to have any gripes about most of the stuff I actually read, and that stays true for this series. The only thing would be that sometimes since most of the books in this series are written by different authors there may be a little disconnect between the feelings of the books. I recommend it to fans of historical mysteries and classical music, especially Mozart.

Book Review: The Maze of Bones by Rick Riordan

 

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“‘These are cool,’ Dan decided. ‘Maybe I could—’ ‘No, Dan,’ Amy said. ‘You can’t collect human bones.’ ‘Awww.’” Reread of another decently long series here we come! The 39 Clues series is a nice little mystery series entwined throughout history. The Maze of Bones is the first book and it's pretty fast-paced, most of the books in this series are. There are a few plot twists that feel over done, but this is still one of my favorite series. I recommend it for fans of Dan Brown’s Robert Langdon series and for fans of Assassin’s Creed.

Book Review: Van Helsing by Kevin Ryan

  

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“‘To you, these monsters are evil beings to be vanquished,’ Van Helsing observed, ‘but I’m the one left standing there when they die and become the men they were.’” This is a bit of a reprieve from long, consecutive series. As you know, normally for a book/movie combo the book comes first and is adapted into a movie, this is not the case for this combo. The 2004 movie Van Helsing came first, and this novelization was written using the script. The movie this book comes from is one of my favorite movies, and the book does a great job staying true to it. It’s fast-paced and hilarious, while keeping the horror aspects of three of the most infamous monsters. There are a few small discrepancies between the movie and book, but as always that’s to be expected. I highly recommend this book to fans of the Van Helsing movie, monster fans, and horror fans.