Summer is here, and the weather is hot, humid, and sticky! Looking for a book to read when its too darned hot to focus on much of anything? Then you are in luck! Here are a few books that I have been enjoying lately. All of them are quick, easy, and fun.

Diablo Moon Of The Spider is written by Richard A. Knaak. He is the author of the majority of the books in the Diablo series. These are the books loosely based around the Diablo RPG, but, it is not at all necessary to have played that game to simply be able enjoy these books. This is the fourth book in the series. I recommend that you either have read the third book before starting this one, or, not be upset when this fourth book reveals some of the ending to the third book.

Anyhow, the story is a good one. Two characters from book three, Zayl, (a necromancer who is devoted to restoring the balance between good and evil), and his sidekick Humbart,(a mostly intact skull of a long dead man that Zayl animated in the previous book), are main characters in book four. The main story line surrounds an ancient and misunderstood artifact, power hungry nobles, visits from beyond the grave, zombies, (well, ok, unorthodox zombies, but you get the idea), lots and lots of spiders, (none of whom are friendly), and an ubernecromancer who just may have turned to “the dark side”! This book has nonstop action scenes that really move. Almost as exciting as playing the game itself!

Wishing you could just go vacation on an island somewhere? Maybe you just miss watching some of the good tv that ended right as summer began? If so, then you are in luck! There are now books based on my favorite TV show, “LOST”!

I have only read one of these books so far, but believe there might be a total of three. Each book focuses on a minor character who was also on the island when the plane crashed, and throws in a few of the main characters we all love to make it that much more interesting. It is not simply a repeat of an episode of the tv series!

LOST : Signs Of Life is written by Frank Thompson. The focus of the story is on Jeff Hadley, who was an artist from Scotland before he got on Oceanic Flight 815 and stranded on the island with the rest of the survivors of the plane crash.

Jeff is still creating art, but not the same art he used to create. What he makes now are little sculptures and drawings that have these primitive looking symbols in them, and also some monsters. They scare Jeff. He doesn’t have an answer for the other survivors who ask Jeff where he got the ideas for this new creepy art. All he knows is that he has been getting bad dreams.

Jeff has mostly isolated himself from the rest of he survivors, and spent too much time thinking about his past, his art, his lovers, and his choices. A mystery unfolds as you read through this short book that links Jeff’s past and his current life. Stranger things start to happen after Jeff agrees to go on a boar hunt with Locke, Michael, Charlie, and my favorite character from the tv series, Hurley! Hurley is in this book quite a bit. (There are also brief cameos by Kate, Jack, Sawyer, Jin, Sun, and Walt).

The back cover of the book seems to have a typo. It calls the main character, Jeff Hadley, “Nick Hadley”, and I have no idea why. The front cover of the book has Locke on the cover. That should help you find it.

Too humid to focus on much more than pictures? Try a manga! I just finished reading the second book of the Tsubasa series by Clamp. (You can read my review of Tsubasa volume 1 by looking it up in the past reviews I have done for Bookwyrm U.S.).

Tsubasa volume 2 picks up where volume 1 left off. Sakura is still unconscious, and Sayoran (who loves her) is still trying to restore her memories by finding them in different “worlds”. He is still accompanied by Fai, (a happy go lucky sorcerer), Kurogane, (a disgruntled ninja), and Mokona, (a round, white, animal like thing that can somehow sense when one of Sakura’s memories are nearby). They start out in the world they were still in at the end of volume 1, the Hanshin Republic.

Off they go to try and find the piece of memory. In this volume, they learn what a “Kudan” is, and how to get one. There are many battle scenes, all of which have artwork that seems to move very fast around the page. They meet a few people with very powerful Kudans, battle them, and save a new friend along the way. It is a quick read. Most of this book is exciting, and many parts are funny. The ending has something really good and really bad happen, (and its the same event), and also a scene linking to what might happen in Tsubasavolume 3. I can’t wait to read the next volume!