One for the Books: Playing the game's half the fun in books that make you put the pieces together
Level up your summer reading list with this Amazing Book Challenge category: Are You Game?
Whether you're a fan of board games, puzzles, crosswords or video games, this game-themed book list has something for every kind of player. Dive into stories where games aren't just pastimes, they're the heart of the adventure, the key to mystery or the path to unexpected friendships. Choose your title, roll the dice and get ready to play!
To see the full list of recommendations and other Amazing Book Challenge categories, go to www.naperville-lib.org/ABC.
If you're always looking for that last missing piece, try 'The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers' by Samuel Burr.
Abandoned at birth on the steps of the Fellowship of Puzzlemakers, Clayton was raised by a group of eccentric enigmatologists and now finds himself among the last survivors of a fading institution. When the esteemed crossword compiler and main maternal presence in Clayton's life passes away, she bestows her final puzzle on him: a promise to reveal the mystery of his parentage and prepare him for life beyond the walls of the commune.
If you're a gamer girl, try 'Game On' by Seressia Glass.
Samara Reynolds, a gamer and DEIA consultant, sparks an online movement after critiquing the game Legendsfall and its company, Artemis Games. Unexpectedly, she receives a job offer from Aron Galanis, Artemis's CEO, who's striving to make the company more inclusive. Tasked with improving the game's character options, their partnership evolves from rivals to friends and then something more. But when their relationship goes public, will they survive the fallout or face game over?
If you're a reality tv show junkie, try 'Everyone Is Watching' by Heather Gudenkauf.
Five contestants have been chosen to compete for $10 million on the game show One Lucky Winner. The catch? None of them knows what (or who) to expect, and it will be live streamed all over the world. When long-kept secrets begin to rise to the surface, the contestants realize this is no longer just a reality show — someone is out for blood. And the game can't end until the world knows who the contestants really are.
If you've always got dibs on Professor Plum, try 'Board to Death' by CJ Connor.
Ben Rosencrantz runs his family's board game shop but struggles to get his life to pass go, much less collect $200. When a local game collector, Clive, offers him a rare edition of The Landlord's Game at a suspiciously low price, Ben declines. Then Clive is found dead at Ben's door, along with a backpack of cash. Now the prime suspect, Ben must clear his name and find the real killer—or face jail for murder. And no amount of double dice rolls will set him free…
If your ideal Saturday night is being trapped in a themed room with friends, try 'Escape Room' by Maren Stoffels.
Told from multiple viewpoints, Alissa, Sky, Mint and Miles enter an Escape Room with one hour to find clues, crack codes and solve puzzles. But what will happen when the Game Master has no intention of letting them out…
If you have a killer card game, try 'Cards on the Table' by Agatha Christie.
Mr. Shaitana is famous as a flamboyant party host. Nevertheless, he is a man of whom everybody is a little afraid. So, when he boasts to Hercule Poirot that he considers murder an art form, the detective has some reservations about accepting a party invitation to view Shaitana's 'private collection.' Indeed, what begins as an absorbing evening of bridge is to turn into a more dangerous game altogether.…
If you like a little word play, try 'Queen of the Tiles' by Hanna Alkaf.
When Najwa Bakri walks into her first Scrabble competition since her best friend Trina's death, it's to heal and move on with her life. With Trina, the Scrabble Queen herself, gone, the Scrabble throne is empty and her friends are eager to be the next reigning champion. All's fair in love and Scrabble, but all bets are off when Trina's formerly inactive Instagram starts posting again. Its cryptic messages suggest that maybe Trina's death wasn't as straightforward as everyone thought. And maybe someone at the competition had something to do with it.
If you have an extreme collection of dice, try 'Dungeons and Drama' by Kristy Boyce.
Musical lover Riley has big aspirations to become a director on Broadway. But when Riley takes her mom's car without permission, she's grounded and stuck with the worst punishment: spending her after-school hours working at her dad's game shop. Riley can't waste her time working, so she convinces Nathan — a nerdy teen employee — to cover her shifts and, in exchange, she'll flirt with him to make his gamer-girl crush jealous. Soon, Riley starts to think that flirting with Nathan doesn't require as much acting as she would've thought.
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For ABC fans in the United Kingdom (or anywhere else), it's easily the best way to unlock the full US library. Buy at NordVPN Pros Cons If you're tuning into ABC from the UK and don't want to gamble on speed or server reliability, ExpressVPN is an easy win. With over 3,000 servers in 105+ countries (including plenty across the US), it's one of the most stable and polished VPNs we tested for unblocking ABC Go and streaming live US content. What sets it apart isn't just reach, but how effortlessly it works, even during peak streaming hours. We connected to multiple US cities, hopped between morning news and evening sitcoms, and barely saw a buffer icon. ExpressVPN's Lightway protocol kept streams smooth in HD, even while other apps were hogging bandwidth in the background. 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