Archer's Goon

I'm on a DWJ reread jag...this one has absurd, almost slapstick humor and a wonderfully characterized family of four distinct individuals who are both flawed and lovable, plus an imaginative array of villains. Like all “twist” books worth reading once, this is also worth reading again after you know the ending - and see how skillfully Jones builds towards it.

An old YA favorite. I re-read this as something of a light palate cleanser after my previous book took me months to get through. It was out of print until recently, and I picked it up for the find memories when it became available again.

Diana Wynne Jones was one of my favorite authors growing up. Charming, richly imaginative book that defies description. It's modern-day, but centers on the machinations of a family of seven siblings who run the town in which it's set in secret, each responsible for – and gaining the bounty of – different aspects of the town. The main characters, however, are a mostly normal family suffering through the fallout from the doings of those seven siblings.

This book is written for a YA audience, of course, but it's very readable, and fun to revisit in a fit of nostalgia. Don't think I ever read a DWJ book I didn't enjoy, at any age.

Not all of the mechanics are ever truly explained. I think that used to bother me a bit. These days I kind of like it that way.