This is the fourth collection of the webcomic series about a public library and its workers. (I’ve previously reviewed the first and second volumes, and here’s a link to the third.)

The usual cast of characters returns — Dewey, smart alec geek; soft-hearted vegetarian Tamara; the guy who’s always wearing the beaver costume; and naked, homeless, or overexcited teenage patrons. The title comes from when Dewey is instructed to start a book club, and he uses Fight Club as an inspiration. After all, people are more interested in things when they think they’re not supposed to be.

Unshelved: Book Club
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Strips about how young adult males tend to live on breakfast cereal or Dewey debating whether to grow a beard are a bit too generic for my taste. The strip is strongest when it’s playing to its unique setting, pitting Dewey against rude patrons or unusual reference desk situations. I especially enjoyed what he did with the new laser-gun scanning system; eventually, he turned it into a skeet shooter and a pick-up mechanism.

He’s got his own ethical system, but it’s honorable in its own way. Somehow, his refusing to take gratuities turns into a pile of cash on the floor, and yet, it all follows its own internal logic.

I wish there were more of the strips where different characters respond to the same question, because it’s good to see the distinctions between them and such different alternative perspectives on the same situation.

The large-format book allows plenty of room for four strips per page. This volume also includes the full-color Sunday strips that describe individual books, most of which will be of interest to a geeky webcomic reader. An additional bonus is the gallery of guest strips.

Read the strip online at unshelved.com.