I'm a fan of the series, but some of the books are definitely better than others. Feel free to share your opinions, and which ones you agree/disagree with!
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: This book is in the middle on my ranking scale. It's not that it's bad or I don't like it, it's that there are simply books I like more.
- Rodrick Rules: The best of the original three books. Again, it's not my favorite, but it's good.
- The Last Straw: A little weaker than the previous ones. This one is rather forgettable and can get boring at times.
- Dog Days: I really like this one. It's great.
- The Ugly Truth: My second-favorite book of the series. I used to not like this one very much, but after a re-read, it's amazing.
- Cabin Fever: This is where I started following the series. And I couldn't have chosen a better book. Cabin Fever is my absolute favorite of the series.
- The Third Wheel: This book needs more praise. I think it's the best book in the series writing-wise: everything that happens serves a purpose. However, this book is a little lacking in humor, and the beginning is too long.
- Hard Luck: This book is half-good, half not-so-good. I like what happens at school, but Greg's family members are just a bunch of one-note characters made to tell jokes that usually don't hit. The stuff about Greg trying to pull himself together and be a great student had a lot of potential, but then it just gets dropped and has no time to play out. I want to like this book a lot more, but it always kind of disappoints me when I read it.
- The Long Haul: In my opinion, this is the start of the series' decline. Some parts of this book are funny, but other parts are depressing. Rodrick tricks Greg into holding a paper saying "I am not waring a bathing suit" and showing it to everyone? That's funny! The family loses all their luggage on the highway? That's just kind of sad. The Beardos don't have enough time on-screen and aren't developed enough to be considered villains. I don't like how the Heffleys are punished for just wanting to go on vacation, and the ending definitely pushes this one down. This also introduced one of my least favorite characters: the pig. It's way too unrealistic for the series and feels super out of place.
- Old School: Everything in this book starts going downhill once Greg drops the toothpaste cap down the drain. Hardscrabble Farms was pretty much just a mash-up of The Long Haul, The Ugly Truth, and The Last Straw. I did like the ending, though. This is the only book after Hard Luck with an ending I genuinely like.
- Double Down: I know a lot of people hate this one, and I can see why. This book had potential, but didn't do anything with it. However, if you look at this book as "the Halloween one" instead of "the movie-making one," you're able to enjoy it a lot more. There are some really funny jokes in this one.
- The Getaway: This is my least favorite book in the series. It's cliche, relies way too much on gross-out "humor," and has a tedious plot setup. The only joke that even made me smile is when Greg talks about Charlotte's Web. I kind of like the monkey, too, but everything else in the book is just terrible. There are even stupid "phones are bad" scenes, and I've found proof that it's just Jeff Kinney shoehorning his opinions into the book.
- The Meltdown: A slightly worse, winter-themed version of Double Down. There were still some rather dumb scenes and sub-plots that go nowhere, but the climax was enjoyable. In addition, I really liked all the new characters.
- Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal: This is an interesting one. It's funny and it justifies the Random Events Plot format the newer books have, but it doesn't do too much with its concept. Most of these stories are more Rowley and Greg than just Rowley, and they could've fit in any of the other books. The book drops its "quick anecdote" format in the second half, with the last 100 pages having about three entries. And as far as the call-backs go, this book doesn't do a good job at them. We get a bunch to the first book and The Meltdown, exactly one to Cabin Fever, and a lot of recycled jokes from the online version and even Class Clown! The book could've used more characters, too. The major ones are Rowley, Greg, and Greg's parents. Rowley's parents are barely in the book, Rodrick appears three times and Manny appears twice, and we see Scotty exactly once. Part of the appeal of the book is supposed to be seeing all these familiar characters in a brand new style, but when we only get four major ones, it feels like wasted potential.
For my official tier list, see this user blog!