diff --git a/AppScaffolding/AppScaffolding.csproj b/AppScaffolding/AppScaffolding.csproj
index 5abc0c54..5c1c14ab 100644
--- a/AppScaffolding/AppScaffolding.csproj
+++ b/AppScaffolding/AppScaffolding.csproj
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
   <PropertyGroup>
     <TargetFramework>net6.0</TargetFramework>
-    <Version>6.7.7.1</Version>
+    <Version>6.7.8.1</Version>
   </PropertyGroup>
 
   <ItemGroup>
diff --git a/ApplicationServices/LibraryCommands.cs b/ApplicationServices/LibraryCommands.cs
index 963e4ce2..9609a25c 100644
--- a/ApplicationServices/LibraryCommands.cs
+++ b/ApplicationServices/LibraryCommands.cs
@@ -164,25 +164,46 @@ namespace ApplicationServices
 		}
 
 		private static async Task<int> importIntoDbAsync(List<ImportItem> importItems)
+        {
+            logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- pre db");
+            using var context = DbContexts.GetContext();
+            var libraryBookImporter = new LibraryBookImporter(context);
+            var newCount = await Task.Run(() => libraryBookImporter.Import(importItems));
+            logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- post Import()");
+            int qtyChanges = saveChanges(context);
+            logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- post SaveChanges");
+
+            if (qtyChanges > 0)
+                await Task.Run(() => finalizeLibrarySizeChange());
+            logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- post finalizeLibrarySizeChange");
+
+            return newCount;
+        }
+
+        private static int saveChanges(LibationContext context)
 		{
-			logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- pre db");
-			using var context = DbContexts.GetContext();
-			var libraryBookImporter = new LibraryBookImporter(context);
-			var newCount = await Task.Run(() => libraryBookImporter.Import(importItems));
-			logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- post Import()");
-			var qtyChanges = context.SaveChanges();
-			logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- post SaveChanges");
+			try
+			{
+				return context.SaveChanges();
+			}
+			catch (Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbUpdateException ex)
+			{
+				// DbUpdateException exceptions can wreck serilog. Condense it until we can find a better solution. I suspect the culpret is the "WithExceptionDetails" serilog extension
 
-			if (qtyChanges > 0)
-				await Task.Run(() => finalizeLibrarySizeChange());
-			logTime("importIntoDbAsync -- post finalizeLibrarySizeChange");
+				static string format(Exception ex) => $"\r\nMessage: {ex.Message}\r\nStack Trace:\r\n{ex.StackTrace}";
 
-			return newCount;
-		}
-		#endregion
+				var msg = "Microsoft.EntityFrameworkCore.DbUpdateException";
+				if (ex.InnerException is null)
+					throw new Exception($"{msg}{format(ex)}");
+				throw new Exception(
+					$"{msg}{format(ex)}",
+					new Exception($"Inner Exception{format(ex.InnerException)}"));
+			}
+        }
+        #endregion
 
-		#region remove books
-		public static Task<List<LibraryBook>> RemoveBooksAsync(List<string> idsToRemove) => Task.Run(() => removeBooks(idsToRemove));
+        #region remove books
+        public static Task<List<LibraryBook>> RemoveBooksAsync(List<string> idsToRemove) => Task.Run(() => removeBooks(idsToRemove));
 		private static List<LibraryBook> removeBooks(List<string> idsToRemove)
 		{
 			using var context = DbContexts.GetContext();
diff --git a/DataLayer/EfClasses/Category.cs b/DataLayer/EfClasses/Category.cs
index b97b4e5b..64af14db 100644
--- a/DataLayer/EfClasses/Category.cs
+++ b/DataLayer/EfClasses/Category.cs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ namespace DataLayer
     public class Category
     {
         // Empty is a special case. use private ctor w/o validation
-        public static Category GetEmpty() => new Category { CategoryId = -1, AudibleCategoryId = "", Name = "" };
+        public static Category GetEmpty() => new() { CategoryId = -1, AudibleCategoryId = "", Name = "" };
 
         internal int CategoryId { get; private set; }
         public string AudibleCategoryId { get; private set; }
diff --git a/DataLayer/EfClasses/Contributor.cs b/DataLayer/EfClasses/Contributor.cs
index 99351e38..f050c9aa 100644
--- a/DataLayer/EfClasses/Contributor.cs
+++ b/DataLayer/EfClasses/Contributor.cs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ namespace DataLayer
     public class Contributor
 	{
 		// Empty is a special case. use private ctor w/o validation
-		public static Contributor GetEmpty() => new Contributor { ContributorId = -1, Name = "" };
+		public static Contributor GetEmpty() => new() { ContributorId = -1, Name = "" };
 
 		// contributors search links are just name with url-encoding. space can be + or %20
 		//   author search link:   /search?searchAuthor=Robert+Bevan
diff --git a/DtoImporterService/BookImporter.cs b/DtoImporterService/BookImporter.cs
index 406709da..e4f619ed 100644
--- a/DtoImporterService/BookImporter.cs
+++ b/DtoImporterService/BookImporter.cs
@@ -121,9 +121,7 @@ namespace DtoImporterService
 				: item.Categories[1].CategoryId;
 
 			// This should properly be SingleOrDefault() not FirstOrDefault(), but FirstOrDefault is defensive
-			var category
-				= DbContext.Categories.Local.FirstOrDefault(c => c.AudibleCategoryId == lastCategory)
-				?? Category.GetEmpty();
+			var category = DbContext.Categories.Local.FirstOrDefault(c => c.AudibleCategoryId == lastCategory);
 
 			Book book;
 			try
diff --git a/DtoImporterService/CategoryImporter.cs b/DtoImporterService/CategoryImporter.cs
index 09b8f95b..eeba9413 100644
--- a/DtoImporterService/CategoryImporter.cs
+++ b/DtoImporterService/CategoryImporter.cs
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ namespace DtoImporterService
 
 		private void loadLocal_categories(List<string> categoryIds)
 		{
+			// must include default/empty/missing
+			categoryIds.Add(Category.GetEmpty().AudibleCategoryId);
+
 			var localIds = DbContext.Categories.Local.Select(c => c.AudibleCategoryId).ToList();
 			var remainingCategoryIds = categoryIds
 				.Distinct()
@@ -42,10 +45,8 @@ namespace DtoImporterService
 				.ToList();
 
 			// load existing => local
-			// remember to include default/empty/missing
-			var emptyName = Contributor.GetEmpty().Name;
 			if (remainingCategoryIds.Any())
-				DbContext.Categories.Where(c => remainingCategoryIds.Contains(c.AudibleCategoryId) || c.Name == emptyName).ToList();
+				DbContext.Categories.Where(c => remainingCategoryIds.Contains(c.AudibleCategoryId)).ToList();
 		}
 
 		// only use after loading contributors => local