Tag: Scholastic

Books

Book 559: The Only Alien on the Planet – Kristen Randle

Geoff W

What a doozy! It’s been over a decade since I last read it and it still packs an emotional wallop.

I’ve had a copy of this book since high school when my best friend told me to read it. I’m still not sure what made me pick it up and read it, but I saw it and knew I needed to read it again.

I didn’t read it quite as fast as I read Autoboyography, but I did read it pretty fast. The subject matter of this book was just too heavy to binge even though I’ve read it before. I even had to take a break after reading it for a day or two before I jumped into the next one.

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Books

Book 366: The Adventures of Captain Underpants – Dav Pilkey

Geoff W

Pilkey, Dav - The Adventures of Captain UnderpantsWhat a charmingly cute chapter book! I read this book for Episode 7 of Come Read with Me and it was delightful! I’ve obviously heard of the story before, but have never had any impetus to read it as the book (Amazon link) came out after I was past this reading age/level.

I read this in one quick sitting while commuting home from work one day. It was definitely one of my more interesting choices for a commute read but hey no shame in my game right? I’m sure I could read the entire series, 12 “novels” and various spin offs, all in one day, and honestly they would probably be worth the read. It was engaging and there was enough humor, potty and otherwise, that I found myself smiling for most of the read.

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Books

Book 245: Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) – Suzanne Collins

Geoff W

Collins, Suzanne - MockingjayAs with my most re-reads of The Hunger Games and Catching Fire I’m realizing (once again) how much things change between re-reads based on where you are in your life, what you’re doing in life and any other number of uncontrollable factors. Looking back on my original review in September 2010, I see that my thoughts haven’t changed too much, but my understanding and appreciation of Collins’ storytelling/building has increased.

I’ll go ahead and get my major gripe of Catching Fire and Mockingjay out-of-the-way: these were not two books, they were one book that was split into two. They had to have been! And I can’t imagine the movie studio splitting the third book into two films unless they are going to add in a lot of additional information that is missing from the series. I mean sure, the books have contained beginnings, middles and ends, but the two books cannot stand alone because their plots are in essence the same plot. In comparison you have the encapsulated first novel. As with the last two reviews don’t read past here if you don’t want anything revealed! (AKA SPOILERS!)

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Books

Book 243: The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games #1) – Suzanne Collins

Geoff W

Collins, Suzanne - The Hunger Games The Hunger Games Trilogy was one of the first books I reviewed when I started The Oddness of Moving Things and it was the first book recommended through my suggest a book page. I of course re-read this series with all of the hype surrounding the release of Catching Fire and I’m very glad I did. I blew through the trilogy in just over 72 hours (so similar to lat time).

What is most interesting looking back at my original review is how much my reviews/responses have changed. It seems like in 2010 I was more interested in providing a recap of the books rather than a response to the books. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it and honestly I’m sure it was exactly what I needed (something to organize my thoughts and keep me going while looking for a job), but it’s funny naturally things have changed to a regurgitation/thought explosion of my thoughts on a book, or series, or more often than not some random comment on Goodreads or Amazon that ticked me off.

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Books

Book 133: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – J.K. Rowling

Geoff W

[Click here to read an updated response from my September 2018 re-read.]

And so it ends…there is so much that happens I can’t begin to explain my feelings about the end of this series. As with most of my posts on this re-read, this post is not so much a review as a regurgitation of my thoughts and emotions of the books. So, please accept my apologies ahead of time.

For those of you considering a re-read I encourage you to check out the Harry Potter Read Along over at The Lost Generation Reader from September to December. If I hadn’t just finished I would seriously consider it again. I’m already considering another re-read this time next year 😀 Re-reading this series provided me with a much-needed relaxation and break from my various challenges and I’m definitely glad I took the time to do it.

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