Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The All New Captain Underpants Extra Crunchy Book O' Fun 2

2 X The All New Captain Underpants Extra Crunchy Book O' Fun 2 by Dav Pilkey
2002
Weight: 1 oz
Method of Disposal: Recycling


I will miss all my Captain Underpants books :( These have been used and must be retired (aka recycled).  Better now than later.
 

The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep

The Seems: The Glitch in Sleep by John Hulme and Michael Wexler
2007
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donating


I received this book in 2007 and have finally read it, 8 years later.  It does not feel like eight years at all.  I struggle to believe it.  Maybe life speeds up once you finish college (or school in general depending on you as a person) because there is a less tangible timeline.  People may talk about marriage, kids, retirement as a timeline, but everyone does these things at a different time, if at all.  It is not like 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th grade where all of your peers seem to be doing it.  If they aren't, you probably wouldn't know about it because school is where you make friends.  There may be a few homeschoolers in the neighborhood, but they still have goals that are tied directly to the law.  Most people are the same age, even if they get held back a grade.  It all seems so far away.  Even thinking of "being held back a grade" is so alien to my current life that I almost do not know where that thought came from.

Anywho...

How many times do I wander down that road?

I finally read The Seems, and I was under-impressed.  I thought it had some unrealized potential, but the authors did not seem to know their audience.  The authors would reference music and artists their audience were likely never to have heard of.  I thought maybe they wanted to teach them/expose them to great art but that, in and of itself, felt cocky because they had not earned the right to introduce.  By mentioning great artists they immediately placed their own book alongside of them all and quite clearly came up short.

The story itself would often get bogged down in meaningless details and when the "fixers" fixed the world it was always anti-climatic.  Who am I to talk?  Either way, I do not recommend it.
 

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

The Kingmaker

The Kingmaker: Advanced Readers Copy Brian Haag 2003
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Recycling


No offense to this author.  I am just recycling his book because the entire cover is missing, and it is in rough shape.  If I read this one I do not remember it.  I am afraid I did not, which means I must have, somewhere down the line, taken it from the bookstore and screwed it up for everyone.  No one else was able to read it, and I wasn't able to recommend it.  Very responsible, Little Laura.

I miss getting advanced readers.  Sometimes, I think I should get a job at a bookstore one day a week, but there really are not many left and they get further and further away.  It is depressing.

Annual Editions: Homeland Security 04/05 by Thomas Badey 2003

Weight: 1.1 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating


My life has been taken over by the most obnoxious puppy.  She has been doing zoomies around the house for the last THREE HOURS.  If all the other pups in the house fall asleep she is sure to knock something big and loud over to wake them up again.  They get to barking, and I worry Harriet will wake up.  It sounds like the herd that killed Mufasa in The Lion King and, somehow, Harriet has not stirred.

She eats books, photos, and shoes.  Her favorite thing to do is to get a roll of paper towels or toilet paper and roll the house.  Then she pounces on the paper and tears it into tiny shreds.  She tries to take on the broom when you try to take on her mess.

If you are not paying attention she will launch herself through the air and fly straight into you, regardless of if you are holding a drink in your hand or have the laptop precariously on the arm of the chair.

Will she ever go to sleep?

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Dav Pilkey

The Adventures of Super Diaper Baby (2002)
2 X The Captain Underpants Extra-Crunchy Book O' Fun (2001)
Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People (2006)
Ricky Ricotta's Mighty Robot vs. the Voodoo Vultures from Venus (2001)
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Donating


I love Dav Pilkey.

I also love Captain Underpants.

I developed a fascination with all books Dav Pilkey while working in the children's department at Barnes and Noble.  I liked to read anything that was popular with the kids to see what they may or may not be picking up.  I liked to know what they liked versus what their parent's liked.  I enjoyed seeing the adult observations that were innocently masked by childlike humor in Pilkey's books.  In one of these Captain Underpants books the characters observe that when you are tiny your parents make a huge deal out of your going to the bathroom, smiling and praising you.  Then, years later they yell at you for talking about it out loud. The characters find the adults to be unpredictable and unreasonable.  It is amusing because it is also true. The whole point here is that you should read Captain Underpants if you read nothing else by Dav Pilkey.