Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

There was a little family Christmas get-together last night. No presents were exchanged, though, between my mom and me, we put together gift bags for my much younger cousins. And I had to make my cousins rolled sugar cookies in the shape of Christmas Trees. The kids are crazy for cookies.

I've finished all of my Christmas shopping except for one thing that'll come out on Tuesday, so I'll have to go shopping on one of the busiest days of the year. That'll be fun!

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop! 

What To Do

 

With so many venues currently shut down, many entertainers have suddenly found themselves completely unable to do what they love or even earn a living. However, just because the spotlights are dark doesn’t mean there aren't other ways to bring your craft to the masses. Here are just a few ways to share your talent, and maybe pay a few bills in the process, without leaving your home.

Everyone's favorite ventriloquist's dummy is back in Goosebumps Slappyworld: My Friend Slappy by R.L. Stine. To be more precise, Scholastic released the book on October 6th, 2020, and due to unfortunate events, I am just now getting around to read to review it.

My Friend Slappy is the 12th installment of the newest incarnation of the Goosebumps franchise. Goosebumps SlappyWorld debuted in 2017 with Slappy as the narrator, and occasionally he plays the villain within whatever story he's telling. The main character in this tale is 6th grader Barton "Sluggs" Suggs. When he's not being bullied by his classmates Kelly and Travis, he's hanging out his only real friend, Lizzie Hellman. Well, that's until his father gives him a special present - a ventriloquist's dummy named Slappy!

Barton quickly learns that Slappy isn't your typical dummy, as he can walk and talk just like a human being, but there's a twist - Slappy is pure evil. Yep, that's right! At first, all Slappy wants to do is terrorize Barton, but he changes his mind once he learns the boy needs a best friend to show him how to get back at Kelly and Travis.

In the world of Goosebumps, the saying "Best Friend Forever" isn't a good thing, and poor Barton's new pal becomes a living nightmare for him.

Final Thoughts

I don't know about other Goosebumps readers, but I was starting to get a Slappy fatigue. Don't get me wrong, I love the character, but each new story involving a ventriloquist's dummy feels the same. A 12-year-old protagonist would either receive Slappy as a gift or somehow stumble upon Slappy by themself. Then Slappy comes to life and turns the kid's life upside down.  

My Friend Slappy starts with the exact formula, but thanks to a few interesting twists, the story has a different outcome. Barton is the protagonist in this tale, and he's more fleshed out than typical your typical Goosebumps character would be. The poor kid has to deal with bullies and Slappy at the same time.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Goosebumps SlappyWorld: My Friend Slappy. It's one of the better entries in the Slappyworld series, but the "shocking" ending could have been better.

Sunday Post is a weekly meme hosted by Kimberly @ Caffeinated Book Reviewer!

12/13/20 - I would have had this post pre-written last night, but sleep got in the way, so here I am working on it now. It's one of those mornings where my brain is awake, but my eyes aren't. My eyes have been a bit wacky for the last few days because of the weird weather. Lubricant eye drops and a humidifier both help to some degree. 

I have some good news - I finished pulling out the carpets from my parent's house, or more specifically, I took everything out of an unorganized room, ripped up the carpet, and cleaned the floor. I moved back in the heavy desk, filing cabinet, an old sewing machine cabinet, and three bookshelves. I set up three plastic folding tables in a U-shaped pattern, which my mom is using for sewing, cutting, and ironing. Then I put together a 9-cube organizer bookcase, and I also installed a coax cable in the room for a small TV, which can now pick up local channels. FYI: I did all of this in one day.

What Am I Reading?

For the first time in a long time, I got a little reading done. I read and reviewed two Amish eBooks, and yesterday I finished reading Goosebumps Slappyworld: My Friend Slappy by R.L. Stine. And I'm currently on page 130 in the Christmas tale The Noel Letters by Richard Paul Evans. 

My next reads will be Whispering Hearts by V.C. Andrews, Weeks: Book 2 by Jasyn T. Turley, and Writers of the Future, Vol. 36, all of which I want to get read and reviewed before Christmas Day.

What's in the Mail?

12/12/20 - On Friday afternoon, an Amazon driver left a big box on my doorstep, and I have to admit I was confused until I opened it. Inside this oversized box was a bookmark that reads "Drink Good Coffee Read Good Books," and there was also a gift receipt message from a long-distance friend. Then today (Saturday), there was another Amazon package from my friend, but this time it came by USPS and the packaging was smaller. Inside it was another bookmark, which reads "Never Judge A Book By Its Movie."

Welcome to the Book Blogger Hop! 

What To Do

What was the last book you started to read but couldn't finish?