Reading Roundup: The 12th week of 2025
This week, I laughed through Scalzi's cheesy absurdity, tackled fanfic, and revisited Piers Anthony.
only 2,000 pages this week, although a five star read in the new John Scalzi, which is doing quite poorly in the public sphere. I've never been one to be overjoyed at the absurdists, but this did work well in my opinion and yes I laughed out loud at several points.
The majority of the rest are fanfic - what's going to happen when I run out of these? And I've been back to pick up some more of Piers Anthony this week, too.
4 stars to The House of Potter Rebuilt, by DisobedienceWriter
Book Description:
" Fandom: Harry Potter
A curious 11-year-old Harry begins acting on the strange and wonderful things he observes in the wizarding world. He might just turn out very differently, and the world with him."
My Thoughts:
" Another one of these Harry is rather different stories. I found it quite delectable, to be truthful, even if the writing style was a little different - Horst Pollmann-style in some spots, and I quite liked the way Dumbledore was handled too."
This Book: has 545 pages, a community rating of 3.97 and was first published in 2019.
3 stars to Novocaine, by StardustWarrior2991
Book Description:
" After the end of the war, Harry has a meeting in Gringotts that changes his life. Given a unique opportunity to rebuild the world, he takes it upon himself to restore what was once lost to the wizarding world, while falling for a charming witch at the same time. " My Thoughts: " I didn't quite know what I was getting into here, but a slice-of-life post-war story where Harry is transformed from a moody teen to a billionaire company director is certainly a different approach. The writing was of a pretty high standard in fairness, and captured that illusive "sliceoflifeness" that kept me turning the pages on other books of its type. It did feel a little at times as if the author had mined the Potterverse for family names, but apart from that I found the ideas worked, even if the pacing is perhaps a stretch."
This Book: has 979 pages, a community rating of 4 and was first published in 2018.
3 stars to Amoeba (Trail Mix, #1), by Piers Anthony
Book Description:
"Follow Tod Timmonds as he leaves his mundane life behind and embarks on a remarkable trail of adventure and uncertainly. As Tod navigates the trail he encounters a mix of creatures from alternate realities, periods in time, and different planets. There are qualities previously hidden in Tod that he must quickly realize to have a chance to survive even one day on his new path. In short order Tod must differentiate friends from foes, lust from love, and fantasy from reality in order to save the one thing that connects us all before it is too late!" My Thoughts: " Very typical Piers, really, with all the sexual overtones one has come to expect. I hope they sold well to loyal fans and he got the income he needed for this series published to Kindle." This Book: has 230 pages, a community rating of 3.39 and was first published in 2011.
5 stars to When the Moon Hits Your Eye, by John Scalzi
Book Description:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain comes an entirely serious take on a distinctly unserious subject: what would really happen if suddenly the moon were replaced by a giant wheel of cheese. It's a whole new moooooon. One day soon, suddenly and without explanation, the moon as we know it is replaced with an orb of cheese with the exact same mass. Through the length of an entire lunar cycle, from new moon to a spectacular and possibly final solar eclipse, we follow multiple characters -- schoolkids and scientists, billionaires and workers, preachers and politicians -- as they confront the strange new world they live in, and the absurd, impossible moon that now hangs above all their lives. " My Thoughts: " Fabulous. Witty, entertaining, utterly impossible ... yet amazingly enjoyable too. Like the last two of John's releases I found this was a wild, popcorn-style story. NO crazy heavy thinking, but plenty of heavy craziness. Enjoyed. Spectacular."
This Book: has 326 pages, a community rating of 3.96 and was first published in 2025.