2021 Rest of the Best Videos on the Internet – at least I think they’re the best videos. What do you think? If you think I’m all wet, tell me right here!
Perhaps you’ve noticed I’m going backwards through the year.
“Why is that?” you ask.
“Why not?” I answer, evasively.
The real, inner reason is that it is easier. My Mailchimp account doesn’t give me access to all my newsletters at once but in reverse chronological order. If you’re a Mailchimp expert with another solution, let me know and I’ll give you a free book!
Zombie Pickles dramatization
Supposedly, this is my most bizarre short story from ‘Oops!’. That’s debatable. I also have a funny story about a nursing home, about a funeral home, and about a time traveling wheel chair. If you’ve read my short story collection, tell me your opinion and I’ll send you a free short story. If you haven’t, tell me your opinion and I’ll send you one anyway.
Now the first best video of the year, a funny movie excerpt:
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom gets mostly panned as the worst Indiana Jones movie, but I like it. Just don’t take it too seriously. Tell me if you can watch this without laughing.
2021 Best Videos Found this year. I scan hundreds of videos every year. I send the very best to my newsletter subscribers. (Join here) Now I give you the best of the best.
Let’s start with July 2021.
Hint: Jupiter is big
Begin With July
Why July? Twelve months of videos are too much for one blog. So I’ll make two. This is the first half of the 2021 Best Videos.
We’ll begin with this out-of-the-world video.
Jovian video
I’ll link the newsletters that held these videos. So click right here to get July’s.
And this is one person’s favorite scene from ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’:
What Do Readers Think of Villain’s Vacation? Here is where you’re going to find out. I go through Amazon, Audible, and Goodreads reviews to give you what other people are saying.
Along the way, I’ll tell you how you can get a free copy of Villain’s Vacation.
Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.
Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.
Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?
Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, it works pretty well as a stand alone story (tho book 1 is a lot of fun).
Once again the Secret Supers (Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey) combine their skills to fight evil! Well, actually, they were having a bit of a vacation and evil found them. But evil will certainly be sorry! Once again, Andy Zach gives us another delightful kids’ book. I’ve listened to his other audiobooks, including the Zombie Turkeys books, and this is a great addition to that collection.
The first half of the book is pretty much told from Jeremy’s point of view, though we do get to know his hamster (who has developed some great communication skills). The second half lets us see the story from other points of view as one after the other gets kidnapped and then rescued, until finally all are held under the steel robotic thumb of our Evil Overlord. (cue sinister music).
The settings are so much fun and my favorites were the Coaster World and the submarine. I also like that the Secret Supers have to pull in more allies, like parents. Their circle of support staff grows! And this will mean better costumes in the future.
Each of our superheroes has a disability but it doesn’t leave them disabled (even before they get their powers in book 1). Their physical limitations have given them a ‘think outside the box’ attitude, coming up with creative solutions. It also lets them be very accepting of others, including the unexpected texting hamster. It’s a fun story suitable for kids and adults with a happy ending. 5/5 stars.
Note: While this is Book 2 in the series, it works pretty well as a stand alone story (tho book 1 is a lot of fun).
The Narration: Michael Stafford did a great job with this story. He had the perfect voice for Jeremy and I liked his voices for the other kids as well. His robot voices were good too and I like how he added a little something to the telepathic discussions that let you know right away that it was telepathy. The pacing was good & there were no tech issues with the recording. 5/5 stars.
Andy Zach and his team of superheroes are back in Villain’s Vacation Secret Supers 2. In this sequel to Secret Supers where we meet 4 young teens with disabilities who are given superpowers by their leader Jeremy who stumbled upon the way to give them powers in book 1. This continuing saga gives disabled kids a chance to see themselves as superheros!!
After a busy school year of trying to survive middle school while fighting crime all over town the friends go on vacation to Coaster World, unfortunately so does a villian who wants revenge after having been defeated by them. In a series of action packed (some a little over the top) events the teens with the help of their super powered hamster work to find out who keeps kidnapping them and why.
This book is a fun follow up to the first and continues the story well.
… and tells you her opinion of Villain’s Vacation. You’re reading ‘What Do Readers Think’. If you want to give me your opinion, comment here.
Chapter 4 icon of Villain’s Vacation
Overall 5 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 5 out of 5 stars
09-06-21
What a ride!
A talking hamster named Dancer. What more could you ask for in an audio by Andy Zach? A vocal appearance by the author himself. The Supers have another unbelievable adventure that kept me giggling and listening straight through. An enjoyable listen for kids and adults alike.
Villain’s Vacation is the second book in the Secret Supers series. I admit I haven’t read the first book, but I didn’t feel lost at all. Clearly the first book was the introduction to the human characters, and possibly the team’s formation, but there isn’t any critical information left out. Four disabled preteens are saving the world X-Men style and their handler writes their adventures as fiction novels.
In this installment, the team gets a mascot in the form of Dancer, a hamster owned by one of the team members who also gained special abilities along with the team but no one noticed before now. He’s literate! Dancer reads everything he can get his paws on and ends up communicating with the team via cellphone.
I love all the positive disability representation in this book full of unstoppable kids with powers that replace and complement what they’ve lost. The addition of a talking hamster is adorable and will definitely make this book more appealing to the kids who might have been hesitant to read a superhero book.
My one criticism of the book itself is that the dialogue, though definitely reading level appropriate for a middle-grade audience, sometimes ventures into painfully blatant exposition territory. Middle-grade readers might not mind, but the parents and teachers reading along with them (if this is a group or family read) probably will.
On the flip side, there are so many pop culture references in this that those adult reading buddies will catch onto and laugh at. Scooby-Doo fans? There are easter eggs in here for you!
The audiobook narration was good overall and I appreciated the narrator’s effort to make the different characters sound distinct. With that said, I nearly turned it off in the beginning when Dancer the hamster was thinking his dialogue rather than typing it. Thank goodness his voice shifted when he started using technology because the pitch-shifted squeaky rodent voice was indecipherable at my preferred 2x listening speed!
Overall this is a cute superhero story with a lot of important positive representation, and I highly recommend these books to scifi and superhero fans looking for a good middle-grade series.
I was granted complimentary audiobook access to Villain’s Vacation as part of my participation in a blog tour for this title with Audiobookworm Promotions. Thank you to all involved in affording me this opportunity! My thoughts are my own and my review is honest.
Great performance for a feeling of nostalgia of my childhood, reminding me of watching them with my father. It was very enjoyable as well as very entertaining. It also had good humor sprinkled throughout.
I really enjoyed listening to this story. I haven’t read the first book, but I was still able to follow along easily. Stafford did an excellent job of bringing the characters and story to life.
I absolutely adore Dancer. How can you not love a Hamster that can read and type?! I really appreciate the team of heroes and how they’re disabled, yet unlike what we often see in media, that isn’t an impediment. This positive representation of the community made my heart soar.
Although the story is definitely middle-grade aimed, if you’re reading along as an adult, you’ll appreciate the pop culture references peppered in. I really enjoyed this book, and it’s made me want to check out book one!
Our 4 Heroes from Book 1 take on new challenges from old enemies/Villains. Not to worry, we have super intelligent hamster and an old friend/mentor to help the Team along the way. This series is light, fun, and highly recommended for readers up to about 15 years of age, so think YA fantasy adventure.
