Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach

Title: Nothing Special

Author: Geoff Herbach

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: May 1, 2012

Source: From Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Felton Reinstein thought he had it all--a great girlfriend, an athletic scholarship in the bag, and football friends he could totally count on. Wrong. Like an elephant storming a house of cards, it all comes crashing down. And it's Felton's fault. Turns out his little brother has taken an impromptu road trip to Florida (a.k.a. desperate flight from all the talented people) to make a bid for stardom (a.k.a. fronting a hotel rock band with escapees from a retirement community). What's a big brother to do but help pick up the pieces, even if it means giving up all the status, all the glory and once again facing a life of nothing special.

While I waited quite some time to read Nothing Special, I didn't make the same mistake with Nothing Special by Geoff Herbach. Much like with the first book, Nothing Special was hilarious with an added layer of depth that made me love it even more.

Felton Reinstein thought he finally had everything figured out. he was on the football and track teams, had a gorgeous piano-playing girlfriend and his mother was finally more or less normal again. But then he has a fight with Aleah before she leaves for Germany and his brother Andrew has run off to Florida to play music in a retirement community. And now it's up to Felton to get Andrew back home before everything spirals out of control. Again. But getting Andrew out of Florida and back home may be a lot  harder than Felton originally thought it would be. And along the way, maybe he'll find out more about his long-gone father.

After I finished reading Stupid Fast, I immediately picked up Nothing Special and started reading it right away. And just like with the first book, Nothing Special turned out to be a fantastic read. Once again, Geoff Herbach wrote a hilarious story that had me laughing on more than one occasion. But there was lot more to Nothing Special than a hilarious story. Beyond the ridiculous situations Felton Reinstein finds himself in, there is a layer of depth to the story that can be easily overlooked. But that added depth is what made me love the story Geoff Herbach wrote even more. I loved seeing how there were deeper issues present throughout the book and, beyond Felton's character, they were often what kept me reading.

Once again, Felton Reinstein was a hilarious character. I can't even begin to fathom how he gets himself into half the situations he gets into. But on top of being hilarious guy, Felton Reinstein has grown a lot since hte last book and also does a lot of growing throughout the course of this book.  It was really great to be able to see that Felton was more than just a funny guy. I also really liked getting to see more of Andrew. Andrew is just as quirky as his older brother. In Nothing Special he was responsible for a lot of the deeper moments and despite being younger, helped Felton grow a lot. The way he is sometimes brutally honest is what often will result in Felton seeing things in a different light, which made for an interesting relationship between the two brothers.

Despite the title, Nothing Special was a pretty special book. Geoff Herbach wrote a great story that was both hilarious and serious. Don't let yourself be fooled by the title, Nothing Special is a whole lot more than that.

Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach

Title: Stupid Fast

Author: Geoff Herbach

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: June 1, 2012

Source: Purchased

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

My name is Felton Reinstein, which is not a fast name. But last November, my voice finally dropped and I grew all this hair and then I got stupid fast. Fast like a donkey. Zing!

Now they want me, the guy they used to call Squirrel Nut, to try out for the football team. With the jocks. But will that fix my mom? Make my brother stop dressing like a pirate? Most important, will it get me girls--especially Aleah?

So I train. And I run. And I sneak off to Aleah's house in the night. But deep down I know I can't run forever. And I wonder what will happen when I finally have to stop.

Despite the fact that I kept hearing how great and hilarious Stupid Fast was, it took receiving a copy of the sequel for me to finally pick it up. And then I realized I'd really been missing out. Because Stupid Fast really was a hilarious read.

Felton Reinstein has never really been anything extraordinary. But then he has a major growth spurt and discovers that he's actually a pretty great athlete. And now everyone wants something from him. That's how Felton finds himself spending his summer training for the upcoming football season, even if he's never played football before. But then his mom starts to slowly go crazy and Felton can't help but feel it might have something to do with football. But football is also what is helping him get the attention of the beautiful piano-playing Aleah. But when things really start getting out of control at home, Felton isn't sure what to do anymore.

So. Why I waited so long to read Stupid Fast has become a bit of a mystery to me. When everyone kept saying that Geoff Herbach had written a hilarious story they weren't lying. While reading Stupid Fast I pretty much always had a smile on my face when I wasn't outright laughing. And that probably had to do with how the story was told. The way it was written made it so it was like Felton was talking directly to the reader and the way he did that just made me smile and laugh. So basically Felton was why I laughed so much.

I don't think I've met a character that has ever made me laugh as much as Felton Reinstein did in Stupid Fast. He just has a way about him and thew ay he says things always seemed to put a smile on my face. And how he got himself in half the situations he got himself in, I can't even being to imagine. But it made a great character. And all the characters in the books were amusing to me. None of them were exactly completely normal and it ultimately made for some great entertainment. And all of them together made for some pretty funny situations though there was often a deeper undercurrent at the same time.

Stupid Fast was a fabulous and hilarious read. Geoff Herbach wrote an incredibly funny story that still managed to be serious at certain moments. Stupid Fast is a book I can't help but want to recommend, so if you haven't read it already, I strongly recommend you do so.