X-Entertainment | The X-E Triple Book Review Club.

The X-E Triple Book Review Club.

It's time for X-E's Triple Book Review, an article featuring a look back at...you guessed it, three books. On tap for today is Michelle's Full House Activity Book, Grover's The Monster at the end of this Book, and one of those cheapo dinosaur books all the boys used to get from elementary school book fairs. Hit the blog later for a few updates -- got some reader mail to sort through and some more Shrek crap (sorry, it must be done) to post up. Not sure which'll come first. I will flip an oversized novelty quarter soon enough.

Posted by Matt on 06/07/2004. E-mail me!

Discussion Thread: 162 comments

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Ohmigosh! It’s "The Monster At The End Of This Book!" I had that one, as well as the hide-and-seek one. Good times, good times.

Chestnuts roasted by Freezair @ 06/08/2004 2:52 AM

Matt

Thanks for all the work and time you put into posting these articles. I get a lot of enjoyment out of them. And to think that we are all lucky enough that you have a new one up practically every 3 days. Wow! Good stuff.

BTW! Grover rocks, always has…always will.

Chestnuts roasted by Novaximus @ 06/08/2004 2:52 AM

When the book fair came to my elementary school all those years ago, it was in the midst of the whole goosebumps thing…I have too many of them to this day.

But, they also sometimes had these anthologies of ‘true’ ghost stories and forteana topics which I totally dug. I’ve reread some of them since, and I was repeatedly exposed to some really brutal and satanic true crime stories.

That’s why I’m in a punk band now.

Chestnuts roasted by Cannibalizer @ 06/08/2004 2:53 AM

Glorious, Matt! I still have that dinosaur sticker book too, along with a host of other dino stuff. In fact, in 2nd grade my obsession with dinosaurs got me featured in The Washington Post and on the cover of The Baltimore Sun… in living color. Hurrah for dinosaurs!

And the Grover book was… very interesting.

Chestnuts roasted by Wes @ 06/08/2004 3:56 AM

Hey, first time caller, long time listener.

Holy Christ, The Monster At The End Of This Book. The book that firmly instilled the fear of Grover in my inner child. I still can’t look at Sesame Street with that onscreen without remembering "the fucked up Golden Book" I read way back when. Whatever the magical property this book possesses, it’s left a Grover-shaped hole in my brain that will never heal.

Kudos to you for bringing back my most irrational childhood fears back in review form.

Chestnuts roasted by wal-rus assault @ 06/08/2004 4:08 AM

There’s a monster at the end of this…errrr…comment. In any case, I adored that book when I was a kid–it (along with the Pokey Little Puppy) was my favorite Golden Book. Blast from the past for me!

Chestnuts roasted by shelly @ 06/08/2004 6:54 AM

baseball grease

Chestnuts roasted by zombone @ 06/08/2004 7:42 AM

Nate, if you’re talking about typos at the end of the intro, yes.

If you’re talking about others, no.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/08/2004 7:53 AM

Great review Matt! I used to love that Grover book!
I guess I shouldn’t read your articles at work, though, since I tend to burst out laughing. Co-workers walk by and stare at me like I am deranged.

Chestnuts roasted by Nikki @ 06/08/2004 10:00 AM

Does anybody remember the "My teacher is an alien" series of books? I remember getting a bunch of them at a book fair once. In the last one the kid went into space with his teacher on a big ass space ship.

Chestnuts roasted by Bright Noah @ 06/08/2004 11:22 AM

Laughing out loud is no problem for me, everybody knows I’m deranged.

Zabagabee!

Chestnuts roasted by kingklash @ 06/08/2004 11:30 AM

I uysed to LOVE "There’s a monster at the end of this book." I personal favorite part was when he built a brick wall over the page and when you turned it, the wall was a pile on top of Grover. Good times. I knew that demon Elmo would be trouble when he turned up in the sequel.

Chestnuts roasted by The Dragonrider @ 06/08/2004 11:57 AM

Good call, DR — complete with the sloppy gray cement shit that forever made me slightly obsessed with brick.

Chestnuts roasted by Matt @ 06/08/2004 12:00 PM

Bright Noah
Heck yeah i remember my teacher is an alien. i liked the second one the best.

Chestnuts roasted by john v @ 06/08/2004 12:28 PM

I loved TMATEOTB (The Monster at the End of This Book). I was taken quite by surprise when grover was revealed to be the monster. I want the non-released unedited version in which Grover is mutilated and eaten by a giant Slor and he curses you with his dying breath.
Good times.

Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 06/08/2004 1:10 PM

One of my favorite "Young Reader" books was called My Best Friends an Android, or My Andriod Son, or was it I Am an Andriod, and That Guy Built Me.
ANyway, the lonely professor builds an Andriod who he raises like a son. It is about his quirks and hijinks in school and of course stopping crime. They actually amde a TV series out of it. What the heck was that book?

Chestnuts roasted by Stilewalker @ 06/08/2004 1:14 PM

In the "Trivia Fun" section of the Full House book, number 3 has two answers, A & C. Depends on which season you’re talking about. Yes, I feel really lame right now…

Chestnuts roasted by Katie @ 06/08/2004 1:28 PM

Gover was really great when he was a waiter and annoyed the hell outta people, and never got fired! Heh, GOOD TIMES. By the by, I just saw the worst corey haim movie ever, The Backlot Murders. He plays a guy in a really bad band and gets himself killed only after fondling some chick, kinda gross. Stupid Corey Haim… BUT ITS ALL I GOT!!!

Chestnuts roasted by BettieBoo @ 06/08/2004 1:49 PM

My stepsister had that Grover book. It was very clever.

There used to be a book/tape thing that would play different sounds depending on your choice in the choose your own adventure style book. There was one with Grover called "Don’t Push the Red Button." It ruled.

These should definitely be reviewed on X-E.

Chestnuts roasted by Ubu Rex @ 06/08/2004 3:31 PM

Matt-LOL. That’s OK though. We all make typos. And I don’t think you should be so hard on yourself about your reading skills. You’re an awesome writer with an awesome style. You break the so-called rules regarding the press and go your own way. And it may be a simpler style in terms of grammar and vocabulary, but that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in sharp wit and extreme intelligence. Your writing has a way of cracking me up and admiring your cleverness. So please, DO NOT underestimate yourself.

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 06/08/2004 3:36 PM

Matt: Why is there a secret link t Retro Crush hidden in the picture of Grover in the banner headline for the story?

Is this something that happens often in stories, and I have just now noticed?

Chestnuts roasted by Ubu Rex @ 06/08/2004 3:38 PM

Oops. Typo.

"…admiring your cleverness." should be "…enabling me to admire your cleverness."

Chestnuts roasted by Nate @ 06/08/2004 3:39 PM

Ubu, there’s a hidden link like that in almost all of the articles. (well, the ones from the past couple o months) Sometimes they’re offsite links, sometimes old articles, or sometimes something much stranger.

Chestnuts roasted by Egg Finder @ 06/08/2004 3:40 PM

Heh, shows how observant I am. I haven’t been reading as much as I used to, for some reason.

I still miss the X-E forums.

Chestnuts roasted by Ubu Rex @ 06/08/2004 3:48 PM

Once my sisters were watching Dinosaucers, and I was in the room asleep, and it kept getting into my dreams (they were playing soccer, I think), and I was trying to dream about an evil blond woman with an evil marionette and a nice vest, but dinosaurs playing soccer kept wandering in. I think it pissed her off.

Chestnuts roasted by Goz @ 06/08/2004 3:59 PM

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