carolesrandomlife

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life.

This book brings back a lot of fond memories for me. I used to adore reading the choose your own adventure books as a child although I would never choose the right option and always ended up dying of thirst or some other horrible death. I would eventually give up on my ability to make the right choices and try to figure out what I needed to choose by working backwards in the book. Despite my poor decision making skills, I never gave up on these books. Every time I brought home a Scholastic flyer from school, I would end up picking out another one of those books. I am the same age as Mr. Harris so it makes some sense that he would fondly remember these books as well as I do and I just love the fact that he used this approach in this book.

There is just something about Neil Patrick Harris that seems to be almost universally appealing. I am not a biography reader. I probably read a few back in high school and college because I had to but I can't think of a time where I picked one up to read for entertainment as an adult....but I wanted to read this book as soon as I heard about it. I am not exactly sure what I find so entertaining about Mr. Harris. Sure I have watched and enjoyed some of his work. His portrayal of Barney Stinsen is...wait for it....legendary. I loved him in Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle. I just have never considered myself to be a huge fan though. If he is on, I'll certainly watch him but I don't go out of my way to be sure to catch him either. I still knew that I had to read this book because there is just something about the way that he tells a story.

One thing that I think is genius about this book is the fact that I will certainly be picking it up quite a few more times. It is a choose your own adventure so you have to read it several times just to make sure that you have read every option available. This is a book that I recommend reading as intended with all of the jumping around and choices because it just makes it so much fun. I have been through quite a few options so far with a few ending in a less than ideal manner. I don't think that the book would be nearly as appealing if it were to be read cover to cover.

Neil Patrick Harris does have an interesting story to tell. He is a child star that I will always think of as Doogie to some extent. He also talks about his sexuality, his family, and all the things that make him who he is. Some of the parts in the book are simply silly and I liked those just as much as anything else. The book itself looks wonderful. I just love the cover and the section in the center of the book filled with photos is nice to have.

I would recommend this book to others. It is witty, funny, touching, and sometimes thought provoking. Plus it is just a lot of fun! This is the first book by Neil Patrick Harris that I have read but I look forward to see what kind of original spin he might apply to a novel in the future.

I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books for the purpose of providing an honest review.