Seven Up: Janet Evanovich

This book was a little different than the rest. There was a murderer, but the person she spent most of the book looking for was just an old mobster trying to right a wrong after taking a deseased person's heart because he is hard of hearing. It was still a funny read and entertaining. Stephanie's car is wrecked AGAIN and she has to borrow a motorcyle, which both Lula and Grandma get to ride on. She and Morielli break up after she tells her parents they are getting married and she gets a dress. At the end of this book Ranger is in her bedroom.

Hot Six: Janet Evanovich

It seems like every book keeps building with more stuff going on in each. In Hot Six Stephanie sort of inherits a dog and is given the challenge of bringing Ranger in, which she passes on. Grandma moves in with her for a while and buys a red corvette because she is trying to get her driver's license. Ranger asks her to keep an eye on a house and that job nearly gets her killed, or at least she nearly loses a finger. She is also involved in a few other FTA's creating a lot of comedy. Morelli hints at marriage at the end of the book.

High Five: Janet Evanovich

This was another quick and entertaining read. I liked how the ending left you wondering who exactly Stephanie invited over to "look at her dress". In this book Stephanie's cheap Uncle Fred goes missing and some photographs of body parts are found in his drawer. Stephanie starts doing side jobs for Ranger for some extra cash and loses two of his cars, one to a bombing and one to thieves. Morelli is still her significant other, though Ranger is starting to flirt. On top of this Stephanie has to bring in a little person and smashes his door down in the process. Once he goes to trial he needs a place to stay until his door is fixed and stays with Stephanie. More people go missing or are found dead until they discover money laundering behind the crimes. Uncle Fred though he could black mail, but ended up dead instead.

Four to Score: Janet Evanovich

I like the Stephanie Plum series better than the Wicked series. After reading them back to back, the characters in this book are more enjoyable because they are not quite as flakey. In Four to Score Stephanie is looking for a bail Skipper who is a woman getting out of an abusive relationship. She leaves town and her friends and family end up getting fingers chopped off or if they don't suffer other injuries they are found dead. At the same time Morelli is working a counterfeit money case. After Stephanie's apartment is burned she and her transvestite helper move to her parent's house. The counterfeit money and the woman who skipped bail all end up being connected. This book had a lot of things going on to keep it entertaining. Joyce, who Stephanie caught with her ex-husband, is now also working for Vinnie and there seems to be more going on between Joe and Stephanie.

Wicked Business: Janet Evanovich

The second book in the Lizzie and Diesel series. More magical stones are found and a new character is introduced..."Anarchy" she is also looking for the stones to do evil. This book had a lot of crude humor and repeated ideas from the first one, like dressing the monkey like a kid again. I am surprised Clara's bakery is still in business with how little work she gets out of her employees and how much food is given away or destroyed. Overall it was still an entertaining read. Lizzie is less spunky than Stephanie Plum, but gets the job done as the detective's assistant.

Wicked Appetite: Janet Evanovich

This series has even more slapstick humor than the Stephanie Plum books. The characters are almost identical, but this book is based on the supernatural... and takes place near Salem. Both Lizzie, the main character and cousins Diesel and Wulf, who appeared one day, have special powers. Instead of the hamster in the Plum series,there is a monkey and a cat, both who have more personality than Rex the Hamster. The friend Glo plays with spells and Lizzie's love interest, Diesel is an "unmentionable". The Protagonist possesses a special power where she can determine if something is magical, they go around looking for magical charms, but have competition with the cousin Wulf who wants them for evil. In the end they all seemingly find the treasure and get what they want. It was still entertaining in a hardy har har way.

Atheist Manifesto: Michel Onfray

This was an interesting, thought provoking book. Some of the quotes are noteworthy. "Creation of the divine coexists with terror of the void in a life that must end." "The word "atheist" entered the French and English languages in the 16th century...but the idea of godlessness is old". It became taboo and misused where "The word described not the individual who emptied heaven of its habitants, but one who peopled it with his own fabrications." The section that explained the creation of the word "Atheism" was also very interesting, like most names, it wasn't one Atheists gave themselves, but was given to them. Onfray wrote about how some priests did good by preaching religion to give people something to be afraid of (hell) so they would do good and wouldn't rape, plunder, kill, lie, drink to excess etc, but then on the flip side numerous wars have been fought to preserve a certain religion. (Although on that point, I think Greed actually causes wars and religion, race, etc. has been a way to rally the troops, bringing one person territory, money etc.) The section on circumcision being unnecessary on girls though associated as a religious practice (up for argument) but not as big of an issue for boys was interesting. In the United States 60% of males are circumcised, for unreligious and supposedly hygienic grounds. He argues that it is not necessary for either so why is it still such a popular practice? He also made a good point on how Pontius Pilate would not be able to talk to Jesus since they spoke different languages. He brings up a valid point on why would Pontius even bother since Jesus was a mere prisoner, they were of different statuses. This book made me wonder if there are some books on religious revivals throughout history...this has been very interesting.

Three to Get Deadly: Janet Evanovich

This was another cute detective story. This is the third book in the Stephanie Plum series and was as humorous as the original. Stephanie is given the chore of bringing in the local candy man "Uncle Mo and gets a lot of chastising from the community. Then a bunch of drug lords turn up dead and Mo goes missing. After a hair accident, where it turned out orange, and arresting a teenager in a chicken suit (who missed his court date) Stephanie makes the connection between Uncle Mo and the murders. Of course the bodies in Mo's basement helped move things along.

A Time To Betray: Reza Kahlili

A humbling book told in a very wistful voice. This was reminiscent of Khaled Hosseini's books with the sickness in which they view violence in their country, but cannot speak up for fear of being killed themselves. I hated how helpless he felt and how he had agreed to be a spy for the United States, yet they used his information to their own benefit and didn't seem to help the people of Iran at all. I had a feeling when the book began that both of his childhood friends would end up dead, but I could never have imagined the deaths like they happened. I am still Appalled by the entire episode at the prison, His best friend's sister Parvaneh being paraded in front of him and then executed, the torture the two brothers endured, Roya's suicide, the stoning, the other's stories. How can a society heal from a regime that allows this? This story was haunting, He risked everything, it put a crack into his family life and I feel like we as American's did nothing for him or his country. I believe in staying out of others countries because we make mistakes- Hussein, Pinochet etc. but other countries really view us as peacekeepers and protectors and we are ruining that imagine. This book really causes one to think about human relations and obligations