Plum Lucky: Janet Evanovich

Another Holiday Novella, this one takes place on St. Patrick's Day. An "unmentionable" that diesel is looking for has the ability to talk to animals. This guy also thinks he's a leprechaun. Diesel was going after him because he was stealing money. We learn he had befriended a horse that was going to be put down due to an injured leg. He needed the money for the operation. The gangster he stole the money from kidnaps the horse and grandma Mazur for ransom, but Grandma had already spent the majority of the money at the casino. They had these elaborate schemes to make money where Diesal plays cards and then they rob the gangster's carwash. Everyone is saved and the gangster gets caught. Lula becomes a plus size model and gets a billboard in Atlantic City.

Rebecca: Daphne du Maurier

"Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again" A woman meets a widower while vacationing in Monte Carlo and marries him without knowing him very well. There is a cloud a mystery around his wife's drowning. Once she gets to her new home she is constantly undermined by the maid who was friends with the first wife "Rebecca" and lets her know she will never match up. She begins believing the maid that Mr. De Winter is still in love with his first wife. The Maid gives her a dress that was worn by Rebecca to wear to a ball knowing it will set Mr. De Winter off. The maid then nearly convinces her to commit suicide, but at that moment a ship is found sunk off the coast near the house. We then learn that Mr. De Winter murdered his first wife because she told him she was pregnant with another man's baby. She had had numerous lovers and De Winters in a fit of passion shots her and tries to make it look like she drowned. We then find out from one of the lovers and the DR that Rebecca was not pregnant and was dying from cancer, she manipulated De Winter into killing her.

A Clearing in the Fog: Daria Macomber

This book reminded me of Rebecca. The tone is similar and they are both about women who get involved with men, not knowing their past. In this book, a girl meets an older mysterious man through a friend and jumps at the chance to visit him in his home in the south after he invites her. Once she gets there she learns he is married. She also learns his wife mysteriously disappeared and the rumors vary between he killed her and that she ran off with another man. As the story progresses she learns that the wife- Adele- was pregnant right when she vanished. The protagonist spies on a friend of Adele who she believes is black mailing someone. While she is hiding in the hotel bathroom he ends up getting shot. Everyone becomes a suspect until she goes to the beach on an island with one of Adele's girlfriends and it is all revealed. This friend thought Adele was pregnant with her husband's child and shot her, then hid her on the island.

Lean Mean Thirteen: Janet Evanovich

I really enjoyed this book. Stephanie is shuffled between Morelli and Ranger again while Morelli babysits someone the police are protecting. Stephanie is trying to lay low after being accused of her ex-husband’s murder or at least his disappearance. Dickie Orr goes missing after Ranger asked Stephanie to put some bugs on him and in his office. She is a suspect since she had just barged into his office and beat him up after seeing a recent photo of Joyce Barnhardt and him in his office. She then takes a clock he had because it was a wedding present from her aunt. As it turns out Dickie had taken money from his partners and hid it in something Stephanie had. The entire time I thought it was in Rex's cage, so it was surprising how it turned out. The side stories were of Lula and Tank, tracking down a taxidermist who builds taxidermy animal bombs, who grandma then goes on a date with, and trying to apprehend a grave robber. I am looking forward to the next book.

Plum Lovin: Janet Evanovich

This was another "holiday novella" with the "unmentionable" Diesel. Not surprisingly Joe and Ranger are both out of town when Diesel shows up. This book is set on Valentine's Day and "Cupid" gets herself accused of stealing a necklace from a down and out pawn man. The Pawn owner is trying to avoid the necklace's owner since he sold the original and had a fake made to replace it. "Cupid has to hide from the necklace's owner since he now thinks she has the necklace, and misses her court date. Somehow Stephanie gets the responsibility of covering for "Cupid" and plays matchmaker to some locals, she also gets Valerie and Kloughn married since they are expecting baby #2.

Twelve Sharp: Janet Evanovich

I feel like a missed a book in between 11 and 12. When I finished 11 Stephanie was working for Ranger and had quite Vinnie's Bail bonds, 12 picks up as though 11 never happened. I did like how they tied the Mysterious "Carmen" from book 11, where the guys tease Ranger about her as though she wouldn't be happy about Stephanie being close to him. In chapter 12 we find out Carmen is "Ranger"'s wife. Ranger has had his identity stolen by a psycho who also kidnaps his daughter- I think we'll be seeing more of this daughter in the future books. The book never really goes into how this guy finds out Ranger has a daughter when Ranger is pretty secretive. The thief wants to kill Ranger and take over his life, including having Stephanie. They end up getting him after he kidnaps Stephanie and holds her and the daughter in Stephanie's apartment. Ranger walks into the apartment knowing "Ranger" is there and gets shot several times. The other stories include Grandma trying to sing with Sally and Lula. Lula also starts a relationship with Tank.

Eragon: Christopher Paolini

It's hard to believe this was written by a 15 year old it is soo well done. I must admit I am a little envious. This was very reminiscent of Tolkien. A boy, who is orphaned and lives with his uncle, finds a strange stone. The stone ends up hatching and he realizes it was a dragon egg. Dragons will only hatch for certain people, so he becomes a dragon rider. Dragon riders had been nearly extinct for the last 100 years and his appearance creates a lot of trouble. The king sends soldiers out to bring him back because the King wants to control him and his power. There are a lot of travels and more stories, but that is a rough summary. He meets up with an elf and seeks refuge with dwarves and another creature. I will be reading the series, I know they are aimed for kids, but it is easy to get into them.

Eleven on Top: Janet Evanovich

This book was pretty original for the series. Stephanie decides she doesn't want to be a bounty hunter anymore and tries out some new jobs. After the button factory, the laundry mat, and the chicken joint all failed she gets a job with Rangerman. Her sister gets married in this book and decides to elope last minute, which pleases Stephanie who didn't want to wear the eggplant bridal gown nor play the Cello which she claimed to be able to do. After eating too much of the unused cake she goes off sweets. Stephanie divided her time between taking care of Morelli, who had a broken leg, working for Ranger, helping Lulu (her replacement for Vinnie), and trying not to fall victim to her latest attacker, who happened to be the funeral director Stiva. This was very clever and enjoyable.

Cat's Cradle: Kurt Vonnegut

I love Vonnegut's characters and the dryness with which he presents the story. A man decides to write a book about the atomic bomb scientist who also developed a substance called "ice-nine" which freezes anything it touches. The author corresponds with the scientist's children who live on an island controlled by what seems to be a cult, he then visits the island. On the plane he meets a "Hoosier" who seems obsessed with that fact and insists that other Hoosiers she meets call her "mom". The humor is delightful and subtle throughout Vonnegut's stories. I liked this quote" And we all vied, in saving face, to be the greatest students of human nature, the person with the quickest sense of humor". In the end the leader of the island drinks the ice-nine because he is dying of cancer, then the inhabitants of the island all drink it too. (Think Jonestown) and only the tourists are still alive at the end. We are meant to believe the release of the ice-nine into the ocean (the leader's body fell into the sea) killed all of mankind. I liked that the Cat's cradle represented making something out of nothing at all, but then you realize the cat's cradle is really nothing too...excellent story that you could reflect on for a while.

Ten Big Ones: Janet Evanovich

I enjoyed this book, it was original and didn't seem scripted where there is a car destroyed by chapter 3 (though her car was in fact set on fire during a robbery in the first chapter) Morelli's grandmother threatens by chapter 7, grandma goes to a funeral home etc. Ok, I guess grandma also went to a funeral in this one... Anyway in chapter one Stephanie sees a burglary and Lula accidently shoots out the tire of the getaway bike. The robber ended up being a gang member and now the gang is after Stephanie since she identified and got the burglar arrested. In the meantime she and Morelli have another fight and since Ranger is out of town she finds his house and stays there, using his shower gel. Sally the cross dresser makes an appearance in this one and in the end saves her from the gang that kidnaps her from her sister's bridal shower- using his bus (new job).

Visions of Sugar Plums: Janet Evanovich

This was an odd book, the author calls them "between the numbers holiday novellas". It had a mystical twist and seems to be the inspiration for the Wicked series. In this one Stephanie is searching for Sandy Claws who skipped bail. He owns a toy store and hires little people to work for him. There is also a grinch-like character and a big hulky man to make Stephanie compare him to Morelli. Evanovich must have a thing for big hulky men? Another car gets trashed and I didn't really care for Stephanie tossing the "elves" off her car.

To the Nines: Janet Evanovich

This was another book where a LOT of stuff happened. I could have done without the pages of complaining about screening procedures and would have liked more on the game at the end, but oh well. In this one Stephanie is back living with Morelli and his grandmother comes over often saying the same thing over and over again about the evil eye. (I know it's late and I am cranky while writing this up, but I don't see the purpose of this Morelli grandmother)Stephanie's sister had a baby with Kloughn and in the end they are getting married and moving into Stephanie's Apartment since 5 people were sharing a room at her parent's and it was too hectic. A person disappears and Stephanie gets a tip that he is in Vegas, so they hunt him down only to get him killed. The killer "the webmaster" has orchestrated a killing game and Stephanie became the target. Once all the other players are dead the "webmaster" creates a hunting game in a warehouse where Stephanie is the prey. She ends up shooting the guy and Ranger saves her.

Hard Eight: Janet Evanovich

Book number...err 8 of the Stephanie Plum series. In this one a friend from school goes missing with her daughter after a messy divorce. She looks for the two as a favor to a neighbor, not really as a job. During the search, she and Ranger hook up, she takes in a very overweight person that skipped bail, and she gets accosted by someone in a rabbit costume. By the end Stephanie found her friend. She was being chased by a killer, who Ranger ended up "taking care of" making it look like a suicide. Apparently Stephanie and Morelli are together again.

Bedwetter: Sarah Silverman

This was one of the oddest books I have read, of course I haven't read many biographies from comedians before. She pokes fun of herself constantly and I guess Penis and fart humor really aren't my thing. There were entertaining parts though.