Sunday, February 27, 2011

Plum Lucky- Book #5


I was still waiting on Hot Six and Seven Up when I grabbed this one (at the same time as Spooky). As you can guess, it's another holiday Plum book.

I liked this one better than Spooky. As you can see, it revolves around St. Patrick's Day and felt a little more like a regular numbers book. More bounty hunting (I think I forgot to mention that Stephanie is a bounty hunter... a really bad one that somehow still manages to find her FTA's) in this one than in Spooky, which means more of her usual side-kicks and wackiness.

I finished this one a couple weeks ago and have in my possession a copy of Hot Six from the BPL now. It and a copy of Archenemies have been sitting there on my table for 2 weeks while I work my way through The Other Boleyn Girl. That will be my next review. I wanted a break, and the Tudors are a VERY different world than Stephanie Plum!!

Words to Live By

"As he died to make men holy, let us live to make men free." Battle Hymn of the Republic

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Plum Spooky- Book #4

We're back to Stephanie Plum books! I still haven't picked up with the numbers yet (they only have 1 paperback copy of #7 and I'm on a waiting list for it) so I grabbed one of the "between-the-numbers" books (they're all holidays).

Trena told me that they're not needed to read the number books. They're not, but I think I wish I had done a weensy bit more research before reading them. If you haven't started any of the Plum books, I think I'd start from One and go through but find out the publication dates of the between books and read them in the order they were written. They're not quite as good because Stephanie has two men in her life that make you gooey. The pull between the 2 makes for some great reading and tension and that isn't present in the holiday books. There's a 3rd guy in them and Stephanie pretty much writes him off because she's got enough complications. There IS a supernatural theme/twist to them though.

Any who- I believe this is the newest of the holiday books, but I read it first. It wasn't necessary to the plot but there are characters in it that I wish I had met before I read this one. Also it gives tiny spoilers to the number books if you play close attention (they overall have no plot clues, just the "current" dynamic in Steph's love life).

This one was a bit spookier than normal which was nice for a Halloween themed book, but don't let that hold you back if you're a 'fraidy-cat. It's not like a horror book at all!

Overall, I'd say a B+ for this one.

Kingdom Come- Book #3


This book (YES IT'S A BOOK!) was a Christmas gift from my friend Allen. I've always liked comics but never been as into them as I have been the last few years (we can all happily blame Allen). I still don't read many, but that's mostly because it takes a lot of disposable income to read the ones I'm really interested in, and who has that these days? Not me!

As I'm unwrapping this, Allen says to me "I hope this doesn't end our friendship." You have to understand something... me, not a Superman fan. I feel like he's taking all the glory and totally cheating... he's a freaking alien! Wonder Woman? Boring! Batman on the other hand... HE'S THE MAN! I mean, assuming they were real...

Animated cartoon wise, I was never a fan of the Justice League either (did you watch it? HOW?). I've always considered myself more of a Marvel girl that made exceptions for Batman.

I think I kinda like DC a bit more now. Allen knows me well though. He knows I like post-apocalyptic stuff. This book is more like what would happen if the superheroes ACTUALLY WERE the cause of the apocalypse. So you can imagine how I'd probably be interested right there. I found it somewhat similar to The Watchmen if you want to draw comparisons, but it is totally different. I really enjoyed the art and the story was great!

Thanks Al!

Motor Mouth- Book #2


Another Alex Barnaby Book. This is the 2nd (there are 3 so far) and I thought more fun than Metro Girl!

Sam Hooker (NASCAR Guy) returns with Alex and they manage to get themselves in another pile of trouble. RV chases, missing dogs and stolen microchip technology... what else can a girl want to do in Florida?

Metro Girl- Book #1


This year I resolved to read a book a week. I doubt it will happen exactly that way, but I plan to TRY to read more at least!

First book... Metro Girl by Janet Evonovich

Years ago Trena got me hooked on her Stephanie Plum books (One for the Money, Finger Lickin' Fifteen etc). I LOVED them but didn't have a heck of a lot of time to read them as I was in school and felt that if I could make time to read, I could read my textbooks. So, for many years I only read for pleasure around Christmas and the summer! Harry Potter and Twilight took a lot of that time, but I borrowed the odd Plum book.

Flash forward to a couple months back, where I finally got tired of not getting my hands on books and FINALLY made the trip to the Buena Park Library and got myself a card! I started the Plum books, in order this time, resolving to read them now! The BPL is small, so not all the books I want are readily available 100% of the time. Metro Girl was sitting next to the Plum books and the next one that I needed wasn't in, so I grabbed it and what I thought was just another Evanovich book. Turns out it was the sequel to MG and I happened to read them in order.

Alex Barnaby (aka Barney) is this series' heroine. She's girly, but knows her way around a car as she was practically raised in her dad's mechanic shop. She comes to Miami in search of her brother after a disturbing phone call from him. She's now running around south Florida and the Keys looking for him with a NASCAR driver. Craziness ensues. If you like the Stephanie Plum books, I'd recommend these as well! Alex is a little more confident than Stephanie, but she's great at getting herself into trouble too.