To the Nines by Janet Evanovich
To the Nines by Janet Evanovich: the tenth in the Stephanie Plum series (you have to count Visions of Sugar Plums as part of the series).
If you're not familiar with who Stephanie Plum is, the answer is that she's probably New Jersey's least inept bounty hunter. She regularly blows up cars, her captures always include some element of mayhem, and she has some serious man issues in her life. She's also endearing, funny, tough, and a delight to read every time.
To the Nines finds Stephanie on the trail of Samuel Singh who's skipped out on a work visa. The clues to where he might be are few and far between and usually end up with someone getting killed. Stephanie's manged to pick up another psycho stalker as well. She's got to try and figure out how all these strange clues add up before this becomes her last job.
After I finished this book, I thought how "typically Plum" it was. I also thought how typical is not a bad thing when it comes to a Plum book. There was lots of love and sex with Joe. Ranger made quite a few appearances, so the sexual tension was pretty heavy throughout the book. Lula, a ho in a former life, was there in spandex and sequins, loud and lovable as always. Stephanie's family even managed to get more unbalanced.
These books are always good fun and the characters are wonderful. If you haven't read this series, I would recommend them as a great way to pass some time.
(Finished on August 15, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)
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I am so with you on this series. I ~love~ the Stephanie Plum books. I have gotten kicked out of bed more than once for laughing out loud when reading them. I just hate that I have to wait a year for the next one!
Posted by Jenn at August 15, 2003 08:03 AM
These are definitely my favorite books. I got a friend to start reading them, and she has finished the first 7 in about 3 weeks!
Posted by Adelle at August 17, 2003 08:36 PM
I humbly submit my books for fans of Janet's who have run out of her books!
The Butcher of Beverly Hills: A Screwball Mystery Featuring Kerry and Terry McAfee
The Mangler of Malibu Canyon: A Screwball, etc.
They've been called "hilarious," "delightful," a "breath of fresh air from a very funny writer."
Reviews and sample chapters at my website. Hope you'll check it out.
Yours in laughter,
www.jennifercolt.com
Posted by J Colt at December 2, 2003 05:50 PM
i really like the plum books and i like ranger and joe but i hope she ends up with joe it just seems like they fit. She also has known him longer.
I hope there are many more books coming.
Posted by jane at November 26, 2004 10:35 PM
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Happy Birthday, Cis!
Today is the birthday of the always lovely and oh-so-talented Cis, so go and give her some birthday lovin'. Happy birthday, girl!
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Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman: when I was in high school I read the most amazing short story ever that was about a murdered angel. It was in this great little anthology that I somehow misplaced and was never able to find again. About five years ago I came across the short story again in one of the ever-excellent Years Best Fantasy and Horror collections. Over the years the story has stayed with me, though never the name or the author. Imagine my delight when, while coming to the end of this amazing collection, I find it contained within.
Neil Gaiman has always been a favorite of mine through both his short stories and his novels (especially American Gods), so I can't describe how happy it made me that he wrote one of the best short stories that I have ever read (the title, by the way, is Murder Mysteries).
I simply can not recommend Gaiman, especially this collection, highly enough. Everything that he writes is pure magic. There's heartbreak, there's happiness, there's sorrow, and there's joy, but the most important this is that his stories always ring true.
Pick this up as soon as you can. It is not to be missed. Forgive me if this review seems a bit disjointed, but I am so excited that the title of that missing anthology was mentioned and I have been able to find it again.
Favorite stories of mine from this collection are Chivalry, The Price, Don't Ask Jack, The Goldfish Pool and Other Stories, Queen of Knives, Shoggoth's Old Peculiar, Bay Wolf, Mouse, Desert Wind, Babycakes, the aforementioned Murder Mysteries, and Snow, Glass, Apples.
(Finished on August 14, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)
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I'm reading American Gods right now - my first Gaiman. The premise is fantastic and it really sucked me in quickly. But I'm halfway through and finding the novelty of the idea wearing thin, and struggling to get past the hump. I hope it gets better from here.
I also purchased Neverwhere last weekend, so eventually I'll get to that. It looks like a quick read.
Posted by Jeff Coon at August 14, 2003 08:46 AM
the only gaiman book I have yet to read! nice review, I think i'll pick it up soon!
Posted by craig at August 14, 2003 05:42 PM
First one I read was Neverwhere and I loved it. I also picked up the BBC series on DVD. Have since read American Gods and Good Omens, both excellent.
Posted by john at August 15, 2003 04:07 PM
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Burn It Success
The Burn It - Summer Edition swap really seems to be quite a success! I don't make it mandatory that you send me a thank you/finder's fee CD, but since I've received over twenty CDs, my guess is that most people sent theirs out. Here's a list of all the people that I've gotten CDs from already (* means they were in one of the two groups I was in):
Thank you all so much! The next swap should be coming up towards the end of October, so keep an eye out for notices!
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you're welcome!! Hope you enjoy the carefully hand-selected hot-sexy tunes! :)
Posted by dawn eileen at August 13, 2003 10:39 PM
i hope you liked your cd :)
Posted by ruthie at August 13, 2003 11:45 PM
I hope you liked the CD. :) I had so much fun making the CD labels. :)
Posted by Mandie at August 14, 2003 09:23 AM
I'm glad you liked em...
Posted by KB at August 14, 2003 07:01 PM
hrm. you didn't receive mine? that's not good. let me know, and i can send another copy. i'm still short one from my group, but i'd better check and make sure everyone else got mine too.
Posted by kimmie at August 15, 2003 02:35 PM
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How to be Good by Nick Hornby
How to be Good by Nick Hornby: Hornby is one of my friend's favorite writers, so when I found this at a half price book store I picked it up. I'm certainly glad I did.
Apparently, this is one of Hornby's more depressing and less fun books, but I found myself enthralled nonetheless. Katie, a GP who likes to think of herself as a good person despite having an affair, is married to David, the Angriest Man in Holloway (that's actually the title of the column he writes).
Pretty soon into the book, David has a spiritual experience and decides to live his life the right way, the good way. He talks his neighbors into housing homeless children, he plans on how to redistribute wealth to those in need, he even talks his children into giving their toys away to those less fortunate.
The real story is Katie's struggle with how this makes her feel. Sure, she's against homelessness and for helping others, but why do all these good works make her hate David even more than she did? What he's doing is good - why's it driving her insane?
I was fascinated with how this book was going to end and what was going to happen to the people involved. It's definitely not a cheery, light-hearted book at all, but I enjoyed it anyway. Hornby's got a very easy to read style and his characters are very much real. Good book and highly recommended.
(Finished on August 12, 2003 for Zuly’s Reading Room.)
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Ouch!
Somehow I've managed to get a crick in my neck that's just about making it impossible to turn my head to the left. Talk about fun! I think I'll play a bit more gin over at Pogo and call it a night.
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Cricks suck. And often it is hard to tell where it came from. Feel better.
Posted by Rori at August 12, 2003 02:08 AM
I hear pogo cures many ailments!
Posted by :: jozjozjoz :: at August 12, 2003 02:29 AM
oh! i looooooove pogo!!! :D hope your neck is better!
Posted by azure at August 12, 2003 02:00 PM
ewwww i totally understand. happened to me once and so i went to the chiro. it helped some..... though he tried to keep making me come back for more "adjustments."
Posted by The Sarcastic Journalist at August 13, 2003 08:10 PM
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Bookrings and Bookrays
You may remember last week when I mentioned that I found out that BookCrossing has a forum for bookrings, bookrays, and bookboxes, making it cheap and easy to get new books to read.
Today I went and updated my BookCrossing bookshelf so that you can see which rings/rays that I've joined. Most of these rings/rays are still open, so if you see anything that you want to read, you should be able to join the list too.
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Farewell, Gregory
I was shocked to learn that Gregory Hines died yesterday. He was only 57. What a great loss.
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Wow. How sad, and he was so young...
Posted by Christine at August 10, 2003 05:08 PM
that is so sad. i remeber seeing him dance, he was just amazing.
Posted by munin at August 10, 2003 07:08 PM
That is sad... I think I mostly remember him from maybe his more obscure roles like his stint on Will and Grace and Amazing Stories.
Posted by kim at August 10, 2003 10:07 PM
A little mentioned movie of his from the 80s, "Taps", I thought was quite good.
Posted by Chloe at August 13, 2003 12:07 PM
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