Quick Hits for February

Read 2/2/13- The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan- Exactly what you'd expect if you've read any of these books. Fast read, Greek/Roman heroes, teen romance, danger and magic. Setup for the next book in the series was a little heavy handed but I liked it all the same. 3/5

Read 2/4/13- Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich- Nineteen is like the eighteen books before it... Cute, funny, and entertaining. Mostly unchanging as well, but this series is successful for a reason. It's been another few days well spent with Stephanie, Morelli, Ranger, Lula and Grandma Mazur. As always. 3/5

Explosive Eighteen- Janet Evanovich

Once again, I’m not sure what there is to say about the 18th book in a series when you’ve read 17 before that. Anybody reading this knows what they’re getting into. I’m probably never going to stop reading these. They’re entertaining, and I enjoy all of the characters. That’s all there is to it.

The last time I read a Stephanie Plum novel I argued that Evanovich knows she has a winning formula and knows what to do with it. She knows what the fans like, the way to write ridiculous, klutzy Stephanie and her insane life, and she knows how to write Morelli and Ranger. This time it’s more of the same, although Stephanie had finally gotten herself into a truly preposterous case, and most of the stuff surrounding it made no sense at all. Somehow that doesn’t bother me though, because like I said, I know what I’m getting into. Still funny. Still hilarious characters and nutso skips.

3. I like all of these books, but I’m pretty sure I’m not going to reread any of them.

Smokin Seventeen- Janet Evanovich

What is there to say about the seventeenth book in a series that hasn’t been said about the first sixteen? I know there are a lot of people that think the Stephanie Plum series has gone downhill in recent years, but I’m not one of them.

Smokin Seventeen, while obviously very similar to the sixteen books before it, keeps with Evanovich’s winning formula: entertaining characters, hilarious moments, and a mystery with a side of romance. In this book, as always, Stephanie chases down skips in unconventional ways for the bonds office where she has been working since One for the Money, including an old man who thinks he’s a vampire. Also as usual, Ranger and Morelli, her love interests, are along for the ride. And also also as usual, she finds herself in life threatening danger.

Not much of a plot summary I guess, but I’m sure if you have read one of these you know what you’re getting into. The reason the Stephanie Plum books are so good is because Evanovich’s writing is just flat out entertaining. Oh don’t get me wrong, the situations that Stephanie and friends get involved in are ludicrous. The people they pick up are batshit crazy. And that’s the best part of reading these books. If Stephanie were to lose her charm and trademark klutz persona then these books wouldn’t be anywhere near as good. Take out Lula or Grandma Mazur and those laughs go down as well. Granted, there’s not a whole lot of variation from book to book. Maybe that’s annoying to some people, but I for one have not yet tired of the ridiculous situations that Stephanie, Lula, and all of the other crazy characters get themselves into. There were several moments in the book that had me laughing out loud, and I think that if that is still happening after seventeen books, Evanovich knows what she’s doing.

3- by no means is this a blockbuster of a book, but it was definitely entertaining. Stephanie Plum always is.