Two for the Dough (Janet Evanovich)

Two for the Dough is the second book in Janet Evanovich's "Stephanie Plum" series.  (The first book being One for the Money, which I talked about last month and has a Hollywood film.)

In this novel, Stephanie Plum continues her work as a (terrible) bounty hunter.  She's put on the "easy" case of finding Kenny Mancuso, who didn't appear for his court date.  As with most Stephanie Plum cases, the chase for Kenny turns out to be more difficult and complicated than anyone anticipated.  The hunt for Kenny uncovers other mysterious events, such as stolen goods, missing caskets, missing body parts (yes...) and sudden murders. 

By the wood stove... It's fall!

I enjoyed Two for the Dough.  It was written similarly to the first One for the Money book - that is, it was easy to read, funny, and entertaining.  There is a lot of humour in the conversations Stephanie has with her co-workers and family and in the situations that she finds herself in, yet she is in such desperate need of the job and the money that she continues on her search. Nobody thinks that she can do the job, but she may be smarter than people believe. 

"The truth is, I'm not the heroic type.  I'm afraid of spiders and extraterrestrials and sometimes feel the need to check under my bed for drooly guys with claws.  If I ever found one I'd run screaming out of my apartment and never come back."  (Two for the Dough by Janet Evanovich)

My favourite character in this book, by far, was Stephanie Plum's grandmother, Grandma Mazur.  Grandma Mazur, who can be remembered from the first book after she shot a cooked chicken at the dinner table, wants to be involved in the hunt for Kenny.  She goes on outings with Stephanie and her comments always made me laugh. You just kind of have to shake your head at what the grandmother does and wish that you are as cool of an older lady as she is someday. 

Again, I will mention that Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series has eighteen novels, this one being the second.  I think this book stands on its own and you could read it without having read the first book.  Two for the Dough is a completely different case than the one in One for the Money, but the main characters are all the same.  The advantage to reading this series in order is to see how the interactions between the main characters evolve.  I think I would want to read the books in order, if only to see how all of Stephanie Plum's personal affairs turn out... 

After reading (and enjoying) the first two books in the series, I would say that there is a good chance I will continue with this list and read Three to get Deadly.  If you want a funny little mystery, this series of Stephanie Plum books could be the one for you. 

Girls in Trucks (Katie Crouch)

I'm not exactly sure why I decided to read Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch.  The cover looked nice (there I go, judging a book by its cover again!) and it seemed like a good summer read.  However, we have been lacking "summer weather" here in Northern Ontario, so I didn't have very many beautiful days to sit outside and read.

The book is about a girl named Sarah Walters, who is born into a "debutante society" called the Camellias.  (For those of you who don't know much about debutantes, don't worry.  All I know about debutantes I learned from Gilmore Girls.  And there wasn't even much about debutantes in Gilmore Girls, so I basically knew nothing.)  Basically, Sarah was brought up in this society where girls were taught to be ladies and generations of rules are passed down in order to help prepare the girls for life with a good husband.  Sarah is a good girl who does not spend her whole life making good choices. 

I wish I were the graceful sort.  I was trained to be. "Never chase men or buses," my mother told me.  "Another one will always come along."  Still, I always run after the subway, and when men go, I follow."  (p. 125, Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch)

Each chapter throughout the book gives you a sneak peak into her life at a certain time.  Chapter one starts out when she is a young, elementary school student and the final chapter shows you her life at the age of thirty-five.  I found that because this was how the book was written, despite getting to look into what her life is like, there are a few missing pieces.  Different chapters also deal with different friends or family, so I was left feeling like I didn't really know how everyone's story had turned out... But I guess that could also be what makes a book a good one - I can pick my own endings for some of the characters.

The main themes were love, loss, family and friendship.  Coming from Sarah's point of view, you can see how she changes and remains the same over the years.  It showed the evolution of different relationships and friendships in her life.  They were the kind of events that readers could relate to. 

There were many quotable quotes throughout the book, one of my favourite being:

"Sometimes, what we all need is for the plain, good-hearted person to win."

I enjoyed the book.  It shouldn't have taken me as long to read it as it did - It has just been a busy enough summer (plus, I always feel more like reading when I can go sit outside and the weather has definitely not been cooperating this month).  The book was an easy-to-read, good summer book.  I would read other Katie Crouch books in the future.

The Wild Zone (Joy Fielding)

I recently picked this book to read for one reason - I didn't want to be bringing "Fifty Shades of Grey" with me to school. Maybe it's just me, but I didn't feel it would be very professional. 

Enjoying some sunshine and reading "The Wild Zone"!

I enjoyed "The Wild Zone" by Joy Fielding because it was an easy read, it kept me guessing, and it left me pleasantly surprised at the end. 

As a whole, I found the book was exciting but lacked a little in the suspenseful "I-Need-To-Keep-Reading-Because-It's-So-Crazy-That-I-Need-To-Know-What-Happens-Next" kind of way.  After reading about 80 pages, I remember saying, "It's good, but I feel like something is about to happen."  That feeling kept up for most of the book, with the most exciting parts happening nearer to the end. (I've read Joy Fielding books before, and this was wasn't as exciting as I remember those ones being.)

To clarify, it's not a mystery book where something crazy happens at the beginning (like a murder) and then the rest of the book is spent trying to figure out what happens.  Instead, it's a book where all of the events and information presented throughout the book are useful in determining what the future holds for each of the characters. 

I thought it was a good, easy read and it would be a great summer book for someone.  There's a bit of suspense and mystery, but there isn't the gore and scary stuff to turn those readers off of it.  I enjoyed it and thought it filled my prep and lunch times at school very well during these last couple of weeks of school. 

School is done and it is officially summer vacation - let's get my "read" on and have some much needed "me" time!

Lover Eternal - The Black Dagger Brotherhood (J.R. Ward)

If you haven't already read my embarrassing post about how I started the series "The Black Dagger Brotherhood," you can read all about it here.  If you need a laugh today, that could be it!  Checking "Lover Eternal" out of the library was a little bit less embarrassing than my first J.R. Ward library experience, but it still caused a bit of blushing at the check out counter!

The Black Dagger Brotherhood is a series (there are ten books in all) about a brotherhood of vampires.  The terminology and concepts are much different than those used in Twilight books - that is, there aren't werewolves, but instead there are lessers, and their rules for eating and whatnot are different.  But all in all, they are still vampire books and they are a bit more "grownup" than Twilight.

Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward is the second book in The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  The first book, Dark Lover, focused on the relationship between Beth and Wrath, whereas this book focused on two different characters, Rhage (vampire) and Mary (human).  I would go so far as to say that this book, though dealing with the same group of vampires and same concepts, is different enough from the first book that you could read this one without having read the first one.  In fact, Beth and Wrath (the stars of the first book), make only a few short appearances in this novel. 

The storylines in this book: The first problem with their relationship is that Rhage is a vampire and Mary is a human.  He falls in love with her instantly, but it's against the rules for him to be dating a human.  Then, enter the fact that Rhage has been cursed - he has a "beast" inside of him, a beast that he's worried will harm Mary someday.  Finally, add in the fact that Mary has leukemia and it seems like all the cards are stacked against them. 

I found this book was exciting, just like the first novel.  There was obviously a romance side to the novel (as the title suggests), but there are many other topics addressed.  There was a lot more interaction with the other vampire brothers in this novel, which was nice, there were the cancer issues, and there was still the fighting with the lessers.  The end of the novel hints that the third book will focus on yet another vampire, Zsadist.  

I liked the book, almost better than I liked the first novel, Dark Lover.  If you're into vampires, I would still recommend this series. 

Rafa (Rafael Nadal and John Carlin)

Again, I've been busy, so it has taken me way longer than it should have to get through the book Rafa by Rafael Nadal and John Carlin.  (Sorry!)  Thanks to a four hour car ride to Toronto this weekend (and four hours back), I was able to finish it up (and start another book)!  (My car rules - you're allowed to read a book as long as you're not the driver or have shotgun.  It's the person in the front passenger seat who is required to keep the driver company.  Back seat is fair game for iPod listening or reading if the backseat passenger so chooses.  Which I did.) 

Let's start by saying that I'm a huge Rafael Nadal fan.  I've seen him play at the Roger's Cup in Toronto (awesome!) and he's great.  I don't need to tell the ladies that he's gorgeous, but in addition to that, I love how calm he seems out there on the court and how nothing seems to phase him.  Other tennis players seem to lose their tempers and whatnot, and one of the things I love about Nadal (and Federer) is that he's never really "lost it" on the court.  I remember hearing before, about Nadal, that if you were to try and find "dirt" on Nadal, all you would find searching the internet is information about Rafa playing tennis on dirt.  There are no scandals and there's not much bad press out there about him. 

One year at the Roger's Cup, my mom and I pre-ordered our tickets one year in advance and we were rewarded with an awesome Rafael Nadal (fake) signed photo, which is now hanging in my bedroom.  Also, Nadal was nice enough to let me pose with his life size poster him. 

See, my picture with his poster him.

 Also, he was nice enough to pose with me in real life.

For reals, y'all!  He's the dot in pink!
Notice how I'm smiling from ear to ear - SO AWESOME! NADAL!

Ok, finally, about the book!

I thought the layout of the book was interesting.  In each chapter, there are two sections - one written from the point of view of Nadal and the other written from the point of view of (I assume) John Carlin.  In the sections written by Nadal, he breaks down and describes two big matches for him in his career (Wimbledon 2008 against Federer and the 2012 US Open against Djokovic).  In the other portions, there are some more personal details explained through interview with various family members, as well as some of his personal history. 

I think the book really shows the hard work and dedication that is involved in being a professional athlete, especially a tennis player.  You watch a tennis match and you know that there is a lot of hard work involved, but I think we often overlook how much of this work is done by yourself.  For some people, it would be really difficult to get motivated to go work out and hit balls by yourself for hours on end. 

There were so many things in this book that I found interesting, including his details of his pre-match rituals (which I never really noticed until they were pointed out to me) and details about his injuries over the years.  I'm a tennis fan (and I love watching Nadal), but I'm not hardcore enough to go do research on why he wasn't playing in a certain tournament.  This summed up many of these things for me (no Google search required!)

If you're not a huge tennis fan, I wouldn't recommend this book to you.  There are lots of details about specific points and matches that wouldn't necessarily interest you.

If you are into sports and don't mind reading about some "sport" instead of all the personal details about his life, then read it.  I enjoyed the book and am even more excited to (hopefully) see Nadal back at the Roger's Cup in Toronto this summer.  He's pretty hardcore and I think he's got quiet a few more wins in him.

Shine (Lauren Myracle)

I've been meaning to get this post written for a while, but it's been a busy few days.  Now that I can finally enjoy my March Break, here are my thoughts on Shine by Lauren Myracle.

I've had my eye on this book for a while.  First, we had a "judge the book by the cover" kind of relationship - I saw the cover and I liked it.  In an effort to save money, I left it there.  When I saw it on the top list of Teen books, I decided to give it a try.

(Fun fact about this book: It was nominated as a National Book Award finalist for Young Adult literature, but apparently there was a "miscommunication" and Myracle was asked to withdraw her name from the running.  I guess a similarly titled book was initially supposed to get nominated instead of "Shine."  I liked the book and find this whole situation to be a little bit ridiculous and Myracle should have been able to keep her nomination.  Her book was good!  Read about it all here.)

Patrick is the victim of an antigay hate crime in his small community of Black Creek.  He's assaulted and basically left there, dying.  Because of the closeness of the community members, the police don't want to do too much investigating.  Cat, Patrick's best friend, takes it in her own hands to figure out who is responsible for the crime.  She has been through her own rough patches with some of the community members and so she has her own suspects in mind.  During her detective work, Cat gets to face some of her own issues that have been haunting her for years.

It's really hard for me to imagine this all happening the way it did since I didn't grow up in a "small" town like Black Creek.  It's hard for me to accept that a justice system would basically stand around and do nothing while a young boy is laying in a coma in a hospital bed.  I'm thankful that I didn't grow up in a situation like this!

The issues that are discussed in this book are serious ones, and I think it's great to open the eyes of a young adult audience to these topics.  The one major topic is that of the antigay hate crime (and bullying), but they also touch on drugs and alcohol, depression and rape. 

The story was a good little mystery, and I think it's a good read for Young Adult readers.

If you haven't already read my post about Peter Katz and the Matthew Shepard Foundation, you can find it here.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)

I bought this book with a gift card I received for Christmas.  Basically, I was at Chapter's and wanted to take advantage of the 30% off hardcover boxing day sale.  I searched on their computers for top 2011 picks and Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs showed up under Top Teen Books.  (And once again, I did judge the book by the cover... Doesn't that picture make you want to read it?)

The story is centered around Jacob, a sixteen-year-old boy who used to believe everything his grandfather told him (because who doesn't believe these fairy tales as a young child?).  Jacob's grandfather, Abe, then whispers his final words to Jacob, filled with weird ideas and confusing information.  When his terrifying nightmares start, Jacob journeys to an island near Wales to find some answers.  If nothing else, Jacob's family hopes that this journey will help him distinguish between fantasy and reality.  Once there, he finds "Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children" and begins to believe that these children, who were in fact "peculiar," may still be alive. 

Sounds a little weird, right?  The first hundred pages seemed like they could be very real - no talk of magic - everything seems to be based on Jacob's imagination.  Later in the book, though, there is some "magic" (if you want to call it that!)  There is some time travel - that is, Jacob, who has found the home for peculiar children and knows that something is up, finally finds the entrance to their loop, which is a different world and relives September 3, 1940, over and over again. 

Now what do I mean when I say the children are peculiar?  Well, one of the boys is invisible, one girl has super human strength, another girl can light a flame ball in her hand, and another boy releases bees from his body every time he opens his mouth.  Sounds weird, but it actually makes a lot of sense in the story.

This story mixes real photography from old collections with a new fiction story. I really loved how these very strange photographs were used to tell a creative story.  Just looking at the pictures is cool enough, and then reading the story that "goes along with them" lets you use your imagination and really get into the plot. 

The storyline really kept me interested, especially near the middle and end of the book, where there is a lot more adventure than there is at the beginning.  Without too much of a spoiler... while the book could be a standalone book, I feel like there could possibly be a second one on the way, with the story left kind of wide open at the end. 

I liked this book.  It was good and kept my interest.  You need some imagination to read it - don't expect it to be like a true story based on the photographs.  It's worth reading just to see how well Ransom Riggs connects the photographs.  It was a great first novel by Ransom Riggs and I would definitely read another.

Bossypants (Tina Fey)

I got this book for Christmas, but I've had my eye on it for a while.  I've heard some good things about the book and decided that I was ready to try it.  I also saw her on The Ellen Degeneres Show and she was hilarious... Check out that appearance here and here. 

In Bossypants, Tina Fey describes many things she has experienced in life and her stories make her seem somewhat more 'human' and down to earth.  She discusses important times in her career (such as her years at SNL or on 30 Rock), her honeymoon, her college years, photo shoots, and being a mother. 

I read the book from start to finish in about a day, but you could also pick a specific chapter that you're more interested in and read that.  It's not the type of autobiography that you would need to necessarily read in order.  She wrote well and since she is pretty funny, this shone through in her writing. 

Now, I should tell you that I'm not a "must watch" Tina Fey fan.  I think she's funny and I do like her when I see her in movies or on television, but she's not one who, in the past, I have rushed out to see in a new release.  I think that someone who has watched her for those many years on SNL or who has been a fan of 30 Rock would definitely like certain parts of the book more than I did.  (I didn't get some of the 30 Rock stuff since I've never really watched much of the show... But lately, I have debated picking up a season). 

However, that said, there were so many parts of the book that were funny and heartfelt regardless of whether you have seen all of her shows and movies.  Who can't laugh at her honeymoon experience (where there was a fire on a cruise) or her commentary that goes along with a photo shoot? While it is non fiction, there were many chapters that were not specific to events in her life, but just her insights into some of her experiences.

The book was an easy read and it was definitely funny.  If you can watch the clips of her on Ellen and be intrigued like I was, then I think you'd enjoy the book.  It did definitely make me laugh and say to whoever was nearest me at the time, "You have to listen to this..." 

Dark Lover (J.R. Ward)

Are you a Twilight fan?  And if so, do think that maybe you're a bit too old for Twilight?  Then I have just the book recommendation for you!

If you haven't already read my embarrassing library story detailing how I ended up with this book in my hands, you should do that now. 

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward is a vampire love story with a bit of action and suspense.  Wrath is a purebread vampire who was asked by his friend (Darius) to take care of his (Darius') daughter (Beth) as she went through her "changing" from human to half-vampire.  (She's the daughter of a human mother and a vampire father, so obviously when she's about 25, she will go through her change and become a vampire.)  Although Wrath first declined the opportunity, it does fall upon him... Beth and Wrath have an undeniable chemistry from the beginning and he must do everything he can to help protect her. 

This book was like Twilight - but more hardcore in many ways.  There was a lot of detail about their "brotherhood" (that is, the vampires who are responsible for the livelihood of the vampire population) and about "lessers" (the humans without souls who are trying to get rid of the vampires).  A lot of interesting information was introduced and will no doubt be built upon in future books of The Black Dagger Brotherhood series.  The information seems to go into more depth about the vampires in this book than what Twilight ever did.  Also, there is more information about their relationships in this book, making it appeal to an older audience. 

I liked the book.  I found it a bit confusing at the beginning because I was learning a lot of new 'terms,' but once you get into it a bit, it all makes sense.  It was easy to read and kept you entertained by moving back and forth between different storylines that are all somehow connected. While you are comfortable with the ending of the book (i.e. it doesn't make you want to immediately go grab the second book in the series off the shelf), there is so much left to happen with the characters that you do feel as if you need to continue in the series to find out more.

"'Life is full of wonderful surprises, isn't it?'
'It certainly is.'" (Dark Lover, J.R. Ward, p. 329)

If you're not into the fantasy and vampire thing, then this is not for you.  However, as I mentioned, if you are a vampire fan but are looking for something a little more adult, then this would be a good pick.