The Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge Wrap-up

I joined The Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge with hopes of getting caught up on the series by the end of 2010. Mission accomplished!

I read (or listened to the audiobook) the following regular series novels by Janet Evanovich:

1 Twelve Sharp
2 Lean Mean Thirteen
3 Fearless Fourteen
4 Finger Lickin’ Fifteen
5 Sizzling Sixteen

I also listened to the audiobook on the following “between-the-novels” books:

1 Plum Lovin’
2 Plum Lucky
3 Plum Spooky

I definitely enjoy the regular series better than the “between-the-novels” books. I must say though, that while the Stephanie Plum series does give me a good laugh, I think the earlier novels were better than the later ones. I’m at the point now where I’m tired of the love triangle and just want Stephanie to pick Ranger or Joe!

I discovered that this is the only series of books that I actually prefer listening to the audiobook versions versus reading the hardcover books. I love Lorelei King’s reading of the books. She is one of the best audiobook readers I have ever heard and she makes these books fun to listen too.

Thank-you J. Kaye for hosting this challenge!

Plum Lucky by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)

Plum Lucky is the third of the “between-the-novel” books in the Stephanie Plum series. These novels are holiday themed and as you can guess from the title, Plum Lucky chronicles Stephanie Plum’s adventures on one memorable St. Patrick’s Day.

Grandma Mazur has found a bag of money at the end of a rainbow on St. Patrick’s Day. A little man with green pants claims it is his and tries to take it back, but Grandma will have none of it. Stephanie and Lula spot her fighting the man off and help her out. Grandma buys an RV and takes the money to Atlantic City. Stephanie and Lula have to find Grandma and are helped by the sexy Diesel. It turns out that the man in the green pants have stolen the money from an old foe, and Stephanie has to help get the money back in order to save the life of a horse . . . and Grandma.

Plum Lucky was another funny entry into the Stephanie Plum series. I still don’t like the “between-the-novel” books as much as the regular novels. I still think it’s because mystery man Diesel is not as good of a man of mystery as Ranger. Stephanie already has enough trouble picking between Ranger and Joe, she doesn’t really need a third man in her life!

I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook. As I stated in my review of Plum Lovin’, Lorelei King makes this book and all of the Stephanie Plum books a joy to listen too. She has a unique voice for each character, and it makes the book highly entertaining. I love reading the Stephanie Plum books, but King makes them fun to listen to. I actually am starting to prefer them on audiobook versus hard copy for this reason.

This if my final selection for the Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge. I am now officially caught up on the series!

Audiobook Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

Plum Lovin’ by Janet Evanovich (Audiobook)

Plum Lovin’ in the second in the “between-the-novels” of the Stephanie Plum series. The between-the-novel books are holiday themed and Plum Lovin’ is set during the Valentine’s Day season.

Stephanie Plum, whose own love life is a mess, becomes a matchmaker. The mysterious Diesel has shown back up and offers Stephanie a deal. In order to help her find her big ticket bond item, Annie Hart, Stephanie has to help out Annie’s lovelorn clients. Then Diesel will tell Stephanie where Annie is located.

Plum Lovin’ was a quick enjoyable Stephanie Plum novel, but not up to par with the regular books in the series. I like the character of Diesel, but having a third love interest for Stephanie is really too much. I don’t think we need a “white Ranger” as Lula calls him. That being said, I think that it’s important to read the between-the-novels books to get important parts of the story that aren’t in the regular books. For instance in Plum Lovin’ Lula and Tank get together and Stephanie’s Sister Valerie and Albert Klown finally get married.

My favorite quote in this book was the following:

"Stephanie,' Valerie said.’She's going to have a baby, and she's getting married.' My father was confused. He looked around the room. No Joe. No Ranger. His eyes locked on Diesel. 'Not the psycho,' he said. Diesel blew out a sigh. My father turned to my mother. 'Get me the carving knife. Make sure it's sharp."

Stephanie’s dad is a man of few words. Having him finally speak out was hilarious and made me laugh out loud.

I listened to the audiobook version of this novel as read by Lorelei King. King is one of the best audiobook readers that I have listened to. She has great distinctive voices for all of the characters and makes it a fun “read.” I think out of all of the audiobooks I’ve listened too, Janet Evanovich and Jane Austen novels are among the best books adapted to that medium.

I listened to this novel for the Stephanie Plum reading challenge. I only have book left to go – Plum Lucky!

Audiobook Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

Plum Spooky by Janet Evanovich (audiobook)

Plum Spooky is the fourth of the “between-the-novel” Stephanie Plum books that include Visions of Sugar Plums, Plum Lovin’, and Plum Lucky. I’ll admit that I skipped the two middle books to read (or in this case listen to) Plum Spooky as it is the holiday theme for this month.

In Plum Spooky, our favorite bounty hunter, Stephanie Plum is chasing after a super smart, but socially inept skip named Munch. Munch is business partners with a very scary dude, Wulf Grimoire. The mysterious and sexy Diesel is also after Munch and Wulf and pops back into Stephanie’s life to help track down this duo.

Stephanie has plenty of supernatural problems in this book including a forest full of mysterious creatures including the Easter Bunny, the Jersey Devil, and the fire farter. She also was left a monkey companion named Carl who appears to be a lot smarter than the average monkey. Love interests Joe Morelli and Ranger also make appearances as does my favorite sidekick, Lula.

Lorelei King reads Plum Spooky and does a fantastic job of giving each character their own unique voice. Her readings of Lula’s lines were enough to make me crack up laughing a few times and to give my husband pause as he passed through and heard them.

Overall Plum Spooky was a light, fun read that made me laugh out loud a few times. I liked the “supernatural” elements of this book as it fit the Halloween theme. I liked this “between-the-novel” book a LOT better than I liked Visions of Sugar Plums. I wish I would have read the books in order though as I think Diesel appears in all of the “between-the-novel” books and I’m having a hard time remembering him from Visions of Sugar Plums. Plum Spooky also solved a question I had from the regular series, how Lula and Tank’s engagement ended.

One gripe I have is that although Diesel is a fun new flirtation for Stephanie, she already has her Stephanie-Ranger-Morelli love triangle going. It almost feels like too much going on with Diesel thrown into the mix. Diesel gets his own treatment in Evanovich’s new book, Wicked Appetite. I may have to check that out once I get caught up with the “between-the-novel” books.

I read Plum Spooky as part of the Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge. I have two books left to complete the challenge, Plum Lovin’ and Plum Lucky.

Audiobook Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

Sizzling Sixteen by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie Plum and her hilarious crew of friends and family continue their adventures in Janet Evanovich’s Sizzling Sixteen. Stephanie is a bounty hunter employed by her slimy cousin Vincent “Vinnie” Plum. When Vinnie is kidnapped and held for ransom, Stephanie with her friends and co-workers Lula and Connie must find a way to bail him out or rescue him. Otherwise they are out of a job! Vinnie has done a good job through the years of not making too many friends and alienating people, which makes the trio on their own in their rescue efforts. Along the way Stephanie also has a few hilarious skips that she tries to track down in order to make some cash.

As with all other Stephanie Plum novels, Stephanie still finds herself in the midst of a love triangle. Stephanie and handsome undercover cop Joe Morelli are on the off phase of their on-again off-again relationship. Though they can’t quite remember what they argued about and spend a lot of time flirting throughout the novel. Mysterious man in black Ranger helps Stephanie out on many different occasions. Although the romance was there, Sizzling Sixteen didn’t focus on either relationship as much as it did on the overall plot of rescuing Vinnie.

I loved the trio of Stephanie, Lula, and Connie out and about on missions during this novel. Lula has some of the best lines and always makes me laugh out loud. I love her ever-changing diets and her attitude. I like that Connie is finally getting out of the office with her no-nonsense attitude and legendary stink-bombs. The three ladies together was a fun read. I think they all need to get out together more often.

The romance in this novel was on the down low. Truthfully after sixteen novels, I am starting to think that Stephanie really needs to pick one of the guys and go with it. I would love to see a Ranger or Joe wedding to Stephanie and the hilarity that would ensue. I think it is time for Stephanie to move on in life.

Overall, Sizzling Sixteen is another fun installment in the Stephanie Plum series, but some items, such as the love triangle, are starting to get stale. I read this novel as part of the Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge. I am caught up on the regular series now, but need to finish catching up on the “between the novels” books. I still need to read Plum Lovin' (2007), Plum Lucky (2008), and Plum Spooky (2009).

Book Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

Lean Mean Thirteen, Fearless Fourteen, and Finger Lickin’ Fifteen by Janet Evanovich

I love the Stephanie Plum series with its fantastic characters, great love triangle, riveting mysteries, and laugh out loud moments. Whenever I need to pick up a book to relax too and give me a good laugh, I can’t go wrong with one of Evanovich’s Plum series. While I was down and out with morning sickness back in April and May, I caught up on the series (except for the between the novels books).

In Lean Mean Thirteen, Stephanie helps out Ranger by planting a bug on her slimy ex-husband, Dickie Orr. Dickie ends up missing shortly thereafter and Stephanie is a prime suspect. Dickie’s mysterious law partners all start looking for Dickie and unfortunately Stephanie. Stephanie also has found out that Dickie has reunited with her nemesis, Joyce Barnhart. My favorite laugh out loud moments of this book pertained to Stephanie’s take down of a skip and his problems with the cable company.

Life gets a bit crazy for Stephanie in Fearless Fourteen. She is hired by Ranger to help watching aging singer Brenda who is performing in Trenton. And as if she doesn’t have enough on her hands, she is taking care of a teenager named Zook whose mother has disappeared. Rumor has it that Zook may be her boyfriend Morelli’s illegitimate child. Poor Morelli has people in and out of his house constantly looking for a missing bank robbery lout that is rumored to be buried somewhere on his property. Lula may or may not be engaged to Tank, much to his dismay.

Lula witnesses the beheading of celebrity chef Stanley Chipotle in Finger Lickin’ Fifteen. Lula decides to track down the killers by entering a BBQ contest, with the problem being that she doesn’t really know how to cook. Grandma Mazur decides to help out and they are off on an adventure. Stephanie helps Ranger solve a string of mysterious break-ins at Rangeman security properties.

I enjoyed all three of these novels, mostly because I love the humor and the colorful characters so much. Stephanie is definitely my favorite with her quirky, yet everywoman ways. Lula is a close second though. The former “ho” always has hilarious lines and I love her self-confidence. Grandma Mazur is a pretty crazy grandma, but also laugh out loud funny. I love both of Stephanie’s love interests, man-of-mystery Ranger and the bad boy turned good, Joe Morelli. My only complaint is that after fifteen novels, Stephanie still finds herself in a love triangle and unable to commit. I would really like it if she would finally make her choice and move on in life as this series continues.

I read these three books for the Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge and I am really looking forward to reading the next in the series Sizzling Sixteen. I also still need to catch up on the “between the novels” books.

The good news is I have now officially reviewed all of the books I read while I was down and out with morning sickness. The bad news is I still have a pile of ARCs that I need to read and review. Hopefully I will get caught up soon!

Book Source: All three novels were from the Kewaunee Public Library.

Twelve Sharp by Janet Evanovich (audio)

Whenever I need a laugh, I turn to Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series. My best friend first introduced me to the series a couple of years ago. I quickly read the first eleven books and then stopped over a year ago as I didn’t want them to end! J. Kaye’s wonderful Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge is perfectly designed for me to finally get into gear and finish this series!

I listened to an audiobook version of Twelve Sharp read by Lorelei King. Ms. King did an excellent job of putting a unique voice to each character. I loved out loud several times while listening to this book! At the end of the audiobook there is a great interview with Janet Evanovich. I love the bonus!

In Twelve Sharp, Stephanie’s life is complicated when Mrs. Ranger shows up ready to shoot her. When Ranger’s daughter is also kidnapped and Ranger is on the run, Stephanie has to determine what is going on as well as try to bring in some FTAs to pay her rent. Soon she finds herself running for her life.

I love the colorful secondary characters, such as Melvin Pickle. I love the name, especially as he is a “pervert.” This alone made me laugh. Other returning characters such as Lula and Grandma are hilarious.

Of course I have to mention my favorite part, the love triangle between Stephanie, Ranger, and Joe Morelli. Stephanie finds herself in love with both men, and I feel for her. I love in this novel that we get more detail about Ranger. I love a good love triangle, but after twelve books, I just want her to pick one!

Overall, a quick, funny action story with a great mystery that kept me entertained throughout. If you haven’t read any Evanovich, I highly recommend One For the Money.

This is my first item in the Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge.

Audiobook Source: The Kewaunee Public Library

Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge

J.Kaye has come up with a great new reading challenge - The Stephanie Plum Reading Challenge. I love Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum books. They are hilarious and have been known to cause me to frequently burst into laughter. I have read the first eleven (and the Christmas one), but it has now been a year since I last read one. Mostly it was because I was afraid to get to the end and have no other new Stephanie Plum books left to read! I'm going to bite bullet and join this challenge. I especially love that I don't need to finish this challenge until December 31, 2010. Since I'm currently obsessed with Everything Austen, this will give me plenty of time to finish this challenge.

The books I have left to read to catch myself up in the series are as follows:

1. Twelve Sharp (2006)

2. Lean Mean Thirteen (2007)

3. Fearless Fourteen (2008)

4. Finger Lickin' Fifteen (2009)

5. Plum Lovin' (2007)

6. Plum Lucky (2008)

7. Plum Spooky (2009)

Thanks J. Kaye for the great challenge!