The Martian by Andy Weir, read by R.C Bray

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he's alive and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

We went on a trip to see my in-laws so my husband and I decided to listen to a book. He likes science fiction and his sister had recommended this book. We both really enjoyed it. There's a lot of cursing which is fine for us but with the kids in the car we both cringe a little. Luckily they were mostly watching their cartoons in the back anyway.

This book is really funny. The narrator does a great job alternating between Mark Watney and the other POVs in this book. I enjoy science fiction but sometimes the science is too much for me but this book didn't have that problem. The science part was very understandable and interesting. The way the author has Mark explain how he is going to do things and how he survives on Mars seems achievable and clever if not impractical. We still haven't seen the movie but I really want to now. This is definitely a book that I'll read or listen to again.

Blue Christmas by Mary Kay Andrews (Southern series #3) (audio)

Weezie Foley is trying to get her shop together for the historical district's annual decorating contest. But standing in her way are her competitors across the street, a crazy holiday schedule, and a little old lady who gets stealing and returning Weezie's stuff.

I didn't realize that this was the third in a series. But it didn't matter. There was enough background given to get me up to speed with the characters. I think I missed out on some background relationships but not so much that I was confused. This was a cute book along the lines of the other Mary Kay Andrews books I've read. I enjoyed it though I started it before Christmas and then put it on hold to listen to Fangirl and then The Ocean at the End of the Lane.

I liked Weezie and Bebe and their friendship. They always have each others' backs and that is nice. Everyone should have a friend like that. I enjoyed the quirky, funny aspects of the book like Weezie's kooky family and her auction buying trips. And I loved the family dinner at the end of the book. I laughed so hard which is not good when you are driving. Still it made the commute go by fast. I look forward to going back for the other books.

Isabel Keating is the narrator and once again I enjoyed her reading. She narrated The Fixer Upper and I liked in her that book as well. She has the perfect accent even if it occasionally sounds a little marble-mouthed especially in the male characters. Still I think she is a great narrator for Andrews books.

5 hours, 3 minutes.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (audio)

Sussex, England. A middle-aged man returns to his childhood home to attend a funeral. Although the house he lived in is long gone, he is drawn to the farm at the end of the road, where, when he was seven, he encountered a most remarkable girl, Lettie Hempstock, and her mother and grandmother. He hasn't thought of Lettie in decades, and yet as he sits by the pond (a pond that she'd claimed was an ocean) behind the ramshackle old farmhouse, the unremembered past comes flooding back. And it is a past too strange, too frightening, too dangerous to have happened to anyone, let alone a small boy.

Forty years earlier, a man committed suicide in a stolen car at this farm at the end of the road. Like a fuse on a firework, his death lit a touchpaper and resonated in unimaginable ways. The darkness was unleashed, something scary and thoroughly incomprehensible to a little boy. And Lettie—magical, comforting, wise beyond her years—promised to protect him, no matter what.

Where to begin? First, I'll never doubt Neil Gaiman again. When I started this I wasn't sure. It wasn't grabbing my interest and I wasn't feeling the narration. But once Lettie and the narrator (he is never named) go into the woods to see about the thing that was unleashed, I got interested and then I didn't want to stop. And then Ursula Monkton came to the house and I really didn't want to stop. I wanted to see how they dealt with her and where this story was going and who were Lettie and her family? Of course only a few answers are provided. And that's okay. I liked that framing of the story and how it is told as a flashback and the ending was great too. It is a beautiful fairy tale-like story and I enjoyed it immensely.

5 hours, 45 minutes
 
The narration was provided by Neil Gaiman. This is the first book I believed I've listened to of his with him as the reader and I enjoyed his reading.  I've heard he is a good narrator and I've heard right. I would definitely listen to another one of his books with him as the narrator.

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

"Hi, I'm the guy who reads your e-mail, and also, I love you . . . "
Beth Fremont and Jennifer Scribner-Snyder know that somebody is monitoring their work e-mail. (Everybody in the newsroom knows. It's company policy.) But they can't quite bring themselves to take it seriously. They go on sending each other endless and endlessly hilarious e-mails, discussing every aspect of their personal lives.
Meanwhile, Lincoln O'Neill can't believe this is his job now- reading other people's e-mail. When he applied to be "internet security officer," he pictured himself building firewalls and crushing hackers- not writing up a report every time a sports reporter forwards a dirty joke.
When Lincoln comes across Beth's and Jennifer's messages, he knows he should turn them in. But he can't help being entertained-and captivated-by their stories.
By the time Lincoln realizes he's falling for Beth, it's way too late to introduce himself.
What would he say . . . ?
Apparently I have been in a Rainbow Rowell mood or maybe it's that when you read one or two great books by an author you just want to read everything that have. Or at least that is true for me. So Attachments is actually Rowell's first book and it's an adult book. At first I wasn't sure but then about half way through I knew I was going to love this book.

Lincoln is an odd character. He is sort of lost in life after spending 10 years getting various degrees and finally deciding to get out and get a job. He moves back home with his doting mother and gets a job in the IT department of a newspaper where part of his job is reading flagged emails during the night shift. Jennifer and Beth are best friends who work for the newspaper and they spend a lot of time emailing each other so there messages get flagged. Lincoln slowly becomes vicariously involved with them and, though he knows he should, he doesn't stop reading their e-mails. But when Beth notices him, Lincoln finds himself changing his life for the better bases on some of her observations. I love how he grows and becomes more aware of what he wants in his adult life based partly on what he is reading and how he becomes a stronger person for it. Beth and Jennifer are pretty funny and there are some poignant moments in their lives, all told through email. It's funny the things they say about Lincoln without knowing who he is and how much of their own lives they share.

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

Rachel Chu is absolutely in love with her boyfriend, Nicholas Young. So when he invites her along to his best friend's wedding and then to spend the summer in Singapore, she agrees. But he does not to prepare her for the society she is going to  meet. Because Nicholas' family is not only rich, they are crazy rich. And they are also just plain crazy.

I really only picked up this book because one of my favorite gossip sites,  Lainey Gossip, was so enthusiastic about it. It seemed like a fun read and she was pretty adamant that it was a great summer read. Obviously I didn't get to it in time for that, but it was fun autumn read as well. It's hard to imagine that people actually live like the characters in this book but according to her and other reviews, it's pretty accurate on that front. The sheer amount of money they have is overwhelming. But it's also proof that money cannot buy class, taste, or sympathy.

I felt bad for Rachel. I realize that Nicholas has been conditioned since birth not to talk about his family's money but he honestly could have prepared in some way. Just mentioned that they are very influential or something. Though the book did work hard to point out that Nicholas was pretty oblivious to that kind of thing. It's easy to ignore money if you have it. Poor Rachel was just so unprepared for these people. The way they even talk about money is astounding. Throwing millions around like chump change. Americans are generally not accustomed to such displays. But it was kind of fun to see how people live with that kind of money.

Overall this was a fun book. I enjoyed it. It is definitely a beach read kind of book. My only complaint was how rushed the ending felt. A whole lot was thrown at the main character very quickly and then it was basically resolved in a few chapters. Other than that, it was a super fun read.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith

Cormoran Strike is having some serious troubles with his girlfriend, with paying back his debts and with life in general. But when a wealthy lawyer walks into his office asking him to solve the murder of his famous supermodel sister, he becomes embroiled in a case where everyone has something to hide. Because although the police have already determined that her death was a suicide, something tells Strike there is more to it than that.

How easy it was to capitalize on a person’s own bent for self-destruction; how simple to nudge them into non-being, then to stand back and shrug and agree that it had been the inevitable result of a chaotic, catastrophic life.

I picked this up after I learned who the real author was under the pseudonym.  Of course I did. I tried her Casual Vacancy but literary novels are not my thing.  But mysteries are. It was really good, long but good. I enjoyed it. Rowling can certainly write and certainly world-build. She also creates great characters like Cormoran Strike, the main character and detective in this novel. He is flawed but a good person and a very thorough detective. I liked him. And his temporary assistant Robin was also a great character though she needed more fleshing out.

Overall the mystery was very well done and the ending was a surprise. Though there was a part that I guess was hinted at but still felt like it came out of nowhere. I'm happy that there is another book planned because I liked Cormoran and his methodical detective work and his life story and I'd like to see it explored more rather than doled out in bits and pieces.

She Stoops to Conquer by Oliver Goldsmith (audio)

This is a play and I rarely listen to plays on audio. So it took a few adjustments on my part but I really liked this. It's kind of a manor house comedy of errors, taking place in one night at Mr. Hardcastle's house, a wealthy gentleman. His daughter, Kate, is being set up with his friend's son, Marlow, who is arriving that night to meet her with his friend Hastings. But the man's stepson, Tony, pulls a prank on the arriving gentleman and tells him the house is an inn. So Marlow is seemingly impediment to Mr. Marlow thinking him an inn keeper. At the same time Marlow is bashful around women of social standing while being brazen with working women so Kate pretends to be a barmaid to get to know him. There is also a subplot involving Hastings and the niece of the family who want to run off together. It's pretty funny. I like comedies likes this and it reminded me of Wodehouse though this play came before him.

 This play is read by a full cast, of course but features some notable actors in Joanne Whalley, James Marsters and Ian Ogilvy.  It was very well acted and I enjoyed listening to it.

1 hours, 52 minutes.

How Nancy Drew Saved My Life by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Charlotte is getting over a disastrous affair with her former boss when she takes a job as a nanny to the Ambassador of Iceland's daughter. But mysteries are afoot. What Would Nancy Drew Do? is the question Charlotte asks herself. Because if anyone has the answer it's Nancy Drew.

This wasn't as funny as I thought it was going to be. In fact, it turned out to be a Jane Eyre retelling with a little bit of a Nancy Drew twist. Confession: I don't actually like Jane Eyre that much. What with Mr. Rochester and the wife and all that. I don't know. Just not my thing. But the fact that this book is based on Jane Eyre explains why the tone is overly formal and why these people talk the way they do. Charlotte is not the most sympathetic of narrators though I think we are meant to be sympathetic to her. Her Nancy Drew observations are pretty spot-on and I liked that part. But other than that, this was just not for me. Probably if you like Jane Eyre then you will enjoy this book.

Spring Fever by Mary Kay Andrews (audio)

Annajane is anxious to get out of Pascoe, NJ and move on with her life. But first she wants to see her ex-husband, Mason, get married to achieve some closure. An unfortunate emergency involving Mason's daughter stops the wedding literally as the bride is walking down the isle. From there things spiral out of Annajane's control until she is wondering if maybe the reason she can't leave Mason and Pascoe behind is because she doesn't want to.

I think this is my third Mary Kay Andrews and as usual it was charming though I liked it less than Hissy Fit and The Fixer Upper. I think it was because Mason and Annajane divorced for a stupid reason and I have no patience for that. Plus the beginning of this book was pretty much all back story and flashback and it felt clumsy. But once that was out of the way and the plot moved on, it was golden. I enjoyed both Annajane and Mason's characters and I thought Pokey, Mason's sister/Annajane's BFF, was hilarious. Mason's daughter, Sophie, was sweet though she read a little younger than 5 to me. I will say that the "villains" of the story were pretty much nothing but caricatures of villains especially Celia, Mason's bride-to-be. She was such a stereotype that when she plays the pregnancy card I just rolled my eyes. Because of course she does. I don't feel like the nitty-gritty of what drove Celia was every really explored. But I guess we aren't suppose to care, just actively root against her.

The book ends up just where you'd expect but that's okay. It is a fun and flirty book, a great summer read that I enjoyed.

Kathleen Mcinerney is the narrator and I enjoyed listening to her. She had just the right kind of voice though she managed to make a few characters more Southern sounding than others despite the fact that they all grew up in the same town.

15 hours, 34 minutes

Size 12 and Ready to Rock by Meg Cabot (Heather Wells #4)

Fisher Hall is hosting the Tania Trace Rock Camp after people around the famous pop singer keep getting hurt. So Heather Wells is stuck with her ex-boyfriend's pregnant new wife and a bunch of bratty teenage wannabes in her dorm. But the trouble the girls cause is nothing to what is happening around Tania.

For a generally snappy series, this entry in the Heather Wells series has some serious tones. It touches on domestic abuse and fertility issues. But really it only touches on the latter. The former plays out more explicitly. I wish the character of Tania was fleshed out a bit more, but it was nice to see more from the girl who "stole" Jordan away from Heather. And her story is given more substance which proves that everyone has something behind them.

But this is still a Heather Wells mystery and so it is still a pretty funny book. Heather is so good and sweet to people. And I love her and Cooper together. I'm glad to see their relationship progressing more. That's always nice see in a series (ahem, Stephanie Plum). Hopefully the next one will bring about a wedding. That would be pretty rare in a mystery series of this type. And I hope the next one has Jordan and Cooper's sisters in it because they were pretty hilarious.

Heather Wells Mysteries
Size 12 is Not Fat
Size 14 is Not Fat Either
Big Boned

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis (audio) (Oxford Time Travel #3 & #4)

I decided to review both of these together since it basically one long book. They blend together seamlessly and you really can't read All Clear without having read Blackout. It would be confusing. I'm not sure what went into the decision to publish them separately but if you decide to read or listen to them make sure you have All Clear on hand to immediately begin reading after you finish Blackout.

It's Oxford 2060 and three historians are planning on traveling to World War II, each to observe something different. For her first assignment, Merope assumes the name Eileen O'Reilly and is sent to observe some 1940 London evacuees at a country manor house. Polly Churchill arrives in 1940 as well to observe the beginning of the London Blitz. And Michael Davies, who had been prepping to travel to Pearl Habor, has his assignments switch resulting in him going to 1940 to observe the Battle of Dunkirk. Each makes to their assignment and everything starts going wrong quickly after. None can get their drops to reopen and each is afraid that they have somehow started to change history, something that was previously thought impossible.

Blackout follows each historian as they transgress through World War II. They all have the same basic storyline. They arrive at their locations with Polly and Michael having some degree of "slippage," that is not arriving at the temporal location that was set up for them. Things go wrong for all of them at some point and then they discover that they cannot get back to their own time. The book ends with them trying to make their way to each other to hopefully use another's drop.

(SPOILERS) All Clear picks up where Blackout left off. The historians have found each other and try to work out where another historian is to hopefully find a way home that way. Each hopes for a retrieval team from Oxford and they begin leaving clues for Oxford 2060 in local newspapers, hoping for a rescue. They begin to think they are trapped in World War II because they have made horrible alterations to history. But none of them piece together the truth till much later.

If I have any criticisms it's that each book went on a tad too long. Especially the section where Micheal, Polly, and Eileen worry over the retrieval team. That part goes on too long. I also hated how Polly treated Eileen, like she was stupid when Eileen was shown to be more than capable. I guess that came from the fact that Eileen was younger than Polly and Micheal and so a little more naive.

But overall I enjoyed the story. The ending was predictable but still surprising and a bit sad. I learned a lot about the London Blitz and World War II. Eileen was a great character and Polly was too albeit a much more frustrating one since she could never seem to tell the truth about anything that Michael and Eileen might need to know. Once all the pieces came together it was easier to see how brilliant the story was. While this is not my favorite Connie Willis Oxford Time Travel story, it was certainly a wonderful addition to the world she has already built.

Katherine Kellgren is the narrator and she is once again amazing. I can't believe that I didn't like her to the first time I heard her on The Red Pyramid. She is honestly one of the most talented narrators and when I saw she narrated these Connie Willis I was so happy. Two of my favorites! Yes, please. She does a smashing job on both of these books and is a delight to listen to.


Blackout. 18 hours, 48 minutes
All Clear. 23 hours, 46 minues

Explosive Eighteen by Janet Evanovich (audio)

Stephanie Plum returns from a trip to Hawaii to find that once again people are after her. This time they are after a photo that they think was given to Stephanie aboard the plane. But Stephanie doesn't have it. So not only does she have to deal with a pair of inept thugs but she has a crazy assassin and a ditzy hairdresser after the photograph and none of them will believe that she is not in possession of the picture. On top of that Stephanie has problems with a purse snatcher stealing her car and tracking down her old nemesis, Joyce Barnhardt, who is a person of interest in a murder investigation and who has skipped out on her bond. It's just a typical adventure for Stephanie Plum.

The mystery of who Stephanie takes to Hawaii at the conclusion of Smokin' Seventeen is solved. Unfortunately it ended badly and Stephanie doesn't want to talk about it until halfway through the book. So in addition to waiting on that mystery to be solved plus the other standard ones that come with the book and Stephanie's inability to still catch a skip, it made for a good if maddening book. Seriously why can't Stephanie just catch someone easily for once? It borders on stupidity at this point. But I guess if she were a adapt bounty hunter the books wouldn't be as funny. I still like reading them but I really wish she'd pick a man and either get a new job or learn how to do this one better. It was still a funny book though the subplot with Joyce Barnhardt was wrapped up pretty neatly and quickly after spending a lot of time on it as was the main plot come to think of it.

Read by Lorelei King

Stephanie Plum series
          Twelve Sharp
          Lean Mean Thirteen
          Fearless Fourteen
          Finger Lickin' Fifteen
          Sizzling Sixteen 
          Smokin' Seventeen 

Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich

All Lizzy wants to do is lead a normal life baking delicious cupcakes. But her dreams are interrupted by Diesel who informs her that she has a special gift of sensing magical energy trapped in objects. Now the two of them are after  seven powerful stones each imbued with the essence of a deadly sin. This time it is the Luxuria Stone also known as the lust stone. Between Diesel's evil cousin Wulf and a crazy lady calling herself Anarchy, Diesel and Lizzy are going to have a hell of a time retrieving it. 


I am enjoying this series. I think Lizzy and Diesel make a good team and their adventures are pretty funny. I love how all these weird things happen and Lizzy just takes it in stride, for the most part. The scavenger hunt they go on to find the Luxuria Stone is pretty interesting and takes up most of the book. I really wanted there to be more when they did find the stone but it was still a good book. The addition of Anarchy is interesting and she makes for a better villain than Wulf because she is just crazy. Sometimes I get a little tired of Janet Evanovich's penance for ending a book on a cliffhanger or in the middle of interesting scene and that is what happened here. But I will definitely continue to read this series.


Second in the Lizzy and Diesel series
#1 Wicked Appetite

Heavy Weather by P.G. Wodehouse

This installment of the Blandings Castle Saga finds the house in an uproar as usual and is a sequel to Summer Lightning. Ronnie Fish still wants to marry Sue Brown over the objections of his aunts. But when they bring his mother into the mix and Ronnie suspects Sue of being in love with someone else, it all comes crashing down.  Meanwhile, a variety of people are steal trying to steal Gally Threepwood's manuscript, some to destroy it, other to publish it.

These books are so amusing.  I really do enjoy them. They are the perfect easy and funny read when I'm in the mood for light reading. Usually Wodehouse's books are sequels but this one is for Summer Lightning. And it took me a little to remember what happened in that book, but it's not hard as Wodehouse is not meant to be complex.  I"m happy that Sue and Ronnie worked it out and Gally is really growing on me. And Lord Emsworth's obsession with the Empress of Blandings is always amusing.

Wodehouse

To Say Nothing of the Dog: Or How We Found the Bishop's Bird Stump at Last by Connie Willis

Ned Henry is badly in need of a rest.  He's been shuttling between the 21st century and the 1940s searching for a Victorian atrocity called the bishop's bird stump.  It's part of a project to restore the famed Coventry Cathedral, destroyed in a Nazi air raid over a hundred years earlier. 

But then Verity Kindle, a fellow time traveler, inadvertently brings back something from the past.  Now Ned must jump back to the Victorian era to help Verity put things right--not only to save the project but to prevent altering history itself.  -- Goodreads

I love this book!  Seriously, I first listened to it about 10 years ago and then listened to it again a couple of years later.  When I saw it on Audible, I was ecstatic because my local library did not have it on CD.  But would it still be as good?  The answer is yes.  It starts out a little slow because I was impatient for Ned to get the Victoria era, but man the whole thing is good. I haven't read Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome, a book which is referenced a lot and from which this book gets its title, but I will one of these days.  To Say Nothing of the Dog is written in a high manner house comedy style, much like a Wodehouse and has the same sensibilities as those book but with a large slice of science fiction thrown in.  Basically the whole book is about surviving the Victorians with their awful taste in furniture and the belief in seances, all while trying to save the space-time continuum.  But it never gets confusing or really all the science-y.  And the technology is a little laughable since they can travel through time but don't have cell phones.  But that has more to do with being written in 1997 when such things were not widely available and the internet wasn't what it is now.  Still I can forgive all that because the plot is so wonderful as are all the characters.  I was a little sad when it was over and I couldn't live in this world anymore.

Steven Crossley is the narrator and the voice of Ned.  He has the perfect British voice for this book and I love hearing his narration and the voices he does for the various characters.  He gets the tone and the inflection just right every time.

20 hours, 58 minutes

Whisper in My Ear

Friends in High Places by Marne Davis Kellogg

Kick Keswick is enjoying her life in France with her husband.  But an old foe is back at Ballantine and Company, threatening to expose Kick's old life.  While her husband is away on assignment, Kick goes back to London to set right some of the consequences of her old thieving ways.

I was apparently in the mood for heist stories because I followed Uncommon Criminals with Friend in High Places.  Two very different protagonists, however.  Kick is a reformed thief but still the very best at it.  And she loves the good life, fancy parties, luxurious meals, and beautiful jewels.  When it comes out that somethings are not on the up and up at Ballantine and Company,  Kick feels compelled to help out.  And Kick is very clever so she manages to help out her old company, make some new friends, and help out some nuns.  And she does it with a lot of style.  I love reading about her adventures and the clothes and the food, but I am getting a little tired of reading the same thing about her background.  It's redundant.  But still these are good books, worth reading especially if you like a good heist story.

Queens of All the Earth by Hannah Sternberg (repost)

I've been asked to repost this review since the publication date was moved back.

After a mental breakdown, Olivia Somerset is brought to Barcelona by her stern but loving sister, Miranda for some R&R.  Olivia is drawn to the quiet and strange Greg Brown who is traveling with his father.  And the two families become acquainted after a mix-up with the sister's room and Mr. Brown's offer to switch with them.

If you have ever read A Room with a View, then you will be familiar with the plot of Queens.  There are a few changes here and there, but the basic story is there, just modernized and set in Spain rather than Florence.  Since A Room with a View is one of my favorite classics, I really enjoyed this book.  It is the condensed version and the descriptions of Barcelona are beautiful.  All characters fit their classic counterparts, but there are a few key differences that I liked.  The motivation for the trip comes from Olivia losing touch with reality and having a complete breakdown so her sister kindly travels for a bit of "travel therapy."  And the trip proves therapeutic for the both of them as is wont to happen in these books.  I'm not entirely sure if this is classed as YA or adult, but it really could go either way.  It is an enjoyable book whether or not you have read A Room with a View or not.


Provided by NetGalley
Publish Date: October 1, 2011
Publisher: Bancroft Press
ISBN: 978-1610880329

Blandings Castle ... and Elswhere by P.G. Wodehouse

The Blandings Castles short stories contained in this book are meant to be read before Summer Lightning.  Something I didn't do, but still I don't know how much that really matters. All the stories were hilarious and entertaining in true Wodehouse style. 

"The Custody of the Pumpkin" takes the reader back before Lord Emsworth acquired the Empress of Blandings and become obsessed with his pig.  In this story he is worried about a prized pumpkin and the loss of his head gardener.  Also Freddie gets married and Lord Emsworth is at first dismayed, but then later delighted to learn who Freddie married.

"Lord Emsworth Acts for the Best"- Freddie's wife leaves him when he does something stupid (just like Freddie) and Lord Emsworth decides to fix the situation so as not to be stuck with Freddie. This leads to an awkwardly hilarious encounter with his daughter-in-law and her little dog. 

"Pig-hooo-o-o-ey" - With the loss of his pig-man, Lord Emsworth searches for a way to get the Empress of Blandings to eat for fear of her losing weight and the prized pig competition.  With the help of niece Angela's young man, he succeeds in both his endeavor with his pig and with helping the two young people come together.

"Company for Gertrude - Freddie tries to help his cousin Gertrude with her love problems but manages to annoy his father in the meantime. 

"The Go-getter" - Freddie tries to convince his aunt to buy the dog biscuits of his father-in-law's company, leading to a confrontation between Gertrude's fiance's dog and his aunt's dog and solving Gertrude's love problems.

"Lord Emsworth and the Girl Friend" - Lord Emsworth makes friend with a young girl and her brother and tries to avoid a tiresome event at Blandings Castle.

Wodehouse Challenge

Overbite (Insatiable #2) by Meg Cabot

Meena Harper is now working for the super secret Palatine Guard using her psychic abilities to keep its employees safe.  But when her ex-boyfriend, the prince of darkness and vampire king, Lucien reappears, she knows her life is about to get crazy again.  Something is going on in New York and within the Palatine Guard itself and Meena is right in the middle of the whole thing ... again.

And true, their relationship had gone from amazing to unmitigated disaster in record time because he'd kept biting her.  And then the members of his family kept trying to do the same.  And now vampires all over the world seemed to think of Meena's blood as a refreshing pick-me-up, like Dr. Pepper.  p.30

Another fun book from Meg Cabot and I'm guessing the last book in this series which is fine.  Meena is not very good at keeping in control of her life and she seems to attract the Alpha Male types, like Lucien and Alaric, neither of whom I liked very much.  Both of them rankled my nerves and I have a hard time believing someone as generous and kind as Meena would ever really love either of them.  But I am obviously wrong and, also, not the writer of these characters, because for some reason she does love them both.  So there is the kinda sorta love triangle, only not really because Lucien is a giant ass through the whole book and even Meena had to recognize this at some point.

I thought the mystery of who was turning everyone Meena knows into vampires was very good.  The perpetrator was a little obvious, but it still worked as far as mysteries goes. The book moved at a pretty good clip so there wasn't a lot of down time and Meena and her crew  have to work very fast to figure things out.  There were some funny moments as per any Meg Cabot book and I love Meena's brother who provides the most comedic relief.  The POV switched around so the reader gets a little bit of each person and the story unravels in a more whole manner.  It was a cute and funny story and definitely not the standard vampire story going around these days.  It's more old school than new school and I don't mind that at all. 

Smokin' Seventeen by Janet Evanovich

Stephanie is back with more of the same.  This time Grandma Belle, Joe's grandmother, is putting curses on her.  Meanwhile, someone is leaving dead bodies for Stephanie and several people want to kill her.  But then again, what else is new?

I enjoy this one as I have enjoyed the other Stephanie Plum books, but they are bordering on stale.  It's sort of the "same ole thing" with Stephanie, needing to choose between two hot guys, her failure to apprehend skips, and people wanting her dead.  I really want some forward motion for her.  She seems to be stuck in the same spot.  There was a nice callback to the first book so that was something.  And Grandma Mazur and Lulu are once again the funnies thing in the book.  It was a nice addition to the Stephanie Plum collection but it wasn't the greatest.  I am hoping that this series is going to wrap up soon and that Stephanie gets a good happy ending with a guy who will just let her be herself.