The Big Kahuna by Peter Evanovich, Janet Evanovich

Nick and Kate have a new partner, by-the-book Cosmo. He's meant to slow down their reign of destruction (starting with blowing up a Ferrari in a four-star hotsl) while not limiting their streak of closing cases. But Kate and Nick dont quite see it that way. There are two dead billionaires and another, Big Kahuna, who has recently gone missing. They need to figure out whether the Kahuna is really dead and who done the deed if he is.

Like other books.in the series, long on action, short on plot. But, if you've enjoyed the other books, this one will hit the spot as well.

Four stars

This book came out May 7, 2019

Follows The Pursuit

Followed by The Bounty

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Life in Five Senses by Gretchen Rubin

If you are used to listening to Rubin's podcast, listening to her in a longer format is rather odd. A lot of the ideas in this book are discussed on her show. She talks about how she spent time exploring each of her five senses. Is any of it groundbreaking? Maybe not. But it is grounding and a good reminder that we all need to remember not to neglect any of our senses. Instead, we should remember each of these senses and to care for them as well. We can use our senses to indulge in healthy ways. 

Three and a half stars

This book came out April 18, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Pursuit by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

Nick wakes up from a drug induced nap to find that not only is he in a life-like mock-up of a bank, he's no longer in America. He has been kidnapped in order to help the Road Runners, normally a smash-and-grab crew, to make a big heist.

Kate realizes that he's gone and is able to follow but soon finds herself embroiled in a plot to take down a sociopath, Dragan Kovic. She is set up to be Nick's bodyguard.

Once again, her father and his cohort, as well as many of the crew from earlier Fox and O'Hare books make an appearance. It's a fast and easy read.

Four stars
This book came out June 21, 2016

Follows The Scam

Followed by The Big Kahuna

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Job by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

Kate and Nick are off again. As the book opens, somebody is robbing famous museums. And trying (sloppily, in Kate's opinion) to frame Nick for it. They discover it's one of his old teammates, Serena Blake. She needs help in getting revenge on the man who killed her brother. A mobster whose face her brother has changed, Menendez is one bad dude.

It's a bit light and fast but sometimes, that's just the kind of book I'm looking for. A great book while in the midst of a number of weighty non-fictions.

Three stars

This book came out November 1, 2014

Follows The Chase

Followed by The Scam

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Chase by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

This book is why I keep giving Evanovich a chance. Most of her books are too over the top for me. But this one hit the spot between too outlandish and strict procedural to be just plain fun.

Kate O'Hare is an FBI agent working with a known con man and thief, Nick Fox (which will bring inevitable comparisons to Eve and Roarke.) When the book opens, she is helping him pull off a bank heist so they can get evidence to put a man behind bars. The bigger caper is that they have to steal a bronze rooster that was already stolen from the Smithsonian. The Chinese government now wants the rooster back and the US doesn't want to admit that they've lost the statue. Complications arise when it turns out a former Chief of Staff, now the head of a military contract security firm is the one who has the original.
The yes-no relationship between Kate and Nick is more believable than the triangle between Stephanie, Ranger, and Joe. Also less annoying. Probably because it's early in the series. I'll wait and see how the rest of it goes.

Three stars

This book came out June 18, 2013

Follows The Heist

Followed by The Job

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Heist by Janet Evanovich, Lee Goldberg

Original review from 2013: Meh. Not as bad as Metro Girl (thank god) but not particularly good or even any new ideas.

Kate O'Hare is hot on the trail of Nicolas (Nick) Fox when the book opens (ha ha, the rabbit chasing the carnivore, I kept fixating on the fact that her last name is an airport though). She's an FBI agent after an international jewel thief. The rest of the story is fairly easy to guess (I'll hide the rest of my review for potential spoilers) and ends up following a very "Leverage"-like escapade. I'll give the second book a chance but am not sure it's going to be worth more than a quick run through.

Kate captures Nick fairly early in the book which means that he's going to escape. And based on the escape it's pretty easy to figure out that he's going to end up working for the FBI (it takes a thief and blah, blah, blah.) It's interesting that it's all off the books but still. 

They gather a team that don't know who they are to take down the big bad. I liked that Kate was the muscle and Nick was the brains, but then Nick got all muscle-y and Kate was just the ubiquitous "chick with guns." Not much for her to do though I hope that she gets more of a chance to show off her brain power as well in the next book

After 2023 reread: I listened to this as an audiobook this time. I"m not sure if my tolerance for nonsense has gone up or whether narrator Scott Brick made a difference but I'm upping my review from a two to a three. Really, I think I was able to look past the name=airport and Kate's character reduction.

Three stars

This book came out February 25, 2014

Followed by The Chase

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Appeal by Janice Hallett

This book was hard to follow because there are so many characters. I wondered if that was because I was listening as an audiobook but I read the follow up novella and it is a little hard either way. The idea is that two lawyers are reading emails after a specific crime and they are trying to figure out what actually happened. Even the reader doesn't actually know who got murdered until we are well into the book as the Fairway Players exchange information about their upcoming play which is meant to raise money for a toddler with cancer. But there are a lot of doubts being sown about whether everyone is who they say they are, whether everyone's telling the truth, and whether everyone mentioned in the story will be alive at the end.

Three and a half stars 

This book came out January 4, 2021

Followed by The Christmas Appeal

Borrowed as audiobook from Library

Opinions are my own

The Undoing Project Michael Lewis

We first hear about Michael Lewis. About his ideas that he might be able to game the NBA draft through statistics. To try and take people's gut feelings out of the picks. He tried his best but did not succeed. However, his ideas all stem from the work of Kahneman and Tversky.

Then comes Daniel Kahneman. We hear about his growing up during WWII. About the way that others describe him, as brilliant but maybe a little odd. He eventually ended up in Israel. 

Last comes a brief biography of Amos Tversky who grew up in Israel and was an acknowledged genius. 

Then comes the overlapping work of Danny and Amos. The two come up with a number of interesting ideas about the ways we make decisions. Their relationship is closer than those that they have with their wives. Their work spans more than a decade and their ideas become so overlapping it is hard to tell who came up with which parts of their papers. They come up with the idea that our decisions may not be as clear cut and based on data as we think they are. But then, the cracks began to appear. First, they move to North America, but not to the same place. They don't argue in the same room anymore. Then, Danny starts to feel like his work is overlooked. And it seems like it is. While Amos never adds to that theory, he never publicly disputes it either. Their work never quite comes together again before Amos dies.

This is a really interesting story that falters a bit at the end. Certainly makes me rethink some of my decision-making processes. 

Four stars

This book came out October 13, 2017

Borrowed as ebook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Operation Mincemeatby Ben Macintyre

A wonderfully written narrative about the ruse used by the Allies which ultimately helped win WWII. Wonderfully engaging and researched. Great to listen to as an audiobook.

Four stars

This book came out May 4, 2010

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Connections in Death by J.D. Robb

Eve Dallas has a friendship with former bouncer, now club owner, Crack. So she is astonished to see him at a Nadine Furst's housewarming party with a lovely woman at his side. She's even more surprised to find out that Roarke knows Dr. Rochelle Pickering. It seems she was a top contender to be running the new facility for homeless teens. Now that the first choice had to move, she is the choice. Dr. Pickering is delighted. As is her brother. A former gang member and drug abuser, Lyle knows better than anyone how hard life can treat you and having a home like this will give these children a leg up in the world. Three hours later, Lyle is dead. Supposedly of a drug overdose. But Eve smells a set up. Especially when she finds out that a former associate of Lyle's was seen outside his door just before he OD'd. The story takes her deep into the bowels of gang territory where a bid for power means one gang member trying to start a war.

This was an interesting In Death book because the murder doesn't actually happen until Chapter 4. Instead, we get a nice long introduction to a new character as well as catch up with many of the series favorites.I didn't feel like the gang war story line was well put together but it was overall a nice addition to the series.

Three and a half stars

This book came out February 5, 2019

Follows Leverage in Death

Followed by Vendetta in Death

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread August 2023

Heroes by Stephen Fry

HIGHLY recommend listening to Fry read this book. I think it enhances the stories that he has brought into the 21st century (or at least the 20th). 

Stephen Fry has taken a number of the Greek myths and updated them for today. They are incredibly enjoyable and make the myths more accessible for today's readers. 

Four and a half stars
This book came out November 1, 2018

Follows Mythos

Followed by Troy

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Birder, She Wrote by Donna Andrews

Meg is looking forward to a quiet afternoon in her hammock. Of course, that's not going to happen, she's got too much going on. Some of the new people moving in to Caerphilly have complaints (again) including against Edgar Brockton, the man who has been helping Meg's dad with his bees. Which is interesting because Meg herself has just gotten a new delivery. Her dad has come over to help get the hive set up when her grandmother Cordelia arrives with a journalist in tow. The journalist is following Cordelia around and that's going to include looking for a pre-Civil War graveyard. Too bad they stumble across a dead body.

If you are a regular Andrews reader, you can probably predict most of the beats of this story but that doesn't mean it's unenjoyable. It is a nice addition to the series.

I also got to listen to the audiobook and, as always, Bernadette Dunn only makes the story better. 

Four stars

This book comes out August 1, 2023

Follows Dashing through the Snowbirds

Followed by Let It Crow, Let It Crow, Let It Crow

ARC of ebook kindly provided by Macmillan and Edelweiss

ARC of audiobook kindly provided by NetGalley

Opinions are my own

I'm No Philosopher, But I Got Thoughts by Kristin Chenoweth

I love listening to biographies when they are read by their authors. This book is not very in depth but skims over a lot of Chenowith's life with additions of various meditations or prayers that you can use in your own everyday life. 

We do get to learn a little bit about Chenowith's life including the fact that she was adopted and a touch about her relationship and her husband, Josh. She touches lightly on various Broadway and TV shows that she was in though nothing goes into great depth.

Four stars
This book came out January 17, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

The Bride Wore White by Amanda Quick

Like many Quick books recently, this book is fine but there are just a few too many plot threads. Prudence Ryland is trying to keep her living as a psychic going after her mother died but she has a client she believes wants to kill her so she runs away to become a librarian. But then someone kidnaps her from the library and she wakes up dead, in a wedding dress, next to a dead man. She runs to Burning Cove and is presented with Jack Wingate who will be her protector and help her figure out what is going on. 

Jack is skeptical. He believes in facts and psychics can't actually provide that. But he's intrigued by Prudence and she doesn't seem to mind his scars.

I generally like this series and hope it continues, maybe just a *little* more simplified. 

Three and a half stars

This book comes out May 2, 2023

Follows When She Dreams

ARC kindly provided by Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley

Opinions are my own

Reread July 2023 as audiobook from Libby

Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson

I am a sucker for autobiographies narrated by their authors. This book is no different. Painted as a blonde bombshell from her youth, Anderson tells her side of the story. Even though this designation has brought her great heartache at times, Anderson is matter-of-fact in telling her stories. She weaves in some information that isn't available as part of her public persona, mainly how she grew up and stories from her youth. The stories are short and sometimes rather shallow but it is an interesting book and worth a listen.

Four stars
This book came out January 31, 2023

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson

I thought I had heard about this book from NPR Best Books but it wasn't on this year's list so It may have been a podcast. The layout of the book is incredible. The first person narrator writes and self-publishes books on how to write books. He starts with laying out the rules from the Golden Age of Detectives and then follows them... to the letter but not necessarily the law.So we see not only the full story of the book but the building blocks as well. And details are deftly woven throughout the book like, "x won't happen for 6 more chapters" or " you won't find out about x until Chapter 27." The ending was a bit fantastical and there were definitely some plot holes but I really enjoyed this book. I have the ebook on reserve to see if the experience of  reading it in print is different from the audiobook. 

Ernest Cunningham, our first person narrator, is meeting his family for a reunion. As it happens in most good mystery stories, everyone there is hiding something. Chapters unfold and we learn that, indeed, everyone in his family has killed someone. We start with Ernie's brother and move on from there as the story moves in and out and all around fulfilling it's own self-prophecies about mystery novels. 

Four and a half stars

This book came out March 29, 2022

Followed by Everyone on this Train is a Suspect

Audiobook borrowed from Libby

Opinions are my own

Reread January 2024

Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano

When the first book ended, there was an apparent hit set on Finlay Donovan's ex-husband. But who would want to kill him? Well, technically she would. And any of the other women he's cheated on her with could definitely be defined as suspects. But Finn just doesn't want to worry about it. Until it appears that someone else has picked up the contract. Now she's worried because her kids might just be in the line of fire as well.

Lots of characters from the first book, even one that was sort of a passing name. I didn't love the end or the explanation for what was going on with Finn's ex but I did like seeing the friendship between Finn and her nanny/body-burying partner grow. 

Four stars

This book came out February 1, 2022

Follows Finlay Donovan Is Killing It

Followed by Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic by Betty MacDonald

Oh my goodness. I had forgotten how much I loved the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. Every book is a collection of children with bad manners who are taught how to behave through some magical cure provided by Mrs. P-W. This particular book includes the tattle-tale cure (every time the children tattle, a big cloud with a tail forms above their heads), the interrupter cure (when someone tries to interrupt, their mouth either stays open or opens and shuts without noise), the sloppy eater cure (pig teaches child how to eat)and, one of my favorites, the cure for a heedless child (pills that make the child slow down so she has time to think before she breaks things.

Of course, none of these would work for today's kids (notwithstanding the fact that none of these things actually exist) but it's still a cute lesson for kids on how to behave.

Four stars
This book came out in 1949

Follows Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Followed by Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Have I Told You This Already? by Lauren Graham

Lauren Graham is a gifted actress and writer. These essays cover a variety of topics including her work on the Might Ducks television series, stories her father told her (that may not have been completely true), and her time during COVID. Like her other books, this one is quick, witty, all about herself, but doesn't really go deep into any topic. Still, highly enjoyable.

Four stars

This book came out November 15, 2022

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own

Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Farm by Betty MacDonald

I like the first two books in the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series but after that... eh. The books are usually charming with their magical realism. This book features a lot more magic, a lot less realism.

We start off with the Not Truthfulness Cure. We've got a young gentleman who can't seem to tell the truth and there are a lot of different stories going around town. So he's left with Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle for a month. Yes. His parents just drop him off at a woman's farm, out of town (she's moved since the first two books) and this is someone they don't really know. Okay. 

Next up is the Pet-forgotten cure where a little girl can't take care of her many, many pets. 

In the Destructiveness Cure, we meet Jeffy who likes to take things apart. Of course, being at Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's will show him why that's not a good idea. Suddenly in this book, Penelope the parrot, who was a regular parrot before, talks in full sentences.

There is also the Fraidy-Cat Cure. Phoebe is scared of everything but when Mrs Piggle-Wiggle gets trapped and getting over being a fraidy cat has to happen quickly.

Lastly we have the Can't Find It Cure where Morton comes up with a fabulous treasure... which was how the last book ended.

You can probably tell that I was frustrated with this book as being a retread of a lot of earlier stories.

Two stars

This book came out in 1954

Follows Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic

Followed by Hello Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle

Borrowed as audiobook from Libby

Opinions are my own