Janet Evanovich Book Group discussion
Favorite book thus far?
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I do love them all so far, but I haven't gotten to Twelve Sharp yet. I'm looking forward to it:) My favorite so far I think is Two for the Dough...I love how Grandma Mazur gets involved with the stakeouts at the funeral home, and it's the first time we get to see really see Joe while he's not a wanted fugitive!
Hot Six. Ranger and Morelli trying to handcuff Stephanie.
It's between Hard Eight (gotta love the swans after the cracker jacks, spider in the car, snakes in the appartment, and the guy in the Rabbit suit!! Sooo funny! Oh, and then there is that scene with Ranger and Steph....you know which one I mean:) and Lean Mean Thirteen (Squirell bombs, beaver bombs, and the cable company, those f****ers. Lol, hillarious).
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Hard Eight was probably my favorite. Even though it was hard to choose, it seemed to be the one where we got a good look at the other characters in the series. Stephanie has the greatest men in her life and I love the view from here.
Connie,I'm finishing Hard Eight right now! I completely agree that we get a better picture of the rest of the characters. Kloughn cracks me up, and I liked that Ranger played a larger role in this one although I did miss Joe!
Emily,I agree about Joe, but I seem to miss him no matter how much he's in the stories. And alot when I finish the books. I want them to last forever and am awefully sad when I'm done reading.
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My favorite is the one where she keeps blowing up all the cars. And eventually the garbage truck. I can't remember exactly which book that is though.
Nicole,Just started To the Nines:)
I'm trying to play catch-up before the 17th!!
I just finished number 13 and I need to change my vote for the best book. I loved this story. I know I keep repeating myself about the men in these books, but I am in love with both Joe and Ranger! This book is closer to what I actually want, an intire book with nothing but the two of them with Stephanie. I laughed out loud alot. And almost cried when I finished it.
I've read them all up through Thirteen. I bought Fearless Fourteen from Audibles and decided to read them all again before I listen to that. I'm having a hard time listening to One and Two because C.J. Critt sounds like she has a breathing problem with all the deep breaths between each sentence. I have through Five from the library and she is the reader on all. I think that's why I read them in the first place. (shudder) I'm missing where Diesel first appears...I am so in love with Ranger, Babe.
You may be put off by the reading of the first two books because they are not read by CJ Critt. The reader is Lori Petty. She played the marine mammal trainer in "Free Willy", and she played Kit, the little sister to Gena Davis's character, in "A League of Their own". She does a good job, in my oppinion, but I do prefer Critt's reading style.These first books also have a slightly harder edge to them, and it especially comes accross in their readings. I like them, but my favorites start with the 4th book. I believe there is one other woman who did one or two readings, but CJ Critt is my favorite reader for these. She does the best voices.
Hi Jessica,If that comment was to Phyllis about the narrator, CJ Critt is the narrator on the Recorded Books Presents that I have in front of me, for One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to Get Deadly that I've already listened to and also on Four to Score, and High Five. I've ordered six, seven, and eight from my library and will let you know who the narrator is on those. I've bought eleven, twelve and thirteen on CD but have lent those out so right now I cannot give you the name of the narrator. Fourteen has been downloaded from Audibles but I'm not listening to it until I finish the series.
Thanks for the information though on Lori Petty.
Hi Phyllis,That's so weird. As soon as I read your message I ran to get my copies to check that I hadn't sprung a leak in my brain. My copies of the first 3 books on audio CD's are read by Lori Petty. I have this one off of amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/One-Money-Steph...
Does the cover of your copy look like that one?
I tried to look up the CJ Critt's version you mentioned, but I didn't find it. I did however find one on Audible by Lorelei king. And I found a version of Four to Score read by someone named Desi Mazar. I did not even know that they do different reader versions!!!
Do you know of any other audiobooks that have different reader versions?
Thanks for checking and I see the difference right away. I have listened to the UNABRDGED (whole) book and you have the abridged. Yes, the narrators are different. I have picked up Hot Six and C.J.Critt is the narrator on that. Seven Up shows the narrator is Lorelei King who reads the other ones I've bought. It also starts the ones with reduced CD's. 7UP only has 7 CD's vs the 8 and 9 of the others... poopy. lolI don't recall listening to Desi Mazar before. This is definitely strange. We learn something new every day.
I learned from listening to only one book by Janet Dailey (For the Roses) that I love the whole story. LOL I have since listened to only the unnabridged ones. My library has books on mp3 now so there is only one disc. It's definitely easier that carring around 8 CD's. Thanks again.
By the way, do you listen to Susan Elizabeth Phllips? My most favorite story in the world is Nobody's Baby But Mine, and the continuation is Dream A Little Dream. Check these out... p
Yeah, i have never heard of Desi Mazar before either. And I so agree with you on the abridged books. How lame is that!? The whole books are good, they don't need to edit them down. I actually didn't even realize that my copies of the first 2 books were abridged until I looked them up yesterday. I first got attached to the series from listening to those 2, they were a present. I started reading them after that, and it never occured to me that i was missing pieces of the first 2 stories. I guess I should read those books to see what they abridged.
I like the mp3's too, because of the single CD, but it's harder to pick up where you leave off when it's not sectioned more. So I get the CDs, but I do love my mp3 iTunes versions too.
[I love Susan Elizabeth Phillips! Though my favs are 'Natural Born Charmer' and 'Match Me if You Can']
I got to meet SEP last February on her Natural Born Charmer tour and she is a gem. I still have my unopened copy of that...her reader was killed and she was one of my favorites. I listened to a copy from the library.NBBM is one of her "Chicago Star's books. I think there are seven in th series and there is a 'grandma', Annie Glide, there. Funny as all get out. lol
My Sony Walkman mp3 player goes right back to where you stopped. The other one did not and I just put a post it note on it and write where I stopped.
Have a super day. p
I have a real problem retaining exactly what I read or remembering what happens in what book. But I do remember that the first book that I really laughed out loud with was To the Nines. Of course I've laughed inwardly at all the others but this one made me actually laugh out loud. It was Lula's diet that I found so hilarious.
Yeah, Lula's all meat diet was fricken hilarious.
Hey Phyllis,After our postings regarding the first book's audio versions I looked for the unabridged copy with CJ Critt, at the library. I'm listening to it right now, and Wow. She reads at a snail's pace! And those deep breaths you mentioned are rather distracting. They may be the only thing that's keeping me from falling asleep! lol.
I think the abridged version is read much better by Lori Petty. Wow, I didn't think I'd ever say that an abridged audio book was better than an unabridged version. But Lori Petty's pace, energy, and voices are really, really good! Especially compared to CJ Critts version. The way Petty reads Ramirez...it gave me creeped-out shivers. It had me looking over my shoulder (in my car as I listened to it late at night after work).
Hi there Jessica,Yes, a reader does make or break a book.
My favorites are Susan Elizabeth Phillips' books read by Anna Fields. I have listened to other books of course, but she was my favorite narrator. She was killed in a flash flood in October 2006. I will have to look for something read by Lori Petty.
Thanks for letting me know.. take care.
I'm a real newbie at this series and I've only read the first three books - and now can't wait to get on to #4! - but the third, Three to get Deadly, is definitely my favorite so far. Hardly a chapter went by that didn't have several chuckles and many of them laugh-out-loud moments where I had to restrain myself from rolling on the floor! Reading all the comments above, I realize that I have many, many such moments waiting for me in all the books ahead. I intend to savor them all!
It's so hard to pick out a book that I loved more than the others, but if I really had to choose... I loved Hard Eights, and Twelve Sharp. mostly because I love Ranger's character more than Morelli. Although, the first book was decent as well. It's too hard to pick one!
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I hope the next book brings some serious Ranger hotness. Fearless Fourteen didn't satiate my Ranger appetite!
I am kinda new to the Stephaine Plumb novels I just finished book 4 but I gotta say....I'm hooked. I can't put them down. Half the time I am laughing out loud.
I Like the first one "One for the Money" the best and i have read all of the Stephanie Plum NovelsI though it was really funny how Steph ran over Morelli to get him back i wish all us girls had the courage to fight back and how she was started of being curious about Morelli and has never stop.
Going after Morelli is Pure Gold!!!!!
I'm still pretty new to the series like some others who have commented here, and it's hard to say which book would be my favorite. I'm currently reading "Seven Up."I think the thing about them is that they all flow together and after a while it is hard for me to remember what happened in which individual book. But if I HAD to pick a favorite, it would probably have to be "One for the Money" because that's where I was hooked!
New Member here! I read Four to Score on plane ride from Chicago, where I started it, all the way to San Fransisco (4 hours later) where I finished it right before getting off the plane. And the whole time I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. That would be my top pick of the Stephanie Plum books.
I would have to agree with Emily. I loved One for the Money. I have read them all, laughing out loud all the way through them all. My husband, a former non-reader, is now up to 'To the Nines' He is hooked too.
Ten Big Ones. I love the part with the pack of humper dogs, laughed so hard I had to wipe my eyes in order to keep reading. Then, when Steph gave up her dignity and searched for Ranger's underwear. Priceless.
Melissa wrote: "My favorite is the one where she keeps blowing up all the cars. And eventually the garbage truck. I can't remember exactly which book that is though."
High Five aka the search for Uncle Fred.
High Five aka the search for Uncle Fred.
My Favorite was Lean Mean Thirteen with the exploding taxidermist animals. The scene w/ Joyce was so funny I laughed for about 15 minutes AND fell off the couch. My husband looked at me like I should be committed.
Omg the beaver bomb!! I forgot about that. And then Joyce had it stuck in her hair and had to wear a hat. too funny!
My favorite book thus far is Ten Big Ones. I love (I think it is chapter 13) when Ranger comes home to his apartment and finds Stephanie in his bed. And then there is always the suspicious Lula who comments on the way Stephanie smells just like Ranger. Though my favorite Stephanie realization is probably when she figures out Ranger goes comando... :-) I think I have re-read that specific book about 30 times in the 2 years that I have been reading the Plum series. It always makes me laugh out loud, which by the way makes my Ryan worry about my mental health. There are great scenes in all of the books but since Ranger is my favorite male character I like this one the best, so far.
Got to love One for the Money when Ranger comes to rescue Stephanie, while she is handcuffed naked to the shower curtain rod. Everyone who mentioned that they are all great is right on. I could not stop laughing all the way through them all. I actually got a good friend of mine hooked on them because she kept hearing my busting up laughing and had to read them to see why. Now she is almost as much of an avid reader as I am.
Does anyone else think that the title for fifteen isn't very good??? Finger Lickin' Fifteen?I just hope the book is better than the title sounds lol
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Janet always has a name the book contest on her website for the numbered books. Fans/readers submitted their choice for the name of the book and then Finger Lickin Fifteen was chosen the winner.
Yeah I was in the contest. I thought some of the other names were better, but hell as long as the book is good that's all that matters!
We have to wait 6 months to find out! Maybe she will post some teasers to the story soon.
I had heard that her contract was up after Fearless Fourteen, I guess that's not so. Does anyone know anything more about that?
She is contracted to book 16.. and according to her website she has no plans to stop the series.www.evanovich.com
Yay! That makes me happy! Thanks for the info Jess! I wonder how much further she can go with it. I always forget to check her website. I'm going to get on there right now!
I'm not sure.. I guess until her fans get tired of it. I've never felt like the books have become based on a formula unlike other series that I have read. She can keep writing them forever in my opinion! I'll never get enough of Stephanie and all her adventures.
I agree, I don't think I'll ever tire of them. I'm always laughing out loud while reading them which of course earns me funny looks from those around me.
I know this is a tough question because they're all great.
My favorite thus far is probably Twelve Sharp. Love the Ranger moments, the funny skips (Melvin Pickle is hilarious) and the plot with the fake Ranger is awesome!
There's also some great Grandma Mazur quips!