The Running Bibliophile

Tricky Twenty-Two (Stephanie Plum, #22) by Janet Evanovich opens with Stephanie Plum needing to apprehend Ken "Gobbles" Globovic, who is a fraternity called Zeta at Kiltman College, but he has gone into hiding. On top of that, Doug Linken, who has hired Rangeman to protect him, has been killed. What is the connection between Gobbles and Doug, and how is Stephanie going to solve this mystery? When I first started reading this installment of the Stephanie Plum book series, I thought I was going to end up disliking Tricky Twenty-Two because of what happened in the beginning of the story. However, I ended up absolutely loving it. The story felt a little different the previous stories, and Stephanie didn't seem quite so inept at her job as a bounty hunter.  Lula cracked me up with her bedazzling and wearing of flea collars . . . you'll have to read the book to find out why she does this and thinks she's going to be the next Martha Stewart. I think this was one of th

On November 15, 1959 in Holcomb, KS, four members of the Clutter family were murdered at their home. There are few clues and no motive that the police can find. Truman Capote takes a look at the murders that Perry Smith and Dick Hickock were convicted for in his non-fiction / true crime book In Cold Blood .  What made me pick up a non-fiction book such as In Cold Blood ? I don't recall why it interested me, but I'm sure it came up somehow in a book club discussion at some point. Not knowing anything about the story or the author, I wasn't sure what to expect when I read it. The brutality of what happened to the Clutter family is absolutely horrifying, and the reasoning behind it was truly awful. You'll have to read the book to find out. The first two-thirds or so of In Cold Blood was a fast paced and interesting read, but the last third of the book was painfully slow, so much so that I put the book down for several years before picking it up again and finishing. I was

Tippy Toe Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #2) by Leslie Meier is a little darker than the first book in this series. With the repressive heat of the summer, Lucy's ankles are swelling with her fourth pregnancy, and she's craving doughnuts. On top of her pregnancy, she's preparing her two daughters costumes for their upcoming dance recital. When a retired dance teacher goes missing from Tinker's Cove and a grumpy shopkeeper is murdered, Lucy can't help herself from getting involved in the mystery. Where I enjoyed the second installment of the Lucy Stone Mystery book series, I wasn't expecting a cozy mystery to deal with child molestation and was startled by one of the details that was provided. This is an important topic for sure, but it could be a trigger for others reading Tippy Toe Murder . I loved the fact that it dealt with dance and preparing for the annual dance recital. It brought back great memories of my dance classes and recitals, especially the things

Top Secret Twenty-One (Stephanie Plum, #21) by Janet Evanovich tells the story of Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter, trying to find and bring in Jimmy Poletti, who was selling more than cars in his dealership. With the help of her boyfriend, Joe Morelli, Stephanie keeps running into dead ends, so she agrees to protect former security guard Randy Briggs in hopes that he will lure out Poletti. Some of the books I've read recently were a bit dark, so I was looking for something a bit lighter, a beach read if you will. So, I decided to read T op Secret Twenty-One by Janet Evanovich. This installment of the Stephanie Plum book series did not disappoint me, and it had me literally laughing out loud. It seems as though Joe and Stephanie are getting a little more serious about each other in this installment, so I hope they at least get engaged in one of the books that comes after this one. But, let's face it, that probably won't happen, so I won't get my hopes up too high. I l

Influenster.com sent me a Vox Box with quite a few samples for free in exchange for my honest review. One of the samples that I received was Emergen-C Immune Plus 1,000 mg Vitamin C Plus Vitamin D & Zinc, Raspberry Flavor. The instructions on the packet said to add the mix to 4-6 ounces of water, or if you wanted a lighter flavor, to add more water. I wanted a lighter flavor so I added the Emergen-C Immune Plus package to a 16.9 ounce bottle of water. The first sip tasted okay, but as I continued to drink more, it had a very medicinal taste, and I didn't taste much Raspberry flavor. I guess that is because I used more water. The color of the drink was similar to the color of Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum. If you have a sensitive stomach like I do, you may want to make sure you don't drink this on an empty stomach. I have issues with Zinc upsetting my stomach if I don't have food before hand. With that being said, I love the fact that this product has vitamin c, vitamin d, an

Mistletoe Murder (A Lucy Stone Mystery, #1) by Leslie Meier is the first book in a series and was first published in 1991. The book is about mom of three Lucy Stone preparing for Christmas and working the night shift at a mail order company. If that isn't enough, when Lucy takes a moment to get some fresh air, she finds one of the owners of the company she works for dead in his car. This cozy mystery is the perfect book to read while on vacation because it is an easy read, and it draws you in from the very beginning of the story. It also makes you feel like you're part of the Tinker's Cove community. I definitely was put in the Christmas mood . . . too bad it isn't Christmas time. This was the third book I've read in the series . . . I've read them out of order, but I plan on reading the rest of the books in order from this point on. I am just in love with this series! There isn't too much I can say that's negative about Mistletoe Murder (A Lucy Stone My