Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evanovich

I'm probably rating this one more highly than it deserves, out of gratitude that it's nothing like the holiday Plum stories that happen out of series context. I liked bringing Stephanie full circle back to her ex, Dickie. I discovered Stephanie while just on the cusp of divorce myself, and as weird as it sounds she was kind of a role model. I loved that she wasn't all weepy and sad about his betrayal, and how spunky she remained throughout. Now that my divorce is 10 years past as well, it was interesting to revisit Stephanie's relationship. I can definitely relate to remembering things unbidden - I can still quote my exhusband's SSN too, without even trying. Maybe I've been watching too much "Weeds", but I get a big Mary-Louise Parker vibe off Stephanie lately. The two series have a lot in common, actually, with the consequence-free hijinks of their plucky heroines. Not a bad thing at all.

Everybody Dies by Lawrence Block

Yikes. This one's dark. Dark, dark, dark. When he says Everybody Dies, he's not just being philosophical. I love Mick Ballou a whole heck of a lot, and it was great having him center stage on this one. Very interesting change of pace from typical whodunit plotting, and the resolution was as intense I've seen in a mainstream genre series this far into its run.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling

This book is just as big a muddle as I remembered it. Superstardom really doesn't agree with Ms. Rowling. I wonder what sort of second half this series would have had if she'd written it all in relative obscurity. In this volume, she just didn't seem to have any idea where she was going, much less how to get there. It's totally unfocused, and full of irrelevant details that should have just been excised completely. Instead, we get a bloated mess. Or maybe that's just me, already missing and mourning the absence of the school year structure in the first three books. I don't like how Hermione is portrayed as ridiculous over SPEW. Girlfriend totally has a point. I don't know why no one in the book can see what's so obvious to the rest of us. I do like how she reached out to Harry over Ron's jealousy. She's growing up much more subtly than the boys, and I still love her to buts. The movie improved significantly on one minor plot point, to the degree that I was actually surprised that the book got it so wrong. To wit, it makes so much more sense for Neville to introduce Harry to gillyweed rather than Dobby. In general, it's interesting how far she goes to make Neville a bumbling idiot, considering how heroic he becomes. Other complaints: she invents too many dumb words and nicknames this time around. Specifically: padfoot, wormtail, and mudblood all make me cringe with embarrassment on her behalf. Also, I have a very similar irritation here as in the last book: does no one in England spend time with their families at Christmas? The Yule Ball totally should have been a Spring dance and not a Christmas one.