Fun reads

I don't read a lot of dark serious books nowdays. After all, if I want to read dark serious stuff, all I have to do is read the news. So yesterday I grabbed a couple of Janet Evanovich novels off the to-read shelf. The woman has a formula, and she pretty much sticks with it. Okay, so it ain't the Great American Novel (what is, other than Mark Twain?). But it's more entertaining than watching American Idiot oops Idol anyhow.

Twelve Sharp -- yet more in the series about the world's most inept bounty hunter Stephanie Plum. This series has gotten darker over time and this one is no exception, but there's still plenty of laugh-out loud scenes and she still keeps to her formula -- you know that her heros might get scuffed up, maybe even creased with bullets or something, but none of the characters you care about will die or anything. Though Stephanie's car might get blown up or something (running gag in the series).

Metro Girl. Okay, so the McGuffin isn't convincing (really, a chemical warhead at the bottom of the ocean that still is good decades later?). Who cares? It romps along quite nicely, thank you. Just remember that some bleach blond dye jobs wearing pink poodle skirts have brown belts, once raced stock cars, and can fix engines, and you'll be fine. Hopefully she'll write more in this series, she's done setup for it anyhow. While not as funny as Stephanie Plum, it's still lots of fun.

So, what's your recommendations for some fun reading?

-- Badtux the Entertained Penguin