Rhoda Janzen's memoir Mennonite in a Little Black Dress sounded very promising. What's not to like about a book that starts out when the author's marriage ends because her husband leaves her for a guy named Bob he met on Gay.com?
Ms. Janzen tries to take a humorous look at her life, one in which she was raised Mennonite, left the religion, and still appreciated how much that lifestyle shaped her. Unfortunately, I felt like she was trying too hard to be funny and most of the time it just fell flat. Not to mention the uncountable number of times she mentions her husband leaving her for a guy named Bob he met on Gay.com.
I liked the glimpse into the Mennonite life, one that is different from the religion I had imagined. In fact, Ms. Janzen included an appendix that answered some common questions about the Mennonite life. Here again, she just tried too hard to be funny, but it wasn't.
I'm not one to give up on a book, but I seriously considered it with this one. There were 3 chapters toward the end of the book that I enjoyed, but the rest of the book bored me, frankly.
I once again return to a favorite: the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. Explosive Eighteen begins with Stephanie returning from an ill-fated trip to Hawaii. When she gets home she discovers a photo in her bag of a man she has never seen before. She doesn't know where it came from, so she throws it away.
Little does she know, lots of people are after that photo. Of course, nobody believes her when she tells them that she no longer has it. And the trouble begins!
Stephanie is still torn between two men and has her car stolen twice by the same skip. So it's still the usual Stephanie Plum. The usual Stephanie Plum is also funny. Who would get their hair colored and teased in order to gain information? Stephanie Plum, bounty hunter. (You don't see Ranger doing that kind of stuff!)
I was a little disappointed in the ending, I felt like it ended abruptly. Everything was wrapped up, but just a bit too quickly. It seemed rushed to me.
As are the other books in this series, Explosive Eighteen was a fun, light read. It goes fast and makes the reader laugh. It gets my recommendation!
