Off the Bookshelf: HARDCORE TWENTY-FOUR, by Janet Evanovich

Book 24 in the Stephanie Plum series.

If you haven't read this humorous series about the misadventures of Jersey girl accident-prone bounty hunter Stephanie Plum ... Why not???

I love the insanity, I love the characters, all their quirks and foibles and just how much more silliness can Grandma Mazur and Lula produce?

This time... wow. Zombies. There are zombies on the loose in Trenton. For real. As in bodies are vanishing -- fortunately, they're already dead -- and when they're found, either their heads are missing or their brains are missing.

Weird, huh? To make things more complicated, it looks like one of the fugitives Stephanie has to hunt down is involved in the whole zombie mess, or wants to be involved. And then for the cherry on top, Deisel shows up, and he seems to be involved in the zombie mess. How? Read it and find out.

Are the zombies real, or is this just a nasty trick? And just why is homicide cop Joe Morelli getting into hunting down zombies? Poor Stephanie -- looks like the zombies are after her brains. Well, at least someone values her for her brains ... or her incredible weird, twisted luck.

Read it and be ready to laugh. And groan. And go "ewwwww!" a few times.

Off the Bookshelf: CHARLIE BONE AND THE TIME TWISTER, by Jenny Nimmo

Book 2 in the Children of the Red King series.

This book takes up soon after Book 1 ends. Charlie Bone is still stuck going to the horrific Bloor's Academy, but at least now he has a circle of friends who are willing to take chances with him, despite misunderstandings and letting the bullies and (quite honestly) psychos with power and influence manipulate them.

I think the worst part of the whole situation poor Charlie has to survive on a daily basis is that his own family has thrust him into the school and daily harassment and unfairness. Granted, just his father's side of the family, and considering what has happened to his father -- vanished, presumed dead, but with hints that he's still alive and lost somewhere out there -- as punishment for defying their will ... Charlie needs all the help he can get.

He's an ordinary boy in a lot of ways, but he's learning fast to deal with his unwanted gift, and when a situation drops almost on top of him, he's willing to take responsibility and help out.

In this case, a magical time travel object (which is pretty nasty in and of itself, considering how it captures its victims) takes a boy from nearly a century ago and drags him forward to the present Bloor's Academy. Bad enough to lose everyone and everything you know and love, but the nasty relative who got you in trouble in the first place is still around, and he hasn't improved with age and he's determined to destroy you. Charlie and his growing circle of friends, including people who are learning to get around their problems, to the rescue!

Fun series. I'm glad I bought a stack of the books and they're just waiting for me to have time to read.