How to Negotiate Everything by David Spellman

With Lisa Lutz
Illustrated by Jaime Temairik

5 stars
but my kids won't be reading it ;)

So, you really have to read the Spellman books to understand this.

Really.

So go do that first.  I'll wait.

Back?  Okay, here goes.

Holy freaking hilarious!!

And wow, it explains so much about Rae, lol.

You must read this, but first read the Spellman books, especially Trail of the Spellmans (and I didn't really believe you when you pretended to go read them earlier in this post....).

And when you read it, you must read the "about the author/illustrator" bit on the back flap.  Awesome.

The Last Word by Lisa Lutz

4 stars
r- 2?
Spellman Files, book 6

Maybe 3.75 stars?

I love the Spellman books.  And I liked this one too, but not quite as much.

It's darker, overall, and yet absolutely madcap too.  At least, at the beginning.  A little too much so, to be honest.  It started to strain the suspension of disbelief.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I liked the others more.

And if more books follow the trend that seems indicated, like with a change in narrator, I'm not sure I'll be as anxious to read them.

Trail of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz

5 stars
R- 1.5

Another fun installment, though a little bittersweet, like the last.

Two years have passed since the last book and things have changed: Rae's in college, David is a stay-at-home dad, and Izzy, well, Izzy's still Izzy.

Lots of laugh-out-loud moments, naturally.

Curious to see where this goes from here.  Apparently Lisa Lutz's next project is the children's book mentioned in this novel (HILARIOUS! I can't wait.... but I'm soooo not reading it to my kids!) but I can't find any info on what else is coming.

Hopefully more Spellman insanity.

:)

Read the others first-- or at least book 4 (The Spellmans Strike Again).

The Spellmans Strike Again by Lisa Lutz

5 stars
R- 2

So I was feeling a little worried that the ridiculousness was going to become too much, but I loved this installment in the Spellman Documents.

Now that's not to say that it wasn't ridiculous.  That is the charm of the Spellmans, after all.

But I really did love this one.  It's actually a little bittersweet, but wonderful.

Read the first three first, it all makes much more sense.

And Then There Were Three (Spellman books that is...)

Revenge of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz
4.5 Stars
R- 1

This is the third installment in the hilarious chronicles of the Spellmans-- PI's all.

It was fun. I didn't think it was quite as good as the first two, but it was still really good.

The ending was... disturbingly final. I hope it doesn't mean there won't be any more. Though I can understand that sometimes you can only write so many books with the same characters.

Apparently there IS going to be a Spellman movie, though, which is very cool.

Here's a fabulous quote for you: (Just FYI, Izzy is taking a case just to get back in the game... Ernie wants to be sure his wife isn't a) shoplifting or b) having an affair or c) both.)

In light of Ernie's recent suspicions, I asked him if he'd ever followed his wife to see whether she was, in fact, only having lunch. He responded,
"No, I'd never do that."
I'm fascinated by ethical decisions like that.

I love that. It's beautiful.

:D

The Spellman Family

The nuttiest family ever!!

The Spellman Files
The Curse of the Spellmans
by Lisa Lutz

5 Stars
R- 2-3
HILARIOUS!

Okay, so these are some of the funniest books around! When the entire family works in the family business... and the family business is a Private Eye firm... Well, you can probably imagine the kind of things they do! By age 12, the kids in the family have learned to install deadbolts on their bedroom doors. Not that it matters, since everyone knows how to pick them by the age of 15 or so.
Like I said, hilarious!

And coming in March-- Revenge of the Spellmans!!
Learn more at http://lisalutz.com/