Moon Island is a creepy place with terrible secrets – old and new – and a story that keeps Luanne going back to investigate. There is a young girl – Sissy – age 10 or 11 who needs help and Luanne always looks out for the underdog – plus she may be feeling the fact that she herself is childless.

The idea of older women who never married and don’t have children is a very strong theme in this one that isn’t fully explored. I’m thinking Book 7?

No matter what, this series brings you the familiar characters in an interesting setting – the Florida swamps. Makes me want to take up diving and eat some hush puppies!

One of my sisters often finishes her first reading of a book by immediately flipping to the front and starting again. This particular sister also has been known to read ahead when she gets too nervous about what is happening.

But not me – after I finish I am done except for the discussions. This is not to say I do not re-read at later times. Reading a much loved book again is a pleasure. Books such as The Hobbit or To Kill A Mockingbird are dog-earred and have been once a year re-reads at times in my life.

With The Little Book, I started re-reading almost as soon as I started. I had to keep going back to the beginning to determine if it was 1897, 197-something or 1944 and if we were in San Francisco, Boston or Vienna – confusing.

I didn’t dislike it on the whole – the idea is interesting and once I figured out what was going on I tried to settle in and suspend disbelief. The interaction between Wheeler and Dilly was very sweet but the various romantic entanglements were difficult to keep straight.

Maybe after I re-read it I will have a different opinion…

Duplicate entry

The author Neil Gaiman did an interview that I heard where he described getting the idea for this Newbery award winning book many years ago watching his son riding his tricycle between gravestones. He was inspired by Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book in which wolves raise the orphaned Mowgli.

In The Graveyard Book a baby just learning to escape his crib also escapes the murderer who has just killed his family and find protection in a nearby graveyard. The long-dead and childless Owens adopt the boy and name him Nobody – Bod for short. Along with the mysterious Silas who acts as Bod’s guardian they raise and continue to protect him.

I previewed this book to see if my nieces (ages 7 and nearly 9) would like it. Although it is a great read and I found the story interesting, I am not convinced that it is appropriate for young children. There are some really scary moments and others that I still don’t quite understand so how would I explain it to them? My sister (their mom) is reading it now so she can decide.

When I bought this book at the local Barnes and Noble the kid at the checkout counter was beside himself with glee. He told me all about the comics that Gaiman has written and raved about his other books like Coraline. Seems he was right – and he got me to contribute to a fund for young readers.

My sister read a review about Among the Mad and asked me if I was aware of this series. That sent me to the excellent Books in a Series site to find that I was 5 books away from the latest! What a great predicament.

Maisie Dobbs is the first in this series and introduces the title character. She is a female detective setting up shop in London in 1929. We hear the story of how she came to this place and learn about her background as well as much about the people of that time and their experiences in World War I.

This book was a quick and interesting read. I am totally engrossed in Maisie’s story and the people in her world. Can’t wait to read the next but have promised my sister to borrow, not buy, this one!

This movie seemed endless and the characters vied to see who would annoy us the most. In the end when the double crossers get double crossed I did not care enough about them to care. Even looking at Clive Owens did not save this for me.

Great cast – Paul Giamatti, Tom Wilkinson, Julia Roberts, Clive Owens – but a slog of a plot.

This short film from the 20s is really fun and funny. I saw it tonight as part of a Roaring 20s night at the local museum. They even had live piano accompaniment which added to the whole experience.

It starts with Keaton and his new bride leaving the church. They are driven to the site of their future home by the bride’s jilted ex who is a recurring character. Keaton’s uncle has gifted them a kit for a new house and they build it together with lots of mishaps.

The jilted ex switches the numbers on the boxes and the house turns out very odd with sideways windows, sagging off-kilter roof and the front door on the 2nd floor. The house warming party is a disaster with a leaking roof and the house spinning in the wind.

In the end they discover that the house is on the wrong lot and they try to move it across the railroad tracks (cue ominous music) by themselves. I’m sure you can guess what happens when the house gets stuck on the tracks…

Black Notice is the 11th book in a series about a forensic pathologic named Kay Scarpetta. In early 2009 there are 17 books in that series. Unlike most series which captivate me and then I insist on consuming them all in a row, this series only holds my attention part time and I tend to pick one up if it is on someone’s coffee table or marked way down for sale. I’m not sure why.

I do know that it took me AGES to finish this one. Sometimes I find them too gory or too scary. Black Notice did not lack for gore but that wasn’t it. I think it is Kay’s attitude. The whole world is out to get her, everything is gloom and doom and bad things always happen even if she gets a mysterious free trip to Paris or a new younger man love interest.

Perry L Crandall is an amazing main character. He is self-proclaimed “slow” with an IQ of 76, easily suggestible and naive. He lives with his Gram who raised him until she dies (no spoiler here – that fact is in the 1st couple of pages and on the back of the book jacket!) then wins the lottery.

Perry’s family is full of “smart” but irredeemably reprehensible users who abandon and take advantage of him after Gram’s death and then try to reappear once good fortune hits. Luckily, Perry’s Gram taught him well and he has friends who are better family than any of the surviving relatives will ever be.

Read this book. You will laugh and cry.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year old orphan who is 1 question away from winning 20 million rupees on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. He has been accused of cheating and spends the night in jail explaining in flashback how he knew the answers to the questions he got right.

This film is brutal, inspirational, horrifying and brilliant. Be sure to stay to the end to see the Bollywood type dance as the credits roll.