Peter and the Shadow Thieves by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

This is a follow-up to Peter and the Starcatchers by Barry and Pearson. They are prequels to the story of Peter Pan. In the first book, we meet Peter and the other orphan boys who are being sent by ship to a faraway land as slaves. They see a mysterious chest being loaded on board, and discover that it has strange powers. There is also a girl, Molly, and her governess on board. Molly and her father are Starcatchers, whose job it is to guard the starstuff which is in the trunk. They are being chased by pirates, led by the fierce and much-feared Black Stache, named for his foot-long black moustache. How this group ends up creating Never Land and the Peter Pan legend is a fascinating story.

In the second book, Peter discovers that a mysterious evil man has joined the group of Others who want to retrieve the starstuff. After they are unsuccessful in finding it on Never Land, they travel to London to kidnap Molly to convince her father to hand over the starstuff. Peter makes his first flying trip to London with Tinker Bell, riding at times in the rolled up sails of the ship. When they find Molly, with the help of a neighbor, James Barrie, her father is gone to return the starstuff and her mother has been kidnapped. Molly enlists the help of her friend George Darling and Molly, George, Peter and Tink have to try to find her father and save her mother.

These are lengthy books, but thoroughly enjoyable additions to the Peter Pan story!

Shadow Dance by Julie Garwood was a little over Christmas fluffy reading indulgance for me. I have read all of her other books and this one was more of the same. Her newer books are romantic suspense stories following the Buchanan family. I think this is the sixth book about this family. It is fluffy light reading and the main characters are Pollyanna's but then that is why I enjoy her books. I like her historical romances best but these are a nice change of pace. I needed a break while trying to plow through Marcus Zusak's The Book Thief.

AKIAK: A Tale of the Iditarod--Robert J. Blake--With Shenandoahan Matt Anderson about to compete in the Iditarod, this story might be of interest to many. Written for children (my Grandson had me read it to him), it would be enjoyed by adults, also. As a children's book it is VERY short....however it tells a tale of the Iditarod, some of the rules and gives a feeling for the conditoins of the race. The pictures are wonderful, too!

THE LION’S GAME—Nelson DeMille—Written before Sept. 9, 2001, the book portrays, though fun, move right along writing, and an ever changing plot, the mindset of an Islamic terrorist bent on revenge. Asad Khalil is present when the U.S. bombs Libya in retaliation for a yet prior attack and witnesses the death of his family. His anger festers for years and through his connection with the Libyan President, Asad and his anger are turned into a terrorist with a specific plan; a plan that seems to succeed all too well. Amongst the murder and mayhem a love affair blossoms and blooms….a good fun read.

I've just finished reading (well, listening to, actually) two books in Margaret Maron's series featuring Deborah Knott, judge in Colleton County, North Carolina. Deborah has a huge (and interesting!) family which often takes center stage to the mystery, but they are charming and folksy and you can't help but get involved with the characters. I've been jumping around in the series, as the audiotapes are made available to me, but it hasn't lessened my enjoyment to know some of the future, as I'm reading earlier books. It might even be a little more fun! I hope to read the newest, "Winter's Child" over Christmas.

142) The Life and Times of the THUNDERBOT KID: A Memorir—Bill Bryson—Crafted with his delightful style, charming words and phrases, sense of humor and command of detail and history which enhance his stories, Bryson looks back to his childhood growing up in Des Moines in the 1950s, taking the reader with him. Against the story of his boyhood he describes not only Des Moines but the U.S. and the world at that time showing how his childhood could be as it was, The observations he reports making as a child reflect the curiosity which stayed with him into adulthood the answers to some of which reported in other of his books. This memoir will speak across generations. To quote from the Kirkus Review, But in Bryson's bittersweet memoir, he reminds readers of the joys many people forgot to even miss. A great, fun read, especially for Baby Boomers nostalgic for the good old days.

CROSS—James Patterson—Alex Cross faces his wife’s murder, Michael Sullivan, a/k/a The Butcher. Patterson, it seems, has run out of story and instead of the complex things he wrote previously, is trying to find a way to be done with this cycle. The Library Journal remarked, among other things, “Patterson fans will find a lot that's recognizable here, as the story reads like everything he's done before. This series is becoming tired, and Patterson seems to be trying to compensate by making each villain successively more repulsive. The rushed and tacked-on ending will irritate readers instead of pleasing them. The best Patterson books, like Jack and Jill, are intricate and substantial, not just gore draped over a thin plot.” I would agree.

FADE—Kyle Mills—Fun quick book, written with humor through horrible times, eye-opening glimpses into some basic truths and relative degrees of misery. Our hero, Fade, formally known as Salam al Fayed, a former Navy SEAL, is wanted by Homeland Security to be part of a team. Fade is unwilling an in an effort to ‘draft’ him, a police SWAT team is tricked into bring him in on trumped up charges. His ‘homestead’ defenses manage to kill most SWAT team members, leaving two groups perusing him while he’s after the governmental officials who are after him. Plenty direction changes to keep one occupied.