End-of-Month Debauch

Today's end-of-the-month debauch included a visit to Borders (where I spent a 40%-off coupon and bought 3 books), a movie (the richly textured kidnapping drama Changeling, for which Clint Eastwood deserves another best-director Oscar), and a meal (eggplant parmagian' at Pasta House). And now, in total defiance of my "It's Reformation Day, not Halloween" principles, I am sitting around waiting for trick-or-treaters with a jack-o-lantern-shaped bucket full of Dum-Dums. Let's unpack each of these frivolities, working backwards.

I picked up the Dum-Dums and the bucket at Wal-Greens on my way home, when I realized it was still only 7:00 and there still might be kids at large, begging for sweets. I figured if no one showed up, I could enjoy them myself over a more or less long period of time. It never hurts to have a pumpkin-shaped bucket around the house. And the price was right, $5 for a 2-pound bag of assorted-flavor suckers.

The Pasta House was the one at 9012 Gravois Road, about a mile outside the city in the village of Wilbur Park. It's an old, rambling restaurant that looks like it's had a few additions put on. The staff were all wearing cute costumes - cheerleaders, the devil, a nurse, a cat, etc. - and the place was really busy. I started with a couple of warm, crusty rolls and a big lettuce salad, drenched in parmesan cheese and vinaigrette dressing, and loaded with chunks of onion, pepper, and artichoke. Then came a huge plate with steamed broccoli at one end, shell pasta in bolognese sauce at the other. For the most part, I only had eyes for the enormous helping of melanzane alla parmigiana in the center of the plate. Some of it was very good, though not the best I've ever had. The sauce might have been a bit too tangy, I thought, and the breading was pretty soggy. But over all I was very satisfied.

What about the movie? It's a period piece, based on events that took place in the Los Angeles area between 1928 and 1935. It features Angelina Jolie as a single mother whose 9-year-old son Walter is snatched from their house one day while she is at work. You would think that when the police find a boy matching Walter's description, and admitting to be him, her nightmare would be over. But it's only just starting. For the boy who steps off the train and into Momma's waiting arms... isn't Walter. Jolie's character spots this right away, but the detective in charge of the case insists that she's just being difficult. When Jolie enlists the aid of a local crusading minister, and obtains testimony from her son's dentist and schoolteacher that the boy claiming to be Walter isn't her son, the detective has her committed to a psychotic ward where the police put a lot of women who get in their way. What began as a mere mother's worst nightmare turns into a horrific ordeal of police corruption and psychological abuse, all while a child serial killer continues to rack up victims.

This film sustains a high level of emotional intensity, largely on the strength of Jolie's heroic-yet-vulnerable performance. She is supported by a solid cast - many of them cast decidedly "against type" - including elegant Colm Feore as the crooked police chief, handsome Jeffrey Donovan as the sickening Captain Jones, often-creepy John Malkovich as the saintly Rev. Briegleb, everyman Michael Kelly as the good cop who really cracks the case, distinguished-looking Geoff Pierson as the lawyer who fixes everything, weasely Frank Wood as Jolie's apparent love interest, and boyish Jason Butler Harner as the unbalanced axe-murderer who ends up twitching at the end of a rope.

If I had been casting the movie, I might have shuffled those actors around a bit; but Eastwood draws surprising effects out of his choices, and underlines them with music he composed himself. A man of many talents, our Clint is. If you haven't been emotionally moved by the end of the movie, you're hopeless. If the acting and the story don't do it, maybe the mint-condition-antique look of the film will; it's beautiful to look at. And though perhaps it isn't "the thing" to see on Halloween (like a freakishly scary slasher flick), it does have some scary moments in it.

As for the books I bought...well, I went out with the intention of getting Anne Ursu's The Siren Song, but it wasn't to be had. Instead I spent my bucks on Alfred Kropp: The Seal of Solomon by Rick Yancey, The Day of the Djinn Warriors by P. B. Kerr, and Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce. The first two carry forward series that I have been following; the third just looked good, and I intend to start reading it right away.

Finally, I may have said this before, but it's my duty as a Fine-Art-Music Snob to say it: If you're throwing a Halloween party, consider the classics as you choose chilling background music. Obvious choices are Saint-Saëns's Danse Macabre, Liszt's Totentanz, Sibelius's Valse Triste, Gounod's Funeral March of a Marionette, Mussourgsky's Night on Bald Mountain, Dukas's Sorcerer's Apprentice, and Tchaikovsky's hair-raising depiction of hell in the tone poem Francesca da Rimini. But don't forget to throw in some shiver-inducingly nasty moments from the world of opera: Jago's Credo in un Dio crudel aria from Verdi's Otello; Menotti's Halloween opera The Medium; the Ride of the Valkyries from Wagner's Die Walküre; and to my ear the spookiest opera outtake of all, Rocco & Leonore's gravedigging scene from Beethoven's Fidelio. Rest in pieces!

Euro-Jongg, Mark 2

Some time ago I proposed special cards and rules for a westernized version of Mah Jongg, using the type of playing cards familiar to fans of poker and bridge. I have continued to brainstorm about it and have hit upon a few ways to dial down the complexity even more.

First, we may not need 193 cards after all. I'm now thinking a mere 187 will do. That's four suits (clubs, hearts, spades, and diamonds) from Ace to 9 (=36 cards) times four (=144), plus one each of seven face-cards (kings, queens, jacks, bishops, wenches, horses, fools) in each suit (=28 cards), which brings us up to 172. Add four identical flower cards (say, a rose) - identical except each is indexed with a different suit. Likewise add four identical trees (oak?), four identical birds (falcon?), one in each suit (+12=184). Lastly, throw in three cards with a crown centered on each, one black, one red, and one gold. That brings us to 187.

The dealer distributes 13 cards to each player, then arranges the remaining cards into a "wall" made of 9 piles of 15 cards each. Each player in turn draws a card from the front of the pile or the waste pile. To draw from the waste pile, he needs to declare a Book, Tome, or Run and immediately lay down the relevant set of cards in his hand. Books are 3 number cards of the same number and suit, or 3 face cards of the same denomination; Tomes are 4 of ditto; and Runs are sequential sets of 3 number cards OR face cards (but not both) in the same suit. The aim is to "go out" by accumulating at least 4 such sets of 3+ cards, plus a Pair of the same denomination and (if they are number cards) suit.

A player holding one of the flower, tree, bird, or crown cards can lay it down for bonus points and draw a replacement card from the back of the wall. The fourth card in a Tome must also be replaced from the back of the wall. Play stops either when someone goes out, or when the next player cannot draw a card without breaking into the last untouched pile on the wall.

Points are then tallied as follows. Base score: 5 points for a Pair or Run of face cards, 10 for going out and for each open Book, 20 for each closed Book or open Tome, 50 for each closed Tome. Each Book or Tome of face cards scores double. Ditto Books and Tomes in the player's "seat suit."

Base score x2 bonuses: hand made up entirely of runs and a pair; all Aces and 9s; no Aces or 9s; all face cards; all red cards or all black; going out as the dealer. Base score x5 bonuses: all cards of the same suit; books of the same denomination in all 4 suits; 3 consecutive runs in the same suit; go out by making a pair; go out by drawing from the wall. Base score x10 bonuses: 4 consecutive runs in the same suit; go out by drawing from the back of the wall; go out by drawing last available card; go out on your first turn; completely hidden hand. Alternate "go-outable" hands worth a flat 1,000 points: 7 pairs; 14 sequential cards of the same suit; going out with no base score bonuses.

Points for bonus cards (birds, flowers, and trees): 5 points for each lonesome little bonus card; 25 for holding 2 bonus cards of the same type or the same suit; 100 for holding 3 ditto; 1,000 for holding all 4 ditto. If a lonesome bonus card or a set of bonus cards is in the player's "seat suit," its point value is x10. Points for joker cards (the 3 crowns): 10 points for holding one, 100 points for holding two; 1,000 points for holding all three.

The player who "goes out" deals the next hand. If anyone but the dealer goes out, the deal passes to the next player in turn. Each round of the game ends when all 4 players have lost the deal. The game may continue for any number of rounds, but if going 4 rounds, I suggest passing the "seat suit" markers to the left at the start of each new round.

And if this is too complicated, I have even brainstormed a "radically simple" version with only 172 cards. It is so stripped down, in fact, that I think it should be called "Mini-Jongg." In this version, only the 144 number cards and the 28 face cards are used; there are no bonus cards, so the only occasion for drawing from the back of the wall is when you make a Tome. Instead of 9 piles of 15, the wall has 8 piles. There isn't much need for seat suit markers, either. Again, play stops when the last pile of cards remaining untouched is about to be breached. Scoring is as simple as totaling up the base score and multiplication bonuses.

If you wanted to reduce the game to the absurd - somewhere between "Micro-Jongg" and a nondescript form of Rummy - you could simply shuffle 4 decks of bridge cards together (note, with all the kings, queens, and jacks, but none of the custom face cards I have proposed). After dealing the remaining cards are stacked in one or two piles, from either of which (or the waste pile) you can draw. Then you simply try to be the first player to come up with 4 books, tomes, and/or runs and a pair, and the face-card books and tomes now have to be of the same suit. At this rate you almost might as well forget about counting scores and just designate the player who goes out as the "winner." The game continues until some player has won enough times to make everyone else feel depressed.

Stewart-Ursu-Yolen-Zahn

The Crystal Cave
by Mary Stewart
Recommended Age: 14+

Of the writing of many books about Arthur, Merlin, and the knights of Camelot there is seemingly no end. Of their beginning, of the real people and events that inspired them, we know little for sure. But tales of that romantic age, drawn from the legends of Britain and Brittany, hold such a fascination for readers today that we could lose ourselves in them, and many happily do so. If you filled a swimming-pool with such books and jumped in, you would probably plunge past this book or one of its companions floating near the surface among the leading entries in recent Arthurian fiction.

The Crystal Cave unfolds as an elegant, candid memoir of the childhood and early maturity of Merlin. The mage behind the throne of Camelot begins life as the illegitimate grandson of the king of South Wales. His early talent for seeing the future blossoms under the tutelage of a cave-dwelling hermit, until the deadly treachery of his uncle forces Merlin to flee. He finds his way across the Channel to Brittany, joining forces with the rightful high king of all Britain, who is preparing an invasion to take back his throne.

You'll gape in astonishment at what Merlin learns under the guidance of Aurelius Ambrosius, at how he uses his strange powers to aid in the latter's campaigns, and at the costly bargain with magic Merlin makes to arrange the birth of the Once and Future King. You'll squirm with suspense when the vile tyrant Vortimer takes him captive, and later when Merlin helps Uther take the Cornish fortress of Tintagel. Your flesh will creep as Merlin visits Stonehenge and other sacred places, and your blood will race as armies clash on the battlefield.

Readers and parents concerned about occult & adult content, take note: this wizard's chronicle summons power from several strange, historic religions, and has some sexual content including one particularly steamy scene. The book also has deaths that some sensitive, younger readers might find disturbing. Merlin's narrative surrounds his most impressive deeds with a cloud of ambiguity. You're never sure - perhaps because he isn't, either - how he did them, who or what gave him the power. Even told from Merlin's point of view, the book remains unclear as to whether Merlin's choices are right or wrong, wise or foolish. I suppose you'll have to read further in the series to find out.

For this is Book One of the Arthurian Saga, written 1970-1995 by a British writer mostly known for romance-mystery novels with a paranormal twist. Inspired by the Legend of Merlin as told by medieval historian-cum-romanticist Geoffrey of Monmouth, it comes complete with an informative Author's Note and the text of the original Legend. Other titles in this series include The Hollow Hills, The Last Enchantment, The Wicked Day, and The Prince and the Pilgrim.

The Shadow Thieves
by Anne Ursu
Recommended Age: 12+

In this first book of The Cronus Chronicles, Minnesota-based author Anne Ursu poses the question: "What if Greek myths were real?" I know what you're going to say. You've read Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series, so you've already covered this ground. Well, surprise! You haven't. Not like this. For this twist on the "today's teens meet Greek gods" premise isn't at all like Riordan's rollicking adventure of teens with demigod powers and cute, goat-footed sidekicks. It's a darker, spookier fantasy - though with its own witty, engaging style and its own touch of perverse humor. To be honest, I wasn't always sure that witty, engaging style agreed with me. Sometimes I thought Ursu laid it on too thick. But by and by it grew on me until I was completely won over. As for her perverse humor... Well, I've been to the Mall of which she writes, and the idea that it contains an entrance to the Underworld was so perfect that I had to pause for breath.

Charlotte Mielswetzki - all together now: Meals-Wet-Ski - lives in a city near that Mall, and unlike your typical hero of a Percy-Jackson-like adventure, there isn't anything special about her. She is, in fact, excruciatingly average in spite of the best efforts of her parents, who are a high school teacher and a child psychologist. Charlotte has a bit of an attitude problem, actually. The word "prickly" comes to mind.

Things start looking up when a stray kitten adopts her. But then her cousin from England comes to stay with the Mielswetzkis, and the bubble slips back the other way. Zachary - Zee to his friends - seems to have all the ingredients for popularity in one handsome, athletic, kitten-stealing package. Horrible, yellow-eyed men in inappropriate tuxedos start haunting Charlotte's dreams. But before she can settle down to enjoy a really bad mood about it all, kids at their school start getting sick. Really sick. And not getting better, either. It's as if a plague is sweeping through everyone in their age group who has come into contact with Zee. And since the same thing happened before, back in England, Zee thinks it's because of him.

Then the tuxedo men attack Charlotte and Zee for real, and the adventure veers into the world of Greek mythology. It turns out somebody has been building an army to invade the realm of Hades, King of the Underworld where people go when they die. And that somebody - a low-ranking immortal named Philonecron - is stealing children's shadows to do it. If the shadows are not returned, the children will remain sick; if their shadows are killed, the children will die. It is now up to Charlotte and Zee to infiltrate (shudder) the Mall... and then (double shudder) the world of the dead... in order to stop Philonecron's dastardly plan, restore the stolen shadows to their rightful owners, and save the whole world from eternal torment.

That might not sound like much to you. But to do it, they'll have to survive an ingenious trap, cross the River Styx, get past countless monsters and dangers, and encounter very real (but not very bright) gods. Zee will have to find something locked up inside himself, a courage and strength he doesn't know is there. And Charlotte - prickly, attitude-challenged Charlotte - will be just as important. It's a dark, dangerous, menacing mission for two misfit cousins who, to start with, don't think much of each other. By the end, you'll be grateful for the quirky style and the sly wit; and, if you're like me, you'll be on the lookout for Book Two, titled The Siren Song.

The Bagpiper's Ghost
by Jane Yolen
Recommended Age: 10+

In this third installment in the "Tartan Magic" trilogy, twins Jennifer and Peter squeeze one more creepy, magical adventure into the first week of a family vacation in Scotland. This time Peter foolishly invites the magic to find them, and the magical dog they met in The Wizard's Map leads them into the middle of a ghostly love story. Before you can say "By my fegs!" Peter is possessed by the spirit of an 18th-century minister.

Andrew McFadden's selfish meddling in affairs of the heart led to his twin sister's early death. Even in the afterlife, old Andrew refuses to let the ghosts of his sister and her bagpipe-playing lover settle down in happiness. Jennifer and her witchy Gran know that they must somehow settle this family feud, and soon, if they ever want their own Peter back.

With a chilling yet romantic twist on the legend of the "lady in white," this book ties up a lot of Scottish folklore and magic into a package young American readers can open and enjoy. Plus, it has a glossary that will help them live their fantasy of talking like a Scotsman. Complete in three slender, quickly-read books, this trilogy about magic in the land of Hogwarts should bring joy to many younger Harry Potter fans.

Dragon and Judge
by Timothy Zahn
Recommended Age: 12+

This is the fifth book in an excellent sci-fi series for younger readers. And yet it remains, by and large, unnoticed by the major booksellers. Neither Barnes & Noble nor Borders carries the Dragonback novels; I have looked for them, many times and at many branches. The story is always the same: "We can order this for you..." Order, shmorder! These are books kids need to see, so they can think about buying and reading them. I can't recommend them strongly enough!

I didn't have to order this book, as it turns out. After hunting in vain for it at any number of bookstores, I found it by accident at the grocer's, of all places. I was blowing time while having my car repaired at an adjacent shop, and as I mooched along an aisle of magazines and paperbacks, my eye fell upon Dragon and Judge peeking out of a small display of children's books. God bless the grocer!

In Books 1-4 of Dragonback, one gets acquainted with Jack Morgan and his symbiotic partner Draycos. Jack is an orphan being raised by a starship whose computer is programmed with the personality of his con-artist Uncle Virgil. Draycos is a K'da poet-warrior, an alien rather like a dragon, only he needs to spend some time in two-dimensional form, like a living tattoo on Jack's skin. Together they are trying to stop a bunch of shadowy villains from ambushing a Battlestar Galactica-like convoy of refugees from Draycos's part of the galaxy - refugees fleeing from the sinister Valahgua and their weapon simply, but aptly, called the Death.

In this fifth book, Jack and Draycos have been joined by another symbiotic pair: Alison Kayna and a female dragon named Taneem. It's hard to rely on them, though. Jack knows very little about Alison, and suspects her of having her own agenda. Taneem, meanwhile, is new at being a poet-warrior, and a bit mentally delayed - like a child in an adult's body. Nevertheless, a lot is going to ride on these uneasy partners. For as soon as Jack sets foot on the backwater world of Semaline, he is kidnapped by a bunch of canyon-dwelling aliens and forced to act as a dispute-resolving, crime-solving Judge-Paladin.

While Jack slowly works out what all this has to do with the identity and fate of his parents, Alison falls prey to a second kidnapping. Captured by the very villains who want to wipe out all the K'da, she ends up back on the planet Brum-a-dum, on the same plantation from which Jack escaped in Dragon and Slave. There are still slaves on the plantation, waiting for another liberator like Jack, and expecting Alison to be it. Only this time, the Brummgas are prepared for a slave uprising. And the only chance Alison has of staying alive is to crack the safe containing the coordinates where the K'da fleet plans to rendezvous - and the ambush where the fate of Draycos's people will play out in the sixth and final book, Dragon and Liberator.

Closest to Harry?

A MuggleNet reader named Tracy sent me feedback asking if I could name the one series of books closest to Harry Potter. Evidently she has read her copies of the seven Harry Potter books to shreds, and is champing at the bit to move on to the next thing. My reviews on the Book Trolley are all very nice, Tracy says, but she wants a narrower field to choose from.

While I could simply refer her to my "Top 45" list of books to get hooked on after Harry Potter, I reckoned she wanted a somewhat narrower scope. Nevertheless, I couldn't just give her one choice and say, "Read this, this is the closest you can get to Harry Potter." Instead, I came up with a dozen series of books, each similar to Harry Potter in some way. If you're where Tracy's at, perhaps my response to her can help you too. Here's what I wrote back:

I'm not sure which one you would consider closest - depends on in what ways you want it to be similar to Harry Potter. Nothing is exactly like it, but at least a dozen series come to mind. Each in its own way is "close" to Harry Potter. Try them and let me know which one you like best.

• Diane Duane's "Young Wizards" series, starting with So You Want to Be a Wizard - New York City teens learn wizardry together at home. Excellent quality stuff, IMHO.
• Emily Drake's "Magickers" series starting with (duh) The Magickers - American kids learn magic at summer camp. Not as well done as Harry Potter, though.
• Diana Wynne Jones' "Chrestomanci" series, starting with Charmed Life - British kids in an alternate universe learn magic via private tutoring in a "Gosford Park"-style setting. Very good.
• E. Rose Sabin's trilogy beginning with A School for Sorcery - I have only read the first two books, but Book 1 takes place in a private school for the magically talented, and Book 2 is a prequel that explains how the school was started.
• Caroline Stevermer's trilogy beginning with A College of Magics - only the second book and half of the first book take place in a school of magic, and it's more of a college-level setting.
• Ursula K. LeGuin's A Wizard of Earthsea is partly set at a school for wizards. This is the first book in a series.
• Suzanne Collins's "Underland" series, starting with Gregor the Overlander, doesn't have a school of magic, but it does share Harry Potter's theme of a boy who enters a strange, undiscovered world and finds out that there are prophecies about him.
• David Lubar's Hidden Talents and its sequel True Talents are about a group of misfit kids who meet at a correctional school and discover their "super powers" together.
• Jonathan Stroud's "Bartimaeus" trilogy, starting with The Amulet of Samarkand, is about an apprentice wizard who rebels against his master and goes on to change the magical world.
• P. B. Kerr's "Children of the Lamp" series, starting with The Akhenaten Adventure, is about young djinn (genies) discovering their talents and the nature of the magical world they belong to - though they don't actually go to a school for djinn.
• Rick Riordan's "Percy Jackson & the Olympians" series, starting with The Lightning Thief, concerns a present-day summer camp for mortal children of the Greek gods.
• Cinda Williams Chima's trilogy starting with The Warrior Heir also depicts teens finding out they have magical powers, including wizardry, and book 2 (The Wizard Heir) is partly set in a really scary school of magic.

Best of luck! and do let me know which series you like best!

EDIT: Oops - I just remembered another series for you, which makes a "baker's dozen"... Jenny Nimmo's "Children of the Red King" series, starting with Midnight for Charlie Bone. This series features a sinister boarding school where magically talented kids get extra attention. It's aimed at the younger end of the age range for Harry Potter fans.

Easily Confused Books 1

I've been noticing a number of books whose titles tend to get confused in the jumble at the back of one's brain. Starting with today's theme of "Thieves in Book Titles," I'm going to throw out a few examples of bunches of books that are increasingly hard to tell apart. The following is by no means an exhaustive list!

First, there is The Thief, pure and simple, by Megan Whalen Turner; but there is also, just as simply, Thief by Brian Winter. Then, with emphasis, comes The Real Thief by William Steig, The Second Thief by Travis Thrasher, Lady Thief by Kay Hooper, The Professional Thief by A Professional Thief, and The Holy Thief by Mark Borovitz and Alan Eisenstock. Topping them all is The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke, though he may be related to The Thief Queen's Daughter by Elizabeth Haydon.

Some of these thieves make competing claims: The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti, plus The Good Thief by James Buchanan, and a book of poems titled The Good Thief by Marie Howe.

Most book-title thieves, however, are rather specialized in their larceny. Consider The Art Thief by Noah Charney, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Map Thief by Heather Terrell, The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, and another The Orchid Thief by Carolyn Keene.

Some thieves specialize in stealing intangibles, like The Magic Thief by Sarah Prineas, The Dream Thief by Shana Abe, Storm Thief by Chris Wooding, The Tear Thief by Carol Ann Duffy, Sleep Thief by Virginia N. Wilson et al., The Water Thief by Ben Pastor, and Diary of an Oxygen Thief by Anonymous.

It seems a lot of time is being stolen these days. There is Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett, but also A Thief of Time by Tony Hillerman, The Thief of Time by John Boyne, The Time Thief by Linda Buckley-Archer, and (for good measure) The Thief of Always by Clive Barker. Some book-title thieves seem to specialize in particular points in time, such as The Christmas Thief by Mary Higgins Clark and Carol Higgins Clark, The Thanksgiving Thief by Carolyn Keene, and Thief in the Night by William Sears (one of several authors of a book with this or a similar title).

Sometimes you can sense a progression from one thief to another. For example, there are The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, The Fire Thief by Terry Deary, The Smoke Thief by Shana Abe. Then there are The Thief of Lives by Barb and J. C. Hendee, The Thief of Souls by Ann Benson, another Thief of Souls by Neal Shusterman, The Soul Thief by Cecilia Holland, another The Soul Thief by Charles Baxter, Thief of Hearts by Teresa Medeiros, and The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice.

Some literary thieves will snatch the butter right off your bread, if you let them. Take The Gum Thief by Douglas Coupland, The Honey Thief by Elizabeth Graver, Mysterious Cheese Thief by Geronimo Stilton, Grape Thief by Kristine L. Franklin, The Cupcake Thief by Ellen Jackson, and The Snack Thief by Andrea Camilleri and Stephen Sartarelli.

Other thieves seem to be carrying off people, such as The Bride Thief by Jacquie D'Alessandro, The Baby Thief by Barbara Bisantz Raymond, The Jesus Thief by J. R. Lankford, and in an obviously related category The Shakespeare Stealer by Gary Blackwood.

There are even thieves, it seems, stealing hard-to-move items, such as The Barracks Thief by Tobias Wolff, The Palace Thief by Ethan Canin, and Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell. And if this isn't talent enough, consider The Thief with No Shadow by Emily Gee and Demon Thief by Darren Shan.

Some thieves work together with members of other professions. Take The Cowboy and the Thief by Mychael Black and Shayne Carmichael, The Joker and the Thief by Raymond Obstfeld, The Merchant and the Thief by Ravi K. Zacharias, The Thief and the Dogs by Naguib Mahfouz, Beggerman, Thief by Irwin Shaw, and The Dancer and the Thief by Antonio Skarmeta and Katherine Silver.

And some books give away the location of their titular thief, such as The Thief in the Theater by Sarah Masters Buckey and The Thief and the Beanstalk by P. W. Catanese. It's a wonder these guys aren't caught.

I'm going to pass on many, many other thief-related titles, such as The Thief Taker, It Takes a Thief, Once a Thief, The Thief Who Couldn't Sleep, I Come As a Thief, To Love a Thief, and several different books titled To Catch a Thief; plus tons of thief-related books whose titles also include the name of a character or place. This is just a taster. And it's pretty amazing, isn't it!

Improvised Cat Toy

This week I put together two things my cats love into a single, homemade cat toy. And my cats love it!

Ingredient #1: Wind chimes. I used to live in a place that had little padded brace things attached to the hinges on the front door, to keep it from banging into the wall. Someone had given me a set of wind chimes, so I dangled it from one of those hinge braces at a height that my cats could just reach, if they stretched for it. I could tell by the amount of indoor, non-wind-assisted music those chimes made that the cats enjoyed playing with them. But lately I have lived in an apartment where the only place I could hang the chimes was a hook on the ceiling, which the cats couldn't reach. So....

Ingredient #2: A dangling string. I have a pair of sweatpants and several pairs of shorts that are held up by drawstrings. I have noticed in the past that, when the string is left dangling outside the waistband of my pants, the cats are drawn to it and want to play with it. This week when I was folding my laundry, I found a pair of shorts that was losing its drawstring. Since I couldn't put it back in, I pulled it out the rest of the way and tied the end of the string to the wind chimes. It hangs down to within a couple feet of the floor - high enough that my cats have to stand on their hind legs and reach for it.

The results have been hysterical. Every couple of hours, day and night, I hear one of my cats playing a recital on the wind chimes. When I'm in a position to watch, I see them stretching upward, and sometimes jumping up and down, to grab the string with their front paws and tug it on the way down. Often it's just one cat or the other, but I have also seen them taking turns at it, playing together. They dance and leap and show every sign of having a grand time. The result is a pleasant sound and, no doubt, some good exercise for my all-too-lazy cats!

Four Book Reviews

The Fairies of Nutfolk Wood
by Barb Bentler Ullman
Recommended Age: 10+

Since her parents' divorce, Willa has been caught up in a whirlwind of change. Change upsets her. She picks at her food, suffers bouts of nausea, and has strange dreams. One of those dreams prompts Willa and her mother to move away from the city and try something new in the country with its woods and mountains.

Soon they find a little fixer-upper home to make their own. Something draws Willa to the place, even. Is she dreaming? Is she seeing mirages? Or are there, perhaps, sparkly little people living in dollhouse-sized huts in the woods along Wicket's Road?

Willa isn't sure whether to believe in the Nutfolk or not. But she hears stories of them - little fairy people of a distinctively American type - from the elderly neighbor who takes care of her when Ma is at work. As she gets caught up in the mystery and magic of the Nutfolk, Willa starts to forget about the anxiety that twists her insides. She makes a friend. She shares a secret. She has an adventure with magic in it (maybe). And she starts to feel better.

This is a gentle, homey romp "behind nature's magic." It is touched by real-world problems that may make your heart ache, including the death of loved ones, alcohol abuse, family conflict, depression and anxiety, aging, and loneliness. But it is also warmed by hard work, a sun-dappled glen, inspired art work, courage, friendship, love, and a little bit of magic. It is a rare story in which fairies provide comfort and healing in an all-American setting. And the fairy magic is only part of the reason to cherish this gentle, charming book.

The Little Broomstick
by Mary Stewart
Recommended Age: 10+

I paused while reading Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave to relish this chilling little romp through a child's world of magic. Apart from her Arthurian Saga, Stewart is mostly known for books that blur the line between romance novels and supernatural thrillers. But in the midst of all that yucky grown-up stuff we also find a few magical tales for the young, such as Ludo and the Star Horse, A Walk in the Wolf Wood, and this book. You may have to search used booksellers for it. It's worth the trouble.

The adventure comes to a plain little girl named Mary Smith, one dull summer when she is staying with her elderly aunt in Shropshire. While mooching dispiritedly around the garden, Mary meets first an intelligent black cat, then a rare and magical flower, and finally an enchanted broomstick. Such a spirited little broomstick!

Before you can say boo! Mary has experienced her first terrifying, exhilirating broomstick ride. This takes her to the steps of a school of witchcraft quite unlike Hogwarts. And though it really is all a mistake - though Mary is only, by accident, a witch for a day - her arrival at Endor College proves as fateful for the school as for her.

The craft taught by Madam Mumblechook and Doctor Dee is strange and sinister. When Mary realizes what they are up to, she mounts a brave rescue mission. Aided by a boy she has just met, Mary races to escape from the magical world in a hair-raising chase involving brooms, wands, a book of spells, and a multitude of enchanted creatures.

For all we know, J. K. Rowling's creation of Hogwarts may have been influenced by this pint-sized thriller. Fast paced, laced with droll wit, and complete with a broomstick advertisement from Harrods, this delicious confection will satisfy anyone with a taste for Harry Potter.

Enna Burning
by Shannon Hale
Recommended Age: 12+

Here is the second of The Books of Bayern, a magical thriller-romance series that started with Goose Girl. If you have read that book, then you will already know the heroine of this one.

Two years after Princess Isi's fairy-tale marriage to Prince Geric of Bayern, happily-ever-after isn't looking so good. The prince's brother has died, so the royal couple is under more pressure than ever to produce an heir. But instead of having babies, Isi has problems. Her gift of wind-speaking has turned into a curse. Unable to control or filter out the voices in the wind, Isi is beginning to lose her mind.

Meanwhile, back in the forest, Isi's best friend Enna has problems of her own. Her brother Leifer discovers a buried scroll that teaches him how to control fire by magic. Suddenly this gentle forest lad is dangerous and hard to control. Just when it seems he may set the kingdom ablaze, news that the neighboring kingdom of Tira has invaded Bayern gives him a channel for the power that blazes within him. But the heat of battle proves too much for Leifer. And now Enna, desperate for a way to connect with her lost brother, takes up the vellum scroll and learns fire-speaking herself.

This decision could cost Enna everything. While she hopes she can help Bayern win the war - even believes that she must - a burning desire begins to consume her. It changes her, making her a stranger to her closest friends. And finally, it puts her and all of Bayern in deadly jeopardy when a charismatic Tiran officer captures her and tries to seduce her. Instead of being Bayern's last hope to drive the invaders out of their land, Enna may become the Tiran's ultimate weapon to destroy Bayern. At stake are her life, her sanity, and her ability to control the inferno within - plus everything and everyone she loves.

Enna Burning is the rare sequel that matches, if not surpasses, the quality of the original. Veering out of the sub-genre of novelized fairy tales, it delves deeper into a remarkable fantasy world in which certain people have amazing gifts: the gift of speaking to animals, to the elements of air and fire, and to the hearts of other people. Once again, author Hale shows us some of the exciting, and often terrifying, ways such gifts can be used. She shows us the horror of war, the cost of power, the agony of grief and guilt, and the confusing muddle of feelings that may be love. She crafts passages of exquisite suspense, gut-wrenching horror, and mystical eeriness; yet she also manages to include moments of romantic tenderness and comic relief.

In short, this book shows a compelling writer in full command of her craft, speaking to us as magically as her gifted characters speak to the elements they command. Once you read it, you will be on fire to pick up the third Book of Bayern, River Secrets.

River Secrets
by Shannon Hale
Recommended Age: 12+

This third of The Books of Bayern focuses on a character who provided comic relief in both Goose Girl and Enna Burning. Razo, the short and slight forest lad with the expressive face and the upright-sticking hair, has been chosen as one of Bayern's Own - the 100 personal bodyguards of King Geric - and apart from his friendship with Queen Isi, no one knows why. He isn't a good fighter with the sword or javelin. He can't win a fair wrestling match. All he seems to know how to do is eat, make jokes, and get into trouble. He has scars all over his body to show for it. And yet, when Captain Talone announces his hand-picked team to accompany the new Ambassador to Tira, Razo is one of them.

Even Razo comes to question this decision during the gruelling journey to the Tiran capital city of Ingridan and the tense, volatile weeks after their arrival. Some in Tira are unhappy about the end of the late war with Bayern. There are groups in Ingridan who want to go to war again. Some of them will try using assassination to get their point across. Everywhere Razo turns, he seems to be running onto the point of a knife or getting himself attacked by hostile Tirans.

Meanwhile, someone is leaving a trail of charred corpses lying around in places that throw suspicion on the Bayern delegation. Razo shares these suspicions, knowing that another member of their mission - his friend Enna - has the magical gift of fire-speaking. She has burned people in the past, though only during the war. Could she be burning again?

As Razo investigates this mystery, he gradually recognizes his own gifts that make him valuable to the diplomatic mission. Razo is a deadly slingshot, a capable spy, and in some ways a more effective ambassador than the Lady Megina who officially speaks for Bayern. He befriends the city's strange, lonely prince. He engineers a change in local fashion and public opinion. He spots clues no one else would notice. And against all odds, funny little Razo becomes a dashing hero in the eyes of a young Tiran lady with her own strange secret to protect.

If you read the first two Books of Bayern, you may have spotted Razo as a character who seriously deserves to have his own story. Here it is, with bucketloads of danger, mystery, intrigue, and action - and a generous serving of romance. Everything Razo does, says, or thinks will endear him to you, from the moments of levity he is always ready to provide to the troubled thoughts and soul-searching he does. You'll think you're cheering for the underdog until he discovers (and you with him) what he is capable of. And when you learn that Razo plays a major role in the fourth book in this series, titled Forest Born, you will surely add it to your wish-list.