Summary: In which a witch bewitched the hatter's daughter - and then some....Sophie lived in the town of Market Chipping, which was in Ingary, a land in which anything could happen, and often did - especially when the Witch of the Waste got her dander up. Which was often.
As her younger sisters set out to seek their fortunes, Sophie stayed in her father's hat shop. Which proved most unadventurous, until the Witch of the Waste came in to buy a bonnet, but was not pleased. Which is why she turned Sophie into an old lady. Which was spiteful witchery.
Now Sophie must seek her own fortune. Which means striking a bargain with the lecherous Wizard Howl. Which means entering his ever-moving castle, taming a blue fire-demon, and meeting the Witch of the Waste head-on. Which was more than Sophie bargained for...
Review: Two of my favorite all-time novels from my teen and pre-teen years were written by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle and Fire and Hemlock. I feel compelled to re-read them every few years and was shocked when I realized that not only have I never reviewed them, but I've never reviewed any of the late Ms. Jones' books. These two books held the first protagonists I ever connected with on a personal level; I never knew books could do that. Diana Wynne Jones changed me from an avid reader into a voracious reader.
I suppose it might seem odd that I connected with a young girl who is turned into an old woman, but I was born an old soul and I understood her fear of failure and her resignation towards being too responsible to ever have an adventure. I love the way Sophie discovers that things aren't always as they appear, that your fortune is what you make of it, and adventure happens when you least expect it. I adore that she wrote a magical land that views our reality as strange and magical in itself.
Though her prose were never overly complicated, her depth of meaning never ceases to amaze me. With each reading I catch a new reference I didn't notice before or another layer of subtext. It's amazing how your perspective shifts as a book ages with you. What was a book about magic and coming of age has become a study in perspective, relationships, and ultimately love. In a way it reminds me of the cleverness of Jim Henson in that there is that level of maturity that the reader can absorb or if not, still enjoy the story at face value.
I have seen Hayao Miyazaki's film of Howl's Moving Castle, and while I appreciate the interpretation, I feel like the relationships were over simplified and that the story lost its edge. There is something foreboding about a castle that hovers around which is lost when you make the artistic decision to give the castle legs. It's also why I prefer the original cover art... There is a delicious darkness about it.
So perhaps I ascribe more to this than I ought to because it carries such fond memories, but to this day, it's one of my favorite reads.
Final Take: 5/5
Review: I grabbed this book off the bookshelf at the library and it has quickly been one of our gone to books at night. It is a simple, sweet and kind book. It is about a little girl who plants a kiss and instead of keeping it for herself, she shares it and by doing so discovers what how happiness comes from sharing. 
Summary: A passionate, sweeping novel of a love that transcends time. When twenty-something Wall Street analyst Kate Wilson attracts the notice of the legendary Julian Laurence at a business meeting, no one’s more surprised than she is. Julian’s relentless energy and his extraordinary intellect electrify her, but she’s baffled by his sudden interest. Why would this handsome British billionaire—Manhattan’s most eligible bachelor—pursue a pretty but bookish young banker who hasn’t had a boyfriend since college? The answer is beyond imagining . . . at least at first. Kate and Julian’s story may have begun not in the moneyed world of twenty-first-century Manhattan but in France during World War I, when a mysterious American woman emerged from the shadows of the Western Front to save the life of Captain Julian Laurence Ashford, a celebrated war poet and infantry officer. Now, in modern-day New York, Kate and Julian must protect themselves from the secrets of the past, and trust in a true love that transcends time and space. ~amazon.com
, which is still one of my all-time favorites. There are obvious differences when you get into the novel but the power of love is evident in both of these stories. 
Summary: A superbly crafted, highly suspenseful, and deeply affecting debut novel about one man’s loyalty to his country, his family and his heritage. Percival Chen is the headmaster of the most respected English academy in 1960s Saigon, and he is well accustomed to bribing a forever-changing list of government officials in order to maintain the elite status of his school. Fiercely proud of his Chinese heritage, he is quick to spot the business opportunities rife in a divided country, though he also harbors a weakness for gambling haunts and the women who frequent them. He devotedly ignores all news of the fighting that swirls around him, but when his only son gets in trouble with the Vietnamese authorities, Percival faces the limits of his connections and wealth and is forced to send him away. In the loneliness that follows, Percival finds solace in Jacqueline, a beautiful woman of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage whom he is able to confide in. But Percival's new-found happiness is precarious, and as the complexities of war encroach further into his world, he must confront the tragedy of all he has refused to see. Graced with intriguingly flawed but wonderfully human characters moving through a richly drawn historical landscape, The Headmaster's Wager is an unforgettable story of love, betrayal and sacrifice. ~amazon.com
Summary: 
Summary: Welcome to the Festival of Roses, a world full of magic and romance. Every year during the festival each boy leaves a flower at the door of the girl he believes is the "fairest of them all." Naturally, Snow White gets dozens of flowers, while her younger sister Rose Red is ignored. This year, though, things are different. For the first time, Rose Red has a mysterious admirer, and this year she isn't the only one jealous of her sister's beauty. But even though it’s a time of celebration, when girls begin disappearing, the festival turns deadly. With mysterious strangers arriving every day, an ominous marriage proposal, and magic and danger everywhere, Snow White and Rose Red will need to work together to survive the festival and solve the mystery.
Summary: Ruth has left her job writing for a hit television show for reasons she’d rather not discuss and is supplementing her increasingly dwindling savings with freelance writing projects—namely, helping anxious high school students craft a perfect college essay and lonely souls craft captivating online dating profiles. When she’s not working, she’s swimming—lap after lap at the local indoor pool, in a desperate attempt to wash away the sting of professional failure and heartbreak that she can’t seem to shake. It takes an unexpected client to show her that appearances can be deceiving, and that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is simply dive back in. ~amazon.com
Summary: NYPD Homicide Detective Nikki Heat arrives at her latest crime scene to find an unidentified woman stabbed to death and stuffed inside a suitcase left on a Manhattan street. Nikki is in for a big shock when this new homicide connects to the unsolved murder of her own mother. Paired once again with her romantic and investigative partner, top journalist Jameson Rook, Heat works to solve the mystery of the body in the suitcase while she is forced to confront unexplored areas of her mother's background.
Summary: Two years ago, Robin Monarch was a top level CIA operative—perhaps the best they had when it came to black bag operations. Then one day, in the middle of an operation, with his team around him in the field, Monarch walked away, leaving his old life and friends behind without a word of explanation. Now this ex-soldier, ex-operative, and orphan with a murky past is a thief, stealing from the super-rich and has surfaced in St. Tropez. But when a complicated, high profile jewel heist goes wrong, Monarch is led into a carefully woven trap designed to force him to complete the very same mission he walked away from years ago. It will take all of his skills (as well as those of the team he burned) and all of his cunning, if Monarch is to thwart the violent and deadly goals of the very powerful cabal who will do whatever it takes to bring the very dangerous "Green Fields" technology under their control. ~amazon.com
Review: A while ago our 4 year old son started calling everyone "Bobo" as a term of endearment. We aren't sure where it came from but it's pretty much stuck to him since. We do try to only use it at home or around family thought. :) 
Summary: Just past seventy, Alex Witchel’s smart, adoring, ultracapable mother began to exhibit undeniable signs of dementia. Her smart, adoring, ultracapable daughter reacted as she’d been raised: If something was broken, they would fix it. But as medical reality undid that hope, and her mother continued the torturous process of disappearing in plain sight, Witchel retreated to the kitchen, trying to reclaim her mother at the stove by cooking the comforting foods of her childhood: “Is there any contract tighter than a family recipe?” Reproducing the perfect meat loaf was no panacea, but it helped Witchel come to terms with her predicament, the growing phenomenon of “ambiguous loss ”— loss of a beloved one who lives on. Gradually she developed a deeper appreciation for all the ways the parent she was losing lived on in her, starting with the daily commandment “Tell me everything that happened today” that started a future reporter and writer on her way. And she was inspired to turn her experience into this frank, bittersweet, and surprisingly funny account that offers true balm for an increasingly familiar form of heartbreak. ~amazon.com
Summary: England, 1936. The year began with the death of a beloved king and the ascension of a charismatic young monarch, sympathetic to the needs of the working class, glamorous and single. By year’s end, the world would be stunned as it witnessed that new leader give up his throne in the name of love, just as the unrest and violence that would result in a Second World War were becoming impossible to ignore. 
for my business trip because I knew I would have the plane ride to concentrate on it. Needless to say I had about 80 pages left and finished them immediately upon getting into my room. 
We love Halloween in our house (especially decorating for it); it must have something to do with our affinity for the macabre. So 'spooky' books are a year round thing in our house especially ones that are all about bones. This one is a new favorite.