Janet Evanovich’s popular series about Stephanie Plum, Jersey girl bounty hunter, has millions of fans, including me.  So I was dismayed to hear they made a movie of the first book, “One for the Money,” starring Katherine Heigl.  I thought she was too pretty and blond to play the redoubtable Plum.  However, I watched the movie last night and was delighted.  Heigl’s hair is reddish-brown and curly, her accent is Jersey and her chemistry with Jason Mar

I just spent last weekend in the charming and thrilling company of the last Druid.  Don’t believe in Druids?  Well neither do I, but what is fiction for, except to exercise the suspension of our belief?

The Jane Austen Book club is reading Margaret Maron this year. She's a North Carolina native whose first novel, "Bootlegger's Daughter" won every major mystery award for best first novel. That book was the first to feature Deborah Knott, whose colorful Daddy was a bootlegger. Deborah is an attorney who decides to take a stand against "mean-minded judicial pettiness" and take on the Old Boy's Club by running for a retiring judge's seat.

    Garth Nix is the author of one of my favorite fantasy series, the Abhorsen set.

    Daughter of the Forest was an outstanding read--one that kept me turning the next page in anticipation. Although it is a retelling of The Wild Swans by Hans Christian Andersen, this book was as fresh and unexpected as a totally new story.  The atmosphere is enchanting and the book is lyrical, taking flight in so many ways.