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While contemplating her own funeral Flavia de Luce discovers a woman crying behind a headstone. Nialla, is the assistant to the famed puppeteer Rupert Porson whose traveling vehicle has just gone out on them. They are given assistance and accommodations during their stay and in return will put on a show for the village of Bishop's Lacey. Unfortunately, their performance of Jack and the Beanstalk goes horribly wrong with the puppeteer coming to his demise rather than the giant. Flavia's fascination with death and refusal to follow the rules, enlists herself into the investigation and begins linking up this current murder to that of a small boy who was found hanging in the woods some years earlier.

Flavia is such a precocious child that you can't help but love her and route her on from the sidelines. One thing that I found very interesting about The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag is that a times it didn't even feel like a mystery, the back story of the novel's characters is so intriguing that at times I forgot there was another murder that needed solving. Although, unlike the first in this series, Flavia didn't use her chemistry skills as much to put together clues as in her previous case, but instead focused on poisoning her oldest sister Ophelia with chocolates sent by an admirer. In the end all the pieces of the puzzle are put together and the strings neatly tied, equaling a fun and clever story.

Young girl sleuth, Nancy Drew is introduced in 1930 with The Secret of the Old Clock, the first in the classic mystery series. After aiding an injured child Nancy stumbles upon the mystery of Josiah Crowley's missing will. Josiah promised several members of his family that he would include them in his will but upon his death they were all omitted leaving everything to a snobby relations who claim to hold the only copy. Nancy sees the unjustness of the situation and feeling that something is not right sets of to find a missing antique clock which may posses answers to a second will's location.

The Secret of the Old Clock is very nostalgic to me as it was the first Nancy Drew Mystery I read. I was ten and on vacation and having run out of books to read was taken to the local bookstore. My mom persuaded me to try Nancy Drew a favorite of hers growing-up. I read the novel with relish finishing in a 24 hour period amazed by the adventures Nancy got herself into. Soon after, I devoured everything Carolyn Keene had written and was shocked years later to discover that "Carolyn Keene" was a ghostwriter with the mysteries being written by men.

Although 15 years have past since that day Nancy Drew has not changed and still holds my attention. She is just the right combination of girl next-door and brainy sleuth making for a lovely read for any age. It's just swell.

In Devil in the Details Jennifer Traig recollects her childhood living with OCD in this quirky memoir.

Quirky yes, but Devil in the Details was also a little manic (which explains the OCD). I thought the novel was more like a series of short stories or a vignette of her childhood. To me it felt all very disjointed, one moment she was three and the next thirteen, I never felt a smooth flow between events. Jennifer is very much into her Jewish religion so a lot of her obsessions revolve around being the best and truest she can be to her faith, consisting of multiple washings, praying and flinching on sitting on furniture because the last person who's butt was there could have eaten pork. The second portion focused on her fluctuating anorexia and being a regular (for the most part) teen. Devil in the Details had the potential to be a fun memoir on a rarely discussed topic but fell short for me.

What was I thinking? I read The Silence of the Lambs in a wooded, secluded area. It was like taking a shower after watching Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Creepy.

Clarice Starling, FBI agent in training is sent to the Baltimore mental institution to interview Hannibal Lecter, a former psychiatrist who was locked up for have acquired a taste for human flesh. At present, another case is pending involving young women who's bodies are found among riverbanks with their skins slash away. The serial killer has been dubbed "Buffalo Bill" due to an off color joke by a Kansas City detective. In time, Dr. Lecter helps Clarice with this killer but only giving his assistance as a cat plays with its food. The manhunt for Buffalo Bill increases after the Governor of Tennessee's daughter, Cathrine Martin is abducted presumably by the killer at large. It now becomes a race against the clock to save Cathrine before she becomes his next victim.

Even though The Silence of the Lambs has a disturbing subject and was based on mass murderer Ted Bundy as long as I could tell myself that Hannibal Lecter was a work of fiction I was able to sleep at night. Even so, this cat and mouse suspense novel kept me riveted with hours passing by without my eyes escaping from the page. Irresistible.

Nancy's best friend Helen has a mystery that needs solving, her aunt's believe their house is haunted and on top of that a persistent man is trying to buy their home offering a low-ball number. It's up to Nancy to solve the case.

Is it just me or does Nancy get overly excited when learning about a new mystery which usually comes around containing other people's misfortune? She is described as becoming giddy, sitting on the edge of her seat her eyes becoming wider and wider. Yes, she would make the perfect girl scout sell hundreds of Thin Mints, but sometimes she is almost too keen to solve a mystery and isn't very becoming. Maybe I'm being too hard on Miss Drew as she is still a wonderful role model for girls.

Now on to the book, The Hidden Staircase was not my favorite Nancy Drew Mystery; I didn't think the plot was as strong as others in the series such as The Clue In The Old Album and half of the book consisted of one or another female characters fainting. Despite her faults I still love Nancy but wasn't crazy about The Hidden Staircase.

Lizzie Bennet, who attends Longbourn Academy on scholarship, isn't exactly interested in designer dresses and expensive shoes, but her best friend, Jane, might be—especially now that Charles Bingley is back from a semester in London. Lizzie is happy about her friend's burgeoning romance, but less than impressed by Will Darcy, a pompous jerk who looks down on the middle class. So imagine Lizzie's surprise when Will asks her to the prom! Will Lizzie's pride and Will's prejudice keep them apart? Or are they a prom couple in the making?

I consider myself to be a purest and dare I say prejudice when it comes to Jane Austen, particularly Pride and Prejudice, so when I received a copy of Elizabeth Eulberg's Prom and Prejudice I had my reservations. Within the first chapter Lizzie Bennet had charmed her way into my heart and her stubborn determination refused to let go. True, and undoubtedly the novel was still modernized but in a very classy way, Jane and Lydia never used the word "like" twenty times in one sentence and Will Darcy was no gangster with his pants falling down to his knees (all horrible teenage trends). To be honest, my only complaint was with George Wickham, mainly because he had been dubbed the nickname "Wick" maybe it's the Austen snob in me but I think Wickham roles off the tongue nicer; nevertheless George "Wick" Wickham is a conniving vile creature that the reader loves to hate. Prom and Prejudice is a cute retelling of a timeless classic for anyone who has been through the evils of high school and the tribulation of choosing a prom dress

Ellen "Nell" Gwyn is an orange girl selling fruit in the Theatre Royal during the 1660s. Even then, advancement in the world is all about who you know, while selling oranges to the actors of the stage she slowly befriends them and becomes a star in her own right and eventually comes to the bed of King Charles II. Through Ellen's diary entries, playbills, gossip columns, letters and home remedies the reader is introduced to her spunk, determination and her magnificent story.

Words can not describe Priya Parmar's novel Exit The Actress, it is so rich and vibrant that I felt like I was actually in the audience watching Nell perform and wanted to reach out for one of her oranges. While reading Nell's journal entries I wanted to be her friend, with her tell it like it is attitude she would be a wonderful acquaintance to sip tea with and discuss the eyes and ears of Ambrose Pinky Esq. and his latest exposé. Throughout the novel there is the subtle climb to Miss Gwyn's love affair with King Charles II, and because of such reads as a suspense novel. Although, no matter how deletable Exit The Actress is this is not a book to be rushed into but instead must stop and smell the flowers, leaving the reader hungry for the last word.