Interred With Their Bones

Interred With Their Bones by Jennifer Lee Carrell

Kate Stanley, a scholar turned Shakespearean director, is caught up in a mystery revolving around a lost play by Shakespeare.  Traveling from Europe to the U.S. and back again, she follows a series of clues while trying to avoid a murderer who poses his victims like characters from Shakespeare's plays.

This story was almost too similar to The Da Vinci Code for me, and some characters were not horribly interesting.  However, I did enjoy the ongoing argument of who Shakespeare actually was, along with the history of his time.  I would have liked the flashbacks to Shakespeare's time more, but they were too disjointed to follow most of the time.

The Book of Lost Things

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Twelve year old David has been through a lot... his mother dies from cancer, then his father remarries and begins a new family.  He moves into his stepmothers' house, where his room is filled with books that seem to whisper to him.  A mystery surrounds the disappearance of the boy who lived there before him, which also lands David in a strange world where your fears come to life.

Sometimes funny, sad, or gruesome, this story reminded me of a slightly twisted Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe.  Both are set during WWII, and involve children entering a fantastical world, but that's where the similarities end.  This story is more about learning to accept your life for what it is, along with some quests and bloody conquests along the way.  It's not preachy, and for those that like fairy tales, it's fun to read some "alternate" versions... the tale of an overweight, shrewish Snow White was my favorite.