5 Things We Love is a shortlist of newly discovered stuff you have got to see, hear, wear, use or eat. What are you loving this week? Send a brief description of your latest favorite thing, where to find it and how much it costs, along with your name and contact info to features@staradvertiser.com.

Death decor livens Halloween treats

I love Halloween and I also collect Mexican folk art, with Dia de Los Muertos one of my favorite motifs. So I grabbed these Treat Street Day of the Dead Gummy Cupcake Decorations as soon as I saw them at Target ($2.99 for a pack of eight). Other cake decorating sets by Wilton feature more intricate hard-sugar skulls and a fun kit of fangs, eyes, lips and hair for kids to make their own cupcake monsters (both $6.49). — Christie Wilson

Mango Ginger bar is tasty, healthful

There’s one big reason I love MacaMania granola bars from Anahola Granola — and it’s not because they’re healthful. The Mango Ginger granola bar tastes like honey butter, with oats and a touch of mango — yum! They’re available in stores or order MacaMania bars directly from Anahola Granola in batches of 10, mixing your order between the Original, Tropical, Mango Ginger and Chocolate Chip, for $21.15: www.anaholagranola.com. — Elizabeth Kieszkowski

Author’s book pays off for reader

I’ve enjoyed the fast-moving crime thrillers of Hawaii-based novelist Douglas Corleone for several years and had been waiting for his latest, "Payoff" (Minotaur Books, $25.99), the second novel in the Simon Fisk series. It lives up to expectations.

Fisk is a former U.S. Marshal who works as a private contractor retrieving children who have been taken out of the country in violation of child custody agreements. This time he’s looking for a Hollywood film mogul’s daughter who was kidnapped by a drug cartel. Or so it seems.

International thrillers hinge on lucky breaks, fortuitous meetings and miraculous escapes. Fisk benefits from all three. Old contacts pan out, new contacts advance the action. The result is a gripping page-turner. Corleone combines a plausible premise with convincing descriptions of Southern California, the Cayman Islands and various places in Latin America.

Best of all, the ending is neither predictable nor an exercise in misdirection. I did not see it coming, but I didn’t feel misled. — John Berger

Let pets use Force on ‘Star Wars’ toys

If your pooch is as much of a "Star Wars" fan as you are, then you may find it hard to pass up these "Star Wars" pet toys from Petco. What dog could resist chewing on a squeaky, furry Chewie (aka Chewbacca). Your four-legged princess might enjoy the Princess Leia version (Han Solo is also available). Or how about a "Star Wars" X-Wing Fighter pull toy or a plump, squeaky Jabba the Hutt?

Prices start at $9.99. — Nina Wu

Get creative with Disney promotion

Four out of our last five family vacations have involved Disney parks. You could say we’ve got a "Disney side." This year the theme parks’ promotion encourages folks to "Show Your Disney Side" and they are offering a freebie to help you do it. Create a stick figure rendering of your family decked out in Disney gear at buildyourdisneyside.com. Options include pirate hats, crowns, Minnie and Mickey Mouse ears, churros, Disney balloons and even turkey legs. Then enter your address and receive a free window-cling decal of your family in four to six weeks. — Donica Kaneshiro