Mystery Book # 82- Crocodile on the Sandbank by Elizabeth Peters

Some of the books on this Mystery list seem a bit lightweight and slight. Crocodile on the Sandbank is an example of this. The book was entertaining enough but in six months from now I'll have completely forgotten about it. Plus I'm probably not in the demographic that this book is aimed at. This is the first book in a series about Amelia Peabody, a rich English lady in the late 1800's that spends most of her time exploring Egyptian tombs. The book spends a lot of time setting up the characters and the mystery wasn't really that interesting (someone dressed up as a mummy keeps terrorizing their camp). I don't feel compelled to continue on with the series even though the main character was fascinating. I'll give it a B-.

Sci-Fi book # 42 The Andromeda Strain by Michael Crichton

One of the first "grown-up" authors I discovered as a kid in middle school was Michael Crichton. Despite reading a bunch of his books I never read The Andromeda Strain. I didn't even know what it was about... for some reason I thought it was about space travel or aliens or something. Instead it is about a mysterious organism/virus that is brought to Earth from the upper atmosphere and seems to instantly cause death in anyone exposed to it. Luckily the U.S. has readied a team of scientists and a special laboratory just in case this were to ever happen.

Overall I enjoyed it. My only real problem is that the ending is a bit anti-climactic. Also it was interesting that the theme of mankind causing problems for themselves by over exploiting science is the same as in Jurassic Park and Westworld. I'll give it a B+

Book # 12 - On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Of all the books on the list that I had previously read, On the Road was probably the one that I wanted to reread the least. I read it maybe fifteen years ago and I wasn't that impressed then. On a second reading my opinion hasn't changed that much. Overall it is well written and mildly entertaining and I can see how it tapped into a certain feeling back in the fifties but it isn't something I'd call an all time classic. Some qualms I have with it... first Dean Moriarty isn't the greatest character to be around. Even on the second reading I quickly grew tired of him and his destructive ways. Next, the narrator doesn't exude that much personality... I still don't get why he always felt the urge to get away and travel. He just gives into Dean way too much. Also, for a relatively short book it just feels so long... the whole book is just one thing after another without much thought given to the narrator's feelings. There's one chapter that's maybe 15-20 pages in which the author falls in love while in California that has enough material for an entire book... but afterwards he just moves on and barely thinks about that incident. I guess I just find the book a bit frustrating and overrated. I'll give it a B. Also it mentions Of Mice and Men.

Horror Book # 25 - Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury

Since Halloween was last week I figured it would be a good time to read Something Wicked This Way Comes. Funny thing (and I didn't know this beforehand)... the book specifies a specific day in October that the story starts and that was actually the day I started reading it. The story follows two boys as they encounter a mysterious and sinister carnival that comes to their small town right before Halloween. They discover some of their secrets and soon the leader of the carnival tries to capture them.

The mix of fantasy and horror was fun and I also enjoyed the theme of aging that runs throughout the book. The boys wish they could be older to experience life and the father of one of the boys wishes he could be younger so that he could interact more with his son. But of course the plot shows what would actually happen if you chose to change your age. Just like his stories in The Martian Chronicles, the fantastic elements of the story are just a cover to tell what is actually a very relate-able story. I'll give it an A.

Also, it quotes Moby Dick.