Book 50

Years ago I read Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. I remember enjoying the book (the movie was another matter...) at the time. Apparently they've been quite prolific in the intervening years. Our library had Dance of Death on their new release shelf, so I grabbed it and a couple of their other books.

Dance of Death brings back several of the characters from Relic, most notably Agent Pendergast - apparently the Dirk Pitt of Preston and Child's literary world. Preston and Child's work reminds me quite a bit of Cussler's, and for the moment not in a bad way. The story was certainly interesting enough and I plan on reading more of their books, but I can see some of the same tell-tale weaknesses that could spell lots of eye-rolling and a sense of wonder at how I ever found this stuff entertaining. But that's several books down the road for now. Dance of Death was a nice piece of action fluff. Certainly not much more than a popcorn book - it won't change your life, but you should get some enjoyment out of it.

So, I made it to 50 and not a moment too soon. There were several false steps along the way, and I plan to rectify a couple of them over the course of the next year. I don't plan on going for the 50 mark again, mainly because I want to be able to take my time with a few books to ensure that I get through them. Most notably 1776, In Cold Blood and quite possibly John Adams among others.

Protopage is an interesting little corner of the internet. Could make a useful homepage if you're willing to spend a bit of time and spruce it up. I ran across it while listening to the This Week in Tech podcast. Useful things those podcasts...

My wife and I have been waging quite the little war over the DS. I suppose it's my own fault. I tend to try and pick games that I think we'll both find interesting and I succeeded a little too well this time. Curse you puzzle game genre! But it is quite the fun little device.

Well, I suspect this will be it for me this year, so have a Merry New Year. And raise a glass for me as I have to prepare myself for five day work weeks again...