Haunted Houses, Dangerous Islands, you know, your typical stuff

Recently finished the audiobook version of Richard Matheson's Hell House. It's a decent haunted house type story that is not in any way for people under the age of, oh, say, 30. Matheson opted to go the creepy lurid route as opposed to the creepy psychological route (although there is some of that too). Which is to say there's some sex folks. I'm a little interested how the book got turned into a PG movie, because it seems like they'd pretty much have to re-write the entire thing to accomplish said task. And maybe they did. Who knows? There are some good twists and some nice spooky moments, but it's actually a little hard to recommend the title. The guy doing the reading did a pretty good job though, so that's something.

I'm actually going to start listening to some audiobooks as part of my commute. Up next is The Book of Fate.

Finished Warren Fahy's Fragment. It's fine for a summer popcorn book (which is pretty much what I read it for). Not quite up to Jurassic Park standards, but not bad for what it is. Follow the scientist based reality TV show as they head to an island left to itself for far too long. Cower in terror as they get devoured by said island's insane ecosystem. Thrill as more scientists show up - will they be saviours? Or savored? Yeah, it's kind of like that. Characters aren't terribly 3 dimensional, and plot is pretty standard. It does get points for some creativity in the monsters that inhabit the island though.

Up next is Scott Westerfeld's Leviathan. I love me some Westerfeld and this one has a steampunk-ish twist, so yay for that. Should be good.

Kids have been reading the Legend of Zelda graphic novels (and by kids I mean pretty much all of us - in fact I think all 5 of us read the first one...) and enjoying them. That's kind of fun.

The big success of the garden has been green beans I think. Snap peas are a close second, followed by the tomatoes and then the peppers. I suspect next year we may turn the trellis over to the pole beans and the snap peas and rearrange everything else a touch. But the beans have been great. Mmmm fresh steamed green beans...

Eureka season one has been fun, but it really makes me want to watch season two as I forget how some of these plot lines wrapped up. Leverage has been alright and Psych is still fun. Although the star of the week vein they're in is a little silly.

I would like to point out at this point that my wife has made some sort of pact with the devil when it comes to Alhambra. No one will ever beat her at this game. Ever. I think the letter 'r' and I will start handicapping ourselves about 50 points to keep things fair...

And that's pretty much how the summer has gone. Some books, some TV, some movies, some games and so on. Looking forward to settling into the fall and winter. Although the commute in winter is an absolute nightmare. Family in town soon, so that should be nice.