Jungle's gonna get you man

First, the amusing thing about the quiz below, is that I've not read any Susan Cooper. So I've no idea if that's accurate or not. I shall have to remedy this situation. Always interesting stumbling on something new.

Secondly, I have finished The Lost City of Z, by David Grann. Absolutely brilliant book. There's nothing like a good adventure tale for summer reading. And this one was all true. It's amazing what people went through to discover new things and to follow their obsessions. Percy Fawcett was convinced there was a lost civilization deep in the Amazon jungle. He vanished along with his son and his son's friend while searching for it. David Grann, a journalist, became intrigued by the story and ended up journeying to the Amazon himself to see if he could discover what happened. Truly fascinating stuff. Cannibals, spies, rivals, adventure, romance this book has it all - just like the Princess Bride, well ok, there's not really any romance. Maybe a little. If you ever thought you wanted to go visit the Amazon, this book will either cement that desire, or cure you of it.

Also read Emily the Strange: Lost Days. Another great little young adult book. Emily has amnesia. In fact she doesn't know her name is Emily. It might be Earwig. Or Molly. She also doesn't know why she's in the town of Blackrock. Or why it's so beige. Her life is truly a mysterious thing. Fortunately she has a slingshot, some helpful black cats and some pretty decent sleuthing skills. She's going to need them to make sense of her life and the town she's found herself in. Recommended.

For grins and chuckles I threw Sly Cooper in the PS2 the other day. Game is still good and oddly, surprisingly challenging.

Goings on gone

square foot garden,
originally uploaded by dkun.

Yeah a little late and you've seen the pictures, blah, blah, blah. Blame my wife who seems not to understand the concept "flickr pool".

Managed to enjoy the week off with Dad in town. Even if we spent most of it working. Here you can see one of the boxes we built for our square foot garden. There are two. And hopefully they will provide us with lots of yummy food. We also rearranged the girls' room. Bunk beds are now single beds. And the corner of shame has been banished.

We did squeeze some fun in. Star Trek is a good show (even in spite of reboot romances... Spock?! Seriously?!). Quantum of Solace is good (pay no attention to my wife or father, they're muddled from the work and the heat). And the Aquarium is quite nice now. A really nice South American exhibit.

Managed to finish Drood by Dan Simmons. I quite liked it. I'd really like to know which parts were fiction. Well ok, a lot of it is, but there's a lot of fact in there too. Sounds like Dickens got a little strange at the end of his life, although not as strange as some of his associates. Drood tells the tale of the end of Dickens's life as seen through the eyes of his friend/collaborator/jealous adversary William "Wilkie" Collins. Pretty fascinating and a touch horrifying. And what more do you want from a summer-y novel?

How about South American adventure and jungles and spies and lost cities and madness and death? That's what The Lost City of Z, the current book I'm reading, promises. Oh and did I mention it's all true? Nice.

20th Century Boys Volume 1 is pretty good. It sounds like it's a long series, but I look forward to the chance to read it.

Well, it's hot. Even in the basement. I must go melt now. As you were.