Take an Epic Journey with The Passage

Meet Zero, whose previous name, Patient Zero, has long been forgotten. Before he had that name, he was a scientist called Tim Fanning who went on an expedition to Bolivia and came home with a virus that changed everything. When you pick up this huge book that spans places all over the world, and enough time to follow generations of characters, you get to find out what happens after a top-secret military project tried to use Zero's illness as a weapon, and also what happens to the people he meets and infects along the way  -- their everyday, horrifying, and heroic stories will surprise you.

Now that the second volume of Justin Cronin's trilogy is out, this is the perfect time to pick up The Passage and catch up. (The new one's called The Twelve.) If you're a fan of epic-length genre fiction that straddles horror and sci-fi, like Stephen King's The Stand, or Robert McCammon's Swan Song, you'll love Cronin's blend of action, world-building, and his carefully-thought-out take on vampires (don't worry, it's nothing like Twilight).

Reading Over The Summer

For me the start of summer meant I could read whatever I wanted, no more boring assigned reading.  Even though I am far past the days of assigned reading there is still something about summer and reading.  Maybe it's because I have fond memories of participating in the library's Summer Reading Program.  This year I was excited to learn that a feature of the Summer Reading Program is an online quest component.  It sounds like a lot of fun and that got me thinking about how many of my favorite stories are actually adventure quests.  I think the top spot would have to go to The Hobbit by J R R Tolkien.  There are dwarves and magic, treasure and dragons, and Bilbo the Hobbit who never planned on having any adventures but found himself on one anyway.  Yes, that summer was definitely an adventure.  So here is to finding great books to keep you entertained over the hot Tucson summer.