A few items of interest

      I received an email from Veronica Shoffstall today. She was pleased and honored by the comments on her poem. The commenters on my blog are just a good bunch, and I appreciate all of you.
      As for my health, I'm doing okay. I'm not quite 100 percent yet, but I'm at least in the 90s. As long as I'm careful, I do very well.
      Jamie has been blogging books that she reads. I thought I'd do that also with one that I really enjoyed.
      Airborn by Kenneth Oppel
      It's no secret that I've always been fascinated by blimps. This book was written for me. In Airborn, Oppel writes of an alternate world where giant luxury airships rule the skies. Our young hero Matt Cruse works aboard the passenger airship Aurora. Matt, who has never felt any fear of heights, rescues an injured man that the Aurora encounters in a stranded hot air balloon. The elderly man dies of mysterious injuries, but not before telling Matt of strange and beautiful creatures that he saw flying through the air. A year later, the man's granddaughter Kate arrives on board with a journal giving more details about the airborn animals. Kate is determined to prove her grandfather discovered a hitherto unknown species, despite the skepticism of the scientific community.
      Pirates (in a black airship) attack the Aurora and steal the wealthy passengers' belongings. The pirates ruthlessly kill a crew member and then depart, but a freak wind causes a collusion between the Aurora and the pirate ship. The Aurora crash-lands on an uncharted island, an island described in the journal. Beautiful, bold Kate draws Matt into a search for the flying creatures, but other dangers soon have them fighting for their lives.
      Airborn has a distinctive Victorian feel to it, reminding me a lot of Jules Verne and Edgar Rice Burroughs. The book is marketed for juveniles, but think of the audience that Harry Potter found. It's a good read and a lot of fun. I hope there's a sequel and soon. For more info, including news of a possible movie, visit the Airborn site.