Finished Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne, another fun and exciting adventure book. On a wager of 20,000 pounds, Phileas Fogg of London and his newly hired French valet, Passepartout, embark on a journey to circumnavigate the globe in 80 days. They meet with many snags and dangers and participate in various rescues of themselves and others. Fogg's trademark calm in all types of crises is both frustrating and admirable. Passepartout's unexpected valiance is heroic and sometimes hilarious. They travel by train, steamer, elephant and sled. At one point the possibility of utilizing a hot air balloon is briefly mentioned, but never actually takes place. I found this amusing since so many book covers feature a hot air balloon. This concept seems to have been introduced with Mike Todd's 1956 film adaptation of the novel. Interesting that publishers don't always read what they print.
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