This week’s picks feature the novel that started the “Jurassic Park” craze and a biography of possibly the two best engineers of the 19th century.
Fiction The Nightmare of Bioengineering
‘Jurassic Park: A Novel’
By Michael Crichton
The newest—and “wokest”—addition to the Jurassic series is in theaters, so we recommend going back to where it all began: “Jurassic Park” the novel. Journey into the world of DNA manipulation, dinosaurs, and an adventure park that eventually turns into a nightmare.
Ballantine Books, 2012, 464 pages Love, Revenge, and Redemption
‘The Spear: A Novel of the Crucifixion’
By Louis de Wohl
Set around the time of Christ’s crucifixion, this book includes fictional characters along with people such as Pontius Pilate, his wife Claudia, and Longinus, the soldier who thrust his spear into Jesus on the cross. The author regarded this novel as his finest work, and as we unravel its tapestry of love, revenge, and redemption, we can understand why. Here we encounter the ancient world of Romans and Jews. Bolstered by de Wohl’s extensive research, we leave the book with a greater appreciation of that age….