Researchers in Scotland have uncovered dozens of previously unknown works by the pioneering science fiction writer Jules Verne.

Although Verne died in 1905 his novels such as “Around the World in 80 Days,” “A Journey to the Center of the Earth” and “Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea” have remained hugely popular, making Verne the second most translated author of all time.

This is not the first time that new works by Verne have been discovered – in 1989 his great grandson uncovered the unpublished manuscript for “Paris in the 20th Century” in a locked safe.

After I made several earlier attempts in past years (false-starts) to read J. F. Powers’ MORTE D’URBAN (when, for reasons not related to the quality of the book, I had to set it aside without finishing it), I am now well on my way into reading and finishing what I am beginning to regard as one of the most intriguing and important novels of the 20th century.

Next week is when I and my literature classes begin talking about Flannery O’Connor’s Wise Blood. I’ve assigned O’Connor’s brilliant novel to classes in the past, but I have never been satisfied about the students’ responses and their lack of engagement with the story of Hazel Motes’ reluctant conversion.

Here is the Christian Science Monitor’s review of Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose, which CSM has posted as part of its classic review series. Not that I needed the nudge from CSM, but the review reminds me that now would be a fine time for me to reread Eco’s wonderful novel. As you read the linked review, don’t be frightened off by all the talk of semiotics; people need not concern themselves with such matters in order to thoroughly enjoy one of the late 20th century’s most intriguing and most literate “murder mystery” novels.