This volume contains both “Around the World in Eighty Days” and “Five Weeks in a Balloon,” which I did not realize until after I had bought it. Of the two novels, I liked the former better. Both books contained adventure and humor, but I think some of the things I found funny in “Five Weeks in a Balloon” were not meant to be funny. At the start of the story, Dr. Fergusson’s buddy Kennedy tries to talk his friend out of the crazy trip, and Fergusson basically shuts him down, saying that he has thought of all possible obstacles and already overcome them with science. Then, about halfway through, things start to go downhill and the plot twists quickly become ridiculous as unforeseen obstacles pop up with a vengeance. In “Around the World in Eighty Days,” I guessed the last plot twist early on, but that was okay. I enjoyed the characters in that book better, too. Fogg’s stoicism was much more intriguing than Fergusson’s sentimentality. Also, the rampant racism in “Five Weeks in a Balloon” greatly offended my modern sensibilities. In “Around the World in Eighty Days,” the prejudices of the time were quite apparent, but you could forgive them because of Fogg’s kind treatment of Aouda. In “Five Weeks in a Balloon,” there was no such redeeming factor, and the racism was much more pervasive and persistent. Overall, I found “Around the World in Eighty Days” to be a much more enjoyable read than and “Five Weeks in a Balloon.” ( )