It's amazing how relevant Vonnegut's books are so long after they are written. Another quick book that makes you think: how much free will do we have? (9/2008)

What can I say ... it really is charming. The 2D/3D thing is interesting, although straightforward, so it is really the allegorical angles on gender and class that make it worthwhile. (9/2008)

This book is actually called Alexander the "Fabulous" and is published by the Advocate, so that should be a dead giveaway. I could obviously do without the entendres, but I am a fan of accessible history and I now understand Alexander much better. I had to skip the chapter on Greek love practices, though. (9/2008)

Normally all of my father's book recommendations are fantastic. But this one was a B-. (10/2008)

I'm becoming an unabashed Vonnegut fan. So much insight in such short books. (10/2008)

All around a good book and informative: cruise ship crashes, modern piracy, how ships are turned into scrap, and the laws that govern international shipping. (10/2008)

The book is billed as a story about a woman found guilty of witchcraft during WWII. That sounds really interesting. But the reality is that she was found guilty of fraud in the area of witchcraft, which is much, much less compelling. (11/2008)

In retrospect, what a bad idea ... the book & movie are so direct, so raw, so earnest ... why would I want to read a bunch of hoity toity essays that obscure its brilliance? (11/2008)

I thought that my kids would enjoy this, but they had no interest and I read this on my own. Too bad, they would have enjoyed it. UPDATE: the kids have relented and we are now reading them and they like it. (11/2008)

Devoted almost exclusively to how people are sucked into the evils of the world. A book of this type seems like it should have an authentic vibe. I admittedly have led a sheltered life, but it very much read like fiction to me. (11/2008)

I struggled for two years to finish this. I wanted to learn the whole history of Australia and this book was, as its title clearly states, about its "birth" (the first decade or so of British settlement). (12/2008)

Is this supposed to make us believe that the world is absurd? For me, the most interesting part of the book is that there are people for whom existentialism resonates deeply. (12/2008)

A window into an era that we don't hear much about ... colonialism lasted in Nigeria so much later than I realized. (12/2008)