Rise and Fall of the Third Reich (Shirer) -- Well, what goes up must come down, I've always said.

Maus: A Survivor's Tale (Spiegelman) -- In my day, comic books were funny. This one is downright depressing. I was glad it was only a story. I did enjoy the dogs though. Dogs are so friendly!

But Not the Hippopotomus (Boynton) -- I was glad the hippo joined the others. But what am I supposed to think about the armadillo? Is there a sequel? I felt cheated.

The Fall of the Romanovs (Steinberg) -- What a horrible ending! I can't believe anybody could enjoy this novel! But the jewelry in the photographs was simply lovely.

The Road Less Travelled (M. Scott Peck) -- I can't believe this was written by an American. Anybody who thinks that life is painful just isn't trying hard enough.

Laurel's Kitchen (Robertson) -- Some of the dishes seemed unnecessarily difficult to prepare. And I was disappointed that there were no recipes for meat dishes.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (Pirsig) -- I think it's a lovely idea for fathers to take vacations with their sons.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (Lewis) -- The Witch seemed to have a very efficient country going, until that busybody Lion came and reinstituted the welfare state. I was kind of disappointed when he came back to life. I can't see any hope of a sequel, with the main character being killed in the war.

Ruth (Hebrew Scriptures) -- Simply shocking! I can't believe Naomi would instruct her widowed daughter-in-law to crawl in bed with that Boaz fellow. I'm sure this wasn't in the Bible when I was a little girl.

Alex