If I can count your ribs, you're sickly.
 

That's just pathetic. Let's let Thurgreed be the judge.

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

Here are some good, lightish reads that I've had on airplanes recently:

I recently read Christopher Moore's "A Dirty Job," about a man who becomes Death (sort of). Very funny, in a morbid and creepy way. I'm now reading Bloodsucking Fiends by the same author, which is also pretty enjoyable.

Read Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell over the summer, which I liked a lot but is LONG and a bit hard to get into. Read it only if you really like history and things magical. It ain't no Harry Potter, but it's not as hard on the brain as Eco or Pynchon. Good plane read, with the caveats above.

Read John Twelve Hawks' The Traveller last year, which was a fun, relatively light read (if you can ignore just how seriously the author takes himself.) That's worth a try.

If you haven't read Middlesex, I highly recommend it. I didn't read it on an airplane so technically it doesn't fit on this list, but it was recommended to me by a woman I met in an airport bar. (She was hot, and TOTALLY checking me out -- Whoo-Hoo!) I recommended Helen DeWitt's The Last Samurai to her, which she thought was wonderful -- but that's getting a little more into the high-fallutin that you want to avoid.

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

Wonk's biography?

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

That was pretty entertaining, but Hiaasen's stuff always seems like it was written in 48 hours with little or no editing. It's definitely in the beach novel category.

I know this is probably not what you're looking for, but I finally got around to the second volume of Taylor Branch's history of MLK and the civil rights movement ("Pillar of Fire"). It's quite a bit shorter than Parting the Waters and covers a more limited period - 1963-65, I think. It's also not as mired in the intricacies of southern Baptist political manuevering (which made Parting the Waters a tough slog in places) and covers the rise of Malcom X as a national figure almost as much as King. All in all it is a great piece of history writing and brings the era to life from Lyndon Johnson all the way down to movement volunteers and voter drives in Hattiesburg. I. highly. recommend. it.

Fuuuckk
 

I've seen pictures of her with the baby. She is not chubby. It's possible that she has some residual flab in the abdominal/hip/ass area -- I couldn't tell from pictures. But overall her same bony-assed self.

If I can count your ribs, you're sickly.
 

Yet, oddly, every other shirt maker I've purchased from can accomodate by Homerian proportions.

If I can count your ribs, you're sickly.
 

I was being as polite as I could.

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

If you like history, this is one of the best books I've ever read:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/18...CLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

It's beautifully written, relies heavily on primary documents, and gave me tremendous insight into what an incredible person Elizabeth was.

We all live in a yellow submarine.
 

Sure. one of our boys is a derivatives heavy hitter.

It was A JOKE WONK. How is that IRS circular 230 treatin ya

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

I, uh, actually read that. And saw the movie.

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

What gave you the impression that Not Bob is a chick?

Fuuuckk
 

she's still a nutbag that is neurotic.

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

It seems like it must be a sequel, set after the Devil either has died or has stopped wearing Prada.

The Not Bob phone just rang -- apparently, I have to depose Fugee next week.
 

God, you are so erudite. I wish you would come around more often and classy this place up a bit with your McSweeney's links and obscure European soccer references.

Fuuuckk
 

Who on here isn't?