You know what bothers me? When authors shorten certain words ("temperature" and "contemporaries," specifically) for the purpose of sounding futuristic, but include so much filler that their readers are tempted to give up. Doomsday Book could have been about 300 pages shorter, if only Connie Willis had had enough foresight in 1992 to give her characters cell phones! That being said, the last 1/3 or so of this book was so compelling that I sped through it in one sitting. I have mixed feelings on this one for sure.