Lots of fun! I suspected something was up with the

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medal names

, and the whole thing reminded me of the Tropic Hunt in Miami.

I'd never heard of this pilgrimage before. Reading about the 500-mile hike made me wish it was at all practical to try it myself, but "goon on pilgrimages" has never been all that convenient for most people, am I right?

A lot of fun, once you realize that the theme is NOT "silent letters" (even though the book talks about silent letters a few times) but "letters that misbehave and make words nearly impossible to pronounce".

For example: "J is for Jai Alai". Absolutely not silent, but doesn't sound the way you'd think (unless, like me, you grew up in Miami not terribly far from a jai-alai fronton).

"V is for Five"? Uh... we've left the world of tricky pronunciations and zapped straight over to number-writing systems of the ancient world.

Don't let these departures from the theme spoil your enjoyment, though. These are some delightful frustrations to discover with the person you're reading it to!

A sentimental visit with a favorite movie of mine, with lots of amusing anecdotes. (Cary and Robin kept asking to film lots of takes of that "most passionate, most pure" kiss that "left them all behind" because frankly it was so much fun!)

I haven't read many of the James Bond novels but I've seen most of the classic movies, and this seems to fit in well as a prequel.

I was satisfied by the way the author succeeded in misleading me about

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the fire extinguishers

and

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the acetic anhydride

. I was convinced that the villain was planning to

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fill the ship with acetic anhydride and use it as a floating bomb to attack New York

, since

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that stuff reacts rather badly to water

, but the actual plan packed even more destructive power. And the final chapter adds an interesting twist to Bond's personality.

Short and to the point; could be used for story time.