Dragonfly in Amber surpasses its prequel in both quality and quantity, which is quite an impressive feat. The few flaws that I found in Outlander (like Claire making an idiot out of herself a bit too often) have disappeared and I found the story even more gripping than the original with its vast and dizzying array of historical figures. Gabaldon has a gift for words and I'm already cheerfully devouring her third novel in the series.

I read this book because I was already two books into the trilogy and really had to find out what happened. And there is a really good and exciting plot buried under all the unnecessary pages. Had this book been 400 or even 500 pages long, it would have been fine. But there was so much extra verbiage and whining, especially, on the part of the main character that there were moments (the entire last two thirds of the book, for example), when I was just shouting at the book to get on with it.
But at least finishing the series was satisfying.

An enjoyable read. McEwan is always good at people, whether he wants you to love them, hate them or laugh at them. This book is filled with all three as McEwan takes your leisurely through the story, never hurrying his pace and never forcing you to read on. This is, among other things, a good book to read in increments.

Brown's book is a very interesting memoir of his astronomical career and discoveries of several dwarf planets. It was a bit lighter on the science than I would have liked, and his somewhat sparse details about the actual astronomy behind some of his work left me a bit disappointed. For what it is, though, a recollection of his life and how that ties into the changes in our view of the solar system, How I Killed Pluto is a fun read and, if nothing else, a non-media voice from inside a fascinating controversy.