Pratik

If you couldn't digest Roach's Gulp! (get it?), you should probably stay away from Bonk. This book is even better than the travails of your alimentary canal as it aims at a much lower level i.e. your genitals. No other physiological occurrences have been more important yet have been studied so less often.

Citing heavily from Masters and Johnson (BTW definitely watch ‘Masters of Sex' on Showtime), Kinsey, et al., Roach brings her inimitable humor to the science of sex. Some chapters will have you clenching the pages a little too tightly especially for men as she describes the bravery of some men to go the extra mile for science so that we would learn. Or maybe they just didn't have any option coz they screwed up (I'm full of puns today). If you've checked out the early part of ‘Orange is the New Black', you'll be not be surprised to know that women are equally unaware of their nether regions. In their defense, it's much more complex. Just like their minds.

So if you aren't a prude and can get thru lines such as ‘...if you thought defecation-induced orgasm was gross, think of the other way around' and didn't throw up your dinner, then you should definitely read Bonk. Perhaps you can impress the lady with science if not with your charms.

Imagine if Hitler instead of being long dead unexpectedly wakes up in Berlin in 2011, what would he make of the world today and more importantly, how would he be received? Vermes' fictional satire often bordering on dark comedy is written from the first-person narrative of ‘Herr Hitler', as he asks to called by people around him. It's uncanny how timely the book is considering the inexplicable rise of Trump in America and the similar sentiments he espouses unabashedly to gain popular support among the right-wing. People often consider extremist views as an edgy art form and seem to revel but does it mask a underlying agreement with the sentiments expressed? Although Vermes' Hitler is never taken seriously as political opinion, you can see the mental gymnastics his acquaintances perform while laughing with him as he maintains a poker face. Also, news that Mein Kamf has been republished in Germany and sold out within a day doesn't exactly inspire confidence that we're past bigotry yet (or are people simply trying to understand it better?)

PS. I loved the book cover. Excellent design indeed.

Robert Lynch conducted a study that analyzed if when we laugh, we reveal what's inside us by exposing participants to very edgy stand-up routines from comedian Bill Burr. So are you laughing at seemingly racist or sexist jokes because you secretly agree? If not, what's makes us laugh? Food for thought, eh?

Also, as in any time travel tale (I'm a sucker for those), there are plenty of hilarious moments when Herr Hitler tries to wrap his head around things that have changed (“Herr Starbuck seems to have coffee houses everywhere”).

Informative and hilarious. Not meant for the easily grossed-out. Roach approaches topics that you wouldn't otherwise discuss in polite company (burps, farts, poop, etc.) although they're as natural as our existence, not to mention, pivotal.

PS. Don't miss her footnotes. Some of her best humor is hidden among those.

As brilliant as his famous xkcd comic strip. Rich in scientific detail as he takes on insanely absurd hypotheticals. You may need basic knowledge about physics, chemistry, and biology to fully appreciate it but hey, if you completed high school and enjoy delving into “what ifs”, this is the book for you. I hope to read many more volumes of his work. Keep those questions flowing, people!

Five stars may be a one star too many given the criticisms faced by this book. While understandably, this book is aimed at the upper-middle class of parents (and the author admits that!), it contains plenty of advice and truth-telling that is applicable to most parents, unexpected circumstances notwithstanding. In fact, if life takes an untoward turn toward the unexpected that results in a significant loss of net worth or a downgrade in life style, your kids may be better prepared to handle the turn of fortune.

Even if most of the advice is geared toward the rich families e.g. like the kids from the 2-million-dollar home halving their footprint to a million-dollar-home and donating the difference in value to charity, it sets a precedent among the rich that may address several social ills prevalent today.

For most, the whole ‘rich kids of Instagram' and the opulent lifestyle they project on social media has a more deleterious effect on the other 99% who then try to emulate their lifestyle by going into debt or resorting to resentment that can manifest physically health-wise. Most of us don't resent the ultra rich but we do detest the obnoxious and privileged offsprings who seem to flaunt wealth while lecturing us about merit. If the advice in this book is heeded even by that segment of the population, it would make the world a much better place.

I give 5-stars mostly because of handy and pointed advice with plenty of real-life examples that apply to my current status. We've been subconsciously following most of the advice by having frank conversations with our son about money matters and even answering questions about buying price of our home. We do inculcate the role of budget and trade-offs when choosing gifts and we are definitely not shielding him from the realities of life. At times, we thought we may be going overboard and causing him to think we are pinching pennies but the book puts my mind at ease in suggesting that we may be on the right track. It may be better to err on the side of more financial management-oriented thinking than not.