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Rating: 
Summary: How Aggravating!!
Review: A totally, delightfully. annoying read! Laura Lee has compiled a list of truly frustrating items and then given an explanation for each that either leaves you laughing or ready to tackle the outrageous items she describes. The illustrations are wonderful, and at times add an even deeper laugh! Everyone I have shown the book to immediately looks for the thing that aggravates them the most and inevitably it is there! In fact I have a hard time getting the book back from them, how vexxing! I highly recommend this book and all of its bothersome entries.
Rating:
Summary: How Aggravating!!
Review: A totally, delightfully. annoying read! Laura Lee has compiled a list of truly frustrating items and then given an explanation for each that either leaves you laughing or ready to tackle the outrageous items she describes. The illustrations are wonderful, and at times add an even deeper laugh! Everyone I have shown the book to immediately looks for the thing that aggravates them the most and inevitably it is there! In fact I have a hard time getting the book back from them, how vexxing! I highly recommend this book and all of its bothersome entries.
Rating: 
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: I very much recommend this book. It was a quick read on my daily train commute and I actually resented getting off the train and walking home (it is difficult to read in the dark while you're walking). However, I found a few things "aggravating" about it.
First, the term "aggravating" is being misused here since the word is not synonymous with "annoying", which would have been the correct one to use. "Aggravating" means getting or making something worse but it has become one of those slang words currently en vogue (similar to "impact", which has lately become an annoying substitute for "affect"). Second, there are at least half a dozen misspelled words in the book (not typos, mind you, but misspelled words - the difference being that misspelled words are spelled that way on purpose, and for the wrong reason).
One example is "respiratory track (sic)". These misspelled words are distracting and do not inspire confidence in the thoroughness of the research.Nevertheless, my overall evaluation of this book is overwhelmingly positive and I can't wait for the sequel (quite a few more annoying things I can think of!)
Rating:
Summary: informative and hilarious!
Review: Laura Lee has done it once again. Her gift of providing facts with entertainment is astounding. I guarantee you'll find answers to questions about annoying issues that you've always wondered about, but never had time to explore. From "Why do TV Commercials Blare" to my personal favorite "Why does the sandwich fall butter side down" there's fun on every page. Extremely well written, this is the perfect book to read while waiting for appointments, or riding the bus. It's segmented alphabetically, and provides information you've always wondered about along with a wit and humor that leaves you smiling. It's a book to be revisited over and over and makes an excellent gift for everyone! It can generate the most marvelous conversations. If you're like me, the next time you knock your sandwich off the plate and it tumbles to the floor, you'll have a smile on your face. Amazingly, some things are less annoying when you know the facts. I look forward to a sequel!
Rating:
Summary: A Great Gift
Review: Laura Lee has done it once again. Her gift of providing facts with entertainment is astounding. I guarantee you'll find answers to questions about annoying issues that you've always wondered about, but never had time to explore. From "Why do TV Commercials Blare" to my personal favorite "Why does the sandwich fall butter side down" there's fun on every page. Extremely well written, this is the perfect book to read while waiting for appointments, or riding the bus. It's segmented alphabetically, and provides information you've always wondered about along with a wit and humor that leaves you smiling. It's a book to be revisited over and over and makes an excellent gift for everyone! It can generate the most marvelous conversations. If you're like me, the next time you knock your sandwich off the plate and it tumbles to the floor, you'll have a smile on your face. Amazingly, some things are less annoying when you know the facts. I look forward to a sequel!
Rating:
Summary: carry it with you
Review: This book is a real hoot. I take it with me when I travel and when people see me reading it they invariably ask me about it. Most of these are serious aggravations but handled in a typicaly British humourous fashion. Some entries are less serious such as: Why is the your destination always on the fold of your map? Using the equation P = A/mn = 2b(2/m + 1/n - 4b/mn), scientists determined there is a better than 50-50 chance your destination on a map will fall into the Murphy Zone - after Murphy's Law - around the edge of the map or in the crease This and other hilarious gems is a sure fire conversation maker.
Rating:
Summary: informative and hilarious!
Review: This book is awesome, not only does it discuss the things that aggravate and irk is, but Laura Lee goes in depth and explains the reason and science behind them, from crinkly candy wrappers to lost luggage to slow drivers in the fast lane! I enjoyed this book and its humor so much, I hope Laura Lee writes another book on the things that aggravate us!
Rating:
Summary: Interesting book... but fuzzy market
Review: This book takes a "Mr. Science" approach to a variety of life's annoyances, from airline delays to the common cold to hemorrhoids. The clear scientific explanations (with appropriate tongue-in-cheek humor) and schematic illustrations are those that you might find in any practical "how things work" guide. The conceit here is that instead of explaining spaceflight or microwave ovens we are learning about flatulence, ice cream headaches and paper cuts. It's an amusing concept done in an engaging and genuinely informative style, but it is hard to imagine this book flying off the shelves. Apparently, this is intended mainly as a gift book, but I am not sure who you would give it to. I suppose the Mr. Science in your life could use one, and it is good bathroom or waiting room book for 10-minute reads. It needs a better title and cover design--but too late now! (Compare to the "Imponderables" series, which had a good title that was carried into several books.)
Rating:
Summary: Aggravations and Semantics
Review: Using the word "aggravation" in the sense of "annoyance" is not incorrect. While most dictionaries list the first definition of "aggravation" as "to make things worse," they also list as a second or third defnition the use of "aggravation" as a synonym for "annoyance." The American Heritage Dictionary, for example, gives the definition of aggravation as: 1. The act of aggravating or the state of being aggravated. 2. A source of continuing, increasing irritation or trouble. 3. Exasperation. The Cambridge Dictionary lists a definition of "aggravation" as "adj informal annoyance." So this use of "aggravation" is accepted. As for mispelled words in the text, I would not use that as a guage of how well or poorly a book is researched. After the author writes a book, it goes through the hands of several editors. This book has copius notes at the end that point to a great deal of research including scientific journals and personal interviews. This seems relatively uncommon for this type of light entertainment reference. Incidentally, "respiratory" is the correct spelling according to Mirriam Webster, The Cambridge Dictionary of American English, Webster's Revised Unabridged, and The American Heritage Dictionary which I have here at my desk.
Rating:
Summary: Aggravations and Semantics
Review: Using the word "aggravation" in the sense of "annoyance" is not incorrect. While most dictionaries list the first definition of "aggravation" as "to make things worse," they also list as a second or third defnition the use of "aggravation" as a synonym for "annoyance." The American Heritage Dictionary, for example, gives the definition of aggravation as: 1. The act of aggravating or the state of being aggravated. 2. A source of continuing, increasing irritation or trouble. 3. Exasperation. The Cambridge Dictionary lists a definition of "aggravation" as "adj informal annoyance." So this use of "aggravation" is accepted. As for mispelled words in the text, I would not use that as a guage of how well or poorly a book is researched. After the author writes a book, it goes through the hands of several editors. This book has copius notes at the end that point to a great deal of research including scientific journals and personal interviews. This seems relatively uncommon for this type of light entertainment reference. Incidentally, "respiratory" is the correct spelling according to Mirriam Webster, The Cambridge Dictionary of American English, Webster's Revised Unabridged, and The American Heritage Dictionary which I have here at my desk.
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