Seven years ago, my wife and I thought we were going to be clever and original if we named our daughter "Hannah". We didn't know any Hannahs in our generation. But now it seems every other family had a "Hannah" in the 1990s. After reading Lieberson's book, I understand that we got swept up in one of the many waves of name-fashions that he so ably chronicles. 

This is an entertaining book, remarkably so considering the author's intention which was to write a serious work of academic deep-think. So there's a great deal of sociologist talk, which is decidedly not entertaining. But, just as the cartoons redeem even the worst issues of the _New Yorker_ , this book is worth getting just for the many statistical charts. You can follow the spectacular career of "Jennifer", the ups and downs of Biblical names, learn about names and social class, and so on. Finally, I recommend this book to economists who are interested in fads and herd behavior. 

(amazon.com: 8 people found this helpful)

Thomas the Tank Engine game by Atari

My first impressions were not good. The game console didn't work with my keyboard. Once I found a suitable keyboard, the game itself seemed like a bunch of frustrating dead ends; I couldn't find anything, go anywhere (except the pointless laps around the island), or get anything done.

I would have gladly chucked this game, but for my Thomas-crazed 4-year-old's insistence that we persevere. We do the landslide repair pretty competently now. We can do the mailbag sorting game too, when we can get there (some days it seems we're doomed to go around and around the island).

I suppose that if I, or any of the many other frustrated reviewers, spent an hour alone with this game, we could figure most of it out. The problem is that so far I've only played this game while competing for the controls with said 4-year-old and distracted by his impatience with my ineptitude.

Considering the age of the typical Thomas fan, this game is unsuitable for use as a baby sitter. You'll need to learn the game, and then probably always be there to help your kid with it. Ultimately, maybe that's not a bad thing.

(amazon.com: 3 people found this helpful)