more esoteric gifts given this holiday

comcast has kareoke -- gift from Ron to Adam and Elizabeth
Google Earth -- gift by Tom Kneafsey to Tom Daly to Ron
santa head bread -- Ron to Kasia
Mussolini -- Ron to Kasia

Mussolini is a classic in the "falling asleep" book genre, of which previous books are Padre Pio, a book about Padre Pio by Catholic Digest, Indiana History, excerpts from the indiana historical society newsletter, and ... now Mussolini (a biography).

characteristics include:

small type
thick but not too thick
polysyllabic / unfamiliar names
nonsensical or "who cares" statements made as though they are portentious, such as "he was born after lunch" and "Ominously, he did not speak until he was nearly three years old."
repetition of these "facts"
endnotes rather than footnotes of such "facts"
parlimentary procedure
obscure historical figures