I love this book and wanted to buy a copy for a friend for Xmas. I'm glad I leafed through it because the pages have a grey cross-hatching behind the text that makes it difficult to read. I don't know if this was meant as a design feature (bad idea) or is just a bad print job. I think it's the latter because the cross-hatching isn't consistent from page to page, darker on some pages than on others. I can't give it as a gift, even as a stocking-stuffer. Just to be clear, the publisher is HarperPerennial. Do not buy from this publisher. Do read this book - just get another printing.