If you are a frequent flyer like me, Ask the Pilot is a must read. The author – Patrick Smith – has been a pilot for about 20 years and has been writing about it for Salon.com for the past two years. The book is an extended Q&A session broken up into logical topics. Smith is witty, acerbic, and spares no one. I’ve read a few titillating “insiders guide to air travel” books (flight attendant stories, sex in bathrooms, dogs exploding, near collisions in the air) and they never really did much for me. Smith’s book is much more practical and interesting – I actually learned some stuff and – even though I’m not a nervous flyer – have new perspectives and have had some myths debunked.