"And what is the use of a book, thought Alice, without pictures or conversations?" -- Lewis Carroll

Some days I agree with Alice. I love books with pictures and visuals. I love graphs and tables. I love little illustrations here and there. One of my favorites as of late has been Dawn of the Dreadfuls which had great line drawings of zombies and mid-action shots. They were a great surprise. Plus the cover is all kinds of awesome. I also just checked out Freakanomics, the illustrated edition, from the library. I loved the book before, but so much more with the inclusion of graphs, charts, and cartoons. It really added to the experience. As a bonus, it kept me focused on the page. I didn't wander away at all, instead really focusing on the text because I was drawn in by the visuals.

So, Alice it's okay. You can expect pictures and conversations from books. They make the written word that much more enjoyable.