AUTHOR: Randall Munroe
RELEASE DATE: September 2014
PUBLISHER: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
PAGES: 303 pages
GENRE: Nonfiction
OVERALL RATING: 3/5
APPROPRIATE AGE: grades 9-12, adult (full of totally over-your-head information)
SUMMARY: The title of this book pretty much sums up the entire thing. This is a book full of scientific answers to complete absurd questions. There is no better way to explain it. People write to the author with questions like: "What would happen if the earth stopped spinning?", "What would happen if everyone actually had only one soulmate?","How hard would a hockey puck have to be shot to be able to knock the goalie backward into the net?" The author then completes some crazy experiment or off-the-wall calculations to get the correct answer.
FAVORITE QUOTE: "Disclaimer: Do not try any of this at home. The author of this book is an Internet cartoonist, not a health of safety expert. He likes it when things catch fire or explode, which means he does not have your best interests in mind."
WHAT I LIKED: I was challenged to read this book in the audiobook format as part of the YALSA 2016 #HubChallenge. When I saw that it was Wil Wheaton as the narrator, the fangirl in my totally came out and I had to read this book first! I realize that listening to the book, I missed out on all of the infamous cartoon drawings by the famous XKCD, but I honestly do not think I could have gotten through the book on my own. A lot of the explanations are completely over my head, and I consider myself highly intelligent, I mean, I have three college degrees.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I thought this book was enlightening, eye-opening, mind blowing, etc. There is no other way to describe it. But it is definitely not for the Young Adult audience. Any geek, or out-of-the-box thinker would enjoy this book. Fans of the TV show, Mythbusters would enjoy this book. But its audience is definitely limited.
READALIKES: The MythBusters with Jamie Hyneman and Adam SavageWHAT I DIDN'T LIKE: I thought this book was enlightening, eye-opening, mind blowing, etc. There is no other way to describe it. But it is definitely not for the Young Adult audience. Any geek, or out-of-the-box thinker would enjoy this book. Fans of the TV show, Mythbusters would enjoy this book. But its audience is definitely limited.
BOOK TRAILER: Listen to the first three minutes of the audiobook as read by Will Wheaton
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