If you enjoy the QI programme, you’ll love this fantastic collection of the weird and the wonderful. I got it in the Kindle format for the bargain price of 20p and read it all the way through without stopping. Now I’m going through it again reading out loud to anyone who’ll listen. One point is that this is probably better bought in the print format as it’s the perfect coffee table book; your friends will enjoy dipping in – but they’ll have trouble putting it down.
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This review is from: 1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off (Hardcover)
As a keen contestant in quizzes, I own a fair-sized selection of general ‘trivia’ books, and so it was with keen anticipation that I opened this book, the latest from the ‘QI’ stable. (I should make clear at the outset that I have met James Harkin, one of the writers, a couple of times, and correspond with him occasionally.)
The standard of ‘QI’ books has generally been high in the past (I was particularly fond of the now-discontinued series of annuals!) so I had high hopes for this. The presentation of the book is simple – the 1,227 facts are presented four to a page throughout the book. They are not explicitly divided into themes although at many points similar facts are collected together, or one fact relates somehow to the next. This works well and I found that reading the book cover-to-cover worked well – although of course, as with any work of this kind, the book can be dipped into as well.
The acid test of books of this kind lies in the choice of facts – too many such works trot out the usual chestnuts, reminding you for the 27th time that (e.g.) duelling is legal in Paraguay but only if the participants are registered blood donors. This book passes this test convincingly. Even for the dedicated trivia-lover, there are plenty of very novel facts in here and the bar has been set high in terms of quite-interestingness. I won’t spoil the surprises by giving any examples but there are some real beauties in here.
All told, this would make an ideal stocking filler Christmas present for anyone interested in facts and trivia, and is one of the best books of this kind I have read – it’s not as encyclopaedic as Mitchell Symons’ ‘This Book’ trilogy, but the standard of interestingness is as high (if not higher).
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This review is from: 1,227 QI Facts To Blow Your Socks Off (Hardcover)
Where else could you find out that Richard Gere’s middle name is Tiffany? The joy of this book is that the facts are funny as well as clever, and it is a lot of fun reading them aloud to someone else. Perk up your Christmas Day by giving this to the cracker-joke bore in your family!
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A delight,
If you enjoy the QI programme, you’ll love this fantastic collection of the weird and the wonderful. I got it in the Kindle format for the bargain price of 20p and read it all the way through without stopping. Now I’m going through it again reading out loud to anyone who’ll listen. One point is that this is probably better bought in the print format as it’s the perfect coffee table book; your friends will enjoy dipping in – but they’ll have trouble putting it down.
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|A very entertaining collection of facts,
As a keen contestant in quizzes, I own a fair-sized selection of general ‘trivia’ books, and so it was with keen anticipation that I opened this book, the latest from the ‘QI’ stable. (I should make clear at the outset that I have met James Harkin, one of the writers, a couple of times, and correspond with him occasionally.)
The standard of ‘QI’ books has generally been high in the past (I was particularly fond of the now-discontinued series of annuals!) so I had high hopes for this. The presentation of the book is simple – the 1,227 facts are presented four to a page throughout the book. They are not explicitly divided into themes although at many points similar facts are collected together, or one fact relates somehow to the next. This works well and I found that reading the book cover-to-cover worked well – although of course, as with any work of this kind, the book can be dipped into as well.
The acid test of books of this kind lies in the choice of facts – too many such works trot out the usual chestnuts, reminding you for the 27th time that (e.g.) duelling is legal in Paraguay but only if the participants are registered blood donors. This book passes this test convincingly. Even for the dedicated trivia-lover, there are plenty of very novel facts in here and the bar has been set high in terms of quite-interestingness. I won’t spoil the surprises by giving any examples but there are some real beauties in here.
All told, this would make an ideal stocking filler Christmas present for anyone interested in facts and trivia, and is one of the best books of this kind I have read – it’s not as encyclopaedic as Mitchell Symons’ ‘This Book’ trilogy, but the standard of interestingness is as high (if not higher).
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|Clever and funny,
Where else could you find out that Richard Gere’s middle name is Tiffany? The joy of this book is that the facts are funny as well as clever, and it is a lot of fun reading them aloud to someone else. Perk up your Christmas Day by giving this to the cracker-joke bore in your family!
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