Book Review: The QI Book of General Ignorance by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

I was pretty close to finishing this one before I posted last week, and I was considering holding off until I could add this one as well, but I felt as though I just needed to write something - anything - to start getting back into a habit again. Anyhow, onto the quasi-book review.

The QI Book Of General Ignorance - John Lloyd and John Mitchinson

Image Credit: Amazon

Know your way around pub trivia? Think you have a reasonable grasp of general knowledge? Think again. This book lives up to its advertised 'everything you think you know is wrong' tag line. The book is essentially a collection of short articles, usually no more than a page or two each, that drill down into a question that you might believe that you know the answer to. The results are usually surprising, confusing and amusing; proof that the truth is always stranger than fiction.

Because of the short lengths of the articles, it was a great read at work - you could easily pick it up and put it back down after reading the answers to a few questions. However, the downside of the format was that it was easy to become overwhelmed by new information, and with no coherent 'story line' (topics seemed to flow into one another, but there was often not much connecting one article to the next) it didn't really encourage you to keep on reading, so making progress is slow.

Overall though, it was an interesting read. Topics covered pretty much everything from sports to nature to religion, science, history and more.

Book Review: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett

Time to get back on the horse; writing recently has been difficult because Jess and I have been moving house. Having now gone through that, and getting somewhat settled into a new routine, it's time I got back into a habit of putting pen to paper. Or in this case, keystrokes to internet.

Given Jess and I have been busy packing up our stuff, there hasn't been a lot of time to devote to other pursuits. I've only got one book finished in the last little while:

Wyrd Sisters - Terry Pratchett

Image credit: Amazon.com; buy it here

Wyrd Sisters centers around three witches who have to meddle - not meddle, witches never meddle - influence the affairs of the kingdom of Lancre after the king is assassinated by the Duke, his mad brother, planned by the built-like-a-fridge Duchess. The king's firstborn baby son is delivered into the hands of the coven of witches, while the king, by virtue of having a strong anthromorphogenic field, remains undead enough to haunt his crumbling castle and even play a part in the events that unfold. Granny Weatherwax makes a comeback (the last book she was in was Equal Rites, I think), as does Death (one of my favourites). A good read, and there's also a cartoon adaptation of the story for the 'I'll just wait for the movie'-types.

Done Lists and Social Media for Musicians

Quick update today - so I've burnt through a couple of eBooks that I've had sitting around lately. While I'm not going to count them as part of my reading goal due to their short length (less than 50 pages containing a lot of graphics and white space), I thought they might be useful for others. Click the title to view and/or download.

The Musician's Guide to Social Media

A basic, step-by-step introduction to the many social media platforms out there and how to use them to build an army of fans. Courtesy of Disc Makers.

The Busy Person's Guide to the Done List

The Done List is a new technique I've been trying out to try to shift my perspective on productivity. It focuses on reflecting and celebrating the progress you make each day. The eBook explains a bit of the rationale behind the practice - why it works and (obviously) why you should be using iDoneThis. If you're interested, iDoneThis is a webapp which automatically sends you an email at the end of each day asking you what you got done. Over time, the emails dig up your older responses (this is what you did a month ago, or three months ago etc.), allowing you to see the progress you've made during that time. I've found it quite useful and motivating. The eBook is courtesy of iDoneThis.