One of the things that I've realised as I get older is how
little of all of the knowledge in the world I will ever know. Once I left
university there was very little pressure to learn anything new. In fact, I
would say that I was probably in the minority as I kept on actively studying
after leaving (Yay Japanese I love you), but I feel like I’ve slowly become
more ignorant about a lot of things which I probably should know about. My mind
is full of useless knowledge about, for example, Buffy though. Buffy <3
Ahem, anyway, I’ve made a few attempts to sort of patch over
holes in my knowledge by reading stuff, asking my husband who knows a LOT about
lots of things I know nothing about – how the stock market works, for example,
and generally being interested in stuff that I actively ignored when I was
younger.. but to be honest, without anybody to push me into learning about
things, or an interesting book about the subject, there are a lot of things that I will probably never know about. I
think that a lot of people who are my age probably feel like that.
The author of these books, A. J. Jacobs felt that way too.
It is one of the reasons that he gives for starting the project that the book
is about: reading the whole of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Obviously this
whole premise means that the book is a little bit dated now, as I don’t think
that they even make print copies of it anymore. But, it’s an interesting
idea! The book is full of interesting little facts, and the sort of
self-deprecating humour that I prefer in my books. It also deals with the
authors struggles to start a family with his wife, which as a married woman who
is approaching her late 20s (late 20s is from 28 ish right?? I still have at least
half a year to go, right??), is an area that seems much more relevant to me
than it would have done a few years ago.
It also speaks to the side of me that used to spend hours on Encarta when I was little reading about... elephants and stuff. Because elephants are awesome.
It also speaks to the side of me that used to spend hours on Encarta when I was little reading about... elephants and stuff. Because elephants are awesome.
The Know-It-All is ideal for pre-sleep reading, mainly
because of the layout. Each letter of the alphabet is a chapter, and the
chapters are split up into little segments – sometimes just a few lines long,
sometimes a few pages – for words starting with that letter. This means that
you can read for just a few minutes and be at a good place to stop. That is
exactly what I want before I sleep, as I hate stopping in the middle of something. It also meant that I stretched this book out over a few weeks, which
also made it more enjoyable!
I would recommend it for anybody who is looking for a light
but interesting read.
