It's the miscellany, the entertaining book of lists, that little gem with snippets of bite sized bits of information and knowledge that is absolutely perfect for a few minutes when one's mind is basically unoccupied, whilst other functions are taking precedence.
I have had four particular titles in my 'loo' for a while now, great little titles that deliver a paragraph or two of interesting stuff, without the commitment to a full, cover to cover read.
So, without further ado, here they are!
I Never Knew That About England by Christopher Winn
with 277 pages of titbits and trivia from the thirty nine counties of England, from the only cathedral in the country to have three spires, to where the Badminton horse trials were 'invented', this great book can be dipped into hundreds of times without finding oneself bored. a veritable compendium of facts and anecdotes.
The Celebrated Pedestrian from BBC Books
This miscellany from the pages of BBC History Magazine has some wonderful tales, from Paraguay's brief legalisation of Polygamy in the 1870s to ten notable people who were also librarians. You'll be amused and intrigued by the great and the not so great moments and stories from history in this awesome book.
Red Herrings And White Elephants by Albert Jack
This great book gives us the origins of all those common little phrases that trip off of our tongues on a daily basis, whether someone is 'Queering your pitch' or 'talking turkey' this informative tome will set you straight on the background of these wonderful turns of phrase.
The Good, The Bad And The Unready by Robert Easton
This time we get to see the back story behind the nicknames of the great and the good of history. Why was Peter "The Great'? Why was Ptolemy 'the Chickpea'?? This is where you need to go to get the low down on them all.
Toilet reading material is out there people, it's not just a time to check your emails or Facebook posts, so get reading!!
(And yes, I did come up with the idea for this post, sitting on the loo...)
No comments:
Post a Comment