The Ultimate Book of Top Ten Lists: A Mind-Boggling Collection of Fun, Fascinating and Bizarre Facts on Movies, Music, Sports, Crime, Celebrities, History, Trivia and More
A collection of obscure facts, impressive achievements, despicable crimes, bizarre records, unforgettable films and more from the authors of listverse.com.Discover bizarre facts, amazing trivia, astonishing mysteries, natural wonders, little-known people, useful tips and much more in this mammoth bathroom reader. From crime, movies and music to science, history and literature, this book offers an incredible array of intriguing top-ten lists, • Urban Legends—Debunked• Influential People Who Never Lived• Ancient Methods of Execution• Poisonous Foods We Love to Eat• Inventions of the Middle Ages• Gruesome Fairytale Origins• Secret Societies• Amazing Film Swordfights• Bizarre Animal Mating Rituals• Misconceptions About Evolution• Tips for Frugal Living• Fascinating Graveyards You Must See
Jamie Frater started his professional life as a software developer until he abandoned it to do postgraduate studies in opera at the Royal College of Music in London. Due to an insatiable desire to share fascinating, obscure, and bizarre facts, he created Listverse and left the singing for the shower.
He currently divides his time between managing and editing for Listverse, learning about all things obscure, and trying to find time for a social life.
I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love all of the interesting trivia presented in this book, but I hate the author's obvious religious and political biases.
Κάποιες λίστες έχουν ενδιαφέρον, άλλες τελείως αδιάφορες. Βιβλία που δε χρειάζεται να σκέφτεσαι ιδανικά για μικρές διαδρομές σε λεωφορεία, μετρό και... τουαλέτες.
Some of this was interesting and worth reading, but I stress the word SOME. The author is so clearly trying to worm his hatered of Christianity and over-whelming love of evolution down your throat to the point it makes to want to gag. His "facts" of evolution are questional at best, considering even scientists will tell you that the evolution theory is flawed when you take in the 1st and 2nd Laws of Thremodynamics, you know those silly little laws that science is based on!! And lets not bother to get into the law of Cause and Effect. Healthy debate is good. Coming to differing opinions is fine, but Mr. Frater needs to get over himself, considering much smarter and learned men can punch just as many holes in his beliefs as he feels he can in other peoples religion. I don't consider myself to be an overly religious person and the last time I walked into a church was for a funeral, but I detest belittling people for holding on to a faith. Good for them for going beyond themselves and believing in something that pushes them to be a better human being.
I would have given this book 5 stars but for a couple of things. First this book had several places where the editing was not that great. The problem was lines of text were repeated and in the wrong place. At first I thought I had read the passage wrong, but no it was just repeated. Now I know that many readers would find this to be distracting to say the least. It was for me. Then some items showed up on several different list so it was like reading the same thing over. However these two things did cause problems they still did not make the book unenjoyable. There was plenty of information to be had, because this book was not just a list of various items. It was a series of list, but with a summary for each item. With a book like you will read about somethings that you will be familiar with and some you are not. Still it does have a lot of information.
This book is interesting for the most part, but truly random. There really isn't any rhyme or reason as to why a certain subject was chosen for a "Top Ten" list, but whatever. Trivis buffs looking into improve their Trivial Pursuit chances will enjoy it.
The one drawback which kept me from a higher rating is the author bias that comes though in the writing. What's with the Disney vendetta? Sheesh
This was quite a fun diversion, and you can even learn from it. For instance, did you know that the Big Dipper is not a Constellation? The explanation can be found in "Top 10 Cool Facts about Space". I think I detected only one typo, in "Top 10 Fabulous Night Sky Objects Seen Through Binoculars", the constellation Perseus is misnamed "Peruses".
As a frequent visitor to Listverse and even a contibutor to the site I had been wanting to read this book for some time. As for the book like the web site the lists are hit or miss but would have something for everyone. Overall a good read that I would recomend.
One of my favorites ever is The Book of Lists. My mind isn't as starved for new trivia as it was back in those days, and these lists aren't quite of the same caliber, but it was still a fun book to browse through.
This book takes you to many fun facts or in many cases the author s opinions. From this book to go on to explore other area's of knowledge. It's all done with a simple writing style, so it is easy to get though. Sit down, relax and just enjoy.