Brain Fuel

199 Mind-Expanding Inquiries into the Science of Everyday Life, by Joe Schwarcz.

Quickie Recap:Schwarcz presents little-known food for thought, such as "What is liberty cabbage?", "What is the link between Neil Armstrong and coloured mouthpieces for trumpets?" and "What is the military use of silly string?"

Quickie Review: Friends don't let friends drink and drive; editors don't let writers use bad puns. Or at least they shouldn't. This book was rife with them, and with atrocious writing, both of which may have been forgiven if Schwarcz had lived up to his end of the bargain and provided any measure of mind expansion but in truth, I was beyond bored by this book. I had a whole stack of seemingly promising reads but I was on a high from other good non-fiction reads, so I picked this one up and was utterly disappointed. The content just wasn't there. Even as a book of general trivia it fails because it never asks questions that I really cared to hear answered. The book failed repeatedly to pique my curiosity and I found it a chore to get through.

Quickie Recommendation: Try 13 Things that Don't Make Sense instead.