Lists of Note // Shaun Usher

Why I'm reading
It's a big, shiny book of random lists from throughout history... how awesome is that?

Where I got the book
I got this as a review copy for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.

Expectations
Not entirely sure, since it's just so random.

So how was it?

First of all, this book is big, solid, glossy, gorgeous, and full of pictures -- exactly what you want in a coffee table book. I can't believe I got it as an early reviewer book, it's just so nice.

The content is a fun mix of all sorts of historical tidbits, from famous sources (Ben Franklin, Johnny Cash) to not-so-famous, to ancient and anonymous. Everything is transcribed, translated, and annotated as necessary, so you're not left staring blankly at 14th century vocabulary, cramped handwriting, or ancient Egyptian cursive.

It's not going to be everyone's cup of tea; I've definitely had to read through it in chunks, when I usually blow through books. But I'll take a slow read any day -- trying to force this stuff into a narrative would ruin the charm, and this book is so, so charming. It's everything it sets out to be, nothing more, nothing less.

My favorites so far, and I'm trying to limit myself... there's pretty much something for everyone in this book.

• Who killed JFK? : a handwritten list of potential JFK assassins written by his secretary of ten years, as she flew back to DC with the president's body. 
• Roget's thesaurus : handwritten!
• Heinlein's predictions : predictions from a great science fiction novelist for the year 2000; sadly, few have been realized.
• Wartime golf rules : how to handle WWII bombs and shrapnel on the golf course, in the spirit of "keep calm and carry on."
• Topics to be investigated : a list of topics that interested Leonardo da Vinci. Nothing has made me wish for a time machine more than this list. What is sneezing? What is yawning?
• .......