A wonderful and accessible little ditty of history full of enticing facts and British charm.
The Year 1000: What Life was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger
First, let me speak to the effectiveness of this book's presentation. Playing off of the Julius Work Calendar, the authors have twelve chapters that detail how life was like during that specific month.
There's a lot of religious history in here, which makes plenty of sense: life in 1000 AD was extremely religious, and any accounts of life from that time, if not from a nobleman or king's court, were from the monasteries and clerics. The heartstrings tug whenever Lacey and Danziger--with clear remorse--woefully remind the reader that King Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries destroyed hundreds of years of history. Details on food, the Celtic Fringe (what a cool thing! I didn't even know that!), the idiosyncrasies of the kings of the past, and the constant threat of Vikings and Germanic tribes are in great form here.
As someone who loves expertly blended works of geography and history, I did enjoy this. There are some very weird areas of the world that have piqued my interest: Northern Europe, especially the British Isles, circa this time; Siberian Russia and other very cold climes; The Great Plains of the US from 1800-1940; and the Scramble for Africa.
A quick read at 200 pages, full of wonderful voice, fact, presentation, and information. Part of me wants to go watch Braveheart now.
Rating: 8/10
Lightbulb!
Love it.
In unrelated news, I've had an itching to play The Oregon Trail. I usually get that about three or four times a year. My personal favorite versions are the 3rd edition and the 5th edition, which means, at about ten-fifteen years old, the technology is just so ancient (sigh) that I think our PC laptop starts giggling when I put my 5th edition CD into the reader.
Sometimes--randomly, haphazardly, if the PC takes pity on my poor nostalgic self--the game loads.
In unrelated news, I've had an itching to play The Oregon Trail. I usually get that about three or four times a year. My personal favorite versions are the 3rd edition and the 5th edition, which means, at about ten-fifteen years old, the technology is just so ancient (sigh) that I think our PC laptop starts giggling when I put my 5th edition CD into the reader.
Sometimes--randomly, haphazardly, if the PC takes pity on my poor nostalgic self--the game loads.
Quotes to Write By #7
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
"What makes a great story is a climax that's surprising yet inevitable." --The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean, page 56.
Good Reads
http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1809615-jillian
That's my profile! I made it in December 2008 (?!) and just went back to it. I've had some fun rating some books. Add me/I'll add you!
The thing about this website is that not only does it generate some really great book titles, but it also reminds me how sad it is that I haven't read so many great classics, either.
That's my profile! I made it in December 2008 (?!) and just went back to it. I've had some fun rating some books. Add me/I'll add you!
The thing about this website is that not only does it generate some really great book titles, but it also reminds me how sad it is that I haven't read so many great classics, either.
Book Journal: Scorecasting by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim
Friday, October 5, 2012
A great read for anyone interested in sports, logic, luck, statistics, economics... and anyone interested in more than the wild bleatings of crazy (if innocuous) fans.
Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences behind how Sports are Played and Games are Won by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim
What an interesting read! The rise of college and professional football season usually means a vaulted interest in sports literature and sports nonfiction (for me, at least). So I drafted up a list of football-related books to devour (another book review on the sport is forthcoming) and this one came in the mail first.
Moskowitz and Wertheim have a writing style that is very accessible, taking loftier subjects like mathematics and economics and presenting them in a fashion that sports fans will appreciate. The use of graphs, multisport-examples, and real-life historical situations are also very effective. Since my realization that I need to eventually get my higher degree in science/health/environmental journalism, I've become more and more interested in reading books that take denser subjects and effectively communicate them to the general public. It's not everyone's cup of tea--think of long-winded book review on narrative science or Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler in that one Big Bang Theory episode--but I think it's very important. We've got to educate and communicate with everyone, not just the people who are already a step ahead!
The stats and theories are fun, and sports fans will enjoy the wide scope of examples. As someone with a love of sports, if slightly less so for certain games, a few of the chapters or scnearios devoted to, say, the stats of baseball or hockey were a bit slow for me, but that comes with the territory.
However, like any nonfiction narrative, it goes without saying that Moskowitz and Wertheim's studies should be considered alongside others. There are a few facts they leave out, particularly with benching players for certain scenarios, and a few controlling elements they sometimes ignore. Some studies don't have many sources, and I have to admit I was surpised by the abruptness of some of the super-short chapters, which didn't do much to convince me of their theories. Additionally, for the HFA chapters, I found it very interesting and plausible that crowds influence referees, but wonder why, when a lot of studies have shown, they didn't talk about the influence of crowds in American football. As a former basketball player, I can attest that crowd noise doesn't really affect a free-throw shooter like they probably believe, but communication is pretty big for NFL teams, where the final result is only as good as every single player on the field.
Still, this is a very interesting read, and will definitely draw up questions, answers, and discussions--and let's be real, anything that gets people talking is great. Moskowitz and Wertheim are definitely on a hot path here, and have a lot going on. I think if they take it a step up, they've got some great leads, and can expand and add even more depth to their work. Definitely worth it; a really interesting read.
7.5/10
Scorecasting: The Hidden Influences behind how Sports are Played and Games are Won by Tobias J. Moskowitz and L. Jon Wertheim
What an interesting read! The rise of college and professional football season usually means a vaulted interest in sports literature and sports nonfiction (for me, at least). So I drafted up a list of football-related books to devour (another book review on the sport is forthcoming) and this one came in the mail first.
Moskowitz and Wertheim have a writing style that is very accessible, taking loftier subjects like mathematics and economics and presenting them in a fashion that sports fans will appreciate. The use of graphs, multisport-examples, and real-life historical situations are also very effective. Since my realization that I need to eventually get my higher degree in science/health/environmental journalism, I've become more and more interested in reading books that take denser subjects and effectively communicate them to the general public. It's not everyone's cup of tea--think of long-winded book review on narrative science or Sheldon Cooper and Amy Farrah Fowler in that one Big Bang Theory episode--but I think it's very important. We've got to educate and communicate with everyone, not just the people who are already a step ahead!
The stats and theories are fun, and sports fans will enjoy the wide scope of examples. As someone with a love of sports, if slightly less so for certain games, a few of the chapters or scnearios devoted to, say, the stats of baseball or hockey were a bit slow for me, but that comes with the territory.
However, like any nonfiction narrative, it goes without saying that Moskowitz and Wertheim's studies should be considered alongside others. There are a few facts they leave out, particularly with benching players for certain scenarios, and a few controlling elements they sometimes ignore. Some studies don't have many sources, and I have to admit I was surpised by the abruptness of some of the super-short chapters, which didn't do much to convince me of their theories. Additionally, for the HFA chapters, I found it very interesting and plausible that crowds influence referees, but wonder why, when a lot of studies have shown, they didn't talk about the influence of crowds in American football. As a former basketball player, I can attest that crowd noise doesn't really affect a free-throw shooter like they probably believe, but communication is pretty big for NFL teams, where the final result is only as good as every single player on the field.
Still, this is a very interesting read, and will definitely draw up questions, answers, and discussions--and let's be real, anything that gets people talking is great. Moskowitz and Wertheim are definitely on a hot path here, and have a lot going on. I think if they take it a step up, they've got some great leads, and can expand and add even more depth to their work. Definitely worth it; a really interesting read.
7.5/10
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