Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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The Puzzler: One Man's Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life by A.J. Jacobs

September 14, 2023 by Halbs Leave a Comment

I chose The Puzzler for my guy book club meeting this month, and it did not disappoint. We did talk about the book at our meeting, but my favorite part of the discussion was an impromptu show-and-tell session. Items included a lock-picking learning kit (with a clear Master-style lock so you can see the pins move), a legal puzzle as told through state law and agency regulation, an authentic Japanese puzzle box from the 90s, and a painfully detailed step-by-step children’s story explaining the moves to […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: A.J. Jacobs, games, puzzles

Halbs's CBR15 Review No:36 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: A.J. Jacobs, games, puzzles ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

I Don’t Have a Clue

The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs

May 15, 2022 by jeverett15 Leave a Comment

The Puzzler: One Man’s Quest to Solve the Most Baffling Puzzles Ever, from Crosswords to Jigsaws to the Meaning of Life is the newest effort by author and human lab-rat A.J. Jacobs. After previously attempting such feats as reading the entire Oxford English Dictionary and spending an entire year living by all of the precepts of The Bible, here Jacobs takes a crack at learning about humanity through the unlikely prism of puzzles. Are they just time-wasters or do they have something profound to say […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: A.J. Jacobs

jeverett15's CBR14 Review No:21 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: A.J. Jacobs ·
· 0 Comments

A surprisingly earnest (and not surprisingly literal) exploration of the Bible.

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs

March 1, 2021 by narfna 2 Comments

Feels good to finally knock this off my TBR after 13 years, and it was a pretty good read, but I think I wanted more from it. This mindset is puzzling, because I was actually expecting less than what I got here. I was expecting this to be more of a satirical, humorous, critical exploration of the Bible. And it was not that! At all! Jacobs is extremely, beyond-call sincere in his exploration. He’s funny, but the humor is secondary. His quest comes first. (He […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction, Religion Tagged With: #memoir, A.J. Jacobs, Christianity, experimental journalism, humor, Judaism, narfna, non fiction, Religion, The Bible, the year of living biblically

narfna's CBR13 Review No:19 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Non-Fiction, Religion · Tags: #memoir, A.J. Jacobs, Christianity, experimental journalism, humor, Judaism, narfna, non fiction, Religion, The Bible, the year of living biblically ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Relatively good

It’s All Relative by A.J. Jacobs

February 3, 2019 by octothorp Leave a Comment

This book and the underlying family reunion that the author is organizing (and structuring the book around) get away from him, but given the scope it’s hard to hold a grudge.  A.J. Jacobs seems to hold the largest family reunion for his global extended relations, in hopes of proving that there is more that unites us than divides us, all while doing a deep dive into his extended family tree, in the breezy creative non-fictional style of his previous books.  I got twisted writing that, […]

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Non-Fiction Tagged With: A.J. Jacobs

octothorp's CBR11 Review No:6 · Genres: Biography/Memoir, Comedy/Humor, Non-Fiction · Tags: A.J. Jacobs ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

We Are Family

December 31, 2017 by ASKReviews Leave a Comment

Best for: Fans of the experiential non-fiction genre. (I don’t know if that’s actually a thing; it’s just what I call books based on people doing something and then writing about it. Like Morgan Spurlock’s SuperSize Me, but in book form.) In a nutshell: Author Jacobs decides to explore the connection between all of us, via our ancestors. Line that sticks with me: “You want to be a Steve Jobs? You want to be an Albert Einstein? Don’t ever confuse that with being a good […]

Filed Under: Non-Fiction Tagged With: A.J. Jacobs

ASKReviews's CBR9 Review No:103 · Genres: Non-Fiction · Tags: A.J. Jacobs ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

That time A.J. Jacobs grew out his earlocks for his book.

December 26, 2016 by bonnie Leave a Comment

When I first participated in the CBR Book Exchange, emmalita had graciously gifted me two books: The Year of Living Biblically and Colm Toibin’s The Master. I am in the process of reading the Books I Own But Have Not Read, and I thought this would be a great addition to my bookshelves. As it turns out, I was right. I’ve long enjoyed Jacobs’ shorter works, and reading a whole book was a great way to dive into his style. Read my full review here!

Filed Under: Biography/Memoir Tagged With: A.J. Jacobs, bonnie

bonnie's CBR8 Review No:135 · Genres: Biography/Memoir · Tags: A.J. Jacobs, bonnie ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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