Travel Reads: “The Year of the Geek” by James Clarke

Part calendar, part encyclopedia, The Year of the Geek presents an infographic look at geek culture day-by-day. Geek culture, as demonstrated in this book, includes science, science fiction, television, comics, manga, anime, film and more. One day you’ll learn about Copernicus, on another Mr. Potato Head.

Carma Spence holding a copy of The Year of the Geek by James Clarke

Stats

Title: The Year of the Geek: 365 Adventures from the Sci-Fi Universe
By Author: James Clarke
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Aurum Press
ISBN-10: 1781316929
ISBN-13: 978-1781316924
Available on Amazon in hardcover. You can find it at other online and offline booksellers, as well.

Summary of The Year of the Geek

From obvious geek favorites such as Star Wars and The Matrix to the more obscure such as Indian comic books and Legos, this books seems to cover it all. Each day of the year commemorates something in geek history — regardless of the type of geek.

What Worked for Me

The infographic format is easy to peruse and visually engaging. There is an eclectic mix of geekness, so no matter how you geek, you’ll probably find something of interest in this book. I commend Clarke’s tenacity in finding something for all 365 days of the year. Too bad he didn’t come up with something for February 29!

What Didn’t Work for Me

Some pages cram a lot of information into them. I would have liked to see a bit more white space to help separate the dates that don’t have associated infographics.

What I’d Love to See in the Second Edition

In addition to a bit more spacious design, I’d love to see this book available in paperback. I also think it is a perfect vehicle for enhanced content, with links to multimedia content. Could an app be far behind?

Conclusion

This is a fun book to peruse. I think it could give you hours of intellectually engaging fun. I plan to keep it on hand for reference, as well. I can see this being a go-to resource for trivia games and Toastmasters speeches.

Score: 4 Palm Trees out of 5 Possible

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Grab your copy on Amazon today.

NOTE: Although I received this book free to review, that did not affect my opinion of the book. Read past reviews of books I’ve received for free and you’ll know I don’t hold my punches.

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About the author

As The Genre Traveler, Carma Spence loves to view the world through Genre-Coloured glasses. In other words, she sees the world through a lens of science fiction, fantasy, and horror, where trash cans can be Daleks in disguise and neighborhood forests can harbor faeries and sprites. Magic realism is real! Or at least you can choose to see the world that way to add to the fun and awe of life.