Welcome to Litsy!

Discover the hilariously informative world of 'What If?' by Randall Munroe, a former NASA roboticist who answers absurd questions with real answers.
Lindsay recommends on Book Interrupted‘s Blog.
https://www.bookinterrupted.com/post/manuscript-monday-what-if
#bookinterrupted #WhatIf #AbsurdQuestionsAnswered #sciencebook #sciencenerd #bookstoread #bookrecommendation #manuscriptMonday

A quirky and incredibly brilliant book. Fun to read and almost impossible to put down.

Fun, fascinating and occasionally gross.
Loved how the 'weird and worrying' question sections were handled.
Beyond the basic absurdity of the questions, the author's sense of humour and commitment to the bit, extrapolating beyond the initial parameters of the question, add to the hilarity. E.g. Netherlands' expanding empire. 😉 1/?

“I will give these heights in units of giraffes...“ 😆

Science based mind benders that I find fascinating.

📸 xkcd website

I didn't realize science could be so funny...and that there are really bizarre questiona out there. This was a fun and easy read with legitimate answers that someone who isn't mathematically or science inclined can understand. This is part of my #readmorenonfiction challenge.

Enjoying a webinar Q&A with the author of one of my favorite web comics thanks to my library and the Library Speakers Consortium! I haven't read any of Randall's books, but it sounds like I need to! #Science #AuthorTalk

Pretty random. In turns hilarious, ridiculous, and wildly interesting. Disconnected and rambly, though, similar to how podcasts often are—that‘s why I can rarely listen to them. I need me some string—in case of #nonfiction, not necessarily plot; just an overarching progression—to hang onto. Here, there‘s a clear theme, but that string is missing. A pick—because #science & #humor—but just barely.

3.5/5

Not quite my thing

Munroe‘s serious answers to insane questions are interesting and amusing but started to drag for me after the halfway point. Turns out I can hold out through only so many complex mathematical explanations before my eyes begin to glaze over a bit. That said, Wil Wheaton‘s wry narration in combination with Munroe‘s sarcastic edge kept me coming back despite all the math. Glad I went with the audio for this one!

On my way through the #PromptMaze
@TheAromaofBooks

The title really says it all:
“What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions”

Informative, humorous and downright mind-boggling.

Fun and funny science book. I tend to zone out a bit during long technical or mathematical explanations but that's not a huge criticism, and it was made up for by getting the answers to all these weird questions that I didn't know I wanted answered.

Omg this book is fantastic! 😂
Munroe, NASA brain turned cartoonist, answers absurd questions with a whole lot of science (and usually turning the answers into an evil genius‘ weekend plans).
The audio book is narrated by Wil Wheaton who has the perfect mix of sarcasm and seriousness that this book calls for.

Randall answers absurd questions with hard science in this book based on his web comic series. For example, what if all the rain on the planet fell in a single drop? Or, is it possible to construct a Lego bridge from NYC to London that you can drive on? The answers are certainly interesting! I enjoyed switching between the ebook (with drawings) and the #audiobook narrated by Wil Wheaton! 👍🏻

I read “What If?” last year and reference it all the time. Now I have both to show off and reference whenever I want! #merrychristmas #nonfiction #comics

This book is hilarious! So fun to read and I‘m rolling. #hilarious 🤣

This book just seemed like a good book to read during a pandemic.

I hadn't read the webcomics, and I got the audiobook so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. My favorite bits were actually the questions he didn't answer, but the ones he did were still pretty funny & explored the mechanics of everything that would go horribly wrong. My take-aways; any catastrophe is worse in the nude & never try these at home.
-Erika
Find it on Libby!

@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks is doing a giveaway!

1. One of my favorites from 2019 was What If? by Randall Munroe. I learned so many interesting (and a few hilarious) facts.
2. I‘m passing the time now by journaling, reading, doing craft projects, and enjoying my time with my dog and husband! And teaching from home, a little, but no one really needs a music teacher during all this.
#5N5giveaway

What an awesome read 🤣🤣🤣 these are not the questions we deserved, but the answers we needed 💯❤🤣 an entertaining fun ride of science and humour through the internet. Definite pick 🤩👍
#science #whatif #randall #fun

7. Pride and Prejudice
8. I need to think about this.
9. Complete my reading challenges. Five this year. Mount TBR, Pop Sugar, Book Riot, Modern Mrs. Darcy and my local public libraries ones.
10. Curled up with a blanket anywhere.
11. My favorite books as a child where The Giving Tree, The Lorax and The Little Prince.
12. I am tagging @BarkingMadRun .

Please feel free to share image and tag me.

1. I am currently reading What If?
2. I couldn‘t chose one but Pride and Prejudice is one that I read every year.
3. Any bookstore! My local independent ones to include Quail Ridge Books, Flyleaf Books and Mcintryre Books.
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. Harry Potter
6. Way too many books!

Please feel free to share and tag me. I am tagging @Bookworm83 , @tpixie , @Theresa , @SoniaC and @DGRachel . #quarantinereadschallenge

Welp. #science #isolationinteractions

I'm in love with this book 🤣🤣❤ it's so funny as well as informative 🤩 random questions from the internet are given serious scientific answers and others like these are..well I couldn't help but share it to you guys 🤣😝
so far, entertaining and awesome 💯❤👍
#science #questions #whatif #funny

In terms of judging this book by its cover, it is very cute, on the hardcover and the paper outside. In addition, the book inside is awesome! The questions and answers from Munroe are very thought-provoking, and they are also hilarious. I love the little cartoons that go along with the chapters as well, so cute! I recommend this book to anyone who likes to think about the wonders of the world, and weird science stuff.

#GratefulReads A few #NonFiction books from my shelves.

Also more options for #NFNov reads.

What I learned from this book by the creator of the excellent webcomic, xkcd, is that if you carry out any action far enough, matter either becomes plasma or explodes. Also, people ask him some very odd questions.

Using questions he's received through his website, former NASA roboticist and webcomic artist of xkcd Randall Munroe here answers some outlandish "What ifs". The result is an entertaining Q&A that had me laughing out loud even when I couldn't follow the answer (I never did take physics). The audiobook is narrated by Wil Wheaton, and the book includes humorous stick figure cartoons, so whichever format you choose, you're bound to be entertained.

Reading a little bit of this tonight, then sleep. Goodnight.

I've had this book in my Audible app for a while and finally got around to listening to, and I couldn't stop. Great book if you're into science and/or chemistry. Will Wheaton made me chuckle more than a few times and made this book a lot of fun to listen to. Highly recommend.

Listening to Adam Savage & Randall Munroe talk about experiments and how not succeeding is vital to the process... and talking about weird situations in between!

This is a delight. If you‘ve ever wanted fun, funny, well thought out & researched answers to some of the most inane hypothetical questions this is the book for you. & what could make it better than having Wil Wheaton read it to you? Really, this is just a pure fun delight & one I will return to when the world is a bit much.

I bailed on this book the first time, too much math made my brain hurt. I tried again with the audio, which was much better, but still at times the math was overwhelming. Will Wheaton is an excellent narrator, which surprised me since his voice usually annoys me. 3 💥💥💥 1/2 out of 5

This book was a pick for me but I didn't get to finish it because I had 2 holds come in at the same time so I returned this with a handful of chapters to go but it's really quite smart and funny. Wil Wheaton has the perfect sarcastic tone for a book like this and you'll find well researched answers and LOTS of very large numbers. Caffeinate well before approaching this guy.

A cool question: What's the relationship between mother and daughter if the mother's stem cells are used to grow sperm cells. They TOTALLY lost me at role playing statistics instead of simple genetics!!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

This book has too many GINORMOUS numbers for 9am...

Final product! Thanks for following along today, @Tamra @Trashcanman @ravenlee & @kaye! Clearly, I thought my appliques were much larger than they actually were. My daughter asked how the Tooth Fairy will be able to tell where she put her teeth! Lol

"Think of the elements as dangerous radioactive short lived Pokemon."
"You do not want to catch them all."

??? My favorite chapter so far!!! This guy is hysterical!

Next book, still waiting...

And last but not least, another non fiction book. I enjoy science and this looks like it will be both very interesting and funny at the same time!

It describes itself as "scientific answers to hypothetical questions" ?

But it turns out that trying to thoroughly answer a stupid question can take you to some pretty interesting places.

I always read something that makes me think before bed. For the last year or so I've been making my way through my Lonely Planet travel books. I just started on What If? last night and I love it! The first scenario is what would happen if the world suddenly stopped spinning...let's just say I had some crazy dreams after reading this. 😂

#riotgrams Day 15! #maps

I don‘t tend to read a lot of nonfiction, but when I do, I want 2 things: to learn something and to laugh. This book checked both boxes. The questions were as absurd as the title promised, but the footnotes and illustrations really helped cement the tongue-in-cheek humor combined with mathematical and scientific reasoning which made for an overall enjoyable read. Awesome read! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Super fun listen! Wil Wheaton was the PERFECT narrator for this most hilarious way to learn about all sorts of science!

Solo on audio was not for me, I will have to get a hard copy and try it again later ... so this is up on audio. I LOVE the absurd and hypothetical and I LOVE science! Throw in narration by Wil Wheaton and, well, hell yes!🖖🏼🤓

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Perfect book for the lovers of science! And btw it‘s also very funny!!😂

#whatif #randallmunroe #marchread #science #nonfiction #humor

May have gone slightly overboard at the half off used books sale.....