What If? Review

What If? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. Randall Munroe. 2014. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. 321 pages.

Rating: 4/5

This is a highly entertaining book based on a silly concept. The author responds to ridiculous, often destructive, questions that came into his website. I haven't read the blog on which this is based, but that didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.

It took me reading through a couple questions to get into it. I think that is because I was not familiar with Munroe's writing before starting this book. The humor took over quickly enough, and once it did I was drawn in. Reading this went very quickly after that. It is easy to read despite the heavy (at times) topics. The images, usually little cartoon drawings with stick figures, highlight the humorous aspects of the topics (or Munroe's response anyway).

There are short sections of questions that are so off the wall that no response is given, but it seems like the author wanted to share them anyway. These help break up some of the heavier topics and are pretty funny. A science background isn't necessary to enjoy this book. If you have any inkling to read it, get your hands on a copy.

I am still waiting to find out what happened to the dinosaur that got lowered into the sarlacc pit though.

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans Review

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. Don Brown. 2015. HMH Books for Young Readers. 96 pages.

Rating: 4/5

Wow. The subject matter is pretty intense. It begins with the formation of Katrina, touches briefly on the storm's movements, and goes into the devastation it caused and the aftermath.

This is told from a distance rather than being a singular story of someone's experience during the tragedy. The creator does a great job of showing how people from disparate backgrounds had similar experiences once the storm hit. There are some words from people that lived through the events peppered throughout the book, but those are used to move the story along.

The format Don Brown uses works quite well. The graphic format conveys how horrible things were, but it felt like he held back at some points. Since this is geared for younger readers (12+), it makes sense that some things are glossed over. This was very well researched and is true to my memory of the events. Drowned City is easy to read and contains some very powerful images. It is a fantastic tribute to those that went through this disaster, including the people that pulled together to help out.