Reviews

Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks by Ken Jennings

heatherbermingham's review against another edition

4.0

I'm not a Maphead but this book almost made me feel like I really was. One of the pleasant little surprises of life is how charming Ken Jennings has turned out to be. I really enjoyed this book a lot. It doesn't get SUPER in-depth so if you're a serious Maphead, you might want something that digs deeper but it was a very pleasant vacation read that actually made geocaching, poring over atlases, and creating imaginary maps sounds really, really fun.

ursodasrflat's review against another edition

adventurous funny inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

5.0

slhandy45's review against another edition

3.0

Cool history and fun facts about geography and maps, but a little too much of Ken Jennings who tries a little too hard to be witty.

mcparks's review against another edition

4.0

What a great book! I thoroughly enjoyed reading it! My favorite chapters were: "Legend," about make-believe maps, "Reckoning," about Geography Bees, "Transit," about roadgeeks, and "Overedge," about geocaching. In case anyone asks, here are my Maphead bonafides: as a kid, I always put up a map next to my bed so that I could lay there thinking about all the different places; majoring in maps (sort of...geology); and still being able to spend HOURS exploring Google Earth. My ONE BIG COMPLAINT is that Ken Jennings makes fun of his wife for turning maps to orient better, but that IS HOW YOU SHOULD READ A MAP!!!!!!! (Geology training: the map should be oriented to correspond to the view you can see).

jtc's review against another edition

medium-paced

3.25

randybo5's review against another edition

3.0

This overview of geography by Ken Jennings, the long time Jeopardy champ, is well researched and well written. Believe it or not, it's also lots of fun. Jennings has taken a possibly dry topic and made it for even non-mapgeeks!

hollyeula's review against another edition

5.0

Excellent book, a great read for anyone who has ever enjoyed browsing a map. A great mix of the history of maps and the world of geography, both modern and historically.

wxdam's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective slow-paced

4.25

Maps show and shape our world. Ken puts into words the gratitude I feel for these looked-at yet overlooked marvels.

My lifelong passion for weather is, at its core, a lifelong passion for maps. I still have the rudimentary U.S. atlas I got at an elementary school book fair all those years ago, creased and torn and wrinkled from countless hours of tracing and marking and memorizing the lines that reveal our lives.

Maphead renewed my appreciation for cartography and geography. I'll happily read this again in the future.

kitten_reads's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

mondovertigo's review against another edition

funny informative lighthearted reflective medium-paced

4.5