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daumari's review against another edition
5.0
If you haven't read anything by Ken Jennings, please do because the man is absolutely hilarious (his twitter is definitely a must-follow). Here, he examines the "Mom-and-Dadisms" like "Don't swallow gum or it'll sit in your stomach for 7 years!" or "If you touch a butterfly's wings they will DIE!" and see how truthful they actually are. He checks his sources and is SUPER witty- and also asked reddit for suggestions of myths to follow, actually using about 20 from that thread and sending the contributing redditors free copies.
srsly, Ken Jennings is probably one of my favorite Mormons.
srsly, Ken Jennings is probably one of my favorite Mormons.
brandongryder's review against another edition
4.0
Great book by an awesome guy. Not quite "Maphead" good but certainly worth a read. I was amazed to find out that some of the myths I thought were false were actually true, and vice versa. It is amazing what a little scientific method can do.
revisins's review against another edition
5.0
Thanks to Scribner and thanks to Goodreads for providing an advanced copy of this fantastic, trivial, cautionary, and hilarious guide to the multitude of reasons adults dole out in a life time. If you are a fan of Ken Jennings' personality and demeanor at all—do yourself a favor and find a copy of this book. The tone is light and conversational. You get a sense that Jennings is giving you a dollop of fun “did ya know” type info that you’d get in-between rounds a bar trivia night.
The life reasons, questions, and fallacies that Jennings tackles are well chosen and well researched. There are enough anecdotal asides mingling with cited studies and professionals that a reader knows Jennings has ground his nose in the books and lived it out in his raising of his children. The results found in the pages of the book may surprise (Chicken Soup does have some medicinal quality—and talk to strangers, please!) and others may come off as obvious (crack your knuckles—arthritis won’t happen because of it); regardless of the results of whatever question, you’ll be entertained.
The structure of the book takes you through seasonal based “rules” and “suggestions” then body based concerns, and social interactions. Whatever your life status—Jennings has something that you can use as support—or make sure you do not lead your children down the wrong path.
The book is great for adults and kids to read. Just be careful when you lend a copy to a child—you’ll enviably get a “HA! I thought so! You’ve been lying to me…etc” type response—just remember you can remind them that it doesn’t matter, “because I said so.”
The life reasons, questions, and fallacies that Jennings tackles are well chosen and well researched. There are enough anecdotal asides mingling with cited studies and professionals that a reader knows Jennings has ground his nose in the books and lived it out in his raising of his children. The results found in the pages of the book may surprise (Chicken Soup does have some medicinal quality—and talk to strangers, please!) and others may come off as obvious (crack your knuckles—arthritis won’t happen because of it); regardless of the results of whatever question, you’ll be entertained.
The structure of the book takes you through seasonal based “rules” and “suggestions” then body based concerns, and social interactions. Whatever your life status—Jennings has something that you can use as support—or make sure you do not lead your children down the wrong path.
The book is great for adults and kids to read. Just be careful when you lend a copy to a child—you’ll enviably get a “HA! I thought so! You’ve been lying to me…etc” type response—just remember you can remind them that it doesn’t matter, “because I said so.”
ponch22's review against another edition
4.0
I love books like this; [b:Everything You Know Is Wrong|64113|Everything You Know Is Wrong|Paul Kirchner|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1386922507s/64113.jpg|62255] is the first the jumps to mind, which I read a few times as a child. There's something about learning what "common knowledge" is blatantly wrong (I was learning how to become an Um, Actually Guy in middle school!).
My biggest complaint about books like [b: Because I Said So!|16687592|Because I Said So! The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376474732s/16687592.jpg|19112634] is how it presents so many ideas that range from completely false to completely true and everywhere in between. With so many final decisions, it's hard to remember how each "myth" fared under [a:Ken Jennings|45003|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353968375p2/45003.jpg]'s scrutiny.
Luckily, the book comes with a nice Table of Contents and an Index to easily find your answer if the book is within reach.
Overall, the book was an easy read (despite it taking me two months to read it). There's a bit of that classic Jennings wit that made his other books (and Twitter feed) such fun reads, but the structure of the book limits his quips to the final button of each question and answer (mostly). I'd have loved to get more humor throughout, but it's difficult to add too much humor amidst scientific studies (I'm still not 100% sure I get what studies say about eating your own boogers, and I read that answer three times trying to figure out if I was reading it correctly).
I think the book is a nice collection of old wives' tales that get proven correct or completely debunked. It should be required reading for all adults to try to quash some of the more blatant lies we continue to tell kids (e.g. We only use 10% of our brain—this 100% false idea was even the basis of a movie last year!).
My biggest complaint about books like [b: Because I Said So!|16687592|Because I Said So! The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1376474732s/16687592.jpg|19112634] is how it presents so many ideas that range from completely false to completely true and everywhere in between. With so many final decisions, it's hard to remember how each "myth" fared under [a:Ken Jennings|45003|Ken Jennings|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1353968375p2/45003.jpg]'s scrutiny.
Luckily, the book comes with a nice Table of Contents and an Index to easily find your answer if the book is within reach.
Overall, the book was an easy read (despite it taking me two months to read it). There's a bit of that classic Jennings wit that made his other books (and Twitter feed) such fun reads, but the structure of the book limits his quips to the final button of each question and answer (mostly). I'd have loved to get more humor throughout, but it's difficult to add too much humor amidst scientific studies (I'm still not 100% sure I get what studies say about eating your own boogers, and I read that answer three times trying to figure out if I was reading it correctly).
I think the book is a nice collection of old wives' tales that get proven correct or completely debunked. It should be required reading for all adults to try to quash some of the more blatant lies we continue to tell kids (e.g. We only use 10% of our brain—this 100% false idea was even the basis of a movie last year!).
labunnywtf's review against another edition
4.0
I downloaded this from Edelweiss because I love trivia. Useless or not, factoids and trivia are one of my drugs of choice.
But I was worried. Because a lot of books like this are so dry, you can choke on them. And even though I knew Ken Jennings was That Guy Who Won Everything Ever on Jeopardy, I didn't watch him on the show, and knew very little about him.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only is this book very informative, but it's actually funny! Who knew it was possible?!
What's even more interesting is, not only does he debunk every day myths ("Don't touch a butterfly's wings, it won't be able to fly without the dust"), but often he goes even further. I may not have believed that about butterflies, but I genuinely did believe that yawning was caused by under oxygenation. Turns out, that's not scientific fact. No one knows 100% why we yawn, or why it's contagious, or why you can catch it from your dog.
Also, people who want to teach their children how to shoot a gun as early as the age of 4 could potentially be both cousins and spouses. Hee.
And there are loads of "You'll shoot your eye out!" injuries each year.
I could keep going. So much fascinating information, and told so well. Really impressed. He mentioned casually in passing a few other "mother myths" from other countries, I would've loved to have heard more of those.
But I was worried. Because a lot of books like this are so dry, you can choke on them. And even though I knew Ken Jennings was That Guy Who Won Everything Ever on Jeopardy, I didn't watch him on the show, and knew very little about him.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that not only is this book very informative, but it's actually funny! Who knew it was possible?!
What's even more interesting is, not only does he debunk every day myths ("Don't touch a butterfly's wings, it won't be able to fly without the dust"), but often he goes even further. I may not have believed that about butterflies, but I genuinely did believe that yawning was caused by under oxygenation. Turns out, that's not scientific fact. No one knows 100% why we yawn, or why it's contagious, or why you can catch it from your dog.
Also, people who want to teach their children how to shoot a gun as early as the age of 4 could potentially be both cousins and spouses. Hee.
And there are loads of "You'll shoot your eye out!" injuries each year.
I could keep going. So much fascinating information, and told so well. Really impressed. He mentioned casually in passing a few other "mother myths" from other countries, I would've loved to have heard more of those.
jenni_r's review against another edition
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
A fun read/listen with a lot of interesting facts and humor.
travelingkayte's review against another edition
5.0
Fun quick read. Answered a lot of questions, I can comfortably say I had heard almost all of the warnings he discussed.
sparrowlight's review against another edition
4.0
Fun & quick read. Ken has an engaging style so I can't be fully jealous of his brain or success.
90sinmyheart's review against another edition
3.0
This wasn't the most engaging book ever to sit and read in large chunks, and it was extremely heavy on dad jokes, but it had SO much good information! I've believed some of these myths since I was little, and now I'm going to be that jerk at parties telling people to stop tapping on their cans.