Review: Super Pop! Pop Culture Top Ten Lists to Help You Win at Trivia, Survive in the Wild, and Make It Through the Holidays by Daniel Harmon

SUMMARY FROM NETGALLEY.COM:

Super-Pop offers a maximum-pleasure, minimum-effort way to become smarter, happier, and more likely to survive your next family function (or a shark attack). This hilarious and wide-ranging guide sorts nearly 500 different bestsellers, blockbusters, and underappreciated gems into quirky top ten lists, like “How to Outwit Death: Ten Essential Survival Tales,” and “Wax on: Wise Old Men Who Can Show You the Way.”  So whether you’re looking for some motivational workout music, need help planning a July 4th double feature, or just want to pick up some knowledge without straining your brain, this book has you covered. With new insights on old classics and fresh ideas for jaded eyes, Super Pop makes sense of pop culture – and then puts pop culture back to work!

MY TAKE:
For some reason, I thought that Super Pop! would be like those Time and Nat Geo books for kids.

In Super Pop!, you get to read lists of books, movies, shows, etc., that have a certain theme or fit a certain category. Examples include what podcasts can help you become smarter, and where to find culinary inspiration.

Since this was classified as children's non-fiction, I was surprised to see how text-heavy it is. Some of the movies and books mentioned are also a little too adult for young kids. If this book was marketed towards an older group, though, like maybe teens or adults, it's quite appropriate. Older audiences may already be familiar with some of the books, movies and shows mentioned in the book.

The descriptions included for each item mostly focus on why it fits the certain category and doesn't really explain the plot. If you don't like spoilers, this is a plus point.

There aren't a lot of pictures though, like screenshots from shows or book covers for the books. There are illustrations at the start of each chapter or list, but I didn't find them all that interesting or aesthetically pleasing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Zest Books for the e-ARC. Publication date of Super Pop! Pop Culture Top Ten Lists to Help You Win at Trivia, Survive in the Wild, and Make It Through the Holidays is on June 4, 2013.

THE GOOD:

1. You may discover some new favorites.
2. The descriptions can be pretty funny.
3. The items listed come from a diverse range of genres.

THE BAD:

1. The book is text-heavy and there aren't a lot of illustrations to break up the monotony.

FAVORITE QUOTE/S:

Anthony Bourdain is a little bit impossible to hate - and please trust me when I say that I, for one, have made an honest attempt to hate this wildly successful, somewhat smug, pretentiously "real," and ostentatiously "no-good/very bad" food celebrity.

READ IT IF:

1. You are looking for new books to read or movies to see.
2. You like trivia.
3. You are a pop culture junkie.

RATING:


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