Wordful Wednesday: How to Survive Anything
I've mentioned before that a good percentage of books I read aren't ones I specifically set out to pick up, but ones I noticed and thought, "I've got to look at that one." The Library RSS feed for new materials is a rich source of those books, which I could call "circumstantial reading."
The Boys' Book of Survival: How to Survive Anything, Anywhere, by Guy Campbell, is a circumstantial book in every way. I requested it from the Library, gave it a 
thumb-through when I picked it up, and thought, "I probably won't read it."
Then, I realized that I'd have a bit of reading time during Ethan's swim practice, but I didn't want anything too engrossing. With short chapters on interesting topics, this little yellow book was just the ticket.
And I read more than half of its 125 pages during the practice. And then I finished it before going to sleep. It's the very definition of light reading. (Notice I didn't say it was literally light reading, because that would be abuse of the word “literally”. See here for more).
Some of the chapters I'd actually like to try. Like the one on how to build a fire with a firebow. Or how to make a shelter (actually, I've done that one before). Or how to desalinate water with two pots. Or how to use a watch as a compass.
And then there are the *other* chapters. Like "How to Survive a Zombie Invasion." At that point, we've lapsed from helpful if tongue-in-cheek advice to just tongue-in-cheek. Those chapters, and some of the other ones you might think could've been semi-serious resemble nothing if not How to Survive a Robot Uprising.
Okay, true, so it’s probably unlikely that a boy will ever need to survive a Zombie Invasion or an Alien Attack, but he’s very likely to encounter a Giant Zit and an Essay Crisis, so not all the funny chapters are rubbish.
September 23rd, 2009 - 15:23
I’ll have to get it from the library it sounds great.