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The Book of the Year 2019
The Book of the Year is back, with yet another pro-rogues gallery of the most amazing, audacious and absolutely absurd news of 2019.
Once again the fact-finding foursome behind the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish have been newspaper-trawling and website-crawling to create your ultimate guide to the past twelve months.
Learn which of Donald Trump’s claims are so bizarre they can’t even be fact-checked. Find out why every single French MP received camembert in the post. And get to the bottom of all the improvements made to the Ford company’s robotic bum. All this and much, much more, including the news that:
· Two tourists planning to visit the Norwegian village of Å, ended up 1,310km away, in Aa.
· Five guys were arrested at a branch of Five Guys.
· Hollyoaks was partly written by the British government.
· The US town of Hell froze over.
From Assange to Zuckerberg, taking in Cardi B, CCTV, D-Day, and eSports, The Book of the Year is the only book you need to make senseof the year, no matter how senseless it might have seemed.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 24, 2019
77 people are currently reading
310 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
December 29, 2019
Stellar as ever.
November 19, 2019
The usual mix of laughs and learning. Sometimes more crass than classy, but a sure hit for those who are fans of NSTAAF or QI.
May 18, 2020
A nice reminder of pre-CoVid times... lots of interesting facts as well 😎
January 11, 2020
Duration: 11 hrs 2 mins.
Walruses are falling off cliffs, blue tits are pecking out other birds' brains, Britain is in the throes of wormageddon, and James' fear of mushrooms must now extend to being swaddled in a suit of them and, quite literally, left to rot. Just in case that wasn't bad enough the QI Elves from No Such Thing as a Fish cover a myriad of other calamitous topics, with equally thought-provoking and hilarious consequences. Full of facts and interesting tidbits from the last year, the aptly-named Audiobook of the Year 2019 brings you all the fascinating things that may have slipped under the radar over the past twelve months.
The Audiobook of the Year has been excellently narrated by each of the regular podcasters from No Such Thing as a Fish; Dan Schreiber, Anna Ptaszynski, Andrew Hunter Murray, and James Harkin. Its tone will be familiar to those fond of the aforementioned podcast, as it is both conversational and educational, with the facts clearly presented but the narrators occasionally interjecting with responses, queries, and laughter. This balances the heavily-scripted nature of audiobook narration with the moments of spontaneity that we are used to, and makes this audiobook very easy to listen to, even if you usually struggle with non-fiction.
In many ways it feels like an extended edition of the podcast without the live audience, which is exactly what I'd hoped for in a book from one of my favourite podcasting teams. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who is a fan of QI, or No Such Thing as a Fish, or is looking for a humorous and engaging review of what has certainly been an eventful year.
It has been the perfect audiobook upon which to end 2019, and one of the things I am most looking forward to in 2020 is the potential for the next edition.
(Click here to buy this book, listen to a sample, or add it to your wishlist!)
You can read the full review on my blog.
If you liked this review then please join me for more!
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Walruses are falling off cliffs, blue tits are pecking out other birds' brains, Britain is in the throes of wormageddon, and James' fear of mushrooms must now extend to being swaddled in a suit of them and, quite literally, left to rot. Just in case that wasn't bad enough the QI Elves from No Such Thing as a Fish cover a myriad of other calamitous topics, with equally thought-provoking and hilarious consequences. Full of facts and interesting tidbits from the last year, the aptly-named Audiobook of the Year 2019 brings you all the fascinating things that may have slipped under the radar over the past twelve months.
The Audiobook of the Year has been excellently narrated by each of the regular podcasters from No Such Thing as a Fish; Dan Schreiber, Anna Ptaszynski, Andrew Hunter Murray, and James Harkin. Its tone will be familiar to those fond of the aforementioned podcast, as it is both conversational and educational, with the facts clearly presented but the narrators occasionally interjecting with responses, queries, and laughter. This balances the heavily-scripted nature of audiobook narration with the moments of spontaneity that we are used to, and makes this audiobook very easy to listen to, even if you usually struggle with non-fiction.
In many ways it feels like an extended edition of the podcast without the live audience, which is exactly what I'd hoped for in a book from one of my favourite podcasting teams. I would recommend this audiobook to anyone who is a fan of QI, or No Such Thing as a Fish, or is looking for a humorous and engaging review of what has certainly been an eventful year.
It has been the perfect audiobook upon which to end 2019, and one of the things I am most looking forward to in 2020 is the potential for the next edition.
(Click here to buy this book, listen to a sample, or add it to your wishlist!)
You can read the full review on my blog.
If you liked this review then please join me for more!
| Blog | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram |
November 23, 2019
This was great, as always. It's basically 8 or so hours of material like the podcast, and I wouldn't even consider picking it up in hard copy, because the presenters bring so much joy to their reading, and they keep in the banter between them as they go. It's also got an extra bonus chapter that didn't make it into the printed version, so yay!
If you've ever listened to the podcast, you know what to expect with this book. If you haven't listened to the podcast, I'd listen to a few episodes to see if you like it (spoiler: you will) and then buy the book. One minor thing: there's a bit more innuendo and double entendre (and single entendre) in this one than in previous Books of the Year. I (in my late 30s) thought it was hilarious, but my mother (somewhat older) emphatically does not. If you're sensitive to crass jokes, a) what are you doing listening to the podcast? and b) there's one or two in here, but I don't think they'll spoil the whole thing for you.
It almost feels like you're at the pub and talking weird facts with your mates -- or they're talking, and you're listening, but still having a marvellous time. Lovely to listen to on the way home from a tough day at work; it helps me lighten up.
If you've ever listened to the podcast, you know what to expect with this book. If you haven't listened to the podcast, I'd listen to a few episodes to see if you like it (spoiler: you will) and then buy the book. One minor thing: there's a bit more innuendo and double entendre (and single entendre) in this one than in previous Books of the Year. I (in my late 30s) thought it was hilarious, but my mother (somewhat older) emphatically does not. If you're sensitive to crass jokes, a) what are you doing listening to the podcast? and b) there's one or two in here, but I don't think they'll spoil the whole thing for you.
It almost feels like you're at the pub and talking weird facts with your mates -- or they're talking, and you're listening, but still having a marvellous time. Lovely to listen to on the way home from a tough day at work; it helps me lighten up.
August 16, 2020
(This review concerns Book of the Year 2019, by James Harkin, Anna Ptaszynski, Andrew Hunter Murray, Dan Schreiber, in case Goodreads does this stupid thing where it collapses multiple entries into some type of anthology edition)
General impressions
NB: This book is part of a series. I may or may not have focused my efforts in reviewing the last part of the series.
Rating (Intuitive*): 4
Rating (Weighted**): 3.29
RMSE***(Intuitive,Weighted): 0.435
Mean error***(Intuitive,Weighted): -0.051
Format: Audiobook
Language: English
Anecdotes and data
Numeracy and epistemic hygiene: 1/5 [w:3]
Interestingness: 5/5 [w:2]
Presentation
Clarity & disposition: 4/5 [w:2.5]
Prose: 4/5 [w:1.5]
Design, layout and gimmicks: 4/5 [w:1.5]
Additional modifiers
Page turner factor: 4/5 [w:3.5]
Mind blown factor: 3/5 [w:2.5]
Author credibility: 1/5 [w:1]
*The rating I felt this deserved before thinking about it too much.
**Weights displayed next to each applicable scoring criterion. (Weights version 3.1)
***Root mean squared error and mean error calculated for all reviews using this format for books read from 2020-07-12 up until this book (24 reviews).
January 12, 2020
Did not finish.
I liked the concept. It's a collection of oddball but interesting news stories from 2019. The difficulty is that it's based on a podcast, so listening to the audiobook is a lot like listening to a podcast, and podcasts are not my favorite things. (I haven't quite put my finger on what it is that I don't like about them.) I had no idea until I looked up "No Such Thing as a Fish" right before writing this review that this is the team of question writers for QI. I really like that show, but not enough to sit through this book. The primary difficulty is that the stories were arranged in alphabetical order, which suddenly makes sense now that I'm aware of the QI connection. The abrupt change of topics every two or three minutes was jarring, and yes, I know that happens in QI, but somehow, it doesn't bother me in that context.
I liked the concept. It's a collection of oddball but interesting news stories from 2019. The difficulty is that it's based on a podcast, so listening to the audiobook is a lot like listening to a podcast, and podcasts are not my favorite things. (I haven't quite put my finger on what it is that I don't like about them.) I had no idea until I looked up "No Such Thing as a Fish" right before writing this review that this is the team of question writers for QI. I really like that show, but not enough to sit through this book. The primary difficulty is that the stories were arranged in alphabetical order, which suddenly makes sense now that I'm aware of the QI connection. The abrupt change of topics every two or three minutes was jarring, and yes, I know that happens in QI, but somehow, it doesn't bother me in that context.
December 31, 2019
It’s a first for me. I am solely reviewing the Audiobook. Usually, if I do have an audiobook I will switch between listening and reading a physical/ebook copy, but I prefer listening to this instead of reading it. I am a huge fan of the podcast No Such Thing as A Fish, of the TV show QI and of the Radio 4 programme Museum of Curiosity, all of which the creators of this audiobook work on. This audiobook is like having an 11 hour version of one of the NSTAAF podcasts and its excellent.
I really liked the inclusion of some of the live shows and the fact that they don’t edit out the inside jokes, pronunciation errors or banter between the narrators. I imagine it is probably a lot more fun to listen to this than to read the physical book for those reasons. The bleeping out of ”Brexit” was particularly funny and welcome. You just seem to get a lot more content with the Audiobook that just the researched facts about the year. In fact this audiobook contains a bonus chapter of news that appeared after the book went to print! Also we get the personalities of Anna, Andrew, Dan and James which would be lost within the print version.
It’s also one of those books you can listen to in little bursts without loosing your place. It’s great for filling in little bits of time, walking to the shops, waiting on a train etc etc. As it is organised alphabetically you can listen to each letter independently. Though I would suggest listening to them in order as there are recurring joke.
For me its just an enjoyable listen that also educates on some of the weirder points of the year. It was a reminder that the news wasn’t all doom and gloom and that there was some great, wild and interesting stuff happening that would have passed me by otherwise. Even if you have never listened to an Episode of NSTAAF this would be a great place to start!
I really liked the inclusion of some of the live shows and the fact that they don’t edit out the inside jokes, pronunciation errors or banter between the narrators. I imagine it is probably a lot more fun to listen to this than to read the physical book for those reasons. The bleeping out of ”Brexit” was particularly funny and welcome. You just seem to get a lot more content with the Audiobook that just the researched facts about the year. In fact this audiobook contains a bonus chapter of news that appeared after the book went to print! Also we get the personalities of Anna, Andrew, Dan and James which would be lost within the print version.
It’s also one of those books you can listen to in little bursts without loosing your place. It’s great for filling in little bits of time, walking to the shops, waiting on a train etc etc. As it is organised alphabetically you can listen to each letter independently. Though I would suggest listening to them in order as there are recurring joke.
For me its just an enjoyable listen that also educates on some of the weirder points of the year. It was a reminder that the news wasn’t all doom and gloom and that there was some great, wild and interesting stuff happening that would have passed me by otherwise. Even if you have never listened to an Episode of NSTAAF this would be a great place to start!
September 7, 2020
If you have ever heard the podcast No Such Thing As A Fish, or watched QI, then you will know exactly what this is about. This the third in a series of compendiums of random facts, some funny, some weird, all entertaining, taken from the annals of 2019. We cover everything from the AA to Zuckerberg with the notable exception of Brexit.
Given the podcast was still running all the way through lockdown, it does make it hopefull that there will be a 2020 version, although it may well turn out to be quite a bit shorter.
Given the podcast was still running all the way through lockdown, it does make it hopefull that there will be a 2020 version, although it may well turn out to be quite a bit shorter.
November 19, 2019
This is very quickly becoming a yearly ritual. Being an ardent fan of the podcast, this year I went for the audio edition & kicked myself for not choosing it last year. It is essentially a 11 hour podcast with the impromptu jokes sprinkled along with the actual articles.
If you like the chemistry between these elves & are a fan of quirky facts & news, there's no way you'll not enjoy it.
I think I'm going to buy the audio edition of last year's book as well.
If you like the chemistry between these elves & are a fan of quirky facts & news, there's no way you'll not enjoy it.
I think I'm going to buy the audio edition of last year's book as well.
December 5, 2019
I really don't know if people would enjoy this if they didn't listen to the podcast first.
I do and I really enjoyed myself. Funny thing is that my partner has become so sceptical of the news that even by the most easily to find out fact, he reacted with "If it's really true the..." I told him to stop reading the news because telling him new things was becoming a bit of a downer.
He liked the parts about the sausages though.
I do and I really enjoyed myself. Funny thing is that my partner has become so sceptical of the news that even by the most easily to find out fact, he reacted with "If it's really true the..." I told him to stop reading the news because telling him new things was becoming a bit of a downer.
He liked the parts about the sausages though.
February 28, 2020
Firmly becoming an annual institution. A fun A-Z of odd facts unearthed in the course of 2019 by the team from 'No Such Thing as a Fish' - one of my favourite podcast subscriptions.
Not sure that the double-page picture spreads introduced in this year's volume come off all that well in the monochrome printing on relatively rough paper. Might have worked better on glossy paper or on a tablet screen, I guess?
Still, very amusing in nice bite-size snippets.
Not sure that the double-page picture spreads introduced in this year's volume come off all that well in the monochrome printing on relatively rough paper. Might have worked better on glossy paper or on a tablet screen, I guess?
Still, very amusing in nice bite-size snippets.
November 30, 2024
This book was fun!! Just a book of random facts & events that happened around the world in 2019 (wild to read 5 years later when so much has changed) in alphabetical order. The book had references throughout that I didn’t always entirely follow/remember, but otherwise would recommend. Though if they have a more recent year, maybe better to check that out first!! I’ve had this lying around for years from a work friend and finally prioritized reading it!!
November 7, 2019
No Such Thing as a Fish é meu podcast preferido. Então, nada mais natural de que esteja se tornando um hábito escutar a versão em áudio do livro que os integrantes escrevem anualmente, reunindo as notícias mais curiosas do ano. É como se fosse uma versão particularmente longa do programa. Certamente ainda vou ouvir ao menos umas duas vezes mais até o fim de 2019.
December 6, 2019
God this book and all of them are top tier. The stories and jokes inside are wonderful. I love No Such Thing as a Fish and I am never disappointed by this book as a concept. Unlike the QI books, each story here has a lot more context and explanation- more than just 'here's a wild sentence which is true'.
January 8, 2020
As a big fan on the podcast I was really looking forward to this book. It’s very good and contains some interesting finds but I found it a little ... boring? I prefer the podcast.
I also didn’t like the layout and sometimes found myself flipping back and forth.
Great content though !
Longer book than you realise
I also didn’t like the layout and sometimes found myself flipping back and forth.
Great content though !
Longer book than you realise
July 7, 2024
Honestly if you aren’t a fan of No Such Thing as a Fish I don’t know why you are here. This is exactly what you would expect from these four. An excellent summary of bizarre news, top rate banter, and an enjoyable long version of the podcast. Definitely a need to read/listen and I look forward to seeing them live on tour!
September 26, 2024
I have wanted to read this for years and finally got it. It was worth every page. The main reason I wanted to read it wa sto see what the world made of Donald Trump, and now I know. But besides that there are so many fantastic things that happened in 2019 and the authors so witty and good with words, a fantastic book. I'd rather read this than the news any day.
December 30, 2019
Fantastic! It should be listened to, there are so many little tangents they go on. The audiobook also has bonus content at the end. They pepper in audio clips from their live show too! I'm looking forward to 2020s already
January 3, 2020
Another hugely enjoyable offering from the QI Elves/No Such Thing as a Fish podcast crew. For anyone who though these books were just a rehash of the podcast output, this is not the case and, as a follower of the podcast, I don't recall any duplication.
January 7, 2020
A highly enjoyable read recapping the wierd and wonderful news of the year, as always. Fans of the podcast and previous books will like this one as well. I personally prefer the audio book version rather than reading it but each to their own.
January 17, 2020
Listen to it while it's still relevant! And yes, go for the audiobook. It's like a 10-hour podcast and includes extra's, since the book doesn't actually contain news from September onwards. Too bad you have to go to Audible to get it, though. I'd gladly buy it directly from the website instead.
January 20, 2020
By now, this audiobook is something I really look forward to towards the end of the year. It's just always so incredibly funny and witty and I love hearing about all the stupid little things I missed throughout the year.
April 19, 2020
I love these guys so much! Another compendium of fun trivia--some of which is actually worth knowing!--including two full pages on Sausage.
I should just start over with the beginning of No Such Thing... and listen to it all again.
I should just start over with the beginning of No Such Thing... and listen to it all again.
October 9, 2020
As a fan of QI, a fan of the podcast, suffice to say I'm a fan of the book. Filled with news of the year 2019 that you probably have missed, quirky facts and plenty of puns. There's not much else to say here, if you like to know (useless) facts, you'll like this.
November 22, 2023
Heel fijn boek, zeker in audioboek vorm. Het aantal keren dat wij dachten “amai wat een ironische uitspraak, zo kort voor de pandemie” is niet te tellen, maar de QI elves zorgden voor leuk entertainment tijdens menig middagmaal met de echtgenoot.
December 16, 2023
Good, but sadly not totally timeless. Ironically, more dated than the free podcast.
The performance is (understandably) a bit more stiff, but still amicable. Feels like sitting around the table with the gang, which is my favourite brand of coziness.
The performance is (understandably) a bit more stiff, but still amicable. Feels like sitting around the table with the gang, which is my favourite brand of coziness.
November 15, 2019
I’ve been listening to this driving to work every day and it’s so much fun to listen to. If you want a hilarious but informative listen I’d highly recommend!!
November 16, 2019
Essentially an extra-long, written version of the podcast. Entertaining and informative.
December 3, 2019
The audiobook was like an incredibly long, more structured but less funny episode of the podcast.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews