Books That Make You Dumb

OK, I don't like the title of Books That Make You Dumb so much, but that's because I feel that the study also goes to show which books make you smart.

OK, pretensions and condescensions aside, Virgil has compiled a very nice chart, backed by very nice statistical analysis (OK, it wasn't that complicated, but it must have taken a lot of work).... as I was saying, a very nice chart correlating favorite books with people's intelligence, or at least their scholastic aptitude.

He took the top 10 favorite books (as listed on facebook) of 1300 or so universities. He then used the average SAT scores of undergraduates at said universities to give each of the most popular books it's own average SAT score. Actually, he gives us a range, but you get the idea.

He uses this data to present us with three excellent charts - all with the same information; only the grouping is changed.

Two of the charts group books by genre, and here is the only place I quibble with Mr. Virgil (OK, Virgil is his first name, but I like to say it this way). A Tree Grows In Brooklyn is Children's Lit? What particularly makes Brave New World Sci-Fi, but A Clockwork Orange Dystopian? And Wuthering Heights is a classic, but Pride and Prejudice is Chick Lit? Really?

Anyhow, you know of my inability to praise without poking, but really, I love the study, and you should all definitely check it out.

Book-A-Minute

So, I swear I was just about to go to bed when I stumbled across (yes, using the Stumble Upon toolbar for firefox, which is evil and devours all your time in witty goodness).... where was I?

Ah, yes: I stumbled upon "Book-A-Minute," in original classic flavor, and brand new Sci-fi/Fantasy flavor (someday I shall rant on the subject of the combined genre of Science Fiction and Fantasy).

Most of the condensations take significantly less than a minute to read, but they are hilarious. However, you really have to have read the books to find the jokes funny. I don't think that will be a problem for any readers of this blog (what is this, a compliment?!? No. It's not possible.), and the site has a large enough list of books to laugh at that you should be able to find quite a few to laugh at.

My favorites are probably The Xanth Series by Piers Anthony, and Interview With the Vampire by Anne Rice.