The blurb and title are like clickbait for books. The moment I laid eyes on it, my heart skipped two beats, and my fingers were itching to click the buy button. All I could think was how much information and secrets I was about to have access to. I really wanted to know what song the FBI was trying to decode or how someone got out of prison by just singing. So my fingers clicked buy, and when I received it, I went from this,
To this,
I immediately saw the two primary reasons I call this book bait.
It’s Generic
First of all, it’s from the History Channel. Suppose anyone has any experience with the History Channel. In that case, you should know their material can get bland or very basic. The stories featured you can learn from Wikipedia or in elementary school. Though the stories lacked flavor, a couple caught my attention.
It’s Way Too Short
The stories lack detail to the point where it becomes a book of facts. The most extended stories are hardly two pages; when I say hardly, I mean two sentences on the next page. Short books don’t turn me off. It’s what’s held inside of them that has value. No offense to the author, but there was not much value inside.
Is It Worth It?
Although it looks like it, this post was not to bash the book. It was supposed to do two things. One, be aware that you might not get what is expected, and two, avoid my mistake of being a happy clicker. Do your research and make sure you know what you’re buying.
Lucky for you, I’m not an utterly biased person. I always look for the good in everything, even if I’m not a fan. Some people sincerely enjoy it. Like this person,
“Awesome. The stories are both enjoyable and informative and easy to read. The text and pictures are appealing to the eye and the subject matter covers musical interests from classical to rock. I am a sucker for useless tidbits of information, but I honestly think that anyone who has an interest in music or popular culture would enjoy this book. And I’m excited that I got a chance to read it even before publication date! Now, is there going to be an accompanying tv series? Because that is something I would love to see!”- Goodreads Review
And this one,
This is a fun book. Rick Beyer has written of series of these specialty anecdotal books. They were done with collaboration with The History Channel. You can pick up this book and read one or two stories, then put it down.
There’s just one thing: because the books are so similar, it’s likely that one or two pieces will be repeated in another book. There are only so many stories surrounding the same topic, and I’m sure it depends on the subject matter. It’s still okay. 85% of the pieces are specific to each book.- Amazon Review