Holly Quick Backlist Reviews, Bookman!: Week 62

Just to get through some backlog of books I've read, I'll post 4 super short reviews of backlist titles every Wednesday. 

1. The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets by Simon Singh (Bloomsbury USA, 2013): Pretty good. I definitely got some insight into episodes of The Simpsons (and Futurama actually). At times the math was a bit over my head, but the author generally did a good idea of explaining it.  One of my favorite bits is about Stephen Hawking appearing on an episode. Apparently his computer's dictionary didn't recognize the word 'Fruitopia' "so Hawking and the team had to figure out how to construct Fruitopia phonetically. Commenting later on the episode, writer Matt Selman recalled: "It's good to know that we were taking the most brilliant man in the world and using his time to record Fruitopia in individual syllables." 5 stars.
2. The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium, An Englishman's World by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger (Little Brown & Co, 1999): Overall, it wasn't as great as I was hoping.  It definitely makes some interesting points (the conclusion is awesome actually) and it has some great research. I guess I just wanted a bit more from the writing style. Definitely worth a read if you're interested in this type of history. 4 stars.
3. The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (William Morrow, 2013): I cannot stress enough how much I recommend this book.  It is beautiful, creepy, poignant, and vivid. 5 stars.
4. The Thrall's Tale by Judith Lindbergh (Bantam, 2006): While this book should've been split into two books, it was fantastic. If you like Vikings, strong female characters, historical fiction, and/or lyrical prose, this is the book for you. 5 stars.