Maphead

Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
by Ken Jennings
Scribner, 2011. 276 pgs. Nonfiction

This is a book all about the world of maps and the people who love them. Its chapters cover a variety of topics related to geography, including antique map collecting, imaginary places, the National Geography Bee, geocaching, extreme traveling, history, and politics.

I love geography and trivia and so I was a natural fit for this book. It doesn’t sound like one that would keep up reading later than you intend to, but I admit that I stayed up way past my bedtime reading it. The writing is fun and sometimes irreverent while still delivering all kinds of interesting facts about our world. You can tell that Jennings is really fascinated by geography and he makes it easy to be enthusiastic about it too. Even if you think you don’t like maps, you might change your mind after reading this book.

JC