The Anthropocene Reviewed

Essays on a Human-Centered Planet

by John Green
read by the Author

Review posted December 8, 2024.
Penguin Audio, 2021. 10 hours, 3 minutes.
Review written September 7, 2022, from a library eaudiobook
Starred Review

First, a big thank-you to my coworker Lisa for recommending this book and telling me it was available with John Green reading it himself. More than anything else of his I've read, this reminds me of how I first found out about John Green -- in his vlog with his brother Hank, discussing random things together.

I like the way John Green's nerdy mind works. He knows all kinds of bizarre facts and goes off on multiple tangents, and I think it's all so fascinating.

In this book, John Green reviews random things on a five-star scale. But in order to do that, he tells about his own experiences with them and sometimes random facts about them and basically what it means to him. He explains at the beginning that reviews are inherently personal. I completely agree, and that made me feel good about this website and how I review books with respect to how I enjoyed them.

The things he chooses to review are somewhat bizarre. We've got Halley's Comet, Canada geese, scratch 'n' sniff stickers, diet Dr. Pepper, and Lascaux cave paintings, for example. What could you possibly think of that all these have in common? Well, they're all reviewed in this book.

I have to say that although I enjoy listening to John Green talk and found the subjects fascinating once he starts talking about them, when I had the physical book checked out, I didn't get much read. It may have to do with the random nature of the selection of topics and no plot to keep me going. To my surprise, when I started listening, at first my attention wasn't engaged either. But then I had the idea to listen at 1.25 speed -- and I'd hit the sweet spot. I happily listened to the rest of the eaudiobook on my phone while driving and while doing housework (as one does) and maybe a little in between those times because I was so interested.

I happily give this book four-and-a-half stars.