For the most part, fairly interesting. On each day you learn something of seven fields of knowledge. I would say that the entries are a bit weighted toward the modern, and the writing a bit slanted from traditional beliefs and philosophies, but still there is a great deal to learn here.

My only real comment as to why I rated it as I did is this -- at the same time I was reading this, I was reading a Christian devotional. And while I enjoyed this book, I was constantly coming away from the Christian devotional with things that had wonderful and powerful effects on my life. After reading this, I appreciate what I have learned, but so little of it will ever have any sort of effect on my life. Perhaps in Christ I have learned what is most important here, and it is not something that can be found in this book. ( )

A fun way to add to your knowledge and pick up some interesting facts along the way. Or, even better, a way to fill in all of those gaps about things you kind of know about or have heard of but don't really have a grasp on.

One page per day covers a single topic from the categories of History, Literature, Visual Arts, Science, Music, Philosophy, and Religion (on Sunday, naturally). The "devotionals" are quick reads and generally fun and informative.

The first day first week is "The Alphabet" and covers how Egyptian hieroglyphics morphed into alphabets. Mentions the Rosetta Stone and then how the alphabet spread Phoenicians (seaborne traders). Both Greek and Roman alphabets are based on Phoenician alphabets and finally that most Western languages use the Roman alphabet. Not bad for a 3 minute read.

A quick flip through reveals the wide range of topics covered over 365 days:
-Beowulf
-The Sistine Chapel
-Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
-Paul Cezanne
-Blood (science)
-Treaty of Versailles
-Waiting for Godot
-Cubism
-Moral Relativism ( )

Devotionals don't usually appeal to me since I'm not religious, but this is a devotional of a different sort. This collection has a page for each day, loaded with information about influential authors, books, works of art, artists, religion, math, and science. Even the educated can learn something in this handy tome...the true story of the strange circumstances leading to Mozart's death, what makes Ulysses such a special book, why religions treasure certain places and things, and what lead to now-common mathematical equations we all had to learn in high school. This book can pique interest in subjects you've never read about, and can inspire you to reread a beloved book. I myself had such fun with this book that I used it as inspiration to jot down some ideas for short stories and books. The only thing that disappointed me is that the music section was devoted to classical music only (I was hoping to read a passage on the Beatles, even though I'm pretty well versed in their history [huge fan!]), but luckily a second edition will be making its way to bookshelves soon. This is a wonderful read that can be enjoyed one bit at a time, and you can even skip through and/or use the index if you want to read about certain things. I really loved this book - a combination of educational and fun!

http://hollybooknotes.blogspot.com/20... ( )

What a fun book! I enjoyed this very much, although I confess that I also was not able to stick to one entry a day. I learned so much about science, classical music, art, history, religion, etc. from reading this book. It peaked my interest in reading more and more books about all the cool topics touched on therein. ( )