![\"\"](\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/hobbit-handbook.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>The Unofficial Hobbit Handbook<\/strong>\nLet\u2019s start with what I feel is the weaker of the two: the Hobbit Handbook. It\u2019s pretty fun, don\u2019t get me wrong, but as either a humor\/trivia book or a subtle self-help book, it feels a bit flat. The book includes an exhaustive discussion of the ways of Hobbits, and includes some amusing trivia. For example, just about every riddle from the books (including the Hobbit, of course) is reproduced, and a bunch more besides.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s a lot, I mean a LOT, of detail on food. As you\u2019d expect. There are even some recipes, both humorous (Lembas pie crust! Savory garlic dragon!) and straight up (e.g. Waybread Blueberry Tart). There\u2019s extensive advice on what to keep in the larder, and what to serve at every meal. Yes, all the meals are listed, along with when you should have them.<\/p>\n
Where the self-help bits come in (besides keeping a well-stocked larder, which really everyone should know) is when it gets to discussing things like how to treat guests and how to talk to trolls. It\u2019s terribly important to know how to talk to trolls, let me assure you.<\/p>\n
On the trivia front, there\u2019s quite a bit, but a diehard Tolkien fan probably won\u2019t find much to sate them. Though knowing that Rivendell\u2019s checkout time is 11am is terribly useful on those longer trips.<\/p>\n
Look, if you\u2019re going to cosplay a hobbit at a con \u2014 you have to buy this book. No question. There\u2019s just every possible relevant detail in there, though the discussion on clothing (pg 130) is pretty darn light. But for everything else \u2014 pipe-smoking, travel tips, riddling \u2014 it\u2019s a must.<\/p>\n
The Geek Handbook<\/strong> \u201cMuch like ice cream and Christopher Walken, geeks come in many different flavors.\u201d<\/p>\n Sure, the discussion of stereotypical geeks is \u2014 you know, a stereotypical. But even when doing the cliche \u201ctype\u201d discussion, Alex Langley (the author) does it with humor and a certain sensitivity. He both mocks the stereotype and discusses the valid bits at the same time. He uses this same technique on all sorts of topics throughout the book, too. On college majors, D&D gamer types, internet personas and the perennial Trek vs Wars camps.<\/p>\n I especially like the chapter on social interaction, and his advice for socially awkward people. Particularly the part on social cues, which was very well done.<\/p>\n There\u2019s even a section on what to and what NOT to wear, with this priceless footnote on sweatpants:<\/p>\n \u201cThe only exception to this are guys who are so well endowed that sweatpants are pretty much the only pants that fit them comfortably, or people who are getting laid so much that pants are almost an afterthought. However, unless you\u2019re Jason Stackhouse, you may not need to worry about such things, and if you are Jason Stackhouse, I feel it\u2019s my duty to let you know that your sister has porked a lot of vampires.\u201d<\/p>\n Then there are things like the hairstyles discussion. I swear, this part is practically worth the price of the book by itself.<\/p>\n The styles are in the section on grooming, named for the fictional character they resemble most. Some examples:<\/p>\n The Tony Stark: heavy on bangs and don\u2019t forget the goatee.<\/p>\n The Rogue: longish hair, with that front-facing dual strips of grey.<\/p>\n The Professor X: bald, of course.<\/p>\n There are more, and each is rated on Complexity, Coolness if Done Right and Likelihood You\u2019ll Look Like a Jackass.<\/p>\n For all the humor and advice, there\u2019s also some great stuff to explore on your own, like his picks for best webcomics (broken into several categories), and the ten movies every geek should see.<\/p>\n I heartily recommend it, although obviously you should buy the e-book version, for maximum geekiness. (You might want to slip your favorite clueless relative a paper copy for Holiday X.)<\/p>\n * Though you may also want to invest in a gym membership, if you\u2019re going to seriously eat like a Hobbit.<\/p>\n Geek Credentials:<\/strong> When given the opportunity to review “The Unofficial Hobbit Handbook” and “The Geek Handbook” I thought, who better to look at these than JB Sanders, author of our “Geek Month in Reviews”!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4,31,11,17,27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8862"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8862"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8862\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nAlthough this is a self-help book, it\u2019s really, really funny. It was worth reading just for the humor, good advice or not.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Geek Handbook is a soup-to-nuts guide to being a geek, dealing with a geek or raising a geek. Really, all three! And it gives all this great advice using the \u201cspoonful of sugar\u201d method \u2014 and in this analogy humor is the sweet, sweet sugar. I had several laugh out loud moments, and I\u2019m sure anyone familiar with geekiness will, too.<\/p>\n<\/a> About John:<\/strong>
\nJohn’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).<\/p>\n
\nRPG:<\/strong> Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee.
\nComputer:<\/strong> TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w\/reel-to-reel backup tape
\nCard games:<\/strong> bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993
\nScience:<\/strong> Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983
\nHis Blog:<\/strong> http:\/\/glenandtyler.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"