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A Million Years in a Day
A Million Years in a Day: A Curious History of Everyday Life | Greg Jenner
11 posts | 6 read | 21 to read
'A wonderful idea, gloriously put into practice. Greg Jenner as is witty as he is knowledgeable' - Tom Holland Who invented beds? When did we start cleaning our teeth? How old are wine and beer? Which came first: the toilet seat or toilet paper? What was the first clock? Every day, from the moment our alarm clock wakes us in the morning until our head hits our pillow at night, we all take part in rituals that are millennia old. Structured around one ordinary day, A MILLION YEARS IN A DAY reveals the astonishing origins and development of the daily practices we take for granted. In this gloriously entertaining romp through human history Greg Jenner explores the gradual and often unexpected evolution of our daily routines. This is not a story of politics, wars or great events, instead Greg Jenner has scoured Roman rubbish bins, Egyptian tombs and Victorian sewers to bring us the most intriguing, surprising and sometimes downright silly nuggets from our past. Drawn from across the world, spanning a million years of humanity, this book is a smorgasbord of historical delights. It is a history of all those things you always wondered - and many you have never considered. It is the story of your life, one million years in the making.
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hike.read.repeat
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For those of you doing the #readharderchallenge, do you think this counts as a #socialscience book? It discusses human inventions and concepts like time and toilets throughout human history. #readharder

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Lkbbooks
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“History is a collaborative discipline - a vast edifice of constantly changing knowledge - and it‘s constructed by countless squadrons of tireless scholars who beaver away in their own fields and then unselfishly share their findings with the rest of us. It‘s only thanks to their superhuman curiosity, diligence and talent that I was even remotely capable of scribbling this book. We‘ll, that, and a massive quantity of chocolate biscuits.”

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Megabooks
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Ok, three books left for #ArmchairAudies! I started the last book in the humor category, You Can't Touch My Hair. So far it's very promising!! I'm officially DNFing A Million Years in a Day. I've checked it out twice from the library, and can't make it past disc nine. 😕 Definitely not the winner! Starting the other two soon. 😃👍🏻📚

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Sace Love John McWhorter! Does he do the audio? 8y
Sace Oh he does!! I've heard him lecture and I find him very entertaining. I hope you have a good experience with it. 😊 8y
Megabooks @Sace Yes! 😃👍🏻 8y
Linda906 Sorry to ask a stupid question, but what is #ArmchairAudies? Is it a challenge? 8y
Megabooks @Linda906 Not stupid! The Audies are the OSCARS of audiobooks. I don't know how it started, but a few years ago, some audiobook lovers started listening to every book in a category and picking a winner to compare to the real ballot. I'm co-judging nonfiction and solely judging humor. Check out @LitHousewife and www.armchairaudies.com for more info! 8y
tracyrowanreads I love Prof. McWhorter. Such interesting lectures. 8y
Megabooks @tracyrowanreads I've never heard of him, but now I'm excited!! 8y
94 likes11 comments
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Megabooks
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Bailedbailed

I just can't do a British accent right now. And British humor. Plus the book is dragging. I will come back though because it's for #ArmchairAudies I just can't force it anymore.

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Megabooks
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Can you ever just not manage to finish a book? I feel like these two are languishing in my to be finished (TBF🤣🤣🤣) pile. I guess it partly because I came in from work and lost 4 hours to sleep. Today was rough pain-wise. But that does explain this weekend's procrastination!

The Possessions is not a very good book, FYI. (Sorry if it was your BOTM - maybe you'll like it more!) And I think the British humor in AMYIAD is just falling flat. Le sigh

RadicalReader aMYID? What's this? @Ebooksandcooks 8y
Megabooks Abbreviation for the book title A Million years in a day because I was running out of space @RadicalReader 🤣🙃 8y
RadicalReader @Ebooksandcooks that's why context clues are a good thing lol 8y
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Daisydo Middlesex is killing me. It's such a slow read. I just keep coming back. Pride and prejudice is also killing me. Ugh. 8y
kspenmoll @Daisydo Was thinking of starting Pride & P- never read Austen ( cringe) but maybe there is a better choice? 8y
awishman For me, if I don't want to read my book more than just about anything, it's a sign it's not the book for me right now. Then it's bail time. 8y
kmcallion Swann's Way by Proust was beautifully written but just went nowhere so I chucked it after 100 pages or so 8y
Daisydo You know, I've wanted to read Austen forever... I've got an annotated copy of the book, so that if the language confuses me I don't have to have my dictionary handy. But it just makes the reading tedious. I wish I had an answer. Maybe it's just too verbose for my YA loving mind. The girls at my local bs said Austen is a pain in the ass. I agree. But I'm going to finish if it kills me. 8y
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Megabooks
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Medieval joke: What's the cleanest leaf in the forest?

Answer: Holly because no one dares wipe his ass on it!! 🤣🤣

This book is seriously funnier than the whole humor category!!

suomi 😂😂😂 8y
59 likes1 comment
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Megabooks
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This book is cracking me up! This quote is about the guy who invented Daylight Savings Time. This book seriously belongs in the humor category. 🕺🏿🕺🏿🕺🏿🤦🏻‍♀️#ArmchairAudies

RachelAmphlett OMG that quote got me! 😂 8y
RadicalReader @Ebooksandcooks what is the best audiobook you have listened to? 8y
Daisey That quote definitely got my attention, and the premise of the book sounds fascinating. 8y
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LitHousewife I'm going to have to read this! 8y
Megabooks @RachelAmphlett @Daisey @LitHousewife I'm moving on to the bathroom chapter this morning. I can't wait to see what he writes! 8y
Megabooks @RadicalReader so far, fiction is The Nix. Nonfiction there are a lot of ties. 8y
julesG Sounds like I have to read this. Stacked! 8y
RachelAmphlett @Ebooksandcooks This does look good 😊 8y
Megabooks @julesG It's really good! So funny! 8y
Megabooks @RachelAmphlett it is!! 👍🏻👍🏻 8y
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Megabooks

This book has so many great comedic lines like talking about how Cleopatra's needles were invented before she was "bumping uglies with Julius Caesar." Seriously!!! ????

BUT the narrator has no comedic timing, so all these jokes fall flat. I have laughed more listening to this book in the first half chapter than I did in some humor books!

RadicalReader @Ebooksandcooks bumping uglier with Julius Caesar lol too funny 8y
Megabooks @RadicalReader I know, right?!? 8y
57 likes2 comments
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Megabooks
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I just fell asleep for 3 hours!!! That counts towards my nightly sleep right?

Going to see if I can start this one for the #ArmchairAudies and not miss #Henry's vet appointment tomorrow morning!

#nonfiction category #NonfictionChallenge17

LauraJ Absolutely! I just napped for two hours and am all ready to read 'til the wee hours and still get up when my cat demands breakfast at 7:15. 8y
LitHousewife That book sounds really interesting. Don't miss your appointment! 8y
Megabooks @LauraJ my dog let me sleep until 8:30! 🎉🎉🎉 8y
Megabooks @LitHousewife Fortunately, I'm up. Just have to straighten my hair and put on a little makeup 😃 8y
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Qemorio
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Every once in a while I am walking through the bookshop, I spot a book and think WHY HAVE I NOT SEEN THIS!! Spotted this one today it sounds so interesting.

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Verity
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Pickpick

Have been listening to this on audiobook. It's witty, smart and only a little bit weird that someone I went to university with has a) written a proper history book and b) read the audiobook himself. Greg is proper clever and picks out all the best tangents to go on. Great fun.

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