Welcome to Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly bookish meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl that features a different bookish topic every week.
Today’s topic is Weird or Funny Things I’ve Googled Thanks to a Book
I had some trouble with this topic because I couldn’t think of many things I’ve googled because of a book. I think most of my googles might have been boring fact-checks that I don’t remember after because they’re just boring. Which is a problem because the topic specifically states weird or funny things.
However, I’ve cheated by changing my topic to just Things I’ve Googled Thanks to a Book, and I went ahead and cheated even more by asking my friends about their weird and funny googles because of books they read, so I could add more to the list. Theirs are definitely weird and funny, and some are NSFW, so I’ve put them under spoiler tags. Read at your own risk!
Things I’ve Googled Thanks to a Book
1. Dark Visions by L.J. Smith
I read this series a long time ago and remember being fascinated by the description of the inukshuk. I didn’t actually google at the time I read it, but it stayed with me for so long that I googled it later, and it was the first thing that came to mind with today’s prompt.
The inukshuk
The word “inukshuk” means “in the likeness of a human.” For generations, Inuit have been creating these impressive stone markers on the vast Arctic landscape. Inukshuks serve several functions, including guiding travellers, warning of danger, assisting hunters and marking places of reverence.
2. Bury Me Deep by Christopher Pike
Another one I read a long time ago, but I remember being fascinated by one of the plot points and googling it later.
The bends
Decompression sickness, also called generalized barotrauma or the bends, refers to injuries caused by a rapid decrease in the pressure that surrounds you, of either air or water.
It’s also the name of an album by Radiohead, but that’s got nothing to do with the book. It’s just one of the things that pop up when you google “the bends”.
3. Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
More recently I googled how long an octopus could live out of water, and while Marcellus in the book stated he could go 18 minutes, the answer I googled said it was around 20-30 minutes, which is close and totally makes sense.
4. Watership Down by Richard Adams
Full disclosure: I haven’t read this book, but while googling about the book, I found out that Watership Down is actually a place in Hampshire, England.
Watership Down is a hill or a down at Ecchinswell in the civil parish of Ecchinswell, Sydmonton and Bishops Green in the English county of Hampshire, as part of the Hampshire Downs. It rises fairly steeply on its northern flank, but to the south the slope is much gentler.
Now on to my friends’ googles that gave me giggles!
Things My Friends Have Googled Thanks to a Book
5. The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
They googled the etymological history of “goal” because they were curious about “jail” vs “goal”. We didn’t get into a deeper discussion about it because we were busy laughing about the other answers.
6. Pod by Laline Paull
I did not read this book, so I have no context to what that referred to. It has made me curious about the book though!
7. Shark Heart by Emily Habeck
I haven’t read this book, but it was on my TBR before this conversation, I swear! Now I want to read it more!
8. The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore
I don’t know the context for this book, but I do know that our ancestors were often a lot more liberal than we give them credit for, so I totally believe it!
I don’t have any more at the moment, but I loved this topic and finding out what my friends have googled. I’m excited to see what everyone else’s answers are too. This topic has definitely made me want to keep better track of what I google because of books, and hopefully the next time we come back to this topic, I’ll have funnier answers!
What weird or funny things have you googled because of a book? I’d love to hear it!
I don’t think I’ve ever searched anything after reading a book! This was such a fun topic though and I love when topics are creative like this. 🙂
I think so too! I loved the answers I got from my friends, but my own were so boring, and I couldn’t think of many either.
If I were your friend and read the review about the piercing, I would probably research it as well. It doesn’t feel like something that would have happened, but our ancestors were a strange bunch.
Pam @ Read! Bake! Create!
https://readbakecreate.com/2023-reading-google-map-books-i-read-in-2023/
They were much more scandalous than we’d have thought!
I couldn’t think of anything weird or funny, so I went mostly with stuff I fact-checked in books. I’m kinda nerdy about that kind of thing…
I’m laughing a bit that you have dolphins and sharks here; seems like a theme developing!
I love the stuff you posted! They are all so fascinating! And I know right? I was teasing my friends about how depraved they were. LOL!
I was stymied by this prompt and I decided to list my favorite funny books!
Funny books are always good books! We can never have too many!
I’m interested in reading Remarkably Bright Creatures, but it’ll be awhile because I’m way down the hold list.
I hope you get it soon and that you’ll enjoy it!
I had no idea that Watership Down was a real place!
Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
Me neither!
I can understand why you Googled the Van Pelt one.
Yeah, I was worried about the octopus!
I haven’t read Shark Heart either, but this made me flash back to my freshman year in high school. We were studying marine life in biology class and one of my classmates asked my very Christian, very conservative teacher how sharks had sex. He then drew visuals on the chalkboard (I’m old, whiteboards were not really a thing yet), blushing furiously the entire time.
Here is our Top Ten Tuesday.
LOL! That must have been a fun experience, and certainly memorable for you!
Imagine nipple piercings existing at a time when there was no anesthesia available 😳
Here’s my TTT:
https://pinkfordays.wordpress.com/2024/03/05/22752/
Ouch!
I live in England, although not near Hampshire, and read Watership Down when I was in primary school so maybe 10 years old (ergh 23 years ago!) but didn’t realise it was an actual place 😂
I rarely Google book things so I found it tough this week.
Have a great week!
Emily @ Budget Tales Book Blog
My post:
https://budgettalesblog.wordpress.com/2024/03/05/top-ten-tuesday-books-that-made-me-ask-questions/
It was tough for me too, but luckily my friends’ googles came to the rescue!
It’s actually fascinating that many people seem to Google things in books. I don’t do it myself.
My TTT: https://laurieisreading.com/2024/03/05/top-ten-tuesday-did-i-read-my-winter-tbr/
I don’t do it a lot, or at least I don’t remember, but the prompt certainly made me more conscious about it.
Not only was it a good topic for you, but it was a great conversation starter for you and your friends, that’s awesome! Have a great week!
That’s true! I hope you have a great week too!
That’s a lot of interesting things to learn! Usually I’m most likely to search for the translation of a word in another language, but I couldn’t come up with any interesting ones for this week. Thanks for stopping by my TTT earlier!
I do that too sometimes. Most of my googles are boring, but I love everyone else’s answers!
I also had trouble thinking of ideas so it worked out that I’m taking a break this month from TTT posts. I’ve definitely googled things to find out if they were real or fictional. (Like Daisy Jones and the Six… I was like… wait was this a real band? XD)
I did that too! I definitely wondered if Daisy Jones and the Six were a real band, but apparently, it was only based on a real band – Fleetwood Mac, if I’m not mistaken.
Yes! I believe that’s who the author based them on 🙂
You had some great googles, and thanks for also letting us know the answers! The octpous one was especially intriguing to me, even if I haven’t read the book yet 🙂
I’m glad you liked the octopus one!