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geekwayne's review
4.0
'The Best American Infographics 2014' is a mind-boggling compendium of facts distilled down to image form. This collection represents the best of the past year in this art and data form for America.
The book is divided into four categories: You, Us, Material World and Interactive. The infographics range all over the place. A circular graph shows various cheeses based on source and hardness or softness. The same circle is used to show how long a song takes to reach the charts in various categories of music. There is an underground map with stations named after the flavors a man with synesthesia associates with them. There are charts for baseball and animal droppings and wine pairings and Justin Bieber. It just goes on and each one is beautiful and intersting.
I spent lots of time soaking this book in. The ability to distill large data into something easier to digest and elegant is truly an interesting modern artform. There are infographics from major publications, but also from blogs. I really enjoyed this book.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley in exchange for and honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this beautiful ebook.
The book is divided into four categories: You, Us, Material World and Interactive. The infographics range all over the place. A circular graph shows various cheeses based on source and hardness or softness. The same circle is used to show how long a song takes to reach the charts in various categories of music. There is an underground map with stations named after the flavors a man with synesthesia associates with them. There are charts for baseball and animal droppings and wine pairings and Justin Bieber. It just goes on and each one is beautiful and intersting.
I spent lots of time soaking this book in. The ability to distill large data into something easier to digest and elegant is truly an interesting modern artform. There are infographics from major publications, but also from blogs. I really enjoyed this book.
I received a review copy of this ebook from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NetGalley in exchange for and honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this beautiful ebook.
duparker's review
4.0
Great resource to learn about the different ways people are communicating information now. The data presentation is so informative and available to everyone. Beyond the educational element, there are some great visuals here with every topic or area covered. It is a lot of fun to browse and root through looking for different examples of information and education.
balletbookworm's review
4.0
Really fun. I like the larger size pages this year to better accommodate some of the art. Amazing foldout pages. Great addition to the Best American line.
in2reading's review
4.0
It's always interesting to page through a selection of infographics. My favorites in this edition included: The World as 100 People - English by the Book (When New Words Were Made) - Is Your State's Highest-Paid Employee a Coach? (Probably) - The Midwest (a map that overlays 100 different definitions of the American Midwest) - The Literal Meaning of the States (I didn't know I grew up in Land of the Large Creek - Ohio).
antlersantlers's review
3.0
These were entertaining, but with all infographics I'm inherently skeptical. I loved seeing graphics that appeared in books I read last year, particularly [b:Lost Cat|15793584|Lost Cat A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology|Caroline Paul|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350952959s/15793584.jpg|21515558] and [b:Picture Cook|17572974|Picture Cook See. Make. Eat.|Katie Shelly|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372784934s/17572974.jpg|24512975]. There was a big section in the middle that I found totally boring, which is not something I remember feeling reading [b:last year's collection|17165936|The Best American Infographics 2013|Gareth Cook|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363657464s/17165936.jpg|23592723].
graventy's review
3.0
I like infographics, and these are pretty good. But there comes a point where the information to graphic ratio gets too high. Many of these are dense, DENSE infographs, and you lose a lot of the accessibility of the basic idea when it tries to hard to convey so much information.
rebecca_isreading's review
3.0
With a mix of educational and entertaining entries, The Best American Infographics 2014 is an enjoyable, quick read. For those who have enjoyed the rise of infographics over the past years, having a volume such as this handy to flip through and peruse will be at treat. However, those looking to do research on the topics included should be advised as to the timeliness of these entries- while the book is published in October 2014, the infographics included were originally published in 2013. Review copy provided by NetGalley.
restlessunicorn's review against another edition
3.0
Some clear winners here: the literal meaning of the States (map), tornado maps, cosmic journeys (of satellites), bieber vs bieber, and how to pick a Pope. However, the rest were of little interest to me - and the interactive session in a book (essentially static screen shots) seemed pointless. I liked last year's offering much better.
bookwormmichelle's review against another edition
4.0
This was fun. Some of these were EXTREMELY interesting. Some were meh (why would I want an intricate visual comparison of Justin Bieber in two different years???) and some were so huge and complex I could hardly believe the artists thought it was a simplification of information. Kind of fun to see all the different styles and topics gathered together.
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