How to Build Everything You Need for Your Birds: From Aviaries . . . to Nestboxes Book

My original intent in reading A Splintered History of Wood was to pick up some trivia and increase my knowledge of the subject generally. In this, the book was more than satisfying; it presents a diverse survey on the history of wood(working), complete with colorful histories, curious etymologies, and unique biographies. However, the presentation of the material is unbalanced. Despite Spike Carlsen's preface warning readers that the book is a splintered (incomplete) history of wood, it's obvious that certain topics have been more thoroughly researched than others, as both the number of pages dedicated to a particular subject as well and the quantity of reliable facts pertaining to a particular section attest. Carlsen also puts the credibility of his book at risk by trying to define wood within scientific fields; in attempting scientific proofs, his analogies are weak and his definitions often too general. For example, Carlsen stretches the definition of wood to include grasses (namely bamboo) at the end of the first chapter - a license that deflates confidence in the authority of the rest of the work. And then, having raised it, he fails to discuss bamboo as a wood elsewhere (though it is briefly mentioned on two separate accounts as an inefficient material). The problems with definitions, however, go beyond specific instances of accuracy. Lumber, for example, has a predictably significant role in Carlsen's book. But Carlsen mistakenly presumes his reader's familiarity with lumber vocabulary. Helpful definitions are few, and when provided - at least on one account - are introduced too late. Carlsen's book would have profited enormously from decent editorial help. Because wood is a very interesting subject, the book would have been more pleasurable to read if it it's definitions were more balanced - perhaps with a supporting glossary. However, content aside, Carlsen's editor failed to monitor even basic writing errors, typos, and factual inconsistencies. Carlsen draws in his reader with his casual "e-mail-esque" writing, which delivers an eye-roll-worthy pun or witty remark on nearly every other page. And while the information about wood is ultimately translated to the reader, the patience required to appreciate Spike Carlsen's big picture is tiresome.