# Let's compile a completely useless desert-island library **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514 "2006-06-28T16:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/1 "2006-06-28T16:52:10Z")
You know those lists of books you’d take to a desert island? This is the opposite of that. This is a collection of books that would be spectacularly useless if you were stranded on a desert island. They won’t be useful (except maybe as kindling), they won’t be entertaining, they won’t help you escape the island or learn animal husbandry or find inner peace. Assume it’s your standard desert island – no boats, no lights, no motor cars, etc. The only rule: they have to be real books. My nominations: _Firewalls for Dummies, 2nd Edition_ _Rachael Ray 365: No Repeats_ _The Eat Right for Your Type Complete Blood Type Encyclopedia_ _Essentials of Contract Law_ Yours? ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/2 "2006-06-28T16:55:30Z")
_Who Moved My Cheese?_ _Writer’s Market 2006_ The Yellow Pages. _Roget’s Thesaurus_ _Elements of Style_ ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/3 "2006-06-28T16:59:39Z")
Physicians desk reference Pediatric Advanced Life Support Instructors manual Personal Finace for Dummies ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/4 "2006-06-28T17:08:01Z")
How to Win Friends & Influence People ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/5 "2006-06-28T17:12:10Z")
Collin’s French Dictionary. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/6 "2006-06-28T17:21:43Z")
Parks Garden catalog Ikea catalogue TV Guide Fall Preview Issue Survivalst (Braille edition) ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/7 "2006-06-28T17:24:34Z")
How To Learn Sign Language The Joy Of Sex ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/8 "2006-06-28T17:26:26Z")
Oops. That should be The Joy of Sex (Braille edition) ---
**Author:** ![Governor\_Quinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d26b3c/32.png) [@Governor\_Quinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Governor_Quinn)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/9 "2006-06-28T17:27:25Z")
Cotton Vitellius A. xv/the Nowell Codex ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/10 "2006-06-28T17:39:09Z")
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills SAS: Mountain and Arctic Survival ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/11 "2006-06-28T17:48:06Z")
_The Wheel of Time_ series by Robert Jordan. You knew _someone_ was gonna say it… ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/12 "2006-06-28T18:00:09Z")
> [@Otto](#): > > _The Wheel of Time_ series by Robert Jordan. Ridiculous! Why, just one of those books will guarantee you fuel for your fire for years! \ Oh, except for kindling. Never mind. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/13 "2006-06-28T18:20:25Z")
The Farmer’s Almanac. At least, not unless the paper is nice and thin… ---
**Author:** ![Subway\_Prophet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecb155/32.png) [@Subway\_Prophet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Subway_Prophet)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/14 "2006-06-28T18:23:23Z")
The pop-up illustrated _da Vinco Code_. _Leonard Maltin’s 1984 Movie Guide_ Anything by Nora Roberts. ---
**Author:** ![mrald](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@mrald](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mrald)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/15 "2006-06-28T18:58:05Z")
Dr. Phil’s entire self help collection ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/16 "2006-06-28T20:26:33Z")
Ebert’s Little Movie Glossary Dynamic HTML for Dummies Frommer’s Guide to Budapest and the Best of Hungary ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/17 "2006-06-28T21:06:30Z")
[Pretty much anything by any of the authors covered in this thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=375625) (Well, most of them . . . I wouldn’t mind having a few Stephen King volumes on my desert island. YMMV.) ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/18 "2006-06-28T21:20:33Z")
_A Humument_ (a book-length project made by painting on top of a Victorian novel) \*The Heart of a Humument \* (the same, using only the middles of the pages) _Consumer Reports 2005 Car and Truck Buying Guide_ ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/19 "2006-06-28T21:21:51Z")
Oh–and _The Silver Palate Good Times Cookbook_ ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2006, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514/20 "2006-06-28T22:01:06Z")
The Bible. Aw no he did not just say that! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-compile-a-completely-useless-desert-island-library/362514.md?page=2)