# Two questions about books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 2, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052 "2010-03-02T22:53:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052/21 "2010-03-05T23:33:35Z")
I can’t find the banana book in my library system, but I picked up the salt book last night. I’m about halfway through it now; it really is excellent. Thanks for mentioning it, **Taomist**! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052/22 "2010-03-05T23:42:23Z")
I did a lookup in my distribution database. Here are the BISAC categories and Dewey Decimal System classifications for your three books: _Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age_ - Music | Business Aspects - Music | History & Criticism | General Dewey: 384 _Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language_ - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics | General Dewey: 422 _Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World_ - Business & Economics | Industries | Agribusiness - Technology & Engineering | Agriculture | General Dewey: 634.772 The LOC (Library of Congress) categories are different. Does that help? ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052/23 "2010-03-05T23:43:48Z")
In the “Narrative History” category, I enjoyed [Longitude](http://www.amazon.com/Longitude-Genius-Greatest-Scientific-Problem/dp/080271529X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267832272&sr=1-1) by Dava Sobel. When travelling at see, determining longitude was much more difficult than determining latitude. But the difficulty of calculating longitude caused many deaths at see. The British Parliament in the 18th century offered a huge reward to the person capable of devising a solution to this problem. What would the solution be? A better way to observe star positions? More precise star charts? Or would it be … a better watch? ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052/24 "2010-03-06T00:53:21Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:22, topic:531052”] I did a lookup in my distribution database. Here are the BISAC categories and Dewey Decimal System classifications for your three books: _Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age_ - Music | Business Aspects - Music | History & Criticism | General Dewey: 384 _Origins of the Specious: Myths and Misconceptions of the English Language_ - Language Arts & Disciplines | Linguistics | General Dewey: 422 _Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World_ - Business & Economics | Industries | Agribusiness - Technology & Engineering | Agriculture | General Dewey: 634.772 The LOC (Library of Congress) categories are different. Does that help? [/QUOTE] Yes it did, thank you. I was hoping that there was something that could tie, at least two of them together. It looks like the only classification in common is “General”. No biggie; I was just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052/25 "2010-03-07T02:33:05Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Question 2 > When I use to read stories and novels, when multiple people were talking I would get confused about who said what. I would have to re-read parts because when I thought person A was talking it would actually be person B or C. This happened to me a lot. Am I the only one, or do any of you have that problem? If this happens all the time it’s likely a reading issue with you, but there are a lot of novel, that are badly edited or written, and this does become a problem. If you’re reading a classic like “To Kill A Mockingbird,” you shouldn’t have this issue [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-books/531052.md?page=1)