From an early age we all attend school and start learning new things. While the things we learn at school prepare young people for life and the wider world, what about the everyday things that prepare you for being an adult? They are very different things. For example, when you open the washing machine drawer and are greeted with a series of compartments – what goes where? What about bleeding a radiator properly? Nobody actually teaches anyone this stuff, I know I wasn’t! Now Jakob de Villiers III has compiled a book of 75 short, but really useful, things that every adult should know (rather than pretending they know it and then having to Google it), this book is called The Stuff That Nobody Tells You.
The Stuff That Nobody Tells You is a compilation of useful information that every adult has never been taught but really should know. Spread out over 126 pages and 10 chapters it looks at everything from what drawer to put the fabric softener in the washing machine, what those symbols really mean on the labels on your clothing tags and how to clean a smelly washing machine (Chapter 1: The Machines That Beep at You) to tipping in the UK, what really RSVP means and paying in local currency (Chapter 10: Out in the World).
The book takes readers through everyday real-world scenarios like reading and understanding tax codes (and not just what the numbers mean), who the garden fence actually belongs to (you or your neighbour – and it isn’t always what you believe or have been told), the difference between Use By and Best Before dates on food and why turning your computer off and on again actually works.
Overall, The Stuff Nobody Tells You is a really interesting and useful concise book looking at issues everybody has to deal with. It is written with humour while delivering some very useful information that most people don’t know as no one sits down with anyone and explains this stuff (and manuals for gadgets, machines and equipment are often “put safely away” and never read). For instance, those labels in your clothes that tell you what temperature to wash them at – I didn’t know that they have so much more information such as the temperature to iron them at (after reading the book I actually checked some labels for the information and yes it was there there, I just overlooked it because I didn’t know it meant anything – I knew the iron symbol meant you could iron if it wasn’t crossed out but I never noticed the dots on the iron that told you what heat setting to use).
Jakob de Villiers III has written a book that is easy to read, packed with information that everybody really should know rather than having to Google or having incorrect knowledge passed down by others that really didn’t know either. The front cover says “keep near the kettle” and yes, I think everyone should have a copy of this book and keep it handy. I learned a lot from it, it dispelled myths and half-truths about things I was confident of already knowing (yes, I Googled them to check as well). It has been written for British life and has been checked against gov.uk, the NHS, HMRC and the Food Standards Agency, as well as telling you to check against local council websites for any rule changes that they have (not all councils are the same).
Whether you have been an adult for a long time, starting your adult life by heading off to university or venturing out into your first home, The Stuff Nobody Tells You is a book that everybody should have or at least read once. It’s witty, and more importantly, very educational – packed with useful information that you will actually use (and you will no longer have to pretend you know this stuff).
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £7.99 (Paperback) / £2.99 (Kindle)
For more information, visit jakobdevilliers.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
