Reference / Curiosities & Wonders

The Everything Classical Mythology Book: From the Heights of Mount Olympus to the Depths of the Underworld - All You Need to Know about the Classical

by Nancy Conner

Romance, betrayal, passion, tragedy, violence, and scandal.

No, it's not the latest reality TV search for love--it's classical mythology. For years, people have turned to the ancient Greek and Roman myths for...

The Skeptic's Guide to Conspiracies

by Monte Cook

Did the noble order of the Knights Templar guard a secret about Jesus' birth?

Was the moon landing faked in a Hollywood movie studio?

Is the government keeping the remains of an alien spacecraft in the top-secret...

Carny Sideshows:

by Tony Gangi

Step right up, Ladies and Germs, and feast your eyes on the incomparable wonders of a hidden world! Be astonished! amazed! disgusted! by brazen acts of self-destruction that no natural human body should be able...

The Book of Percentages

by Tom Philbin

You will now be able to wow your friends, scare your kids, and bargain with your spouse as you use this book to legitimize bad decisions, idle threats, and risky ventures. With this one-stop statistical resource,...

Uncle John's Facts to Go Attack of the Foodies

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

Pizza, chocolate, potatoes, grubs, coffee, croissants…grubs? Yes, grubs! In Attack of the Foodies, no food or beverage is safe from the culinary clutches of Uncle John. From around the world to your dinner...

Uncle John's Facts to Go Bathroom Lore

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

Some of the best bathroom reading we’ve ever squeezed out has been about the bathroom itself. And in this e-book, the hallowed throne gets its moment in the spotlight! Starting from prehistoric times, you’ll...

Uncle John's Facts to Go Mouthing Off

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

In the 26-year history of the Bathroom Readers’ Institute, we have collected tens of thousands of the world’s most memorable quotations. In this e-book, you’ll find the very best of them (along with some...

Morbid Curiosity Cures the Blues: True Stories of the Unsavory, Unwise, Unorthodox and Unusual from the magazine 'Morbid Curiosity'

by Loren Rhoads

For ten years, Morbid Curiosity was a one-of-a-kind underground magazine that gained a devoted following for its celebration of absurd, grotesque, and unusual tales -- all true -- submitted from contributors...

Oddball Colorado: A Guide to Some Really Strange Places

by Jerome Pohlen

A high-altitude alligator farm. A UFO watchtower. A monument to a headless chicken. While other travel guides tell you about tackling Pike’s Peak, skiing the back bowls, or rafting down the Arkansas River,...

Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting

by Kitty Burns Florey

"A witty and readable (and fetchingly illustrated and glossed) excursion through the history of handwriting." —The Wall Street Journal

Let a self-confessed "penmanship nut" take you on a tour of the strange...

Suburban Legends: True Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Minivans

by Sam Stall

It's a Terrible Day in the Neighborhood

They told you the suburbs were a great place to live. They said nothing bad could ever happen here.

But they were wrong.

This collection of terrifying true stories...

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Weird Canada

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

Did you know that Canada was almost called Hochelaga? That’s just one of thousands of wacky facts awaiting readers in Uncle John’s quirky celebration of Earth’s second largest country. You’ll find page...

The Uncyclopedia

by Gideon Haigh

Make way for this defiantly idiosyncratic, hilariously illuminating compendium of curiosities you never knew you wanted to know! How do you flirt in Turkish? How do you dump someone in Japanese? What are the...

Weirdest and Wackiest World Records: From the Absolutely Bizarre to the Downright Shocking

by Tony Lyons

Who knew that one could make a claim to fame in such an unorthodox way? The Weirdest and Wackiest World Records may not list the most traditional achievements, but it sure will leave readers speechless. From...

Don't You Believe It!: Exposing the Myths Behind Commonly Believed Fallacies

by Herb Reich

Our cherished culturally shared beliefs stem from a variety of sources, many of which propagate old wives’ tales, myths, self-serving fantasies, innocent fallacies, or sheer nonsense. History is replete with...

The Celebrated Pedestrian and Other Historical Curiosities

by BBC History Magazine

Who is the Downing of Downing Street? What did the first illuminated adverts in Piccadilly Circus advertise? Was Oliver Cromwell actually Welsh? Questions like these and many more are answered in this, the first...

Wanted - Bear Cubs for My Children

by Gary Fingercastle

What do haunted furniture, bear cubs, and a skydiving baby have in common?

Answer: Serial craigslist poster and parodist Gary Fingercastle.

Picture this: Author and agitator Gary Fingercastle posts hundreds of...

More How Do They Do That?

by Caroline Sutton

Have you ever wondered:

- How do they know how much an aircraft carrier weighs?

- How do they get music onto a CD?

- How does an electric eel generate electricity?

- How do they know how long a second is?

- How do...

Coupon Crazy: The Science, the Savings, and the Stories Behind America's Extreme Obsession

by Mary Potter Kenyon

Coupon Crazy examines the phenomena of coupon use and the socio-cultural and socioeconomic factors that construct it, from the viewpoint of an active participant in the extreme sport of couponing.

The Book of Word Records: A Look at Some of the Strangest, Shortest, Longest, and Overall Most Remarkable Words in the English Language

by Asher Cantrell

From antidisestablishmentarianism to zo, a unrivaled collection of today's greatest words!

Have you ever wondered what the longest word in the dictionary is? Or the origin of your go-to curse word?

With The...