Reference / Curiosities & Wonders

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 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...

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,...

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...

How to Live Forever

by Alok Jha

How to Live Forever is the essential survival guide for anyone who has ever been baffled by science. Embarking on a journey from the very small to the very big, readers will be taken on a glorious tour of the...

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,...

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...

History Without the Boring Bits

by Ian Crofton

Conventional chronologies of world history concentrate on the reigns of kings and queens, the dates of battles and treaties, the publication dates of great books, the completion of famous buildings, the deaths...

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...

Supergeek: Dinosaurs, Brains and Supertrains

by Glenn Murphy

Are you a supergeek? How much do you REALLY know about the science that matters? This book features over 300 fun science questions and answers chosen by Glenn Murphy to test your knowledge. Find out all about...

When Do Fish Sleep?

by David Feldman

Ponder, if you will ...

Why are tennis balls fuzzy?

How come birds don't tip over when they sleep on telephone wires?

What makes yawning contagious?

Why, oh why, do roosters have to crow so early in the morning?...

All Facts Considered: The Essential Library of Inessential Knowledge

by Kee Malesky

For the bestselling miscellany market, an NPR librarian's compendium of fascinating facts on history, science, and the arts

How much water do the Great Lakes contain? Who were the first and last men killed in...

Odd Type Writers: From Joyce and Dickens to Wharton and Welty, the Obsessive Habits and Quirky Techniques of Great Authors

by CeliaBlue Johnson

Every great writer has a unique way of setting a story to paper. And, it turns out, many of these writers used methods that were just as inventive as the works they produced. Odd Type Writers explores the quirky...