The Book of Extraordinary Facts: Big Book of Pop Culture, History, Crime by Publications International Ltd.
by Publications International Ltd.
At a glance
About the Author
Publications International Ltd.1 book reviewed
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Curious generalists, trivia enthusiasts, and gift-givers looking for a durable, browse-friendly hardcover that roams freely across pop culture, history, crime, nature, and more without demanding a cover-to-cover commitment.
Worth it if
You enjoy non-linear, dip-in-anywhere reference reading and want a single volume that covers an unusually wide range of subjects — from food oddities and sports to religion, crime, and the outright bizarre — in a hardcover format built to last on a shelf.
Skip if
You prefer narrative depth, scholarly sourcing, or up-to-date coverage of technology and pop culture, as the brief self-contained entries offer no extended analysis and a 2012 publication date means some material is now well over a decade old.
What readers & critics say
Bookseller descriptions at both Harvard Book Store and Books-A-Million characterise the volume as a "gargantuan, 704-page hardcover" packed with coverage spanning pop culture, nature, technology, food, sports, art, history, religion, crime, and "tales of the just plain weird." No independent critical reviews were retrieved.
Ask LuvemBooks
Was this helpful?
- Is it worth reading?
- For trivia enthusiasts, curious generalists, and gift-givers, The Book of Extraordinary Facts delivers genuine value through its sheer breadth and browsable format. The ten-plus subject categories — spanning history, crime, pop culture, food, nature, and more — mean most readers will find multiple sections relevant to their interests. The main caveat is the 2012 publication date: technology and pop culture entries reflect a world more than a decade old, and the brief, self-contained entries offer no sustained narrative depth or scholarly sourcing. Readers who prefer focused, chapter-length explorations or who need current information will be better served by a more specialised title.
- Who should read this?
- The Book of Extraordinary Facts is designed for readers who enjoy trivia as recreation — the kind of person who reads reference books non-linearly, dips in at random, and finds delight in the unexpected. It is a natural fit for trivia nights, pub quiz preparation, and living-room coffee-table browsing, and its ten-plus subject categories give it genuine cross-generational appeal for history buffs, sports fans, crime enthusiasts, and the simply curious. It is also a strong gift title for curious generalists. Readers who prefer focused, chapter-length explorations of a single subject — or who need up-to-date information on technology or current pop culture — will be better served by a more specialised title.
- Similar books
- Readers who enjoy The Book of Extraordinary Facts may also like other browse-friendly trivia and curiosity collections. DK's Pocket Genius: Facts at Your Fingertips — History offers a similarly compact, fact-forward approach. The Bathroom Readers' Institute's Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into History Again shares the same non-linear, dip-in-and-out format. Ripley's Believe It or Not! traffics in outright bizarre facts much like the stranger corners of this volume. Ben Schott's Schott's Original Miscellany is another celebrated miscellany for trivia lovers, and John Lloyd's The Book of General Ignorance corrects commonly held misconceptions in a similarly eclectic spirit. For readers whose interests skew toward a specific category covered here, Ultimate Video Game Trivia Challenge by Lillian Jacobs drills down into one of the pop-culture domains this book touches.
- Is this book outdated?
- The Book of Extraordinary Facts was published in September 2012, which means its technology and pop culture entries now reflect a world more than a decade old. Entries in slower-moving categories — history, nature, food, sports, art, and religion — are unlikely to feel stale, but fast-moving fields like technology will show their age. The review explicitly flags this as the book's primary practical limitation for readers picking it up today.
- Do I have to read it cover to cover?
- No — The Book of Extraordinary Facts is explicitly designed for non-linear browsing. The publisher's own description invites readers to get lost 'perusing page after page of unusual facts, enthralling stories, and amusing details' rather than reading straight through. Each entry is a discrete, self-contained fact or short account, so there is no narrative thread to lose by opening the book at random. The review identifies this browse-friendly structure as one of the collection's defining strengths.
- What topics does it actually cover?
- According to the publisher's description, The Book of Extraordinary Facts ranges across pop culture, nature, technology, food, sports, art, history, religion, crime, and tales of the simply strange — at least ten distinct subject areas. Specific examples noted in the review include culinary oddities, peculiar pop culture phenomena, obscure medical conditions, and the history behind iconic beverages. No single domain dominates; readers moving from a crime entry to a food entry to a nature oddity within a few pages is precisely the experience the format is built to produce.
Summarize this book
Follow up
Synthesized from verified book data & published reviews · How we review
Press Enter to ask. Answers come from our editorial Q&A — start typing to see related questions.
Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Skip if you want sustained narrative depth, scholarly sourcing, or up-to-date information on technology and pop culture.
Editorial Review
The Book of Extraordinary Facts is a 704-page hardcover trivia compendium published by Publications International, Ltd. in September 2012, designed to sweep readers across pop culture, history, crime, nature, technology, food, sports, art, religion, and tales of the outright bizarre — a wide-ranging reference built for browsers who enjoy discovering the unexpected corner by corner.
Read the Full ReviewBooks like The Book of Extraordinary Facts
Curated picks for readers who enjoyed The Book of Extraordinary Facts, with our reasoning for each match.
