*The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts for Curious Minds* lives up to its ambitious title. This sprawling, endlessly browsable compendium gathers an astonishing array of facts spanning science, art, pop culture, nature, and the cosmos—designed to delight trivia lovers, ignite intellectual curiosity, and spark the occasional gasp of disbelief.

The structure is cleanly organized into thematic chapters that allow readers to either dip in at random or read straight through. Whether you’re fascinated by space-time, vintage cinema, ancient rituals, or bizarre animal behaviors, this volume provides thousands of compact, memorable nuggets—delivered with wit, clarity, and the occasional tongue-in-cheek aside. It’s less an encyclopedia than a delightful cabinet of curiosities.

Contributors including Nigel Henbest (astronomy), Sarah Tomley (psychology and philosophy), and Chas Newkey-Burden (celebrity and pop culture) bring specialist insights to their domains, ensuring the factual content remains both accurate and sharply engaging. The balance between scholarly tidbit and lighthearted surprise is well-calibrated, making it suitable for both casual readers and those who enjoy being the most interesting person at the dinner table.

From the scientifically sublime to the historically obscure—and the wonderfully absurd in between—*The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts* invites readers into a world where learning is play, and the universe is just one extraordinary fact after another.

**Final Verdict:**
An ideal gift for lifelong learners, trivia champions, and curious minds of every persuasion. This volume is encyclopedic in scope but breezy in tone—a charming, intelligent companion for those who believe knowledge should both illuminate and entertain.

**Rating**: ★★★★☆

This was an interesting book of fun facts and trivia. I would recommend it to anyone who likes trivia books - of all ages. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

The Colossal Book Of Incredible Facts for curious minds by Nigel Henbest and multiple other authors. Everything from space, entertainment, geography, science, animals, flora and on and on is packed into this book with over 5000 facts. I always have a book a referred to as my waiting book and that is a book I read while waiting for something the dryer to stop to see the doctor my ride ETC. I also know whether a book is good or not because if it is even when my time is up and I need to tend to my business I will sit there and continue reading and I can honestly say that happened with this book. I love history and in this book I found things that I didn’t even know and I am one of those people who think they know everything lol! This is a great book I have many different types of books like this one and can honestly say this is one of the better ones. This is my true honest opinion I’m not just saying that to try and help these author sell this book I’m saying it because it is absolutely the honest truth. after all I’ve never heard of these authors in my life. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview,#TheColossalBooksOfIncredibleFactsForCuriousMinds,

FASCINATING BOOK ABOUT THE COOLEST AND ODDEST THINGS. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. 5 STAR READ AND YOU WILL DEFINITELY LEARN A THING OR 1000.

Thank you for the ARC. I learned so much reading this. It was filled with a lot of random facts which many are discussion worthy and conversation starters with others. I definitely enjoyed this book.

This is a big book for curious people. The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts for Curious Mind is exactly what it tells you it is. It's page after page of short facts about any topic you could ever think of. Broken up into different subject areas, the book offers trivia facts about everything from natural science to pop culture.

There really doesn't seem to be a targeted age for this book, which means that the entire family can enjoy it together. There are thousands and thousands of facts in this book, so it will last the reader quite a long time. However, since it is divided up into different topics, a reader could easily skip a section or two that holds them lesser interest.

This is a big book for curious people. The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts for Curious Mind is exactly what it tells you it is. It's page after page of short facts about any topic you could ever think of. Broken up into different subject areas, the book offers trivia facts about everything from natural science to pop culture.

There really doesn't seem to be a targeted age for this book, which means that the entire family can enjoy it together. There are thousands and thousands of facts in this book, so it will last the reader quite a long time. However, since it is divided up into different topics, a reader could easily skip a section or two that holds them lesser interest.

This was a fun read full of interesting facts. I also had my teenage son read it and he enjoyed it immensely although now he keeps spitting out random facts the whole day. So be warned if you let your teenager read this one they might learn something but you might have to hear about it for days on end (LOL).

I thought I’d enjoy this book but it was just a little too much for me. I enjoyed that it was broken up into subject areas, but 5,000 is just a whole lot of facts. Maybe I should’ve known this going into it, but now I know that this type of book is not for me! I’d rather a daily calendar with a fact like this daily.

Within a few pages of reading this book, I knew it was slightly different from other trivia books. There is just enough background information with the majority of the facts that it does make one not only know the factoids themselves, but also some additional knowledge if you're interested in a bit of detail behind it. The compilers did do a fair amount of research when assembling this book, and it shows.

However, as with many books about facts, there are a few that crop up repeatedly or could have been combined into longer entries. At least one fact was repeated almost verbatim, and that seems to me to be a way to inflate the numbers up to the arbitrary 5000. For me, it's not the actual number of facts/pieces of trivia given, but rather the content of those entries, and I would have loved to have seen a bit more consistency where these things are concerned. Also, some facts clearly contradict each other, which does happen in these sorts of collections from time to time.

My biggest gripe with the book, though, is that there's often a lack of clarity over the intended target audience. I'm not sure that the title accurately reflects who the book is aimed at - because with such a title and cover blurb, one would assume it was for a young adult or even tween audience. Yet there are many, many entries that deal with very mature content, and I don't think that it was wise to use buzzwords such as "colossal", "incredible" or "curious" in the title.

Did I learn a few things? Definitely, although as a trivia buff I knew quite a few of the entries and also the backstories behind it. Would I recommend it to others? I would, especially if you like trivia or just want to know a bit more about the sometimes-weird world (and beyond) that we live in.

Overall 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

The title perfectly describes what you'll be getting in this book. There are loads of random tidbits, trivia and facts about seemingly every topic and definitely more than what you'd find in trivia books aimed at kids. It's the kind of book where you can just open to a random page to learn something new/unexpected and then go on with your day.

The formatting in the digital copy on my kindle was off making it hard to read (e.g., odd spacing, sentences cut off) but will hopefully be corrected in the final version.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Octopus Publishing for the e-arc!

This hefty tome delivers 5,000 mind-blowing tidbits across topics like science, history, nature, and pop culture. From discovering that it rains diamonds on Neptune to the quirky tidbit that penguins can’t taste fish, every page brims with wonder and amusement.

Highlights include fascinating insights into the animal kingdom, like the acrobatics of pandas and the curious habits of wombats, alongside historical quirks such as the fire hydrant patent burning in a fire. The book’s bite-sized format makes it easy to dip in and out, whether you’re filling a moment of downtime or seeking to impress with a dinner-table anecdote.

However, the sheer volume of information might feel overwhelming for cover-to-cover reading. It's an ideal gift for casual readers, trivia buffs, and even reluctant students.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to review a temporary digital ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts for Curious Minds is a delightful collection of quirky and intriguing trivia, perfect for those who love learning about the oddities of the world. With facts spanning science, animals, nature, and more, it’s an excellent book for casual reading and dipping into whenever you need a fun fact. Highlights for me included discovering that Neptune rains diamonds, learning that armadillos can get leprosy, and the heartwarming tale of a giant rabbit saving his diabetic owner’s life.
While the galley had a few issues, this book still provides an enjoyable and informative experience that will keep you entertained for hours.

Rating: 4 stars – A fascinating read for trivia lovers, though best enjoyed in short bursts.

Really enjoyed this one! I should have read it so much sooner! But I don’t regret it. This maybe a new obsession! I love the characters, plot, etc.

I'm sure this would've been a great book, unfortunately it was a mess. All of the facts were messed up and combined.

Oh-em-gee, you guys! This book is, like, totally amazing for trivia lovers! With a whopping 5,000 incredible facts, it's jam-packed with everything from quirky animal tidbits to mind-blowing science nuggets.

It's super easy to flip through, making it perfect for waiting at the coffee shop or just chilling at home. I loved the sections on nature and entertainment, especially the bee facts! While it’s not a cover-to-cover read, it’s a blast to dip in and out of. I’m giving this four stars for its fun format and endless fascination!

Huge thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion!

Really enjoyed this! Fun mix of random facts, both useful and useless. Highly recommend to curious minds!

Wonderful book of facts! As a self-proclaimed “facts connoisseur”, I was extremely impressed and happy that I learned a lot of new facts while reading this book. It definitely helped that I was hooked within the first couple of facts (wombats are cooler than I thought). The pacing and tone of the book is great - not overly explanatory/mind-numbing but gives you enough to understand. I will absolutely be purchasing this for my high school English classroom - I believe it will be a great book for my reluctant readers.

Phew. It takes a fair few evenings to read this book – it really is destined for the smallest room and those chance browses, but be prepared for that to take years. This has a lot – and I mean A LOT – of trivia. Here is a chunk on black holes, which you probably can't get out of, especially when seeing online debates about the factoid provided about the rudeness of "trou noir" in French, which doesn't seem to be an issue after all. But who knew Poe worked as a cosmologist? Here is stuff about animals, there the athletes – and this suitably takes us from the pole vault to the wine called Pinot Evil, which is the best name for plonk since a certain nun was found to be a bit blue.

Reading it cover to cover it does vary – it seems a bit stilted and dry with the science, physics and space matter, but perhaps too light with the Hollywood sections just rehashing the better trivia found on imdb. At one extreme is audible rhubarb, at the other the fact cats' miaows are never directed at other cats, only at humans. "Itai-itai" if you have to hold the physical copy of this until the end, but checking it out digitally was certainly educational, and for a lot longer than your average trivia book. I'd like to say it was all roses, but there were a helluva lot of lapses in the proof-reading; hopefully what you buy is spotless. That way it is worth four stars without a shadow of a doubt.

Mind you, it doesn't try and tell us what one of those looks like. It was too busy telling us so much else.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.

This is indeed The Colossal Book of Incredible Facts for Curious Minds. Tons of interesting facts separated by subject. The title did not lie.