If you like the podcast, you'll like the book. Aaron Mahnke is a master storyteller, and these bite-sized tales a perfect for a coffee table or for an afternoon of reading.

I LOVED this book!!! I honestly didn't know what to expect upon reading because I've never listened to the podcast prior, but reading this definitely has now made me want to check it out too 🤩✨ As an avid fan of random factoids, unique stories, and the history behind all sorts of events, knick-knacks, and et cetera, I found that the CABINET OF CURIOSITIES satisfied that craving within me in the best way possible. Definitely a wonderful "coffee table"-esque book, and one I would def recommend out to others as a fun read!

An absolute delight for those of us who love to know a little about a lot! Told in short, quippy stories, the Cabinet of Curiosities is exactly what I wanted it to be. I felt like I was learning the whole time while also being wildly entertained. I read this tandem with the audiobook.

The audiobook narrated by the author is a gem in itself. Produced similar to a podcast, each section is ended with a little something extra that makes the reading experience of this book even more connected.

Thank you to NetGalley, St Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and author Aaron Mahnke for the eARC, ALC, and fully completed physical copy all in exchange for my honest review. I will cherish these for many, many years to come.

4.5 stars

This was such an interesting journey through easily digestible short stories - tidbits really; each one is only a page or two - that Aaron Mahnke has already been sharing through his podcast of the same name. This book is a collection of some of his favourite weird, wacky, and/or wonderful tales. The layout is well-done, with stories grouped by theme. I was familiar with a handful of these stories already due to my love of all things historically bizarre and macabre but it was so fun to read everything together and discover new (to me) facts that honestly sometimes seem more like fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley, author Aaron Mahnke, and St. Martin's Press for giving me access to an eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own and are provided here voluntarily.

If you're familiar with Aaron Manke's podcast of the same name as the title of this book, you already will know its premise.

The book is full of little bite-sized chunks of history sorted into various categories. It's amusing and informative, but you might like listening to the podcast better. It depends on if you're more of an audio or a visual person.

I did enjoy reading it, and definitely heard Aaron's voice narrating every story, but I think I'm one of those who prefer the podcast just a bit more. Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Netgalley and Aaron Mahnke for letting me be part of the review team. I received a free advanced reader copy, and this is my voluntary review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I love a good fun fact, bizarre tale, or origin story of an everyday saying. This book was such a fun compilation of all those things. I was fortunate enough to have both the audiobook and ebook and I ended up listening to it.

I had never tuned into his podcast prior to reading this book, but I certainly have now; his storytelling style is second to none. Each tale withholds the aha moment in such a fun way, I found myself trying to piece together who or what happened before each big reveal.

The audiobook was great to listen to because there were breakout sections of interviews with the author on how he goes about researching and architecting the things that he thinks will be enjoyable for the listener. This listener appreciated that very much!

This title reminds me of the Paul Harvey broadcast series, “The Rest of the Story.” Most vignettes here aren’t more than four pages long. The author presents the history or main character then ends with an unexpected fact or connection. Sometimes the information is widely known, other times the reader will be surprised. It’s a book to be read in small doses, otherwise its format becomes a bit repetitive and not as welcomed. It is a title that is a perfect gift for a relative/friend who enjoys factoids, unusual tidbits about history or personalities, and has a sense of the ironic. The author appears to have done his homework and readers can seek further information about what is presented here.

Aaron Mahnke is such an amazing storyteller. I really loved this book! I cannot wait to hear the audiobook version!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for an e-ARC of Cabinet of Curiosities. Here are my thoughts on the novel!

If you want a book brimming with tales of the bizarre from all over the world, then this is a book you need to check out! The stories are split into various groups including war, animals & creatures and literature and many more.

What I really liked about this book was that each of the stories were just a few pages. Sometimes non-fiction can feel really heavy and challenging to get into, but this format was ideal. I was intrigued while reading but then also excited for the next story to come. I originally started listening to Aaron Mahnke’s Lore, so when I saw his other podcast Cabinet of Curiosities was now a book, I knew I wanted to read it!

The book still contains his little bits of humor and the way the stories are told feels like you are exchanging fun facts with a friend. I think this book will help when it comes to Jeopardy answers in the future! It’s a great novel, that is easy to pickup and put down time and time again.

A great coffee table or toilet read full of short and intriguing stories from around the world and throughout history. Whether it’s incredible coincidences or baffling mysteries, even astounding animal adventures, Mahnke gathers information in the vein of his popular podcast to keep you entertained and informed. The best way to experience it is on audio, but the physical or digital copy is great for a quick sit down. I did feel a bit old when he had to explain to Dana Schwartz who Paul Harvey was, but otherwise enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley for my digital copy. These opinions are my own.

From the creator of the long-running, smash-hit podcast Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities comes the book—a riveting look inside some of history’s strangest stories.

If you've ever listened to Mahnkes podcast you have an idea of what kind of stories you'll find within this book.

Perfect for those who like history or enjoy trivia that is more unusual. I have a large store of useless knowledge in my brain and Mahnke has helped add to that tremendously.

And interesting read.
Thanks to @netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this eArc in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This book really didn't work for me [unfortunately] and I was [in all honesty] really glad when it was over. I found some of the stories schlocky [I know there was to be a certain element to some of them, but my issue was the over-the-top saccharine coated schlock that just kind of makes you gag a little while listening], some of them filled with questionable facts [that were easy enough to fact-check with a simple search, something one should NOT have to do whilst reading the book], and overall, I found this book to be about 10hrs too long; the format of endless little vignettes grew old very quickly [This format probably works amazingly well for his podcast, but absolutely does not work here, at least it didn't for me] and I was left wishing it had been a much shorter ook with much more in-depth stories of real curiosities.

Unfortunately, the audiobook also didn't work for me; while Mr. Mahnke has a very nice speaking voice, his delivery for the stories was exactly the same with every single story, no matter what was happening in the story [I wasn't sure if he liked the story, hated the story, was completely indifferent to the story...] and after just 5-6 stories, everything started sounding exactly the same, and to be honest, after THIRTEEN hours of this, I only remember ONE story [ONE! Crazy right?] and that is Frank Morgan's Coat, which was a great story. All of that just makes me really sad as this could have been a really fantastic book if there was more quality and less quantity.

I, in all honesty, cannot recommend this book to anyone; what a huge disappointment.

I was invited to read/review this by the Publisher [St. Martin's Press], and I thank them and Macmillan Audio for providing both the eBook and audiobook ARC's in exchange for an honest review.

This is a book of standalone chapters, each short and perfect for reading if you are a commuter by bus, rail, or plane. Each chapter provides an interesting set of facts. I am drawn to compare it to Paul Harvey’s writings (“The Rest of the Story”), but without the surprise endings. Overall, it is a pleasant read that does not have to be completed in one setting, or read continuously from cover to cover. It is fine to pick it up occasionally, read a couple of chapters, then put it down and come back later.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

This book, written by the host of the Cabinet of Curiosities podcast, compiles an array of tiny snippets of history which are sub-grouped into mini collections, much like a curated exhibit or gallery in a museum.

A few stories that stood out to me include Second Life, American Icon, Upside Down, Luck of the Irish, Put a Ring on It, Rough Landing, The Old Man and the Planes, Make It Rain, Trifles, The Shawl, Disc Men, Art Imitates Life, Copied, Impulse Buy, and Nutshell.

I enjoyed this book. However, I wish it included more pictures or illustrations. It would have been cool to see a graphic at the beginning or end of each section that featured various objects representing the individual stories, more like an actual curio cabinet or museum collection.

I was not aware of the podcasts by this author. His book includes the oddities and curiosities from his podcasts. I found them quite fascinating to read as many of them I had no idea that they had existed or happened. It was a book that I would read and then stop and later picked up to read. For me it was a book not be read straight through (like fiction). I enjoyed reading it so much, I will be looking for his podcasts.

I enjoyed this enough! It's basically what I like in a nonfiction book, short, easily consumable, weird.

Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre Aaron Mahnke is a great addition to Mahnke's works. I'm a big fan of his podcasts, Lore and Cabinet of Curiosities, so this was a treat to read. I liked that each story is kept short and sweet just as in the podcast. I hope the author will do more of these in the future.

3 Stars Overall
I read this in tandem with the audiobook, which definitely improved my experience
Story- 2 Stars
Narration- 4 Stars

I really liked the idea of Cabinet of Curiosities. Fun, tid-bits of history and its oddities, or curiosities. Truly, many seemed interesting.
However, one issue I had, is that this book really bounces all over history. I would've preferred if it had been divided up better within each category. Maybe by timeline? Im not sure. There are categories like "People" "True Crime" and "War", to name a few, but most stories within those guidelines seemed to be very loosely relative to the category and/or eachother. It just felt very random.
And like other reviewers have pointed out, the many Wikipedia sources sort of imply little to no research was put forth, and make the accuracy questionable.
I think I wouldve enjoyed it more had the tales been more like an appetizer vs a bite sized snack.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC!

I think the subtitle should be the title because it's not what I thought it would be and neither how I would anticipate it being presented. I'll also share that I didn't know anything about a podcast and as some of the podcasters turned published authors go, this is another notch in their belt but not necessarily their style/approach and leaves something to be desired.

It doesn't have stickiness because the entries of histories unbelievable, bizarre, and unsettling are so short I found myself looking for a deeper point. And because they're so short without much cohesion, I was disengaged more than engaged with the things Mahnke found most fascinating to want to share in a book. It needed visual aids or illustrated help to be more thoughtful and engaging. In addition, I would have liked to have an introduction to each group of stories from Mahnke's perspective about why they were chosen and their effect on our understanding or knowledge of the thing, person, event, etc.

So, eh, it works but it's a coffee table book that you can pick up and book down but I didn't find myself picking it up as much as putting it down due to its brevity.

Cabinet of Curiosities is a great collection of random stories and tales from history. Aaron Manhke does a great job making these stories interesting and entertaining.