Interesting facts and some bizarre tales as well. Unfortunately it goes for the popular history route, lacking the research and scholarship to back up some of the wild claims.

The stories are dubious and/or under-researched. The writing is heavily cliche-laden. And I can’t tell who the audience is meant to be; there’s no indication it’s for children but the style is gimmicky.

So fun!!! This book is such a fun book to read, you will be intrigued the entire way through. The photographs used throughout are perfect and well done. This book would be a great gift for those of us who like the strange and weird as well.

I love Aaron Mahnke and his podcasts so this was a must request! It was written so well and I loved it so much I read it to my husband! Definitely worth the read!

This wasn’t for me. I can see it being interesting to others and being valuable but I was kind of bored.

About half way through I ordered this one!

Bite sized, odd, curious, long forgotten and TRUE stories that any history buff would enjoy. As soon as I finished one, I would tell my husband about it. (which is why we agreed we needed this one our home library). Covering a lot topics and time frames, the amount of research and debunking that would go into a project like this is mind blowing.

I am anxious to have a copy in hand so that we can chase a couple of these historical places down in person.

This was a really interesting collection! Stories that are just this side of uncanny and disturbing to behold. I love the oddities explored in this.

If you are a trivia buff, this book is required reading. Author Aaron Mahnke has pulled together interesting bits of information in a wide variety of categories.

While I was familiar with some of the stories, there was plenty of new information here. But rather than simply presenting the information, Mahnke encapsulated each bit of information in a lively and engaging story.

I highly recommend this book for everyone who enjoys fascinating stories and collection new information.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I enjoyed this book and think you will to.

Aaron Mahnke is a great story teller. He is at his best 8m these short (mostly 3 pages) stories that cover. Wide variety of topics, time periods, and locations. There’s some I knew about already, but others were surprising. I like that they are bit sized and quickly read. Ally these stories make me wonder at the details of history and how they really as do come down to luck and timing. It’s really crazy to ponder. Nicely done, once again, Mr Mahnke.

This was a fast and informative read that would make a fantastic coffee table book. It has a ton of wild facts and dark humor to keep anyone entertained for quite some time.
I noticed that Wikipedia is cited a ton in the sources, so take that for what you will. Either way, it’s an easily digestible read that kept my attention. I think I might even try listening to the podcast of origin!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press, Aaron Mahnke, and NetGalley for my advanced review copy. My opinions are my own.

Writing and Editing - 3
Personal Bias - 4
Final Score - 3.5

This was a different type of nonfiction that was as unique as the podcast itself I suppose. While I’ve never listened to the podcast I feel the way the author tells his tidbits of random information would be similar.

This was an interesting book to pick up randomly from time to time when I had a few minutes. It’s not something I would’ve continued to read for hours on end but there were some pretty interesting tales in here and some that didn’t peek my interest as much but they were all rather short to read nevertheless.

What I really appreciated about this book was that it was broken up into categories from American History facts to stories of Creatures, Literature, Inventions, even Origin Stories plus some. This book is packed full of random short tales and as the title suggests, it is indeed “a historical tour of the unbelievable, the unsettling, and the bizarre.”

3.5 stars

Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. No review was required in return for an advance reading copy and no review was promised.

I just finished Cabinet of Curiosities: A History Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre by Aaron Mahnke.

This is a book based on a “long-running hit podcast by Aaron Mahnke” called Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities. It’s about tales from history. Prior to reading this book, I had never heard of that podcast. Since I am a big fan of both history and podcasts, I realized that not only did I have the opportunity to review the book, but could also add another podcast to my collection.

Unfortunately, I will have to pass on growing my podcast collection. There were too many stories in this book that just weren’t interesting. So, I will have to give it a C. Goodreads and NetGalley require grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, a C equates to 2 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).

This review has been posted at NetGalley, Goodreads and my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews.

I originally finished reading this on July 4, 2024.

This book is the definition of the old saying 'truth is stranger than fiction.' Based on the long-running hit podcast, CABINET OF CURIOSITIES is a collection of bizarre tales, almost unbelievable coincidences, weird characters, and odd anecdotes about famous historic people. It's organized into sections and each tale is just a few pages long, very nice for just picking up and randomly reading one.

There are tales of heroic animals, people beset by strange repeated accidents, feats of memory or trickery. I enjoyed learning the true history behind the invention of the croissant, strange misfortunes of Hemingway, Edgar Alan Poe's struggles, scientific advances far pre-dating their supposed invention in the western world, and so many unsolved mysteries.

This book is written simply and would make a great gift for either a young person or the dad/grandpa in your life, also fun for reading out loud.

Thank you so much to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this ARC!

Lots and lots of fun and coincidental facts. I love a book like this, it's the perfect coffee table book to gift or have around. I love to learn about people and strange things that happened to them, this book is a bonus because it has more than just people. It is divided into sections, and the animal one is amazing. Sections: American History, Coincidences (very cool), Creatures, Death Defying, Events, Literature, Inventions, Mysteries, Origin Stories, People, Places, More than Human, True Crime, War. I will put this one on my wishlist for holidays and anniversaries. Publishers November, right on time for Christmas. Thank you publisher for the e-arc.

So, I was completely unfamiliar with the author’s podcast. If you’re like me, I do think you’re in for a treat.

These are bite sized morsels of oddities – just little odd stories about history and culture. Many are full of coincidence and, while some were not new to me, enough were that I was interested.

I did find that it wasn’t a read-straight-through kind of book. I found myself picking it up here and there, reading a bit, and them moving on.

I also found that I wanted…cites. I wanted something a bit more scholarly at times. I kept thinking it was more urban legend and less history, though still very entertaining.

I did like the book – I do think, though, it’s best in small doses.

• ARC via Publisher

This book was so interesting. I had actually never listened to Aaron Mahnke’s podcast, but love books with fun facts and stories. This book did not disappoint. There were so many interesting tidbits throughout. I love how it was organized by category, and I found there was a good amount of variety among the chapters. This seems like the type of book that would interest almost everyone. I like that the chapters were not long and drawn out. They were straight forward to the point stories that really entertained. After reading this book, I definitely want to start listening to Mahnke’s podcast. I would recommend this book to fans of his podcast as well as newbies like me.

There are a lot of things that we don't realize happen. Coincidences, inventions, stories of survival, and others events that are incredible, but never hit the mainstream. This book is full of those events. Aaron Mahnke has compiled the stories behind a wide variety of accomplishments and bizarre occurrences. I was intrigued by how people I had heard of arrived at what they were known for. Many times, their backstories are not told, and that part is important since it often led them to where they needed to be.

There are many different categories within the book, including inventions, how literature, unsolved mysteries, and weird creatures. This book is entertaining and interesting for anyone that likes to know not just that something happened, but how it began.

I received a free ARC of the book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A fun historical tour of the bizarre and macabre in this collection of stories from Aaron Mahnke. This was a delightful book that collects stories from all throughout history and is a fun read for sure. With so many different stories and moments throughout history, it really was a fun book. I would definitely recommend it for friends and anyone who enjoys a collection of strange stories!

Release Date: November 12, 2024

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Cabinet of curiosity‘s, a historical tour of the unbelievable, unsettling and bizarre by Aaron ManhkeWith a contribution by Harry Marks. I have been a big fan of Aaron Mankey ever since his lore podcast and so when I saw this book I knew I wanted to read it I started it and didn’t stop until I was done. These stories are so good from incredible coincidences like a taxi man hitting two brothers year apart with the same passenger in his backseat riding the same scooter to a mummy that has been dead for thousands of years and it looks like she is just sleeping too many and much more Stranger stories. They have stories about how the Marks brothers got their nickname Groucho Harpo Chico to Zeppo they are told and Paul Harvey fashion with a mike drop endings or I thank God that wasn’t me type ending and it all makes for one interesting read. This is quite a long book but because the stories are so interesting the time passes by quickly and I must say on one day I was even late making dinner. But once you start reading about the first wind turbine that was made thousands of years ago to how England gain possession of a popular monument and tourist attraction it is hard to put the book down. This is for anyone who loves useless but all day it interesting information to not only impress your friends but entertain yourself. It is written by a great storyteller in Aaron Mankey and is a book I definitely recommend. I want to thank Saint Martin’s press for my free art copy via NetGalley please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.