If you enjoy the podcast with the same name, you will enjoy this book too. If you have not listened to the podcast, it's a fun way to hear the stories with inflection and nuance. I found myself reading this book with Mahnke's voice in my head. A fun twist on history for those reluctant to read history.

A collection of brief moments in history told in the form of oral stories suitable for readers 10 and up. Short enough not to overwhelm, brief enough to sample in short bursts, these stories fascinate but are not generally known.

Odd tales for curious minds!

CABINET OF CURIOSITIES is full of history’s weirdest coincidences and strangest occurrences.

I think of this as a sampler of sorts. Each story can be read in five minutes or less. The brevity worked fine in many cases, giving just enough detail to satisfy. In other cases, I wanted more, and I found myself diving down the Google rabbit hole on several occasions.

I did grow weary of the constant, snarky one-liners at the end of the stories, which were meant to be funny. But overall, the writing was enjoyable.

This is a perfect coffee table book. It would also make a great gift for anyone who loves learning tidbits of history but doesn’t like to read dense text.

*Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for the free copy!*

I loved this book.

Being from a family of history lovers and being a bit odd and curious ourselves I was talking about this book to some family members at dinner. Now everyone wants a copy for Christmas.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for making my shopping a lot easier!

Great book - easy to read - conversation starter!

▪️This book is a treasure trove of nonfiction stories about unique and usual topics. I love that it’s a book that you can either read from cover to cover or dip into specific topics that catch your interest. It’s almost like a choose-your-own-adventure book since you get to decide how to navigate through it. Each story takes about 2 to 5 minutes to read (and yes, I timed it!).

▪️What makes these stories particularly delightful is how they often begin with intriguing details about an event or situation, leaving you guessing about the real subject until the end. Some of them read like mini thrillers with twists, which I absolutely love.

▪️The topics include Curious Americana, Wild Coincidences, Fantastic Beast, Unbelievable Stunts, Bizarre Events, Strange Literature (my favorite!), Remarkable Inventions, Eerie Mysteries, Baffling Origins, Uncanny People, Peculiar Places, More Than Human, Puzzling Crimes, and Wartime Wonders. There is something for everyone in this book!

▪️Released yesterday, this book is the perfect holiday gift for any reader, especially those who love nonfiction, history, trivia, quirky facts, and unusual stories. I highly recommend it!

Thank you @netgalley and @StMartinsPress for a copy of this book which I have read and reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

I love books you can pick up and put down whenever you want! Cabinet of Curiosities is just this kind of book. Short chapters about interesting people throughout history organized by themes. Some of the stories are more interesting than others. I felt some could have more info or be better organized, but they all end with something memorable, which is fun.

It’s a great gift book or for yourself to put in a spot you want to read for a few minutes as a break! The cover is lovely enough to show off!

Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling and the Bizarre by Aaron Mahnke with Harry Marks is a book based on Aaron Mahnke’s popular podcast. Filled with fascinating stories of the wonderful, amazing and bizarre people, places and objects as part of our history. From the true origins of common foods, such as the croissant, to the strange coincidences in events, the rescue of Abraham Lincoln’s son by an unlikely individual and little known historical events and places. Gathering these stories in a topical collection for the millions of fans of the podcast and fans of the strange and unusual.
I enjoy hearing unusual historical events and unexplainable events. I hadn't heard of Aaron Mahnke’s podcast before finding this book. The stories he features are quick and bite sized. Some of the stories I had heard before and others I had not. My only issue is the author heavily sources Wikipedia which every professor I’ve ever had always told me to never use Wikipedia. It is a good starting point but citing it as a source is problematic. Overall, the stories are interesting and fascinating. I see fans of the podcast enjoying this book. I also see fans of Ripley’s Believe or Not and the Travel Channel’s Mysteries at the Museum would enjoy this book. If you are fascinated by the strange and unusual of history, I recommend Cabinet of Curiosities.

Cabinet of Curiosities is available in hardcover, eBook and audiobook

Have you ever wished that you could read a podcast rather than listen to it? If so. then grab Cabinet of Curiosities now available wherever you purchase books.
This book is bite size bits of legends and information - I could not sit down and read it cover to cover, it's more of a bathroom reader in my opinion and some of the "facts" seem to be lacking a bit of credibility but as far as being entertained it's a good one for that.

Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke is fascinating tales of wonderful, astounding, and downright bizarre people, places, and things throughout history.
I was kept intrigued while turning the pages.

Thank You NetGalley and Publisher for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

This is great book.I like how every chapter underh it had interesting effects. It was interesting This was very interesting by this author how he put these different ideas together and they all seem to run an interesting way and tied up each chapter in a very interesting way. They talk a lot about things which are very interesting to me. Especially about the pig WAR. Oh I S.A. NJA UN N. Washington State
S a t e.. Great book

This book compiles fascinating historical tales from the author’s podcast, exploring bizarre events, remarkable people, and unexpected connections—from the origins of the croissant to a dog’s wartime exploits. Always fascinating and often funny, the book is a pleasure to read. I enjoyed the audiobook narration.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

I don't remember when I started listening to Lore, the folklore and dark history podcast from Aaron Mahnke, just that I've been listening to it for years. Mahnke has a specific way of telling stories, of unwinding a story interesting in its own right only to reveal at the end a surprising detail or the true identity of the person at its center. It's one of the few podcasts I download automatically when a new episode drops. So, I was delighted when I saw a new addition to the world of Lore—Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre.

The stories gathered within Cabinet of Curiosities are a smattering of old favorites and new stories ranging from bizarre natural occurrences to unknown origin stories to crazy coincidences. Among my favorite stories are the truly bizarre story behind Professor Marvel's ratty old coat in The Wizard of Oz; the man struck by lightning three (or four) separate times; the devastating beer flood of 1814; a handyman being visited by Roman ghosts; the philosopher who hasn't missed a meeting in nearly three hundred years; the amateur who knocked out a legendary boxer; and perhaps the most, uh, unique medicine bag to ever be made.

Despite its length, Cabinet of Curiosities is a fairly quick read because its potpourri of stories each clock in at just a few pages. I often either take or have to wait for the train on my commute, and these were fun and easy little stories to read while waiting without having to commit to a whole chapter or potentially skim over a major plot development. (Less delicately—and pardon the minor confession here—they were also great little bathroom reading bits. Yes, I sanitize my phone often.) For me, the same quality that made this such a great book to dabble in whenever I had a few moments to spare also meant it wasn't my go-to when I had a larger chunk of time to dedicate to reading. I don't think either thing is good or bad so much as an assessment of where this volume shines.

Lore has a distinct style, and that same writing is present on every page of Cabinet of Curiosities, so much so that, without reading the audiobook, I still had Mahnke's voice and delivery in my head, along with a light soundtrack from an imaginary Chad Lawson. Another option if you, as Mahnke is fond of saying at the end of each episode, want more Lore in your life. That said, Cabinet of Curiosities doesn't rely on a familiarity of Lore, or Mahnke, or Lawson. I can imagine picking this up in a bookstore, maybe with a passing knowledge of the podcast, or maybe being ignorant to it entirely, and being interested merely on the basis of its resemblance of a more narrative-minded Ripley's Believe It Or Not or a similar compendium of fun and quirky stories I devoured as a kid. It's fun, it's sometimes dark, sometimes weird, but always interesting.

This was a nice collection of true short stories that were fascinating. I’m a fan of Aaron Mahnke and his podcasts, so I could totally see how these were found while doing research for different episodes. It was a fun book and easy to pick up and put down as each story took only a few minutes to read. I’d definitely recommend this book for current fans or anyone new Mahnke’s work.

I LOVE THIS BOOK! It is a collection of short, true, stories that will wow you! For me, I read a few each night and then brought them up in conversation and looked really interesting. (Ha! But I did.) This is a don’t skip read, and would also make an amazing holiday gift! Get it now! :)

This is a fascinating collection of tidbits, trivia and odd coincidences throughout history. My personal favorite (I won't spoil it for you) involves a fortuitous meeting of the Lincoln and Booth families before that tragic day at Ford Theatre. Each story is only a few pages long, so it's very easy to pick up and put down if life should dare to intrude on your reading time. It's a great read for history buffs, trivia afficionados and anyone who loves a good twist ending. Enjoy!

This book is so interesting and reading about all these amazing things was just a great read to me. I learned more than I could have ever learned anywhere else but just by reading this book I gained a lot of intellect. I highly recommend this read as it is just fascinating what you learn here. .

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press for this advanced readers copy. This is my honest review.

What an unexpectedly fascinating book. Cabinet of Curiosities more than lives up to its subtitle: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre.

There is something for everyone here. Little stories about well-known people, famous or infamous, heroes or villains. And a lot of “regular” folks who did something very unusual. There are stories that you’ve probably already heard, and some that are brand spanking new and absolutely amazing. The book runs the full spectrum of unknown history, ironic happenings, run of the mill events on through to weird, funny, macabre, spooky, downright creepy and a little otherworldly woo woo.

Cabinet of Curiosities is an enjoyable read, great to settle in with and just read on through or to pick up and read a chapter here and there. Bonus: You’ll get some insight into some great quotes we’ve all probably used but didn’t know where, how or who they came from. Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing an advance copy of Cabinet of Curiosities via NetGalley. I recommend it without hesitation. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.

This is my personal review, thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this. First I will begin with saying that these are all short stories and not one ties with one another. Secondly to me these stories were all different but very intriguing to say the least. Some were history stories that made you wonder if they were true or not and others were eye opening to know these events happened. All in all the stories were fun and I would suggest these reads to anyone who is interested in the history or just strange events.

Cabinet Of Curiosities is a very entertaining collection of short true stories. It is divided in multiple categories:

American History
Coincidences
Animals
Mysteries
Places and many more.

All the categories are full of strange occurances, oddities and very interesting unremembered historic facts from ancient history up into the 1900's. It reads very similarly to they types of stories Ripley's Believe it or Not. Be prepared, while reading it, to blurt out to friends around you things like, "Did you know a chicken can live without its head for years?" These are a very quick reads because each story is roughly 2 1/2 pages.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for this e-ARC copy of this entertaining collection.

Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke is an intriguing and informative collection of stories spanning various eras inspired by the author’s podcast. As someone unfamiliar with the podcast, I found each story fresh, often humorous, and full of historical tidbits that kept me curious. With no overarching narrative, this book allows readers to jump in and out at any point, making it perfect for casual, selective reading.

However, I did find the book a bit lengthy, especially as a digital read. The extensive format made it challenging to finish in one go, and I found myself slowly losing interest. This is perhaps best enjoyed as a book to dip into whenever a fact or a story piques your interest.

Thank you to the publisher for providing a digital version of this book!