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!

This was a weird, bizarre collection I really enjoyed from beginning to end.Reminded me of collections I read long ago and had so much fun with.#netgalley #st.martins

A delightful collection of curiosities that ensnare the mind just like the podcast. Filled with surprisingly true tales of curious items throughout history. A recommended read if you are not a fan of non-fiction, but want to read more.

A collection of interesting little stories and facts from world history, some featuring famous people doing little-known things, others highlighting spooky, funny, or intriguing moments. I can see this as an interesting book to leave on a coffee table or in a bathroom for guests to peruse when they have a spare moment, the stories were all a little too short for my preference - I often wanted to know more than the little snippet of facts we got. There were also too many tongue in check jokes and puns coming at the end of each story - not everything needs to have a “gotcha!” moment.

My favorite stories were those about famous writers like Agatha Christie, Mark Twain, and Edgar Allen Poe, and the ones about famous people in ancient cultures, like St Valentine’s murder in Rome, and Locusta the poisoner, history’s first documented hitman. The various war stories were a little boring to me - other than the trip of bunnies who attacked Napoleon’s hunting party, lol.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.

***ARC received from St. Martins Press and NetGalley, opinions are all my own. Thank you!***

I have no listened to Aaron Mahnke Cabinet of Curiosities although I am well familiar with his other podcast.

Cabinet of Curiosities if a collection of very (very) short stories that are grouped together by a theme for each section. Some are about American history, others War and True Crime. It had a good variety of themes but because this book is a collection of short stories they don’t go into much detail. For the most part I found them to be very general and broad overviews of whatever the stories central theme or character is. I think this works well in a podcast but for a book I really wanted more details.

This book is definitely designed to be set aside and picked up over time. Sitting and just reading them all doesn’t do the book justice. Just put it nearby and when you have a few minutes to spare read pick it up and read it. I know while the book is broken up into sections with similar themes I actually got a little bored reading each section. After a few stories I found myself jumping to different sections to reading about different themes. This is probably the best way to enjoy the book, at least for me, helping to break up the book to also just read what may catch your fancy at the time.

I think one think I miss in the book from the podcast is the narration. Aaron Mahnke is a great storyteller and while this book plays off his unique style of story telling I miss the inflection and tone of his voice. Even though while reading I could hear his voice in my head I just miss that part because much of this book felt like it was designed to be read aloud.

I really did enjoy Cabinet of Curiosities, its a fun mix of different themes that are very quick reads. Aaron Mahnke’s writing and story telling is so easily approachable that anyone with an interest in fun stories and history would really enjoy this book. I also still have a few stories left to finish so I’m looking forward to having something to read when I have a few minutes of time.

I have several friends and family members who like to keep a book next to their chair to browse through at odd times. This is perfect for them....and for me who has to have something to read any time I'm waiting for more than a few minutes. The point is....you do not have to invest a huge chunk of time to keep the story running. CABINET OF CURIOSITIES is a book of short stories on various subjects. Many of the stories are a 5 minute read. One of the best things when reading these short stories is that you know somebody you need to share the story with. Humankind survives because they are curious enough to discover the who, what, where, when and why of any given topic. Aaron Mahnke hosts a podcast featuring these bite size stories and has now rewarded his faithful fans with a hard copy of many of his favorites. Face it, soon they will be your favorites too.

I love listening to the podcast and looked forward to reading the book. All the included stories are mysterious, unexplainable, and just plain unique. The book flows nicely from one story to another, and I like the formatting of the stories. It worked well and made reading easy. I can't pick one story over another because they are all so well-written. I'm happy I got to read this book and enjoy these stories.

I’m a huge fan of the Aaron Mahnke podcast network. So when I saw the availability of this book, I jumped. I received an ARC of this book as well as an audiobook. I have to admit I enjoyed the audiobook more. I liked being familiar with the narrators from their podcasts. I’ve already told multiple antidotes to friends and family. These are really short chapters which makes for a very fast read. I totally recommend this book especially the audiobook!


Thank you #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review .

I’m not a podcast listener, so I had never heard of this author – but I intend to start listening to his Cabinet of Curiosities podcast on a regular basis. Reading this book felt like reading a 336-page episode of the old Paul Harvey show. I could almost hear Paul Harvey’s tagline, “And now you know… the rest of the story,” at the end of each of the stories in this book :)

Some of the stories were things I’d heard before – the US state of Franklin, the connection between Dr. John Bell and Sherlock Holmes, and Agatha Christie’s mysterious 11-day disappearance, to name a few. Some added head-turning details to stories I already knew – one of the Curtiss JN-4 planes (the plane illustrated on the inverted Jenny postage stamp) crashed shortly after the stamp was released… and landed upside down *insert Twilight Zone music here*

Most of the stories, however, were entirely new to me. All were fascinating, some made me chuckle, some made me shudder and some made me shake my head, but they were all fascinating. I’ve already recommended it to my reading friends who enjoy offbeat bits of history!

The book Cabinet of Curiosities: A Historical Tour of the Unbelievable, the Unsettling, and the Bizarre caught my eye, I do not recall why. I never heard of the podcast or it’s author. As I read each chapter, I kept thinking this could be called Did You Know? Each very short chapter is a story, a tale a tidbit a piece of history that comes with a little learning. Yes, you can google it, but this is more fun. I love the idea that it can create table discussions and get people off their phones. You can open the book at any chapter read it and enjoy it.
This book is simply written it would make a great gift! Yes, after reading it I tuned into the podcast :)
Thank you #netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

💥 Pub Date: 11/12/2024

This is a compilation of interesting stories in history. They're presented in a digestible way, which makes for easy reading. "Peculiar Places" was my favorite section of the book... I love learning about the history of towns. I'm not familiar with the author's podcast, but I'm definitely going to check it out!

🗣 Thank you to netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review this book via gifted eARC! All opinions are honest and my own.

Interesting collection of miscellaneous information that will fascinate curious readers from upper elementary to adult readers. The element of surprise at the end of each 'chapter' keeps the reader turning pages.

I really enjoy Aaron Mahnke's voice and the way he sets up the stories. This is a fun collection of mini stories divided into sections. I started out reading through from cover and the started bouncing around as the name of a story caught my eye. The stories are short enough they make a great read during lunch break or when you are sitting waiting for someone

Cabinet of Curiosities is a wonderful concept, based in the eclectic collections of Europeans beginning in the (primarily) Victorian era. However, I found it very disjointed and full of "Dad Puns" that were appropriately funny, but it wasn't what I was looking for in an enjoyable evening read. The stories were short, clear, and to the point, many of them had the old Paul Harvey feel of "Now you know the rest of the story," which I did enjoy.

I did not complete this book; I received an ARC; this is my honest review.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

Based on the author’s popular podcast, this book is a collection of strange oddities. As each is only a couple of pages long, it is easy to pick up when the reader has a few spare minutes. The stories are arranged by topic. Some of the situations are very well known, such as the Inverted Jenny stamp, while others are more obscure. I really enjoyed reading these brief clips.

I was drawn to this because of the book description. This is a collection of interesting short (a few pages) stories. This was a good book to read a few or several stories at a time. There was a wide variety of stories grouped with other similar type stories. I enjoyed this book and recommend it.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke

I've had a lot of doctor appointments lately and this book is great for those times when I'm waiting but don't want to dive into a novel. Each chapter is short, to the point, and interesting to me. Some touch on history or historical figures and fill in gaps that I didn't know about events and people. Other stories introduce me to happenings that I knew nothing about. A lot of them had me searching the internet for more of the story because much of what I learned here had me wanting to know even more. It's a great book for trivia nerds like me, my poor husband will never hear the end of all the "fun facts" I have at my disposal now...ha ha

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC