National Geographic Tales of the Weird: Unbelievable True Stories

by David Braun

When a farmer in Spain captured a two-headed snake in 2002, scientists wanted to study it. When National Geographic Daily News published a story about the discovery, people wanted to read all about it. More than a million people clicked on the site and kept coming back for more unbelievably true stories. An Internet sensation was born.

Since then, more than 100 million individuals have clicked on stories put together by David Braun and his crack team of editors for National Geographic Daily News. And readers cannot get enough information about the often weird, sometimes miraculous things being discovered by scientists every day--incredible flying sharks, the strange sex lives of ducks, mind-controlling fungus that turns ants into zombies, and the darkest planet in the universe.

This reader features the most wildly popular, incredibly weird, and totally true stories from National Geographic's Daily News site presented in a compact, fact-filled reader. It will be a must-have for fans of Braun's website and for fans of "fun fact" books like the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. The millions of fans who follow David Braun's National Geographic Daily News will be thrilled with this incredible reader filled with their favorites from the website. The most popular ones are all here presented in a lively, engaging format that is entertaining for the mind and easy on the wallet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Reference, History, Adult

544 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Chy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh, it's one of those things. Usually, stuff like this makes me frustrated because it tells just the little bit I know about these things, but adds nothing and gives me nowhere to look if I want to know more.

But there was a lot in here that I didn't know. And I get the impression it gave me nowhere to go because there is nowhere to go that doesn't tell you the same amount.

An interesting read. Saw people calling it a "bathroom reader," and I can totally see that. I had it on my living room table at times, all manner of other places in my house at others (though I don't believe I ever had it in the bathroom, hmm), and I grazed at it in between novels, or when I had just a minute and was jonesing for something to read, and on like that. And it is perfect for that.

There's a lot of fiction fuel in here, if "weird stuff" gets you going as a writer. Gets me going as a reader, so go forth, you weird stuff writers, and check this out.

Let's end on the line from the blurb that most confused me, talking about this book: "It will be a must-have for fans of Braun's website"

Um. From what I gathered, this is a collection of articles that have already been on Braun's website, so a fan of that website would probably be rather let down by this. Unless they already know they've read it all, and just wanted to have the hard copy (with which I can totally sympathize.)

Otherwise, I am qualified to say it's a must-have for people who would be fans of Braun's website if only their internet connection didn't bounce around in the Stone Age.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A long time ago there was a cartoon of Calvin and Hobbes and Calvin says to Hobbes, "I have a thoroughly useless command of knowledge." Or something along those lines. This book will add to that knowledge. It had some weird, some interesting and some downright disgusting, don't eat while you read this, entries.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The things I learned about sharks, squids, and other sea life. I also learned many interesting facts about ants, spiders, wasps, and other creepy crawlers. So much information. Might read this one again later.

[Bookworm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some cool stuff.
Not accurate about Amelia Earhart.
Admits the Bible HAS been archeologically supported… but says don’t take that seriously?? Make up your mind. Either add the Bible and let the archeological evidence speak for itself, or don’t?? Add the Bible?? Why was that even in here??

[Elexndra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Library book

[Gia Jgarkava · Rating 3 out of 5]

ნამდვილად იყო საინტერესო კვლევებზე და ფაქტებზე ინფორმაცია და ალბათ ფიზიკურად რომ წამეკითხა, ფერადი ილუსტრაციებით - უფრო გაასწორებდა. მაგრამ მაინც - Top10 ბლოგის დონზე ცოტათი მეტია.

[Lo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a lot of interesting info on numerous subjects. Some of it is now dated, but still a nice read.

[Emmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

For the most part, this was very interesting. Granted, some of the articles might have been a bit slow/tedious, but for the most part, I enjoyed my time reading this. It's certainly a lot quicker of a read than other books of this length. And I really liked that each topic was discussed in five pages or less; this made for an interesting introduction to the topics, without overwhelming the reader, or boring them.

[Danielle Lima · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't think this was suppose to have been read straight as I had. I did learn quite a bit, but admittedly I found myself zoning in and out of topics that I don't typically enjoy.

[Kyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining and well-written. Short entries that are both quick to read and very informative, lots of pictures that enhance the text. Heavy on the science, but in a light, fun way.

[Midnight Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and interesting....really good if you only get short installments of time to catch up on your reading.

[Michael Kotsarinis · Rating 2 out of 5]

A nice collection of weird stories and their scientific "explanation", just not my cup of tea in terms of depth and coherence.

[Ginnie Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of weird and interesting stories in nature. Some will make you say WTF, some will make you feel a lot smarter, either way this is worth a read.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the stuff is unbelievable. Literally.

[Robbie Sellars · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting little snippets of news stories.

[Rexanna Ipock-Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for short, informative stories.