Weird But True: 200 Astounding, Outrageous, and Totally Off the Wall Facts

by Leslie Gilbert Elman

The Earth is broadcasting a symphony of sound right now . . .Madagascar is home to enormous suicidal palm trees . . .Blacktip sharks can reproduce by virgin birth . . .In this fascinating book, weird, true facts like these reveal just how much freaky stuff really happens around the world. We've uncovered odd natural phenomena, super-strange historic occurrences, downright bizarre momentous discoveries, and totally peculiar coincidences that will blow your mind. From Biblical latrines to ultimate survivor microbes, if it's weird--and true--you'll find it here!

Genres: Nonfiction

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2010

Reviews

[Nicholas Hodge · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick read with loads of interesting and weird facts that you didn’t know you wanted to know. From microbes and mosquitos to the Bible and beyond, this book is bound to have something you find amazing. This book has everything you can think of and more, facts about parts of thing you didn’t exist, or facts that have been happening to you your whole life and could never notice. I would recommend this book for anyone that’s interested in learning and enjoys hearing interesting facts they can remember.

[Lee Jessup · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book, “Weird But True,” by Leslie Gilbert Elma, is a great book to read if your looking for some cool random facts. The book consists of around 200 facts that are weird but in fact true. The facts are described in a couple of sentences and is a fast book to read. If you’re interested in reading random facts, I recommend this book for you.

[Chris Santana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very fun to read, it was a quick read but filled with lots of random facts and trivia that I find fun to read. I recommend this book to anyone who just wants to pass time and enjoy a fun book it includes black and white images to go along with the fact you are reading and it really does a good job engaging the reader.

[Jimmy Clifford]

I enjoyed reading this book. I thought it had many interesting facts. I also enjoyed it because it was not a very challenging book. People of any age can read this. It does not involve much attention or thinking. The only problem I had with this book is that some of the fun facts are very strange. Some made me feel uncomfortable.

[Mark F · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book that I have read was a book called Weird But True. This book was strictly about facts which were weird but also true hence the title. Every page had a new fact and they were often grouped by topic and there were several facts that just stuck out to me. I really loved this book because Im the type of person who enjoys learning all new facts and things that are odd or outrageous. If you are a person like me who enjoys reading about new cool things that happen in real life I would highly recommend this book.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those odd books that used to be ubiquitous in the days before the Internet; this volume was published in 2010, so it is a little outdated, but still a fun book to page through.

As promised, there are two hundred factoids in two hundred pages, on just about every subject under the sun, with fairly seamless segues between one subject and another. And the facts are quite fun, including the fact that the island of Montserrat celebrates St. Patrick’s Day as a national holiday (the island became a refuge for Irish Catholics in the 1600s).

I did enjoy this light book, and it was perfect for my bedtime reading for four days.

[Bryant Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

I personally really enjoy this book as there are many interesting facts. It can make you think about how strange our lives can be. It is also a short book so it doesn't take forever to finish. It is also an entertaining book to simply enjoy. This book is also very relatable to everyone's lives.

[Kari Schooley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, easy read. Filled with trivia about weird, obscure facts. The book is like a fun ride on a stream of consciousness that begins and ends with lightning. Clever.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice quick book of fun facts. I like that some connect to the previous fact. Nice progression.

[Bladestryke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A neat little read with lots of interesting facts! I even learned a thing or two! Great little book for someone on the go!

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable little book full of…weird facts.

[Gerri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a page or two a day gave me an interesting bit of trivia for the evening dinner table.

[Johnny Tunstall · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not weird at all, or outrageous. Just facts. Bathroom reading while takin a dump.

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think some of these are alternative facts now

[MJ Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many miscellaneous facts to be learned. This was a quick, fun read.

[Arka . · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astonishing

[Miles Nilsson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book might be retitled with the more equivocal "Weird or not so Weird But True or Maybe Just Probably or Even Possibly True Speculations." Some of the books "facts" are even stated as only "possible." For example, "facts" having to do with psychology such as why we hate fingernails clawing a chalkboard might have to do with primate evolution, but the book cannot and does not say that this is a fact. There is a phenomenon called "New Science" that interprets everything in terms of unproven evolutionary origins. This book falls prey to that kind of thinking. Believe me, we should beware of "New Science" because the Old Science is still the best. New Science seems to be trendy pop science that validates trendy pop prejudices.

This book is entertaining reading for bedtime or commode-time. One "fact" leads to the next by association. If one item incidentally introduces the topic of water, the next item might focus on some factoid having to do with water, and so on. Read one after another, the great danger is that your head will be filled with this tripe and yet you will not consciously remember any of the items.

While entertaining at the time I read it, I can't help feeling as if I have been reading the literary equivalent of empty calories.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can never resist these little collections of whatnots and trivia. This one was passed along by a friend. I can't say that "I laughed, I cried, it was all that I dreamed," more like "I chuckled, I nodded, I said WTF, and was briefly entertained." I did enjoy the little bit about the Guinea worm, the only parasite which must cause pain to humans to complete the life cycle -- and the fact that it has been nearly eradicated. Jimmy Carter FTW -- the Carter Center has been working on this and it has gone from 2M cases or so in 1980 to 126 or so today and if they can get it to 0, the critter will be extinct and good riddance!

[Malika · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

This book was very fun to read. Its filled with facts that are very fascinating. This was a very quick read (maybe a couple of hours total). The funny/ironic titles and tiny black-and-white images were very well done also.

[Willc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book. It has two hundred random wierd but true facts. One is that a species of palm trees are suicidal. Or that a type of shark can have a baby by itself. It is a book full of those random facts. It was really fun to read. I recommend it to everyone.

[Ben Spellman · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was filled with facts I had never heard before. Some of the facts were better than others, but most of them were good. Also, a few of the facts could be debatable, like the one about tigers not being able to purr. With those it just matters who you ask about them.

[Salokya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been better, and some facts really dont seem THAT weird. In contrast some facts were just awesome, like why is the wireless producing devices company is called Bluetooth.

[Charlie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of hilarious fun facts, you can open to a new page every time and be amazed

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/13094565

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

the book weird but true is 200 outrageous and astounding facts. The book gave some very gross facts. there were also some very cool facts. i gave this book 5 stars because it a great book.

[Vader · Rating 2 out of 5]

5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish

[Roxana Simonet · Rating 3 out of 5]

I already knew a lot of these but it was still a fun, easy read.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. A few interesting things. Not sure I believed everything. Fine for browsing while the tv was on.

[Allison Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting facts.

[Esteban Contreras]

I would recommend the is book to anybody interested in weird stuff and information. This book had 200 weird but true facts and they were interesting. I would also recommend this book for anyone interested in quick reads, you can read it all in under a couple days.