Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?!: ...And 99 More Interesting Facts, Plus the Amazing Stories Behind Them

Now I Know #3

by Dan Lewis

A brand-new collection of fascinating facts spanning history and sports to science and pop culture that will have you proudly stating, “Now I know!”

Did you know that a measles outbreak led to the assigning of phone numbers? How about the fact that pirates are the reason we don’t use the metric system in the United States? Or that there’s actually a reason why stepping on a LEGO hurts so damn much?

Now I Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?! is the ultimate challenge for even the biggest trivia buff. From the time a tomato plant stood up to a volcano to Portland’s great garbage battle of 2002, this book will put your general knowledge to the test and explain the most fascinating stories behind the world’s greatest facts.

Based on the very popular newsletter, you are guaranteed to learn something new despite how much you already think you know. Covering 100 topics, Now I Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?! will surprise any know-it-all who thinks they have nothing new to learn.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia, History, Audiobook

288 pages, Hardcover

Published October 22, 2019

Reviews

[Jeff Moreau · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there were plenty of fun take-home facts from the book, I think I was hoping for more depth to the stories or a little more continuity in the flow. Still enjoyable and interesting, but not a page-turner.

[Joseph Inzirillo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read with all sorts of oddball facts about the world.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm generally quite serious about trivia books, snaffling them up when I can for a nice, easy, generally less taxing read. This is a good example, although a little too USA-centric to travel. Stories about a Brazilian footballer who was completely inept at the game and totally adept at hiding that fact for decades, and a cat who wrote scientific papers, are great fun; wrangling about American phone numbers less so. But the book also shows some wonderful connections between things, and that's not in the thematic links between the short chapters, but within them. So measles invented the phone number, and a life of selling his blood to fund sports tickets saved a man's, well, his life. Tales like these make this book a winner, even if it should have left its own shores more often (and I don't really count a fascination with Cold War spying as doing that). Within the tales you get affirmation of what you always knew – institutional green paint jobs are supposed to be calming, which was once poo-pooed, but green tablets reduce anxiety; and definitely taught what you didn't know – beaver meat is OK on a Friday, because it's not made of meat (sic), and chickens can operate street lighting. Also, bonus factoids make it even more of a win-win, for I was ignorant of why Woodstock was called Woodstock when it wasn't held within 40 miles of the place.

[Julia Simpson-Urrutia · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a huge benefit to books like Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?, which is extremely well written. Falling into a category that sometimes perplexes those given the job of assigning categories, one starts thinking about audience: to whom is a book of historical tidbits/significant trivia important? Frankly, the answer is all those who wish to know something about the unexpected details that unite our world in pertinent ways. That audience may be of teachers or students, and the purpose is to gratify the reader's (typically) unquenchable desire for answers and to populate his/her memory bank of fascinating trivia with which to interest others.

The author, Dan Lewis, is justified in saying he makes transitions from one subject to the next and he does it so well! Writing teachers may wish to use a couple of his transitions simply to show how it can be done with panache. Each time Lewis branched into a new subject, I remained interested, and that is a hard feat to accomplish (kudos!) when writing about seemingly unrelated topics. His finished product is one of the best I have ever seen in this category of writing. I recommend it as a gift book: easy to dip into, full of content that readers can use to stir conversation.

[Ron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Wisconsin?!... is the by-product of Dan Lewis's Now I Know award winning newsletter. He took 100 facts/stories, added in related bonus facts, mexed everything into a fine froth and provided the discerning reader and opportunity to profitably waste time learning trivia! What a guy! The title story discusses a faux coup sponsored by the American Legion back in the 1950 in Mosinee (WI) to highlight the dangers of communism. Other stories involve broccoli-flavored bubbles, paratrooping rodents, mapping and lawyers, Japanese policemen and white gloves, superman vs the KKKK and a host of others! This is great example of a bathroom book! I mean you need to have some means of positive entertainment while spending quality time in your restroom. I highly recommend reading this title. Now I need to go locate the first two volumes in this series!

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a well-written book with factoids over a pretty vast array of subjects (for a 250-ish page book). Linking one story to the next by way of one aspect is pretty clever--a seemingly throwaway layer to the work that actually enhances its overall readability/cohesiveness.

Lewis writes colorfully, explains concepts with ease, remains impressively concise, and cites sources in a manner that doesn't make an entry feel like a scientific paper.

I believe this collection of information will come in handy more than you think. Might be more on the order of a coffee table or bathroom read, but it packs a punch if you're thirsting for quick knowledge.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Adams Media for the advance read.

[Susanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Adams Media and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun read - I love trivia, and the title grabbed my attention (I grew up across the lake from Wisconsin). No, the Soviets didn't really invade Wisconsin, but then again, they did in a way. The author puts my trivia knowledge to shame, I liked his endless curiosity and his humorous writing so much, I subscribed to his daily mail newsletter.

Linking one story to the next by way of one aspect was a very clever touch, which also kept my interest high - although this is also a book you can read parts of, put aside and pick back up.

[Lucsbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it made for a fun afternoon read. This will be a better book for Americans though because most of the trivia is focused on American History. If you are an avid reader of trivia pages, some of these might already be known but most are still interesting enough. I liked the writing and the sense of humor was perfect for this kind of book but my absolute favorite was that every piece of trivia was connected to the one before it.
Thank you to NetGalley and Adams Media for this ARC.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written as a series of very short articles instead of paragraph-or-less facts, which is different from my usual books of trivia. Still entertaining, just less useful for my ultimate goal (beefing up the cards & letters I send to my kids).

[Cat. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for waiting rooms and other times where you're going to be interrupted, but don't want to think about what's going on around. It's also full of fun, offbeat facts. All in all my perfect jam.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfectly proportioned snippets of informative and entertaining history

[Steven Raszewski · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book of factoids. A good trivia primer.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yay

Of you just like random fun\amazing things that happened in history then I can't recommend this book enough. It's a run and entertaining read

[Douglas Reedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun book.

I really enjoyed reading this informative and entertaining book. The wide range of subjects will keep most readers amused. All topics are well researched.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice and quick. You can pick it up and read one fact or a bunch. Most of them were actually ones that aren't in EVERY SINGLE fact book which I appreciated and rewarded with five stars.

[Antonio Jimenez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool little book with a lot of neat information.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short essays on trivial facts

[Barb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun book, all the facts are woven together. I will never remember most of them, but interesting!

[Siddhartha Gupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

As you may expect from an anthology, some stories are so mind-bogglingly good and some stories are just meh. This book has it's target audience set at people of the American peninsula, and I couldn't relate to some of the facts.