Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Attack of the Factoids

Uncle John's Facts and Trivia

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

Bite-sized bits of information to give you the edge on trivia night—from crime and punishment to the rich and famous to ghosts, ghouls, oddballs, and more!   Packed with more than 400 pages, Uncle John’s Bathroom Attack of the Factoids is a fact-a-palooza of obscure information. Like what, you ask? Here are just a few extraordinary Bats always turn left when they exit a cave.* In the 1960s, astronauts trained for moon voyages by walking on Hawaiian lava fields.* Lloyd’s of London insured Bruce Springsteen’s voice for 3.5 million English pounds.* Physician Amynthas of Alexandria, Greece, performed the first known nose job in the Third Century B.C.* Military toilet paper is printed in a camouflage design, since white could attract enemy fire.* Elvis Presley always wore a helmet when watching football on TV.* King Henry VIII’s ladies at court had a ration of one gallon of beer per day.* It takes the energy from fifty leaves on an apple tree to produce one ripe fruit.* The only country to host the Summer Olympics but not win a single gold medal was Canada, in 1976. And that’s just the beginning! So what are you waiting for? Attack!

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Reference, Trivia

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 11, 2014

About the author

The Bathroom Reader's Institute UJBR boasts more than 12 million books in print and a membership base topping 40,000 loyal readers . . .

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Attack of the Factoids: Bizarre Bites of Incredible Information is a collection of one or two line bits of interesting facts or trivia.

This was a Netgalley find but I probably would have bought it anyway since I already have a substantial Bathroom Reader library.

Here is a brief sampling of the nuggets of knowledge within:
- Only female mosquitos suck blood
- The loganberry was accidentally created when a botanist had a raspberry plant too close to the blackberry plants he was trying to crossbreed.
- Tiger Woods' nickname in college was Urkel
- Beer was once promoted as a way to get kids to go to sleep
- Dan Castellenetta's contract with Fox expressly prohibits him from doing Homer Simpson's voice in public.
- Bubblewrap was accidentally created when two guys were trying to make plastic textured wallpaper with two shower curtains
- Alaska is the state with the most outhouses

Not only is Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Attack of the Factoids: Bizarre Bites of Incredible Information great for bathroom reading, it's also good for long car trips and when a friend or loved one is watching something you're not interested in on TV. Four out of five stars.

[Dan Stern · Rating 3 out of 5]

tt has tons of facts in short articles of one or two paragraphs each. They are grouped into one general subject per page with puny titles. . The spell check always misses words with different spelling, different meanings, same pronunciations e.g. their, there and they're.

[Bill Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I guess iv read too many of these. Getting a repetative.

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've bought a few of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader books over the years and find them entertaining.

The contents in this one include:

Roads & transportation
Geography
Doctors & dentists
Crime and punishment
Travel log
Grub
Quote me
The human body
Rich & famous
Cute stuff
TV & radio
Major awards
Let us entertain you
Family ties
And lots more!

I like these books because the information is bite-size, informative and great when you feel like reading but don't have the time or inclination to get into a novel or more serious book.

Here are some tidbits you may not know ...

* The best-selling fiction author of all time is William Shakespeare. #2 is Agatha Christie.
* The average person speaks about 165 words a minute.
* The temperature of the lit end of a cigarette when the smoker is inhaling is about 1652F.
* Baby mice are called kittens, pups or pinkies.
* 1 in 3 U.S. Caucasian women have blonde hair ... but 1 in 20 is natural
* Thousand Island salad dressing got its name from its birthplace - the Thousand Islands of the St. Lawrence River along the board of the U.S. and Canada.

Blog review post: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2014/03...

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over 400 pages of tantalizing, mind-blowing facts. Did you know that Elvis always wore a helmet while watching football? Or that bats always turn left when they leave a cave? That's just a tiny sampling of all of the interesting, humorous, and downright bizarre facts you'll discover in Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: Attack of the Factoids. I loved the easy to read format, the engaging topics, and the humor that was displayed throughout. This was actually the first time I had read any of the Bathroom Readers. I was pleasantly surprised to find that there are lots of other editions out there. In fact, I liked this one so much I got several others! A definite must-read for trivia fans that can be enjoyed anywhere, not just the bathroom! Beware though, you WILL lose track of time while reading!

NOTE: I received a complimentary copy of this book in return for my honest review.

[David V. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Received from Goodreads through their drawing. Started on 3-10-14. Finished 3-14-14. For someone like me who's curious about damn near everything, this book was awesome. In the intro, the compilers say that their standard for facts is that "it has to be so interesting and surprising that you feel compelled to share it with others." That was my experience in sharing much of the info with my wife who's just as curious as I am. I've never read any of their many other fact books, but if you have a child who doesn't like to read, I'll bet giving him/her this book would encourage reading in no time. There are 10-12 facts per page, most just one-liners, about just about any topic you can think of. Many made me want to look it up to learn even more. What an incentive to read!!!

[Marathon County Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a trivia buff, you'll enjoy ATTACK OF THE FACTOIDS. Published by the Uncle John Bathroom Readers' crew, it's a marvelous, 400-page helping of trivial facts and assorted information. It includes brief facts on crime & punishment, ancient history, quotations, plants & animals, rich & famous people, etc. You can read it cover to cover or just pick a page and jump into the fascinating world of trivia.

Mike O. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

[Cherie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Trivia is fun. Random small bits of information that can tell us more about our world. Or at the very least liven up a gathering. The other wonderful thing about trivia is it makes for light, fun reading. Which the Uncle John's Bathroom Readers seem to be the epitome of when it comes to trivia.

I really don't have much to say on this book to be honest. Mainly because it's exactly what it says on the cover. A huge collection of trivia facts. Nothing more, nothing less. It's a good source to get your trivia. Just don't expect much difference from any of the previous Bathroom Reader books.

For the rest of the review and rating, please visit me at Musekicker's Reading Place.

[Short Sorceress · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was sent a copy of the book for review through Net Galley, as always, all opinions are my own.

I’ve been buying Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader books for my father for years, he’s a huge fan. One thing I’ve noticed over time, and this book is no exception, is that the quality of the content is slowly slipping. With this particular book I found less that 50% of the facts to be interesting and entertaining and there were a large amount of facts that are so commonplace I couldn’t understand why they were in the book to begin with. I really would like to see future books more well thought-out because as a long time reader the new books just aren’t quite cutting it.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I will be the first to admit that I love learning new trivia and Uncle John's Bathroom Reader never disappoints. I learned more odd facts and wacky tidbits than I needed to know. If you've read one Uncle John's then you know what to expect and know that you will never look at mundane things the same way again.

[Suzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now sitting at the back of my home toilet, every factoid was thoroughly enjoyable and interesting. 10/10 would recommend.

[Allyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

well that ended abruptly. was great until then.

[Tom Darrow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another solid offering.

A bit of bathroom humor there.