1123 Hard to Believe Facts

by Nayden Kostov

Following the success of my site http://www.RaiseYourBrain.com and numerous requests from readers, I decided to compile some of the most interesting facts in an e-book. That's why I decided to collect the best gems of breath-taking trivia and to present you a great compilation of facts, suitable for a broad audience. This is the result of years of sifting through history and reference books on a myriad of subjects as well as searching the Internet and paying attention to the news. This book is intended to be fun for anyone older than 14 - even the most ‘spicy’ entries, neatly separated in the chapter ‘Facts about human and animal sexuality”, remain factual and abstain from profanity. To my greatest delight, an avid reader of my site explained that she has been preparing daily fact sheets for her son’s lunch box. She prints out three facts every day to create some lunchtime fun for her son, thus enticing him to read more and provoking his intellectual curiosity. I wish my parents had done something like that for me! I confess that most trivia books are insufferably boring. This book is different, packed with interesting, educational and fun ingredients; it seeks to entertain as well as challenge. It will provide you with never-ending intellectual ammunition for a lifetime of dinner parties. You will amaze your friends and family by recounting to them that the greatest Chinese pirate of all times was a woman, or that herrings use flatulence to communicate! The book will be your strongest ally in combatting social awkwardness and will arm you with plenty of icebreaking pieces of trivia, suitable for any occasion.

Genres: Nonfiction, Trivia, Reference, Ebooks, Amazon, Education

248 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2016

About the author

Born in Bulgaria, I have lived in places like Germany, Belgium and Iraq, before settling down with my family in Luxembourg. With varied interests, I have always suffered from an insatiable appetite for facts stemming from an unrestrainable intellectual curiosity. It has certainly influenced my academic background and career: after acquiring Master degrees in Greek Philology, German and English Translation, I graduated in Crisis Management and Diplomacy and, most recently, undertook an MBA.

My career has been equally broad and diverse, swinging from that of an army paratrooper and a military intelligence analyst; through to that of a civil servant with the European Commission, and presently, that of a clerk, performing purely financial tasks in a major bank. Member of MENSA.

Reviews

[Stace · Rating 4 out of 5]

1123 Hard to Believe Facts, is a wonderful book packed from beginning to end with factual information on a variety of subjects.

The first section is all random facts, in ‘Unbelievable facts about virtually everything’. After this section the book is then split into five different categories, including ‘People and Animals’, and ‘Facts about human and animal sexuality’. At the end the author has added ‘quizzes from my next book’, where you get to test your knowledge.

Did you know that white eared chickens lay white eggs, whilst red eared chickens lay brown eggs? Me neither. This book is filled to the brim with some wacky facts like this. There are quite a lot that you will read and be amazed at, though I did find quite a few where I went ‘yes I knew that already’.

This is a book that you can absorb and surprise your family and friends with your amazing knowledge. My husband actually memorised some of the facts for work, as the company shares a fact of the day each morning with the staff.

For someone interested in learning random information, this book would be perfect, whether that be yourself, or a know-it-all, who actually might just not know-it-all, after all!!

Reviewed by Stacey on www.whisperingstories.com

[David Van Minnen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very rarely, you CAN judge a book by its cover.
Well-organized. Fascinating. Properly fact checked.
An absolute gem of a volume!

[Nayden Kostov · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first trivia book, full of amazing facts ;)

[Glen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty good book of trivia. I knew a lot of the facts, but I've read a lot of these kinds of books.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's a lot of interesting statements in this trivia book, little factoids that were in some cases titillating, in other cases I had to do some research to determine the veracity.

1123 hard to Believe Facts is packed with interesting tidbits concerning animals, world events, natural disasters, political and popular figures, places, and other odd bits of information, much of which is suitable for discussion starters.

Content:
Even though this is non-fiction, figured I'd better put a bit about the content in here. The F-bomb is dropped, there's even a picture of it, because there's a town over in Europe by that name. Go figure. The Tower of Babble strikes again.

There are some adultish tidbits of information that are listed in the mix, but for the most part the author keeps the conversation starters pretty civil. There's no real Christian content, pro or con, but from a secular standpoint there's a good deal of interesting factoids for general consumption.

With an organized bulleted list of facts and figures it's hard to give a proper rating. The wording of most of the facts was interesting, and in that respect I found the book well written. Five Stars.

[Kristina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So addictive!

I found myself lurking in the book all the time even for a minute or two. Couldn't get enough of those 1123 awing facts.

This book is a resourceful way to amaze your friends and an excellent conversation starter.

To name just a few:
1. Frank Oz is the voice behind both Yoda and Miss Piggy.
2. In ancient times, salaries were paid in salt (hence, the origin of the word).
3. The brands Puma and Adidas were founded by two brothers.

Still not convinced?

What about that: the Icelandic government developed a mobile app to curb involuntary inbreeding. With a population of just around 330 000 people, the chances of meeting a cousin at the bar are quite high.?

Not interesting? Come on, I'm sure everyone will find something for himself. Give it a try.

Nayden Kostov has done an amazing job, collecting and checking these facts. Thank you!

Btw, Nepal is the only country to have a non-rectangular flag. ;)

[Charlie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always fun to read the bathroom humor or trivia stuff that makes an interesting quick read. It gets your mind out of the gutter or perhaps in the gutter. I'll throw in a LOL here. This is not one of those books. It's a book of 1123 HARD TO BELIEVE FACTS. One liners that will make you look SMART in a room full of friends or people that always doubted your intelligence. Just memorize a handful of these facts and put it out there and let them say - WHAT? If they don't believe you tell them to GOOGLE it.

Did you know that millions of Chinese still live in caves? I googled it up and IT'S TRUE.
The author Nayden Kostov also has a chapter on TRUE or FALSE statements - you decide - T or F. Yes. the answers are there.
Another chapter - Facts about human and animal sexuality. Verrrry interesting.

Here is the BONUS part at the end of the book --- NOTE ON SOURCES AND DESCRIPTION OF THE VERIFICATION PROCESS. Or you can, as I mentioned before -----GOOGLE IT.
Yes, I won this book free and clear from Goodreads.com for an honest review.
Thanks to the author for sending this book to me and it will be on the coffee table for a long time.

[Michelle Kimber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun book to read. I found so many things I didn't know and yeah some of them seemed fantastical. I would love them to put out a second volume

[JAX · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're having one of those busy days with small bits of time in between where there's literally nothing you can squeeze in then get yourself this book and read, it's a really easy read of random facts stated one after another, no matter on which page you land, it will widen your general knowledge a bit, pass the time and give you mixed feelings over different facts you didn't know about, as well as correcting some of the myths you thought facts, nice book.

[Shari · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book with interesting random facts!

[Angya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received this book free of charge in exchange of my honest review.

I really enjoyed this read. It is a book of facts, which is to say, it lists random facts about the world which are mainly amusing. I agree with some of the other reviewers that I would have enjoyed more structure (the first chapter was far to long and really random). I also would have liked a tad more information than was given. Some facts just left me craving more, which made me look up further information. This was both nice and mildly annoying, but in any case, I learned a lot.

I recommend this book to anyone who likes to learn things but doesn't seem to find the time. I read some of the facts to different people because they surprised me, or amused me a lot, and we all laughed about it.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book with so many awesome facts on a variety of subjects. This would be a great book to share with the family a few facts a night, or for teachers to share a few with their class. The Author clearly put a lot of time and effort into combining all these facts as well as the debunked myths and unsubstantiated urban legends.

Did you know that Rudolf, Santa's reindeer, must be a female reindeer? Male reindeer lose their antlers before Christmas, while females do not.

This was a lot of fun to read and I am looking forward to reading more interesting and amazing facts! I LOVE the cover it is adorable!!

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I was given a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I enjoy this type of book, being a trivia and weird fact aficionado. The organization/randomness is, to me, an attraction rather than a hindrance, as the purpose of this book is not as a reference. If you like trivia and odd facts, this book is for you.

I greatly appreciate the fact that the author double-checked the facts (and triple-checked some). (Regrettably, this is something severely lacking in much of today's non-fiction.) But I would have liked to have a link (at least one) for each of the facts. He gives us a bibliography, but it is not arranged by fact, making it almost useless.

[SerialReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books I will never get tired of!
I'm gonna ace the summer trivia games!

Read more on The Serial Reader Blog.

*This book was kindly sent to me by the author, Nayden Kostov, in exchange for an honest review*

[Станислав Янев]

Fact:
In 2012, a unit of elite French commandos undertook unauthorized training drills in the Bulgarian countryside. They were attacked and beaten up by angry local peasants who mistook them for thieves.

[Corrie's Book Nook · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just your every day ordinary, and not so ordinary, list of facts. 1123 to be exact. Though I knew many of them, there was a whole lot I didn't. Many were so absurd and bizarre, I had to look it up!

If you are a geeky nerd, like me, check it out.

[Boris Loukanov · Rating 5 out of 5]

I supported crowdfunding campaign for the Book. It is really amazing, including so many interested facts I never heard about.

[Steve Maxwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to believe facts. I'm not sure about some of them, though. Still some interesting stuff. Now, just wait till I appear on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, hahaha.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not to be flippant but it's a trivia book. Lots of interesting items and if you're a fan of so-called 'useless information' this is definitely something you might want to add to your shelf.

There are six main sections:
- Unbelievable Facts about Virtually Everything
- People and Animals are Awesome
- Disturbing Facts About Our World
- Facts about Human and Animal Sexuality
- You Have Been Warned - Don't Try This at Home
- Debunking Myths or Unsubstantiated Urban legends
and two section/quizzes called Which is Not True? to see if you remember what you just read.

As for some of those facts - how about -
- When flying from Tokyo, Japan to Hawaii, USA, you can arrive the day before you departed.
- The surface of the moon covers roughly the same area as Asia.
- Since 1945, all British battle tanks have possessed tea-making equipment. (only the Brtis)
- The Republic of Nauru has no capital city.
- One of the language choices when using ATMs in Vatican City is Latin.
- Brennender Berg (Burning Mountain) is a deserted coal mine in Germany that caught fire in 1688. It is still burning.

Of course, you can also just travel over to the website and devour all the facts that the site puts out daily.

2020-061

[Orlin Chochov · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first glance we say to ourselves: Why do I need these facts? But with the ubiquitous invasion of fake news and doctored photos on the net I found the book not only amusing but also useful. Inside there is something appropriate for every taste.
Great delectation for the family, especially during long voyages!

[Charli D'amelio's Grandma · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated it I'm sorry but you said a bad word 👎

[Dawn Bradman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this kind of book. They are ones you can just pick up here and there and read a few new pages in between jobs. My only niggle is that I don't remember all the new things I have learned whilst reading it. I think I'll just have to read it again.

[Brittany Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational and Fun

Full of funny yet true information. Bonus quizzes was a nice touch. Some very shocking facts great for all ages.

[Charla Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a quick read with quite a bit of interesting information in it. For example, being afraid of the number 13 is known as triskaidekaphobia, and sunsets on mars look blue. Also, every year the moon moves 1.5 inches further away from earth and the first flushing toilet for the public took place in the UK in 1852. Some of these little tidbits of information are just enough to make you want to do some research of your own.

[Barbara Tomlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Nayden Kostov's published works for the first time today. Intrigued by the title of his latest book, I decided to pick up this one and read it right away. Overall, it is an excellent resource for coming up with intriguing conversation starters. A self-proclaimed "googaholic", when a few facts didn't look correct to me, I researched them further. I concluded that with a little rewording some of those facts could stand within my realm of "truth". There is no table of contents. As it is a reference book, a table of contents would have come in handy for "quick finds" from time to time. While there was no bibliography, the author did detail his source verification process and included links to additional resources. I am eager to read his next book, "Which Is Not True", a sampling of which is included in this book.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads' Giveaway.
As promised, this book provides useful, funny, naughty informations, so you will never have to live one of those awkward silent moments again.

[Goth Gone Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just enough trivia to be dangerous

The author set a high bar right from the start:

"I confess that most trivia books are insufferably boring. This inspired me to write a book which is different, packed with interesting, educational, and fun ingredients; it seeks to entertain as well as to challenge. It will provide you with never-ending intellectual ammunition for a lifetime of dinner parties. You will amaze your friends and family by recounting to them that the greatest Chinese pirate of all times was a woman, or that herrings use flatulence to communicate!"

It's tough to amaze your friends with one sentence chock full of weirdness - I know, I've tried on many occasions. While an entertaining, quick read, many of the facts leads to more "wait, what? " follow up questions. Rather than sparking an engaging discussion, it will more likely spark a group of people individually researching on their phones. Some of the facts seem dubious, such as this one:

"The more stickers on the bumper, the higher the probability that the respective driver is prone to violence."

Pretty sure the driver of the Prius with Coexist and Penzey's stickers would object to this one.

Overall a fun distraction that may lead to more questions.

[blue.iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this and how in the end it was almost like review, so it was cool to see what other things other than what I already knew I had learned during my reading. I work as a teacher, so it's always good to have a random fact to pull out.

[Theta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.


1123 Hard To Believe Facts is exactly as it says, it is a book filled to the brim with facts. However, the difference between this book and other fact books, is that this book is not your everyday facts that you probably already know. This book is made up of more obscure facts, ones that you never knew before but you will never forget them.


The book is set out in different sections, the first one being facts about anything, and the final one being myths/urban legends that have been debunked. Nayden has also included a small excerpt from his next book.


Some of my most memorable facts are:
“There is enough carbon in your body to make 9500 pencils”
“The word Xmas was first used in English 1000 years ago”
“123456 is the most common email password”


I really enjoyed reading this book and learning some interesting facts.

[Carrie Westmoreland Kurtz · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son and I love random facts. We are always sharing crazy, weird, or just simply random facts with each other. So, when I was contacted about reviewing this book, of course I said yes!

I read it during a nine hour trip out of town for Thanksgiving. It was a great way to pass some of the time and I loved reading some of the facts to my son every few minutes. Some of the facts I actually had heard before! However, most of them were new to both of us.

If you enjoy random facts, this would be a great book for you. I certainly enjoyed it!

*Note: I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.