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!

I think this book wasn't intended for someone like me, who studies history at college and who knew a decent amount of this information. That being said, it was enjoyable enough to look through, and I did learn some pieces of information. I found the author's writing style a bit grating, but that's likely a personal preference. On the whole, not bad.

I enjoy when history and trivia get turned into books like this. Where you constantly are saying to yourself, I didn’t know that! And you are sharing information with people around you because you find a detail fascinating. There isn’t too much to say here. Was a fascinating read where I feel like I learned a lot.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

This book is full of nuggets of knowledge, perfect for anyone who loves trivia or to get older students interested in learning more. It can be read straight through or read out of order (although the electronic version, which I read, is easier to read straight through than to skip around in). I've also signed up for this author's emails of even more interesting facts. I'm very happy to have found this book and author, and will be recommending to friends and fellow teachers!

Books filled with random historical facts are always interesting, and this one was no exception. Some of the tidbits were better than others, of course. But overall, this was a worthwhile read that's given me some fascinating stories to share. Plus, it's always nice to pick up some new info that could be useful during a future trivia night.

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. Thank you #NetGalley #AdamsMedia

This book describes a lot of little known events in history. It would be fun to use as a 1x week fun reading in class or as inspiration for kid/hs research projects.

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.

An excellent beside, bathroom, or guest room book, perfect for delving into for little bits of time. The anecdotes are delightful and varied and the bonus facts add plenty of interest.

It's nicely written and tons if fun.

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.

In my office, I'm the Queen of useless trivia. I pale in compare to author Dan Lewis, Head of the daily digital history email, Now I Know,   and the official reigning champion of weird facts.  In the new book Now I Know: The Soviets Invaded Russia? you can learn a ton of weird stuff, such as when Americans took over a town in Wisconsin to practice what it might be like if the country was taken over by the Communists during the cold war. You can find out how a measles outbreak gave us phone numbers, or how pirates made it so that the United States is on of only like three countries that doesn't use the metric system. Lewis links the facts so that each one ties into the other, and each gets a special bonus fact. 

If you're looking for a way to avoid political conversations with your relatives this Thanksgiving and give folks a heavy dose of random knowledge, you need a copy of Now I Know: The Soviets Invades Russia?

Look for Now I Know: The Soviets Invades Russia? October 22, 2019.

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.

Nope! I love trivia. This was trivia that I found trivial? First of all, the Soviets didn't invade Wisconsin. It was a mock up by the town and people in charge. So, that was a lie. "A getcha." I don't like being lied to . So now you got me to read your stupid book. Yeah you! Yeah me! Because I get to call you out for lying! Liar! I wouldn't recommend this. It's flat out boring.

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.

So, though the title is a little misleading (they weren't ACTUAL Soviets), the book itself is pretty interesting. It's written in short chunks, so you can read a piece here and a piece there, or even skip over something if the topic isn't interesting to you at all. I like the Bonus Facts after each section. Some of the stories sent my kids researching to find out more....which is always a good thing!