I was originally drawn to Cabinet of Curiosities because I'm always a sucker for knowledge, in any dose. Stories of strange or interesting coincidences are always a great inspiration for a new story or a trip down a research rabbit hole that will lead to fun conversations with friends or family.

The book opens with stories of coincidence and things that make you go hmmmm. I found that although a handful I had heard before, most of the introductory tales were relatively unknown and as someone who is an avid reader, I found this refreshing. However, as the book progressed, some of the tales took on more of a skeptical or supernatural take. A few were even easily debunked as being blatantly false which soured me a bit on the remaining stories. I am of a very scientific mind, so although I can appreciate weird coincidences, I have a difficult time with supernatural or supernatural leaning events being reported as fact without any other alternative explanation. Items that have been discovered in antiquity that claim to be of advanced tech when in reality the knowledge and advancement of most ancient civilizations was quite vast and so much of that knowledge had been lost or destroyed due to conquests, natural disasters, and the like. To automatically suggest time traveling, aliens, or other unearthly explanations removes credibility in my eyes.

Overall, this was a fun "bathroom read" as my generation used to call it before the advent of smart phones. It is something easy to pick up and read a few stories while in a waiting room or at night before bed. Although interesting and thought provoking, I would take some of the more speculative stories with a grain of salt and categorize them more as legends than actual fact as stories, whether oral or written accounts can always be exaggerated.

Recommended for fans of history and weird, but true (ish) tales.

Thank you to NetGalley, Aaron Mahnke, and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ⓑⓞⓞⓚ Ⓡⓔⓥⓘⓔⓦ⭐️⭐️⭐️
ℂ𝕒𝕓𝕚𝕟𝕖𝕥 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕦𝕣𝕚𝕠𝕤𝕚𝕥𝕚𝕖𝕤
𝗔𝗮𝗿𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗵𝗻𝗸𝗲

The author created the podcast Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities and now he’s put some of these stories in writing.

This is a collection of short stories. Some were fascinating, others didn’t interest me. It was nice to be able to skip around and read them when I had a few extra moments in my day. In fact, I preferred reading it this way.

The book is full of puns meant to entertain. In my opinion, there were too many of them. It made reading one story after another a bit tedious which is why I read one here and there.

The stories are quick and easy to read. I’m sure most readers could find stories that intrigue them among the many offered in this book. Some are more well known than others.

I’d like to check out this podcast to compare it to the book.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and author for providing this ebook for me to read and review.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I normally like weird fact books, but I think I'm just not a fan of Mahnke's writing style. Each one is written as a brief story, and he tends to leave out one piece of info until the very end as a surprise twist. Especially when it refers to famous people, he'll call them by a middle name or legal name until the reveal. It got annoying really quick, especially when I'm already familiar with a lot of these stories. These stories are fascinating on their own, it doesn't need a little 'gotcha!' moment to spice it up.

This is the perfect mental break for your brain! Multiple short stories that have the most interesting quirks and twists. Written by Aaron Mahnke of the popular podcast "Aaron Mahnke's Cabinet of Curiosities", there's sure to be things you would never learn anywhere else.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

When I was a kid, I loved getting my hands on the Guiness books of world records and Ripley's Believe it or Not collections. This Cabinet of Curiosities book caught my attention.
I received a copy from the author Aaron Mahnke with Harry Marks from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. This is my own opinion of the book.

There is a truly amazing collection of historical stories here from bizarre or fascinating things to creepy happenings about U.S. Presidents, brave, (or nutty) people, heroes, animals and events. The book has been organized into several categories including Places, True Crime. Inventions, Death Defying and more.
There were some that had me saying, "oh wow" for sure. I liked the book as a whole. There were some stories that were summed up with some cornball humor for my taste, but I still gave it a 4 for very interesting content.

Cabinet of Curiosities is a collection of unique stories that happened and you do not want to miss. Each story in this had me intriguted andthe stories were so interesting to learn. The author did a great job writing this and it was an easy read. I am looking forward to listening to the authors podcast now, which is what the book is based off. Overall, this was such a fascinating read that I highly enjoyed and would recommend to any reader who loves non fiction. Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this read in exchange of my honest review of Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke.

thank you netgalley for providing me with an arc in exchange for an honest review.

this book was just meh. I think the author tried to hard to make his reveal for the stories surprising but honestly it felt a bit childish. it was like reading the phrase “bond, james bond” over and over again. I also have issue with using wikipedia has a source for a non-fiction book, i’m very surprised that was allowed.

This was exciting and kept my attention! Very interesting and odd little vigentes that were organized in a way that was easy to follow. Learned a lot and was entertained!

A fun collection of some very interesting snippets/stories. It definitely piqued my interest and I enjoyed it quite a lot. I do wish some more details or information was added, I want to know more.

These are fun anecdotes, but I wish that Aaron Mahnke had delved deeper into these topics in a way that didn't necessarily make them longer but revealed some facts that I couldn't just glean from Wikipedia (which, based on the source list, Mahnke relied on heavily).

The book title and premise peaked my curiosity, but just didn’t care overall on the execution/layout of the stories. I’m sure others will enjoy it more than I, just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded to 3

This is meant to be a short collection of historical tidbits to peak your interest. I ultimately found the subject matter to be a bit boring and nothing new or exciting. Each of the entries was only about a page or two in length. Not nearly enough to give any real depth of information. Sources cited were Wikipedia a lot of the time. It felt a little thrown together and not well researched.

Thank you to St Martin's press for this eARC. All opinions expressed are my own. #netgalley #stmartinspress #cabinetofcuriosities

Cabinet of Curiosities is like a weird uncle at a family reunion - sometimes fascinating, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes just plain weird. The chapters are short and sweet, making it easy to read a little, laugh a little, and then walk away. But let's be real, some of the stories start to feel like your uncle's repeated jokes - funny at first, but then just repetitive. Maybe they could've cut a few and made the book a little shorter. Still, it's a great gift for someone who likes to read in bite-sized chunks. It's fun, quirky, and suitable for all ages. Cabinet of Curiosities is like a weird uncle at a family reunion - sometimes fascinating, sometimes hilarious, and sometimes just plain weird. The chapters are short and sweet, making it easy to read a little, laugh a little, and then walk away. But let's be real, some of the stories start to feel like your uncle's repeated jokes - funny at first, but then just repetitive. Maybe they could've cut a few and made the book a little shorter. Still, it's a great gift for someone who likes to read in bite-sized chunks. It's fun, quirky, and suitable for all ages. This book just was not for me.

Going through this book was a bit like going through a museum if all the exhibits were jumbled up. Some entries were more curious and intriguing than others, but it was never boring. At times it felt like speculation was presented as fact, but overall it was a fun and lighthearted exploration of the stranger side of history.

Aaron Mahnke is the king of urban legends and this book is proof of this. Incredibly informative and a fun read, I really enjoyed learning about all of these bizarre places.

This is a collection of historical stores and anecdotes about weird things throughout history. The title is accurate as this truly is a cabinet of curiosities through stories. However, at times if felt like we were just scratching the surface of these stories.

Synopsis:
The podcast, Aaron Mahnke’s Cabinet of Curiosities, has delighted millions of listeners for years with tales of the wonderful, astounding, and downright bizarre people, places, and things throughout history. Now, in Cabinet of Curiosities the book, learn the fascinating story of the invention of the croissant in a country that was not France, and relive the adventures of a dog that stowed away and went to war, only to help capture a German spy. Along the way, readers will pass through the American state of Franklin, watch Abraham Lincoln’s son be rescued by his assassin’s brother, and learn how too many crash landings inspired one pilot to leave the airline industry and trek for the stars.


Thoughts:
I’ve never heard of Aaron Mahnke or his podcast before reading this book. It was an odd book, but if you like odd history then you’ll enjoy this book!

I've read a lot of trivia fact books, with short stories about historical events and such. Unfortunately, this one does not make the top of my list. It didn't flow well. I think the format, full of exclamatory language, e.g. "you've probably never heard about" and "it just goes to show," probably works better in podcast form, although I have not listened to the podcast. I didn't end up finishing this one, but it might go over better with other folks.

In this chaotic and fascinating collection of strange stories from history, podcast creator Aaron Mahnke compiles a staggering number of short stories together in this complex and fascinating new release. Crossing time, space, and history, this book brings a host of old and new favorite stories of Mahnke’s together to give readers an introduction into a history that is engaging, fascinating, and exciting. Passing through fascinating moments of time in this book gives readers some incredible chances to understand that history is not boring nor the rote memorization of facts and dates but a living, breathing story full of joy and human stupidity and, yes, tragedy and violence, but also success and invention and achievement. Mahnke is an excellent writer whose stories are brief, succinct, and packed with detail, and the tonal shifts between stories and sections works incredibly well throughout the book. With so many stories, readers really do get a bit of everything, and this makes this book a great introduction to history for readers because it can act as a jumping-off point and introduce readers to new points in history to explore elsewhere. A fun and detailed read, this is unlike most history books, and readers will like that.

Quite a curious reading! Not quite what I was expecting, but quite a powerful reading. I love the idea of focusing on short snippets and curious stories. Though I dint think this is a read to sit down and read in one or two sittings, it is quite fun to read here and there when you have a few minutes to spare!