True, the books by Master Cecil will never be topped, but what is out there besides them that you really like? I thumbed through Schott’s Miscellany which was all the rage last year, but find I didn’t really like it - there was no organization to it - it was a bit too random.
However, I did stumbled across “What are the Seven Wonders of the World?”:
And really like it - it is sorted by numbered list - e.g., What are the 7 Deadly Sins, What are Dante’s 9 Circles of Hell, Who are the 12 Gods in the Greco-Roman Pantheon?, etc. - and it is focused on interesting cultural and scientific stuff. Some of it I already know, but I appreciate the background and context. I recommend it.
What else has been particularly good trivia-wise of late, and more importantly, WHY do you like it?
Any of the Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers are great. They’re full of interesting and sometimes weird, useless, and funny things you will surely get a kick out of. My SO and I have about four of the books already, but I think there are something like eight or ten all together. I hope you like them, I know I do.
I recently picked up Stanley Mewman and Hal Fittipaldi’s 10,000 Answers: The Ultimate Trivia Encyclopedia. In its introduction, it points out its format is inspired by Fred Worth’s Complete Unabridged Super Trivia Encylopedia (which I think I once saw), which was set up in alphabetical order. Unlike Worth’s book, this one also has an index, so looking up “Presley, Elvis” in the index will lead you to all the facts about The King, and so on. The book is filled with all sorts of random facts and such, and it’s fun to look through. There’s great lists, too, like New York ticker-tape parades, the original Baskin-Robbins flavors, film series, the epilogues of Stripes and Animal House, the “Who’s on First?” team, and more. What was the last song Oscar Hammerstein II wrote lyrics for? Who is the band in the song Jailhouse Rock? Whose face appears on the $100,000 bill in the original Game of Life? Who the hell was Regis Philbin? Random Facts such as these can be yours if the price is right! (24.95 US, 37.95 Canadian list price. Published by Random House)
Answers to sample questions:
[spoilers]Hammerstein’s last song was Edelweiss. The band in Jailhouse Rock is Spider Murphy, Little Joe, the Purple Gang, and an unnamed drummer boy from Illinois. The $100,000 bill in The Game of Life features the picture of the game’s endorser, Art Linkletter. “Who the hell was Regis Philbin?” was a question that appeared in a 1960s trivia book published in 1978, before Philbin went Live with Kathie Lee or Kelly or tried to make a Millionaire. The answer: Joey Bishop’s sidekick.[/spoiler]