I must begin with the guy that started me with collecting works on trivia - the legendary Cecil Adams. Cecil has written five books (that I am aware of): The Straight Dope, More of the Straight Dope, Return of the Straight Dope, and The Straight Dope Tells All, and Triumph of the Straight Dope.  These highlight the best of his syndicated newspaper column. In the world of trivia, Cecil Adams is god and Cecil Adams knows all. He refers to his audience as the Teeming Millions. Unfortunately, one of my students stole the first three volumes, so I can't tell you any of the details except that every bookstore carries his books (check the reference section). The first volume is a classic, the second is almost a classic, and the third and fourth are a bit too brief. Check out the The Straight Dope web page for his most recent columns. In addition, the Cecil Adams newsgroup alt.fan.cecil-adams has lots of great threads.

Cecil's editor, Ed Zotti, has also published a book - Know It All! (1993 by Ballantine Books). This book makes interesting reading, but lacks the humorous touch that Cecil is famous for. Worth reading, although if you have read all of Cecil Adam's books, you will see lots of repetition here.

Next to Cecil, Charles Panati is a close second.  Without a doubt, his best work is Panati's Extraordinary Origins of Everyday Things. You name it, Panati has described where it came from in this volume. Other volumes are Panati's Browser's Book of Beginnings, Panati's Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody (could he find a longer name?), Panati's Parade of Fads, Follies, and Manias, and Sacred Origins of Profound Things.

Panati's newest collection is titled Sexy Origins and Intimate Things: The Rites and Rituals of Straights, Gays, Bi's, Drags, Trans, Virgins, and Others (I guess that he could find a longer name!).  This last title is very well researched and takes a fascinating look at the history of our unmentionable world.  This is an excellent book that is hard to put down, but I should point out that the book is probably not ideal for the youthful reader (although they always seem to know more about sex than adults).  You can read several lengthy excerpts from the book (and purchase any of his titles) at Panatibooks.com.  This website also includes an excellent Real Audio recording with Charles Panati discussing the origin of toilets and toilet paper (from his Origins book).

If you don't have time to read, check out audiocassette of Panati's Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody. This tape is great (but certainly does not contain everything the printed volume has) and is well worth listening to.

David Feldman has written more trivia books than anyone else. In terms of sales, he is clearly the trivia king. Each book has lots of interesting answers, although I have never found them match the level of organization and intrigue found in any of Cecil Adams' or Charles Panati's volumes. Titles include When Do Fish Sleep?, Why Do Dogs Have Wet Noses?, Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise?, Who Put the Butter in Butterfly?, and Imponderables. These books are published by Harper and Row and can be found at any bookstore. Check around for closeouts and used volumes, as I have paid as little as two bucks for one of Feldman's books.

If you really hate to read, check out the cassette version of David Feldman's How Does Aspirin Find a Headache? on Harper Audio Cassettes. This is one of the best books on tape as it's presented in a question and answer format that is fun to listen to. You won't be bored with this one.

An excellent book on supermarket trivia is Can You Trust a Tomato in January?: The Hidden Life of Groceries and Other Secrets of the Supermarket Revealed at Last by Vince Staten. You'll never look at the supermarket in the same way after reading this one.  His book Do Pharmacists Sell Farms? is an incredible look inside the history of the pharmacy and the items that they sell.  He has also put together Did Monkeys Invent the Monkey Wrench? which is a great look at the history of hardware stores and tools.  All are fantastic volumes.
 

Two books by my former professor, Charles Cazeau, at SUNY Buffalo are both worth looking at. The first, Exploring the Unknown (with Stuart D. Scott, 1980, Plenum Press), is a fascinating look at all of the great mysteries of the world. UFO's, Stonehenge, Atlantis, Easter Island, Noah's Ark, and many others are explored from a non-biased scientific examination of the evidence. Science Trivia (1986, Plenum Press), is a compilation of Cazeau's fabulous "Let's Explore" column that appeared for several years in newspapers around the country.

How Come? by Kathy Wollard (1993, Workman Publishing Company) is an excellent source of answers to life's toughest questions. The book is easy reading with great illustrations. Definitely worth adding to your collection.

Check out Thoughts for the Throne: The Ultimate Bathroom Book of Useless Information by Don Voorhees (1995, Carol Publishing). This really is a great book to read while sitting on the can - it makes for short, easy, interesting reading. I quickly recognized much of the information in this book as coming from Cecil Adams' collection of answers.

I recently purchased How Does Olive Oil Lose Its Virginity?: Answers to the Enigmatic Questions of Contemporary Life by Bruce Tindall and Mark Watson (1994, Quill/William Morrow Press). This is a high quality, well written book with great information. When compared to the great Cecil Adams or Charles Panati volumes, this book seems a bit thin. But it is enjoyable!

Rhino Records has gone into the book business. I own three of their titles. The first, simply called Oops! (my favorite) is a nice compendium of history's fantastic goof-ups. The second, Forgotten Fads and Fabulous Flops is a fascinating book on all those goofy things that just never quite caught on. And finally, Everything That You Know is Wrong will tell you the true stories behind many commonly held fallacies. All three books are written by Paul Kirchner.

Many thanks to my friend Barbara Roosevelt who gave me a copy of The Encyclopedia of Popular Misconceptions for Christmas, 1995. This volume, written by Ferris Johnsen (1994, Citadel Press) is a great reference. From A to Z it covers many of life's misconceptions with short, concise explanations. Too bad no references are given to allow the reader to explore topics of interest to further detail.

If you are looking for some unusual reading, be sure to take a look at American Sex Machines by Hoag Levins (1996, Adams Media Corp.). This book is not as perverse as the title may suggest. Levins collected the information on hundreds of patents describing sexual devices from the United States Patent Office and presents them in a well written book.

I must mention Uncle John's Bathroom Reader, published by the Bathroom Reader's Press. There are currently ten books in this great series (I own five). All the readings are one to two pages long, which makes for a lot of reading material to occupy your time while sitting on the porcelain prince. While they are not entirely trivia books, they are all pure enjoyment from cover to cover. You can buy volumes 1 through 7 individually, or purchase the 1995 book titled The Best of Uncle John's Bathroom Reader.  The current book in the series is called Uncle John's Giant 10th Anniversary Bathroom Reader (1997).  Be sure to check out the Bathroom Readers website.  Once again, my major complaint about this series is that no references are given.

Another great book is The People's Almanac Presents The 20th Century by David Wallechinsky (1995, Little, Brown and Company).  The cover states that the book is "The definitive compendium of astonishing events, amazing people, and strange-but-true facts".  I couldn't try to describe this book in a better way.  At 800 plus pages with small print, this book is packed with amazing stories.  You probably won't read them all - you'll just read the parts that interest you.  There is something here for everyone.  This book was revised as The People's Almanac Presents the Twentieth Century : History With the Boring Parts Left Out (1999).

If you want to know where all those big companies came from (Milton Bradley, Howard Johnson, John Deere, Smuckers, Hallmark, Hanes, Stanley, Hewlett-Packard, and so on), then check out  So Who The Heck Was Oscar Mayer? The Real People Behind Those Brand Names by Doug Gelbert (1996, Barricade Books).  While not overly fascinating (it's just okay), it is an excellent reference.

A similar book is The Name's Familiar by Laura Lee.  This book desccribes where hundreds of different names that we use all of the time actually come from.  A great book to read cover to cover or to use as a handy reference.

Lastly, one of my favorite books is Reader's Digest Facts & Fallacies: Stories of The Strange and Unusual (1988).  This book is a wonderful compendium of oddball stories.  It is very well researched and nicely presented.  It is currently out of print, so good luck in locating a copy.  I picked up my copy at a local used bookstore.

I have many other books in my collection, but they are not worth mentioning here, as they are not among my favorites.