Uncle John's Bathroom Reader: WISE UP!


Book Description

With this volume filled with thousands of bizarrely fascinating facts, we’re on a roll! Is there any other single book in the universe with this many awesome tidbits of bite-sized information? Nope. And that’s a fact! At nearly 400 pages (with a handy index for your fact-seeking convenience), Wise Up! is a must-have for anyone who likes their information on the go. It’s organized into hundreds of topics—everything from sports and entertainment to word origins and science. Here are but a few of the facts awaiting you: * More women than men talk to their cars. * The melody for Nat King Cole’s 1954 hit “Smile” was composed by Charlie Chaplin. * Acid rain was first identified and named in 1852. * What is your buccal cavity? Your mouth. * There are no skunks in Newfoundland. * The average Super Bowl party has 18 people. * When dropped in water, a fresh egg will sink; a stale one won’t. * The average newborn baby spends 113 minutes a day crying. * Pepper was so valuable during Elizabethan times that it was sold by the grain. * Fossilized termite farts have been preserved in amber. And thousands more!







Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Takes a Swing at Baseball


Book Description

Strange-but-true stories, colorful characters, and big-league bizarreness for fans of America’s pastime! Why is baseball such a great subject for a Bathroom Reader? Because it’s steeped in history and tradition, it’s rife with scandals and controversy, and most of the men that dedicate their life to it are just a little bit . . . weird. Uncle John’s spirited take on the game takes you deep into that history to paint a detailed picture of where the game came from and where it may be going. You’ll go behind the scenes at spring training, listen in on pitcher’s mound conferences, and meet the players, coaches, fans, and broadcasters who make this the greatest game in the world! Swing for the fences as you read about . . . * Minor league mishaps * The violent history of umpiring * The true story of Lou Gehrig’s heroic rise and tragic fall * The man who pitched a no-hitter while tripping on LSD * The origins of gloves, baseballs, bats, uniforms, helmets, and more * Baseball’s most famous call and how it was saved for posterity * The best and worst teams of all time * Animals in the outfield * The birth of Little League * The Abner Doubleday myth * and much, much more!




Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Fake Facts


Book Description

From the market leader in true facts comes a big book of hilariously false information. The crackpot staff of the Bathroom Readers’ Institute is out of control. After 25 years of laboriously researching facts and verifying them and then verifying them again, Uncle John’s mischievous minions decided to blow off a little steam. The result: Fake Facts. It’s stuff that isn’t even remotely true--we just made it sound real. Why? Because it’s really funny. Fake Facts is 228 pages of origins, facts, weird products, strange diseases, kooky fads, slang terms, historical oddities, and other fascinating bits of information that are too good to be true…because they aren’t true. So put aside your BS detector and settle in to read about: * The ill-fated “Vice President For a Day” for kids program * How the overfishing of dolphins led to the canned tuna industry * “Crumble,” “plaidsy,” “benji,” and other British slang * Abandoned rules of early baseball, and obscure rules of grammar * How early vegetarians gave Boston its “Beantown” nickname * The secret superpowers of twins * James Joyce’s unpublished sci-fi trilogy * Unicorns, wizards, and pirates galore And lots more falsified fun!




Uncle John's Heavy Duty Bathroom Reader


Book Description

It's here! The 23rd annual edition in the popular Uncle John's Bathroom Reader series. The big brains at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute have come up with 544 all-new pages full of incredible facts, hilarious articles, and a whole bunch of other ways to, er, pass the time. With topics ranging from history and science to pop culture, wordplay, and modern mythology, Heavy Duty is sure to amaze and entertain the loyal legions of throne sitters. Read about… * Sideshow secrets * The worst movie ever made * The hidden dangers of watching the Super Bowl * The father of the shopping mall * The physics of breakfast cereal * How to speak dog, and how to crack a safe * The unluckiest train ride of all time * The origins of casino games * Powering your car with pee * Keith Moon, bathroom bomber And much, much more!




Uncle John's Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader


Book Description

Ahh…what a relief it will be to hold this most entertaining, informative, and amusing tome in the palm of your hands. Hours of great bathroom reading await you! Uncle John’s Ahh-Inspiring Bathroom Reader, Uncle John’s all-new 15th edition, sheds a light on everything under the sun and over the moon. From obscure history to classic wordplay to dumb crooks to inspiring quotations, you never know what you’re going to read next! Where else could you learn how the banana peel changed history, how to predict the future by rolling the dice, how the Jivaro tribes shrunk heads, and the science behind love at first sight? Uncle John rules the world of information and humor, so get ready to be thoroughly entertained. Read all about… Homer the Greek versus Homer the Simpson The history of the bicycle When humans become hailstones Alternate definitions for common words Helen Keller’s wisdom The Silly Putty saga And much more!




Uncle John's The Enchanted Toilet Bathroom Reader for Kids Only!


Book Description

Follow Uncle John into an enchanted world so packed with wonders it could only come from the Bathroom Readers' Institute. 2012 ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Awards, Finalist in Juvenile Nonfiction Category This legendary addition to the wildly successful For Kids Only! series is chock full of the fun facts and eye-popping illustrations that kids have come to love, but this time we’ve added something new: fractured fairy tales . . . in graphic-novel style! They’re brought to life in full color by some of today’s best children’s book illustrators. But wait, there’s more! The Enchanted Toilet also has a whole bunch of mystical activities--including crafts, recipes, poems, jokes, tongue twisters, and a few magical experiments. All you have to do is wave your magic wand and click your heels together three times. You’ll be enchanted by . . . Fantastic facts! * Real-life princesses (including one with a tattoo!) * Ninja: secrets of the invisible warriors * Where there be dragons * The human magnet and other dark wizards * The real-life Hogwarts Enchanting activities! * How to make a wand * Using treats to catch a leprechaun * Transforming metals with alchemy * Sir Uncle John’s “Guide to Training Your Dragon” Twisted tales! * “The Cockroach, the Mouse, and the Cricket” * “The Fairy Hedgehog” * “Ali Baba and the Forty Steves” * And a brand new King Arthur legend that involves…an enchanted toilet! And much, much more!




Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Nature Calls


Book Description

Uncle John is heeding the call of nature! So pack a rucksack, and let’s head outside! It’s a wild world out there, and the folks at the BRI want to explore it with you. From hornywinks to Dracula orchids, from alluvium to zymogen, Uncle John is embarking on a back-country safari to track down the wackiest, weirdest, silliest, and most amazing stories about the natural world. It’s 448 wild pages of great outdoor facts, strange stories, incredible science, and fun quotes and quizzes. You’ll feel the fresh mountain air energize you as you read about… * An ape that fries burgers and a lizard that plays video games * The explosive history of America’s deepest (and bluest) lake * The search for the mysterious rhinoceros dolphin * How to distinguish a mushroom from a toadstool * Cats vs. birds: the Feline-Avian War * A waterfall that turns toys to stone * The history of dirt And much, much more!




Uncle John's Actual and Factual Bathroom Reader


Book Description

It’s an actual fact—Uncle John is the most entertaining thing in the bathroom! Uncle John and his team of devoted researchers are back again with an all-new collection of weird news stories, odd historical events, dubious “scientific” theories, jaw-dropping lists, and more. This entertaining 31st anniversary edition contains 512 pages of all-new articles that will appeal to readers everywhere. Pop culture, history, dumb crooks, and other actual and factual tidbits are packed onto every page of this book. Inside, you’ll find . . . Dogs and cats who ran for political office The bizarre method people in Victorian England used to resuscitate drowning victims The man who met his future pet—a stray dog—while running across the Gobi Desert Searching for Planet X—the last unknown planet in our solar system Twantrums—strange Twitter rants that had disastrous effects The true story of Boaty McBoatface And much more!




Uncle John's Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader


Book Description

Grab some quiet time for yourself and enjoy hundreds of pages of the world’s most twisted trivia! The crackpot staff at the Bathroom Readers’ Institute has scoured the worlds of pop culture, politics, sports, history, and more to bring you Slightly Irregular, the seventeenth all-new edition in the best-selling series. As always, the articles are divided by length for your sitting convenience. So turn thine eyes away from the shampoo bottle, O bathroom reader, and let Uncle John pepper your brain with these absorbing articles . . . * Women in space * The origin of Kung Fu * The CIA’s secret coup * The great windshield epidemic * Spider eggs in the brain, and other urban legends * What went down at Woodstock * Freedom of McSpeech * How to kill a zombie, and much more!