Cabinet of Curiosities by Aaron Mahnke is a treasure trove of weird and whacky people, places and things recorded over the past few centuries. Divided into topical chapters, these strange but true short stories are written with wit, humour, word plays and surprise twists.

"Wonder rooms" became trendy hundreds of years ago, ideal distractions for bored and curious aristocrats who wanted to show off and study their acquisitions. Some of my favourite curiosities in this bookish cabinet include a cab accident which involved the same car, same driver and same passenger one year apart; Mike the Chicken; the six-mile fall survivor; the man who was in the right place at the right time to save two falling babies on two separate occasions; a woman who survived being frozen solid out in the snow; the incredible tale of the pilot who got sucked out of the plane windshield; famous author stories and the flaked cereal mistake.

My only wish would be less Wikipedia representation. Nevertheless, the stories and writing enthrall and are fun snippets to dip in and out of at will.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with a digital copy of this absorbing book.