You can't miss this book. Literally -- I've seen it everywhere recently. Any Barnes and Noble I've passed this week has dozens of copies of this bright yellow oddball guide standing upright, luring readers in. "Buy me! And Take Me To Your Leader", it screams. If you crave bizarre stories and weird facts, than you might get hooked into buying this irreverent look at Planet Earth.

So what useless world facts will you find in this quirky guide? You'll learn which drink is the traditional "hooch" in countries like Sri Lanka (Kasippu) and Macedonia (Rakia), and how to say "Cheers" and "I love you" in Arabic, Swahili and Esperanto (and a bunch of other languages). There are also handy drawings of every airplane ever designed, a list of the Seven Wonders of the World (as chosen by the American Society of Civil Engineers) and that all important two-page spread of famous world sausages. (I was surprised to learn that I've already sampled six in my lifetime.)

The list of random yet (arguably) useful facts continues...keep your eye out for the yellow cover and see if you get sucked into the void.

Filed under: Arts and Culture, Books, One for the Road