Ripley's Believe It Or Not! Eye-Popping Oddities (ANNUAL)

By: Editors/Ripley's Believe It Or Not! 
Publication Date: September 2015
ISBN: 978-1609911362
Reviewed by: Ellen Feld
Review Date: August 21, 2015

It’s that time of the year again – time for Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! to release their annual compendium of odd, weird, creepy, funny and downright bizarre people, places, and things from around the world.

This newest edition has ten chapters that include World, Body, Animals, Pop Culture, Feats, Art and Beyond Belief. The animal section is always one of my favorites and upon checking it, I read about a goldfish that had brain surgery and then my first ‘eye-popping yuck’ moment when I saw the picture of a five foot long earthworm. Noteworthy items from other chapters include 'cheek holes,' an amazing photo of an ice cave in eastern Russia that is 0.6 miles long, and a very cool tree illusion. Honestly, there are so many remarkable photos and topics in this book that I can’t begin to cover them all.

Eye-Popping Oddities also offers a lot of photos of fascinating things that readers of the series submitted in the hopes of making it into the next edition. It was nice to read about these folks and their submissions and I appreciate the fact that the editors pointed them out to us. They also point out the likely medical condition(s) behind so many of the unusual photos of people around the world such as the boy with a ‘tail’ who is worshipped in Punjab, India because they believe he is a reincarnated Hindu Monkey god. What is the condition? You’ll have to read the book to find out...

This is the 12th book in Ripley’s annual ‘Believe It Or Not!’ series of books and the sixth one that I have reviewed. While I don’t tend to review that many books in any series, I so enjoy these books that I keep accepting them for review. While reading through this book on my lunch break, I actually let out a few ‘ewww’ murmurs that were heard at the next table. I kept reading beyond my allotted time and was late returning to work because I wanted to see what was on the next page, and the next and the next...f you have a reluctant reader in your household, Eye-Popping Oddities is a great way for him/her to experience the joy of being sucked into a book. Or, if you’re simply curious yourself, this book is definitely good for both teens and adults as there is plenty here for all to enjoy.

Quill says: Another annual from Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! that delivers what it promises – a great time reading all about, well, all about all sorts of things that will make you say ‘wow!’