I've mentioned Mental Floss before, but that was in the context of their books and magazines.  They have since spread their wings and have joined the ranks of publications with a video presence on YouTube.

I recommend the Mental Floss channel largely do to my interest in trivia, and the short, bite-sized nature of the videos, presented in rapid-fire format by... John Green.

Yes, that John Green.  Not being a big fan of his books (they are one of the reasons this blog exists; please don't take this too personally, Mr. Green, it is a matter of taste as much as anything), I was dismayed to find this, but he is perfect for the job.  His quick delivery and manner really serve the videos well.  He comes across knowledgeable and not too smug.

Find the YouTube channel here.

For the trivia nerd, little bits and pieces of information on any topic will be vacuumed and absorbed into the system.  I did this as a kid (and still do) by reading all the weird little atlases, almanacs and topic guides that I could find. Publisher DK does a great job of this kind of thing for younger kids with the Eyewitness series: visual guides for every little topic.  They do make adult books, too

The Book of Rule explains the system of government of for every country in the world.  Don't know the difference between bicameral and unicameral?  Democracy vs. Republicanism vs. Theocracy?  Absolute Monarchy vs. Constitutional Monarchy?  Is Canada run by the Queen of England? Is their a country where their king is elected? (There is, but the ruler isn't called a king) Who, exactly, elects the US president? (Hint: it's not the people)

I acknowledge that this book is a touch out of date (nearly 10 years old), but generally speaking, the information holds true.  Most countries don't change that much that frequently.

I'm Canadian, but curiosity knows no borders, so even if the book is almost exclusively about the US, it still catches my attention.  Especially if the book is about borders.  How the States Got Their Shapes is such a book.  In 50 chapters, it explains how each US state became as oddly shaped, regardless of physical geography.  The book is, in other words, exactly what the title says it is.

Shapes is great for history and trivia buffs. the book does provide frequent historical context on why things are, include brief overviews of colonial America, Canada and Mexico, plus plenty of wars.  The chapters are bite-sized, no more than a couple of pages per state, and it does get a bit repetitive, but it is well worth a look.

This would be particularly of interest to fans of Maphead by Ken Jennings

I doubt the name Ken Jennings has much meaning for kids these days.  I can't believe that it's been 8 years since his historic run on Jeopardy!, a 75 episode run that landed him a ton of cash. Nevertheless,  Mr. Jennings spun that time in the spotlight into a writing career, focusing largely on trivia topics, and his books are actually really good.  His first book was a history of trivia itself, the second a sort of daily trivia quiz almanac.

Maphead is his most recent.  Like a lot of young people, he grew up obsessed with maps and geography.  He'd read atlases cover to cover, imagining visting all the little oddities that appear, the funny names, the weird choices of communities that appear over larger, more famous cities.  Here, he visits with mapmakers, collectors and other mapheads who share his obsession.

This book isn't really about maps so much as the people who enjoy them.  Kindred spirits to a lot of young people I know.  Certainly I was like them.  In fact, I recommend all his books for people like that.  Maybe not his forthcoming book, what with being about bad parenting advice.  But read Maphead. and Brainiac. 

Guys have always traditionally been interested in gross or weird bodily functions, and we have always provided, at least for younger kids (see Ripley's Believe It or Not et al.)  The fun doesn't stop there, though.  There are plenty of questions that remain that aren't really covered by those slightly more kid-friendly titles, ones that we aren't really likely to present to the younger crowd, like the titular question.  It's not that it's a bad question, but it can be awkward.  After all, while there is nothing wrong with feeding one's baby, it is not a comfortable subject for everyone.  But, well, here: some men have indeed put them to use. 

Why Do Men Have Nipples? is an entertaining read aimed at adult audiences written by an emergency physician and a humorist, so the topics are approached with a pretty relaxed attitude.  They are not entirely family-friendly, but I wouldn't worry too much about giving them to older teens.  This is factual, educational stuff, and in some cases could encourage young readers to take up medicine.  The human body is weird.

Learn why asparagus makes your pee smell.  And why can't some people smell it?

Why do old folks have hairy ears?

What's the deal with ice cream headaches?

There is also a follow-up book, Why Do Men Fall Asleep After Sex?, covering more of the same, with an added touch of the Battle of the Sexes.  These are older books, but they are great examples of well-focused trivia books, and they aren't too out of date.

While targeted at older audiences (20s-30s), the Onion A.V. Club covers a broad range of pop culture topics, including music, movies, video games, comics and more.  Unlike the Onion, though, the news and stories are all real, though they still approach the subject matter with some humour.  Think of it as the online version of your local alternative newspaper, without the, ahem, 'adult' classifieds in the back or the boring local politics.

The website usually delves into the deeper recesses and lesser lights of the entertainment industry, covering bands that don't make the Top 40 and movies that don't win the weekend box office (though they still do that, though generally just to mock them): things that a lot of clever and with-it teenagers seek out to escape the norm.  For example, today's features are an interview with Mark Hamill and a video of They Might Be Giants performing Chumbawamba's Tubthumping.

More relevant to us here is the occasional features that they put up, in this case, the A.V. Club Inventory.  Roughly every week, they produce a list on a random topic, like "11 Videogames That Prompted Fear and Outrage" or "6 Keanu Reeves Movies Somehow Not Ruined by Keanu Reeves".  The lists were compiled into book format and they added a few by celebrities.

The lists are of a general theme, not so much just enumerating movies and songs, but actually giving a short discussion of the merits (or lack thereof) of the subject matter.  While they are often oddly specific (the full title is Inventory: 16 Films Featuring Manic Pixie Dream Girls, 10 Great Songs Nearly Ruined by Saxophone, and 100 More Obsessively Specific Pop-Culture Lists, with emphasis on Obsessive), they often lead to new discoveries, something kids that age are looking for, something obscure that will make them feel special.

Not all of the lists are family-friendly, but that's not unusual for books of lists, and is in fact part of the appeal, the risque.  That does mean that this is more appropriate for older teens, 16 and up, partly because of the mature themes of some of the lists, but also because the older kids are more likely to know the topics of discussion.

Okay, I get that not all teen boys are trivia nerds.  I was, and so were all my friends, so that might explain part of my bias.  Forgive me for that, but here is the one thing I wished exists back when I was a teen.  Mental Floss.  Started in 2000 at Duke University, it was created as an educational magazine, but fun.  Over the years, it grew into a national publication and featured contributions from such trivia kings as Ken Jennings (best known for winning a whole lot of Jeopardy) and A.J. Jacobs (best known for reading the Encyclopedia Britannica cover to cover). The magazine is now a bit of an empire, with games, T-Shirts, books and a regular trivia blog.  It's those books I'd particularly like to feature.

Mental Floss writers, like the writers at Cracked, rely on humour to make the point.  Historical information is often presented in schools and textbooks as dry, bland dates and names, but here they highlight the oddities and the insane, while still giving the bigger picture of the events.

Two history books, History of the World and History of the United States, cover, obviously, the history of the world and the history of the United States respectively..

Forbidden Knowledge covers more controversial information, facts about crime, drugs, censorship, etc., all sorted by chapter according to the seven deadly sins.  Don't worry, nothing they wouldn't learn in history class.  It's just packaged in a more appealing way.

Be Amazing uses the concept of a self-improvement or how-to books to explain the history of nation-building, x-rays, and pretty much everything else.

A number of smaller books cover more random subjects, including Scatterbrained, What's the Diffrence, Cocktail Party Cheat Sheet.and Genius Instruction Manual, all offering condensed stories of significant cultural and historical people and events.

Because most of the books are bite-sized or at least feature chapters that aren't connected, this is great for quick reading or for short sessions, and the fact that they aren't too complicated make them good choices for guys who don't have a lot of patience for longer material, or claim they don't have time to read.

As we say in our "About" page, the publishing world is great for making boys into readers with Percy Jackson's adventures and Greg Heffley's antics, but obviously they aren't the only books boys read. We all know that elementary school boys practically riot to be the first to get their hands on the latest Guinness (or, as they often say, "Genius") or Ripley's book. This feeds into the "boys love non-fiction" idea. We do. But sometimes, we don't want a whole book, especially in the summer when we have better things to do. That's one of the things that makes Guinness and Ripley's appealing: bite sized segments that allow easy skimming. But where do you go from those books when you get a little older?

You may over the course of reading this and future posts come to find that I like trivia books. If there is one thing about me that hasn't changed since I was 14, it is that. I've always loved trivia books, games, and just spouting off random facts. I know that this is true for me, obviously, but I know there are a lot of other teenage guys out there who want the same thing, particularly the nerdy and geeky kind.

People ask me where I learn all this nonsense. Trivia books obviously, and this is one of the better ones.

Cracked.com is the rebirth of an old magazine that itself was a knockoff of MAD, but it has vastly improved (though it is, ahem, mature: swears and PG-13 adult content beware). This book compiles a bunch of lists like the ones on the website, all true. For example:

• Important discoveries made well on drugs: Discoverer of DNA was high on LSD when he though of it
• Insane weapons planned in WWII: Giant solar beam mirrors in space!
• Bugs in our food (on purpose no less): Jelly beans are coated with bugs!

This isn't just random trivia; it's hilarious random trivia.