Utterly trivial

Right, the Olympics are over - time for the mental gymnastics.

Do you enjoy flicking through the Guinness World Records?
Do you collect nuggets of useless information like dead spiders in the downstairs loo?
Do your friends refuse to play Trivial Pursuits with you? (Or are you always stuck on one slice of pie?)
Having trouble recalling the currency of Lithuania? Or Australia, in fact?

Get a pen.

Here are some delightfully unnecessary compendia of human knowledge to use for your own nefarious purposes.

Booyah.

Weird-O-Pedia - Alex Palmer

Check out the weird and wonderful facts in this massive encyclopedia of oddities:
Humans are the only animals that enjoy spicy food.
Psychologists can assess your personality from how you dip fries in ketchup.
Surfing the Internet actually makes you smarter.
Now the next time someone tells you smugly that Pluto isn't a planet, you can counter with any one of these hundreds of weird facts.

1001 Weirdest and Wackiest World Records - Jason Katzman
From astonishing eating records to man's most absurd talents, this book delves into the unconventional actions taken by many to make their milestone. Some of these achievements are: Hairiest Man; Most Tattoos on a Senior Citizen; Longest Distance on a Unicycle for Twenty-Four Hours; Most Asparagus Eaten in Ten Minutes.

Do Igloos Have Loos? - Mitchell Symons

If you know any kids who need entertaining for a while, this book will be a lifesaver. Also look out for How Much Poo Does an Elephant Do?, How to Avoid a Wombat's Bum, Why Do Farts Smell Like Rotten Eggs?, Why Does Earwax Taste So Gross?, Why You Need a Passport When You're Going to Puke and Why Eating Bogeys is Good for You. Gross and educational - the perfect combination.

The Universe Inside You - Brian Clegg
Did you know that custard behaves like a solid when you walk on it? As long as you keep moving, you can actually walk on custard! This and other fascinating details are revealed in The Universe Inside You, a book of facts about the human body, including why otherwise intelligent people behave like gibbering wrecks when in front of an attractive person. Recommended for both adults and teens, with web links to watch, among other things, people experimenting with custard.

Quiz Whiz - National Geographic

1000 fun, fascinating, and funny quiz questions that kids will love to share with friends and family. Based on one of the most popular features on the National Geographic Kids website, this collection of themed quizzes, true-and-false questions, and photo-driven quizzes, will include questions about animals, weather, countries, and lots more. And they're conveniently multi-choice.

A World of Curiosities - John Oldale
This one boasts of containing more than 2000 pieces of trivia from around the world. Should be a good one for geography buffs or those swotting up for a pub quiz! And on that theme...

The Official Pub Quiz Book
With more than 10,000 questions and answers of various difficulty levels, this book is almost guaranteed to help you either set a pub quiz or win one. Provided of course that you stick to lemon, lime and bitters.

Why Does Batman Carry Shark Repellent? And Other Amazing Comic Book Trivia
If you think you know everything about your favourite comic book heroes and their creators, think again. Includes questions such as "Which superhero got his powers by being bitten by a mongoose?" as well as most obscure, wacky, and surprising facts about comics-from the characters and creators, to the TV shows, movies, and merchandise.

Listomania

Addresses such questions as: ever wonder how many potato chips really exist? Whether any spot on Earth is still unexplored? And, why there's a spatula orbiting the planet? This title covers questions on human behavior, trivia facts about geography, etymology, mythology, ancient and recent history, as well as pop culture.

The Second Book of General Ignorance
Contains trivia and a whole heap of common fallacies, like those seen on TV show QI. Who made the first aeroplane flight? How many legs does an octopus have? How much water should you drink every day? What is the chance of tossing a coin and it landing on heads? What happens if you leave a tooth in a glass of coke overnight? The answers might surprise you.