Most Popular Books by Ken Jennings

Draws on medical case histories, scientific findings, and personal research by the author to separate myth from fact and debunk a vast array of parental edicts.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A witty, charming, and engaging dive into trivia’s colorful history, from America’s highest-earning game show contestant of all time and host of Jeopardy! “Insightful, informative, and written with a strong dose of humor and humility. . . . I loved this book.”—Will Shortz, crossword editor, The New York Times Ken Jennings is trivia’s undisputed king—and as he traces his rise from anonymous computer programmer to nerd folk icon, he explores his newly conquered kingdom: the world of trivia itself. Trivia, he has found, is centuries older than his childhood obsession with it. Whisking us from the coffeehouses of seventeenth-century London to the Internet age, Jennings chronicles the ups and downs of the trivia fad: the quiz book explosion of the Jazz Age; the rise, fall, and rise again of TV quiz shows; the nostalgic campus trivia of the 1960s; and the 1980s, when Trivial Pursuit® again made it fashionable to be a know-it-all. Jennings also investigates the shadowy demimonde of today’s trivia subculture, guiding us on a tour of trivia across America. He goes head-to-head with the blowhards and diehards of the college quiz-bowl circuit, the slightly soused faithful of the Boston pub trivia scene, and the raucous participants in the annual Q&A marathon in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, “The World’s Largest Trivia Contest.” And, of course, he takes us behind the scenes of his improbable 75-game run on Jeopardy! But above all, Brainiac is a love letter to the useless fact. (Who knew that there’s a crater on Venus named after Laura Ingalls Wilder? Ken Jennings, that’s who.) Engaging and erudite, Brainiac is an irresistible celebration of nostalgia, curiosity, and geeky obsession—in a word, trivia.

Become a presidential pro with this interactive trivia book from Jeopardy! champ and New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings. With this book about U.S. Presidents, you’ll become an expert and wow your friends and teachers with clever facts: Did you know that Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday? Or that Jefferson introduced the first French fries at a fancy state dinner? With great illustrations, cool trivia, and fun quizzes to test your knowledge, this patriotic genius guide will have you on your way to whiz-kid status in no time!

Let your inner astronaut explore outer space with this interactive trivia book from Jeopardy! champ and New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings. With this book about space you’ll become an expert and wow your friends and teachers with out-of-this-world facts: Did you know that Mars has a volcano bigger than the state of Arizona? Or that there’s a star with a diamond the size of our moon at its core? With great illustrations, cool trivia, and fun quizzes to test your knowledge, this guide will have you on your way to whiz-kid status in no time!

A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year The witty and exuberant New York Times bestselling author and record-setting Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings relays the history of humor in “lively, insightful, and crawling with goofy factlings,” (Maria Semple, author of Where’d You Go Bernadette)—from fart jokes on clay Sumerian tablets to the latest Twitter gags and Facebook memes. Where once society’s most coveted trait might have been strength or intelligence or honor, today, in a clear sign of evolution sliding off the trails, it is being funny. Yes, funniness. Consider: Super Bowl commercials don’t try to sell you anymore; they try to make you laugh. Airline safety tutorials—those terrifying laminated cards about the possibilities of fire, explosion, depressurization, and drowning—have been replaced by joke-filled videos with multimillion-dollar budgets and dance routines. Thanks to social media, we now have a whole Twitterverse of amateur comedians riffing around the world at all hours of the day—and many of them even get popular enough online to go pro and take over TV. In his “smartly structured, soundly argued, and yes—pretty darn funny” (Booklist, starred review) Planet Funny, Ken Jennings explores this brave new comedic world and what it means—or doesn’t—to be funny in it now. Tracing the evolution of humor from the caveman days to the bawdy middle-class antics of Chaucer to Monty Python’s game-changing silliness to the fast-paced meta-humor of The Simpsons, Jennings explains how we built our humor-saturated modern age, where lots of us get our news from comedy shows and a comic figure can even be elected President of the United States purely on showmanship. “Fascinating, entertaining and—I’m being dead serious here—important” (A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year of Living Biblically), Planet Funny is a full taxonomy of what spawned and defines the modern sense of humor.

Offers facts about the highest landmarks and mountains, the deepest depth of the seas, what countries are shaped like food, ocean inhabitants, and capital location changes.

Provides facts on the classic myths of the Greeks and Romans, from how Prometheus outsmarted the gods to how Achilles''s heel led to his death.

The all-time champion and host of Jeopardy! gives you the chance to test your trivia mettle in this ingeniously organized book of 8,888 questions. For example–February 21: In 1912, on this day, Teddy Roosevelt coined the political phrase “hat in the ring,” so Ken Jennings fires off a series of “ring” questions. In 1979, who became the first NFL quarterback with four Super Bowl rings? What rings are divided by the Cassini Division? Also on this date, in 1981, the “goth” music scene was born in London, so here’s a quiz on black-clad icons like Darth Vader, Johnny Cash, and Zorro. Do you know the secret identities of Ivanhoe’s Black Knight or Men in Black’s Agent M? In this ultimate book for trivia buffs and other assorted know-it-alls, the 365 entries feature “This Day in History” factoids, trivia quizzes, and questions categorized by Jennings as “Easy,” “Hard,” and “Yeah, Good Luck.” Topics cover every subject under the sun, from paleontology to mixology, sports feats to Bach suites, medieval popes to daytime soaps. This addictive gathering of facts, oddities, devilishly clever quizzes, and other flights of fancy will make each day a fun and intriguing new challenge.

Become a junior genius with the first three fact-filled books in from the Jeopardy! champ and New York Times bestselling author, Ken Jennings. Become an expert on maps and geography, Greek mythology, and U.S. presidents with the first three books in Ken Jennings’ popular children’s series! Wow your friends and teachers with all sorts of clever facts: Did you know that the biggest desert in the world is actually covered in snow? Well, how about the story of Prometheus and how he outsmarted the gods? Or that Thomas Jefferson introduced the first French fries at a fancy state dinner? With great illustrations, cool trivia, and fun quizzes to test your knowledge, these guides will have you on your way to whiz-kid status in no time! This fact-tastic boxed set includes Maps and Geography, Greek Mythology, and U.S. Presidents.

Travel back in time to the dinosaur age with this interactive trivia book from Jeopardy! winner and New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings. With this book about dinosaurs, you’ll become an expert and wow your friends and teachers with some awesome facts: Did you know that dinosaurs skin was more like bump bird skin than modern snake or crocodile scales? Or that the Tyrannosaurus Rex might have croaked like a frog instead of roaring? With great illustrations, cool trivia, and fun quizzes to test your knowledge, this guide will have you on your way to whiz-kid status in no time.

Record-setting Jeopardy! champion and New York Times bestselling author of Planet Funny Ken Jennings explores the world of maps and map obsessives, “a literary gem” (The Atlantic). Ken Jennings takes readers on a world tour of geogeeks from the London Map Fair to the bowels of the Library of Congress, from the prepubescent geniuses at the National Geographic Bee to the computer programmers at Google Earth. Each chapter delves into a different aspect of map culture: highpointing, geocaching, road atlas rallying, even the “unreal estate” charted on the maps of fiction and fantasy. Jennings also considers the ways in which cartography has shaped our history, suggesting that the impulse to make and read maps is as relevant today as it has ever been. From the “Here be dragons” parchment maps of the Age of Discovery to the spinning globes of grade school to the postmodern revolution of digital maps and GPS, Maphead is filled with intriguing details, engaging anecdotes, and enlightening analysis. If you’re an inveterate map lover yourself—or even if you’re among the cartographically clueless who can get lost in a supermarket—let Ken Jennings be your guide to the strange world of mapheads.

Travel back in time to the age of the pyramids with this interactive trivia book from Jeopardy! winner and New York Times bestselling author Ken Jennings. With this book about ancient Egypt, you’ll become an expert and wow your friends and teachers with awesome ancient facts: Did you know that some Egyptians used to shave their eyebrows whenever a cat died? Or that some people worshiped a god of lettuce? With great illustrations, cool trivia, and fun quizzes to test your knowledge, this guide will have you on your way to whiz-kid status in no time.

A tale of leadership in a class of its own, House on Fire!, winner of the 2020 Next Generation Indie Book Award, moves past tips and techniques to uncover the heart of leadership transformation that occurs when people see differently and serve differently. House on Fire! follows Sophie, a young investigative journalist searching for answers whose sources for a story on leadership principles in a high-purpose organization get mixed up in a series of mysterious fires around Pittsburgh. Along the way Sophie meets Jeb, a handsome firefighter and leadership partner at The House who is working to determine who is behind the mysterious fires targeting local Christians. Despite herself, Sophie finds herself falling for Jeb and tension mounts as she comes face to face with her past. Will Sophie confront her fear of fire and help solve the arsons before Jeb gets hurt?or worse? Based on the conviction that leadership transformation in the real world is more caught in the context of community than taught by a single textbook, Ken Jennings and Mike McCormick brilliantly bring leadership development to life through an integrated team of characters, each contributing to the personal growth of the others. Fit for the new landscape of leadership, House on Fire! specifically helps those navigating the shift from leading a company to leading a cause, from command and control to team empowerment, or from leading an organization to transforming a community. Readers follow Sophie as she explores the intersection of faith and Servant Leadership in high purpose organizations and discover how to put Serving Leadership to work in their own high-purpose organization today.

* The second book in The Ken Blanchard Series-selected and with a foreword by Ken Blanchard * A unique and practical "action approach" to servant leadership-a popular and widely espoused concept that figures prominently in the writings of Ken Blanchard, Peter Senge, Stephen Covey, Peter Block, and many others * Uses a compelling story format with highly sympathetic characters to make servant leadership accessible to a wide audience At a time of increasing concern about ethics at the top, The Serving Leader makes the case for an approach to leadership that is both more moral and more effective than the ruthless, anything-for-the-bottom-line approach that has brought disgrace-and often ruin-to many once-mighty organizations. "Serving leaders" lead by serving others, not by using them. As one of the characters in the book notes, "A leader qualifies to be first by putting other people first." It sounds paradoxical, but it works-and The Serving Leader shows precisely how and why. While The Serving Leader uses a parable to outline the basics of servant leadership, all the people in it are based on real people, the organizations depicted are based on real organizations-and the results they achieved are what really happened. Ken Jennings and John Stahl-Wert use an engaging and moving story about an estranged son, his dying father, and a remarkable group of innovative leaders in business, volunteer organizations, and civic groups to illustrate five pragmatic principles of servant leadership. On one level The Serving Leader is the most practical guide available to implementing servant leadership; on a deeper level, it is a book about the personal journey of growth that real leadership requires.

This humorous book "is written in the style of iconic bestselling travel guides. But instead of recommending must-see destinations in Mexico, Thailand, or Rome, this book outlines journeys through the afterlife, as dreamed up over the past 5,000 years of human history by our greatest prophets, poets, mystics, artists, and TV showrunners. Where''s the best place to grab a bite to eat in the ancient Egyptian underworld? Which circles of Dante''s Inferno have the nicest accommodations? How does one dress like a local in the heavenly palace of Hinduism''s Lord Vishnu, or avoid the flesh-eating river serpents in the Klingon afterlife? What are the hidden treasures to be found off the beaten path in Hades, Valhalla, or NBC''s The Good Place? This book answers all those questions and more about the world(s) to come"--

Calling all future astronauts: get ready for your next space adventure with this free downloadable sampler of great books! Download this FREE sampler for excerpts from William Alexander, Stuart Gibbs, Ken Jennings, and Wesley King. Learn more about the books at SpaceAdventureBooks.com!

One of the most powerful forces on Earth is an organization fully aligned, individual by individual, team by team, to achieve mutual success. In this vivid business story, Ken Jennings and Heather Hyde provide a road map to guide leaders through the process of engaging employees at all levels of the organization to find the deeper meaning and higher purposes of their work. Learning these methods is Alex Beckley, a leader who receives a wake-up call that inspires him to live and lead differently. He discovers how to invite his coworkers to join a cause, not just a company—to commit to a Greater Goal—and lead the process of shared goal achievement. Alex learns the Star Model, a process encompassing five practices that can help you discover and deliver on your own purpose and passions, in alignment with many others, to accomplish something good and great. Come along on the adventure!

Extensive speaking schedule: The authors both average two speaking and/or training engagements per week at major corporate gatherings and at social sector conferences with audiences ranging from 50 to 1000.

A true pioneer in the field of recreational mathematics, Martin Gardner has been wrangling words for decades, and his latest opus is nothing short of extraordinary. From amazing anagrams and silly spoonerisms to alphamagic squares and cryptarithms, this mind-bending compendium is chock-full of whimsical forms of wordplay that are sure to have sesquipedalian scholars and limber-minded logophiles racking their brains in delight.

Una imprescindible guía a un inevitable destino para viajeros inmortales. Este libro proporciona información turística privilegiada sobre 100 destinos de ultratumba, a través de mitos, escrituras sagradas, películas, cuadros, videojuegos, universos de superhéroes y parques temáticos. Nunca es demasiado tarde para empezar a planificar futuros viajes. Además la eternidad es terriblemente larga como para ir a parar al lugar equivocado, y nunca se sabe cuándo se producirá la partida. En este libro están todas las claves para descubrir dónde está la terra incognita. ¡Son viajes que miles de millones de personas se mueren por realizar!

Staň sa aj ty mladým géniom! Vďaka tejto knihe budeš odborníkom na mapy a zemepis a svojich kamarátov a učiteľov môžeš ohromovať znalosťami a dôvtipnými faktami. Vedel si, že najväčšia púšť je v skutočnosti pokrytá snehom? Alebo že Krištof Kolumbus nebol prvý, kto si myslel, že Zem je guľatá? Krásne ilustrácie, pozoruhodné zaujímavosti a zábavné kvízy, ktoré preveria tvoje vedomosti. Sprievodca mladého génia z teba v momente spraví profíka!

The first new trivia book in more than a decade from Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings—based on his hugely popular online game “Kennections”! Five trivia questions. Five answers that share a secret theme. What''s the “Kennection”? Since 2012, Jeopardy! champion and host Ken Jennings has created a weekly puzzle—first appearing in Parade, then Mental Floss—involving a series of trivia questions whose answers have something in common. The trivia questions run the gamut of topics—from pop culture (movies, TV, music) to academic knowledge (history, geography, the arts) to lifestyle (food and drink, sports, hobbies). But the trickiest part might be finding the “Kennection” that links all five answers. Many are standard trivia categories (D-Day beaches! Presidential middle names! Santa’s reindeer! Batman villains!), but almost anything goes, so thinking outside the box is just as important as trivia knowledge. What do feet, McDonald’s, fingerprints, and St. Louis have in common? They all have arches. What about Mercury, Chihuahuas, electrons, and Rhode Island? They’re all the smallest of their kind. Columbia, Grease, and “I Ran” (by A Flock of Seagulls)? They’re homophones for nations of the world. For the first time, the Kennections canon is available in one convenient volume, with hundreds of new and updated quizzes. The Complete Kennections is the perfect gift for any Jeopardy! fan, trivia buff, or New York Times “Connections” puzzler.

Um guia de viagem hilário para a vida após a morte, explorando destinos da literatura, mitologia e cultura pop. Com um texto leve, informativo e inteligente, Ken Jennings traz 100 breves relatos de diferentes versões da vida após a morte, imaginadas em diferentes religiões, mitologia, cenários de filmes, livros e até música. Partindo do Duat – o submundo dos mortos no Antigo Egito –, os "bardos" do Livro Tibetano dos Mortos, O Inferno, de Dante, universo de Harry Potter, Marvel e DC Comics, Música do Nirvana e até episódio de Simpsons, ele nos mostra inúmeras curiosidades sobre todos estes temas. Fascinante, engraçado e irreverente, este "guia de viagem entusiasmado para o céu, ou inferno ou para o além" irá ajudá-lo a criar sua própria lista de desejos, para depois que partirmos desta, para melhor!

Quali gironi dell’Inferno dantesco offrono le più confortevoli sistemazioni per la notte? Dove vale la pena di mangiare un boccone nell’aldilà che si immaginavano Egizi, Vichinghi e Celti? Qual è il tuo paradiso ideale se sei un fan di fantascienza, horror o delle commedie e canzoni romantiche? Quali souvenir puoi acquistare una volta catapultato nelle atmosfere di serie cult come Twin Peaks o Lost, Black Mirror o I Simpson? Dall’autore best seller del «New York Times» un’originalissima guida di viaggio per visitare in poltrona mete immaginate e sognate in più di 5 mila anni di storia. In questo libro il lettore troverà tutte le risposte e tanti suggerimenti per non perdersi nessuna opportunità. Un’enciclopedia spiritosa delle 100 destinazioni ultraterrene imperdibili, perfetta per chi ama viaggiare leggero, con il solo bagaglio dell’ironia e della curiosità.

Unveil the impressive mysteries of your own body with this interactive trivia book.