Mike Darton

Cat Lover’s Trivia: Weird and Wacky Facts About Our Furry Friends by Mike Darton is a 2021 Chartwell Books publication.

This is a fun book of cat trivia with a format and style loosely based on Schott’s Original Miscellany. Cat lovers will love all the little tidbits of information, but so will history buffs, and trivia fans.

The book covers so many topics, but the format is quite random- which made the book fun in many ways, but switching gears so quickly was distracting, too, at times. Still, even for the most informed cat aficionado, there are facts here that will surprise and often delight cat lovers.

Big cats, small cats, show cats- from all countries, with all sorts of names and pronunciations! Cartoon cats, fables, and movies. Cat litter, cat carriers, cat food, cat breeds, classifications, emotions. The book has a few funny cat quotes, and lists the oldest cats, cats who had the most litters, and explains grooming habits, hybrids, cats that are extinct- Basically anything that has to do with cats, or anything named after a cat, with that uses the word 'cat'.

The book is, despite its unique approach, very straightforward, though, and has very little commentary.

Still the book is very fun to browse through. While it’s less than a hundred pages, that’s kind of deceiving. The book kept me entertained for a while, plus it is a book that one can refer back to, almost like a quirky cat encyclopedia.

I thought I knew a lot about cats, but it would seem I had a lot more to learn!

Overall, this is one of the most unique formats I’ve encountered in a trivia book. It's a little busy at times, and if you are a stickler for organization, this one might be a challenge for you, but it keeps things lively, and challenges the brain a little too.

3 stars… (more)