Strictly a "bathroom reader". Collection of goofs, faux pas, bad judgment calls, and catastrophes, dealt out one per day. Some of the subjects are prominent (Louis XVI, Julia Child, Richard Nixon), others more obscure. There's no unifying theme here, and Farquhar sometimes attempts to be too cutesy when dealing with death, disaster, and defeat.

He does find some occasional curiosities, but this is definitely a dip-into-occasionally book, and not one you want to sit down with for an afternoon of solid reading. ( )

I received a copy of this book for free as part of a review tour hosted by TLC Book Tours.

What an outrageously fun book!

I haven’t read the first volume (Bad Days in History) so I cannot say how it compares.

I’ve always loved learning about history, so naturally I found this book to be fascinating. I loved learning about all the weird, strange, and terrible things that have happened throughout the course of history. Some events were hilarious, others were more tragic, and a few were a little disturbing.

I appreciated the use of footnotes and the extra information they provided. They were utilized well and not overdone (some authors go a little overboard with footnotes).

There are also a few illustrations scattered throughout that added to the comedic appeal.

My one critique is that I wished it was more global. The majority of the events were US or Europe based. For example, there were numerous events about various US presidents. I would have loved to seen more diversity in the events and people showcased. Bad days are a universal experience after all.

Overall, this was an intriguing read. I recommend it to anyone who loves weird history or is having a bad day and needs a pick-me-up. It’s a book you can read all at once, or read daily. It would also make a great gift to the cynics and pessimists in your life. ( )

More Bad Days in History by Michael Farquhar is a highly recommended compendium featuring a bad event for every day of the year. This follows Bad Days in History published in 2015.

Organized by month and day this is not so much a book you read cover to cover as one you dip into for a daily or monthly dose of misfortune, mishaps, and misbehavior. The entries range from ancient Rome to recent history, with more recent dates favored over earlier times. The historical anecdotes cover a wide range of subjects, from politicians, to writers, celebrities, pop culture figures and notable personalities. This is the book for those who derive pleasure from another person's misfortune. The events are not horrific or tragic; they are bad days, just like a bad day you might have only perhaps on a larger scale because most of us won't have our bad days recorded for posterity. The events covered are mostly that of a person but some tangentially involve a city or region.

Recently during a small gathering I brought out the book and we had an enjoyable time just thumbing through the book, looking up suggested dates (birthdays are always fun). This was a fun approach to using More Bad Days in History as an entertaining diversion. It must be noted that the group found some bad days more amusing than others, which is to be expected with any collection of what are essentially short stories. It was also noted among the group that some of the wording was a little more prejudicial or politicized than it needed to be. It's a collection of bad days in history so extra editorializing shouldn't be needed to tell the story.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from National Geographic for review purposes
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4184132681 ( )