Introducing The Curious Reader 2022 Desk Calendar, Full of Facts About Your Favorite Books and Authors

Earlier this year, Mental Floss released The Curious Reader: A Literary Miscellany of Novels & Novelists. True to its title, the book contains just about everything you ever wanted to know about your favorite authors, your favorite books, and how your favorite authors came to write your favorite books.

There are at least as many facts within its pages as there are days in a year. So, with that in mind, we teamed up with Andrews McMeel Publishing to turn it into a 2022 desk calendar. Since not everything in the calendar comes right from The Curious Reader, even people who’ve already read the book cover to cover stand to learn a lot.

And when it comes to getting your daily dose of literary knowledge (or water cooler conversation fodder), you simply can’t beat a desk calendar. On January 5, you'll learn that the phrase 'til death do us part didn't fully apply to Charles Dickens and his beloved cat, Bob: When Bob passed away in 1862, the Great Expectations author had his paw stuffed and affixed to the handle of an ivory letter opener. You’ll also learn that a young Alice Walker cultivated her love of reading and writing during a lonely period after a BB gun accident; which author hated modern technology so much he wouldn't use a telephone; and that one of the 20th century's masters of crime fiction used to work as the executive of an oil company.

The 5-inch-by-5-inch calendar features easy-to-tear-off pages and an easel backer so you can prop it up on a desk or bookshelf. It’s available starting September 28, and you can find details for pre-ordering it here.