The New York Public Library Desk Reference

This is an excellent resource for a short description of a very wide variety of subjects that one sometimes is curious about. In addition it makes an interesting book to page through as there is information about subjects that almost anyone will find interesting and it will broaden a persons general knowledge.

You can't get a better book than this to page through on a whim. From a list of major composers to the basic rules of mathematics to traveling tips, this fat reference volume has entries that surprise me every time I open it. You want to know the symptoms and treatment of food poisoning? It's in there. The addresses of major U.S. passport agencies? Got it. How about the names and reigns of every Roman Catholic pope? How to set financial goals for retirement? The length of a day on Pluto? You'll find those answers here as well. The sheer amount of trivia is staggering. If you want to know the answer to a question, no matter how ordinary or obscure, look here first.Dictionary readers will switch their allegiances once they get a hold of this desk reference. All others will refer to it at surprising times. A must have for every reference shelf.

It's PLETHORA. Perhaps you should get a dictionary for your desk.

This book is really the ultimate reference book (save for the newest 4th edition, which is forthcoming). Lighter and less expensive than "The Columbia Encyclopedia" (which is still the best single-volume encyclopedia in print), this reference guide from one of Manhattan's--and the world's--most venerable institutions is full of entries, pictures, diagrams, tables, lists, and figures on anything and everything. Read a page a day and know more than Alex Trebek (just kidding). I am always going to this book to check facts, and I am never at a loss for an answer. Whereas children will always have Arkady Leokum's classic reference, "Tell Me Why," every adult ought to put this accessible tome next to the dictionary and the thesaurus.

This is an excellent reference book for the house. Anytime my wife or I have a broad or general question our first stop is this book. I can't wait until they produce an updated one. The only thing about this book is that some small facts seem to be slightly off; e.g. the enlisted grades for the United States Air Force still list an E-4 as a Buck Sergeant which was changed to Senior Airman around 1995 or so. Because of this small discrepancy sometimes I question the facts in the book since I don't necessarily have first hand knowledge to verify there data. Overall this has been a great book and I would recommend it to anyone.