Read any good books lately?

They were probably not one of the following books.
However, someone, somewhere, somewhen, thought enough of the given subject to write a book about it. Even more frightening to think about, is that someone decided there were enough people who would want to read about the subject to bother publishing it!
Listed below are 120 of the oddest titles I could uncover, with authors, publishers, and copyright date as available. Several of the titles were nominees for the Diagram Prize, a distinction awarded since 1978 by a British magazine for the oddest book title of the year. If they intrigue you, check them out - many are available through Amazon.com!

ARTS and CRAFTS: Creative activities you may not have considered.
The Art and Craft of Pounding Flowers: No Paint, No Ink, Just a Hammer!; 2001 (QVC)
The Great Pantyhose Crafts Book; 1982
Woodcarving with a Chainsaw, n.d.
Build Your Own Hindenburg; 1983.

ANIMALS: Discover the amazing world of other species!
Gymnastics for Horses; n.d.
A Letter to the Man Who Killed My Dog; 1956
Optical Chick Sexing; 1954
Enjoy Your Chameleon; n.d.
Performing Goats; 1895
Anarexia Nervosa in Bulgarian Bees; n.d.
Fish Who Answer the Telephone; 1937
        Alexander Graham Bell meets Flipper?
The Flat-Footed Flies of Europe; 2001 (Brill)
Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude Mice; 1978 (University of Tokyo Press)
The Joy of Chickens; n.d.
Outwitting Fish (Adams Media Corporation); 2001
        (sounds like an ideal candidate for the "Dummies" series)

FOOD: Get your appetite ready!
Pernicious Pork; or, Astounding Revelations of the Evil Effects of Eating Swine Flesh; 1903
Oral Sadism and the Vegetarian Personality, by Glenn Ellenbogen (Editor); 1990
How to Cook Roadkill: Gourmet Cooking; 1987
Be Bold With Bananas, by the Australian Banana Growers Council; 1972
Fashion is Spinach; 1938
Our Lady of the Potatoes, by Duncan Sprott; 1995
Life and Laughter 'midst the Cannibals; 1926
Lightweight Sandwich Construction, by J. M. Davies (Editor); 2001 (Blackwell Science)
Tea Bag Folding; 2001 (Search Press)
The Book of Marmalade: Its Antecedents, History and Role in the World Today, by C. Anne Wilson; 2000

CURRENT AFFAIRS: Keep informed so you can hold your own in conversations at your next social mixer.
Who's Who in Barbed Wire; 1970.
Correct Mispronunciations of Some South Carolina Names; 1981.
Manhole Covers of Los Angeles; 1974.
Freedom Must Not Stink; 1947
The Foul and the Fragrant: Odor and the French Social Imagination, by Alain Corbin; 1986.

RELIGION: Our society's most taboo subject!
My Invisible Friend Explains the Bible; 1971
Thirty-six Reasons for Believing in Everlasting Punishment; 1887
The Baby Jesus Touch and Feel Book, by Linda Parry, Alan Parry (Illustrator); 1995

HISTORY: Learn about events that have shaped our world.
The Social History of the Machine Gun; 1975
Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun; 1995.
1587. A Year of No Importance; n.d.
Highlights in the History of Concrete; 1998

TREATISES: Scholary works on a myriad of topics.
Man: The Prodigy and Freak of Nature; 1907
The Coming Disaster Worse Than the H-bomb, Astronomically, Geologically and Scientifically Proven. The Coal Beds, Ice Ages, Tides, and Coming Soon, a Great Wave and Flood Caused by a Shift of the Axis of the Earth From the Gyroscopic Action of Our Solar System; 1954. Washington, DC
        Sounds like good, light reading material to help lull you to sleep.
Old Tractors and the Men Who Love Them: How to Keep Your Tractors Happy and Your Family Running, by Roger Welsch; 1999
        One reader states, "This has been one of the most entertaining books I have read in a long time."
Group 4 Prison Escort Survey: A Survey of Customer Satisfaction; n.d.
Constipation and Our Civilization, by James Charles Thomson; n.d.
A Sociological History of Excretory Experience: Defecatory Manners and Toiletry Technologies, by David Ingliss (Edwin Mellen Press); 2001

INTERNATIONAL: For the jet-set and the worldly.
Gay Bulgaria; 1964
Greek Rural Postmen and Their Cancellation Numbers; 1999
On Sledge and Horseback to Outcast Siberian Lepers, by Kate Marsden, Eric Newby; 2001
New Guinea Tapeworms and Jewish Grandmothers: Tales of Parasites and People, by Robert S. Desowitz; 1981
        "Parasites are not only an interesting study objects, but you can write very funny stories about them as well."

DEATH: Along with taxes, life's only certainty.
The Practical Embalmer; 1900
Sex After Death; 1983
Do-it-Yourself Coffins: For Pets and People by Dale Power, Jeffrey B. Snyder; 1997
Public Performances of the Dead; 1865
Phone Calls From the Dead; 1979
        Let's hope that doesn't include telemarketers!
The Living Dead: New Identities In The New Age, by John Q. Newman; n.d
People Who Don't Know They're Dead: How They Attach Themselves To Unsuspecting bystanders and what to do about it, by Gary Leon Hill; Weiser Books (2005)
Fancy Coffins To Make Yourself; 2001 (Schiffer)

HOBBIES: How do YOU spend your spare time?
Original Tricks with Cigars; 1927
        (One of Bill Clinton's favorites?)
Pranks With the Mouth; 1879.
Explosive Spiders and How to Make Them; 1881
        Pyrotechnicist Scoffern shows how to make an artificial spider that, when touched, should go off with a bang.
Levitation for Terrestrials - Robert Kingsley Morison, Ascent, 1977
The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America: A Guide to Field Identification -- Julian Montague, Abrams Image, 2006

CAREERS: Are you bored with your 9-to-5 grind?
How to Pick Pockets. A Treatise on the Fundamental Principle, Theory and Practice of Picking Pockets; n.d.
How to Throw Profitable College House Parties, by Greg Heitz; n.d.
The Madam as Entrepreneur: Career Management in House Prostitution; 1979.
Amputee Management - A Handbook; n.d.
A Toddler's Guide to the Rubber Industry, by D. Lowe; n.d.
Butterworths Corporate Manslaughter Service; 2001 (Butterworths)

HEALTH ISSUES: Things your HMO doesn't want you to know!
The Benefits of Farting Explained; 1727
Old Age: Its Cause and Prevention; 1912
Scurvy Past and Present, by Alfred Hess; 1982
It's a Gas! A Study of Flatulence, by Eric S. Rabkin, Eugene M. Silverman; 1991
Simply Bursting: A Guide to Bladder Control; 1998
The Encyclopedia of Medical Ignorance; 1984
Is It Hot In Here or Is It Me?: Mastering the Maze of Menopause by Lorraine D'Abate, Nancy Kenyon; 2000
Nasal Maintenance: Nursing Your Nose Through Troubled Times by William Alan Stuart; 1983
Psoriasis at Your Fingertips; n.d.

ANATOMY: Learn about your body.
Straight Talk About Surgical Penis Enlargement; 1993
Natural Bust Enlargement with Total Power: How to Increase the Other 90% of Your Mind to Increase the Size of Your Breasts; n.d.
The Inheritance of Hairy Ear Rims, by Reginald Ruggles Gates; 1961
Whose Bottom Is This? A Lift-the-Flap Book, by Wayne Lynch; 2000

HOW-TO: Valuable instructional manuals - get yours today!
Teach Yourself Alcoholism; 1975
How To Become a Schizophrenic, by John Modrow; 1992
How To Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer; 1993
        One reader: "[This book] has literally saved my life many times while walking down Peckham High Street and Ealing Broadway."
How To Abandon Ship; 1942
How To Do It; or, Directions for Knowing or Doing Everything Needful; 1864

MEMOIRS: Some people lead interesting lives...
Recollections of Squatting in Victoria; 1833
Three Weeks in Wet Sheets; 1856.
Preserving Dick - Mary D.R. Boyd. Philadelphia, Pa. (Presbyterian Board of Publication); 1867.
        Richard's dogged determination does not go unrewarded.
Camping Among Cannibals - Alfred St. Johnston. Macmillan, 1883.
        Dangerous exploits by an eccentric explorer
Mated With A Clown; 1884
How Nell Scored; 1929
I Was Hitler's Maid; 1953

SEXUALITY: What would life be without it?
Male Sexuality: The Atlantis Position; 1982
Teach Yourself Sex; 1951
Wrestling for Gay Guys; 1994
        For anyone looking to perk up their fitness routine, self-defense, or erotic prowess.
Lesbian Nuns, Breaking the Silence, by Rosemary Curb, Nancy Manahan; 1985
How I Invented Soft-Core Pornography, by Paul Krassner; n.d.
Lesbian Sadomasochism Safety Manual; n.d.
The Joy of Sex: Pocket Edition; n.d.
The Sexual Male: Problems and Solutions; n.d.
Jilling Off: Women's Masturbation Stories, by Rachel Bussel; 2001

ACTIVITIES: Fun games and other ways to spend your time.
Hand Grenade Throwing as a College Sport; 1918
        The British Library's only copy was regrettably "destroyed by bombing."
The Art and Science of Dumpster Diving by John Hoffman; 1997
Play With Your Own Marbles - J.J. Wright, S.W Partridge, c.1865
Games You Can Play With Your Pussy - Ira Alterman, Watertown, Mass.: Ivory Tower Pub. Co 1885
The Theory of Lengthwise Rolling, by A.I.T. Sielikov; 1981
Big and Very Big Hole Drilling; n.d.

CONTRARY VIEWPOINTS: You can find controversy on almost any subject.
The Romance of Leprosy; 1949
The Romance of Proctology; 1938
        "The history and development of this much neglected branch of surgery from its earliest times to the present day."
The Bright Side of Prison Life; 1897
The Sunny Side of Bereavement; n.d.
Your Friend, The Computer Hacker, by Carolyn Meinel

CHILD REARING: Dr. Spock, step aside for these experts.
Children Are Like Wet Cement, n.d.
Waterproofing Your Child, n.d.
Fishing for Boys - J.H. Elliott, Harrap, 1961

RELATIONSHIPS/MARRIAGE: Helpful words for the ultimate do-it-yourself project!
So Your Wife Came Home Speaking In Tongues! So Did Mine!; 1973
How To Be Happy Though Married; 1885
How To Forgive Your Ex-Husband; 1983
How to Cook Husbands; 1899
The Gentle Art of Cooking Wives; 1900
Be Married and Like It; 1937.

MISCELLANEOUS: Some books just defy classification...
Not Worth Reading; 1914
Girls of the Pansy Patrol; 1931
Keeping Warm with an Axe, n.d.
The Joy of the Upright Man; 1619
Follow Your Broken Nose; 1950
The Lull Before Dorking; 1871
My Poor Dick: 1988
Destroy all Goo-Goos, by Th. Metzger; n.d.
American Bottom Archaeology, Bareis, Charles J. and James W. Porter; n.d.
Virtual Reality: Exploring the Bra; 1998
Reusing Old Graves, by D Davies and A Shaw; 1998


 
It has come to my attention that many of the titles listed here can be found in the book, "Bizarre Books", by Ash & Lake. I have not seen the book, so I can not attest to whether they also list copyright dates (which I researched when possible). That book is available at amazon.com, for more inspired reading.