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Guinness World Records 2007    by Guinness World Records Amazon.com order for
Guinness World Records 2007
by Guinness World Records
Order:  USA  Can
Guinness, 2006 (2006)
Hardcover
* * *   Reviewed by Belle Dessler

From the moment you pick up the 2007 edition of the book of Guinness World Records, with its solid bulk, its reflective blue and silver cover and the orange sticker that promises free trading cards inside, you know you're in for a reading experience unlike any other. From the first page to the last, this year's edition more than delivers. It also awes and amazes, delights and enthralls.

Filled with full-color photographs on every page that enhance the well-written, detailed textual entries, the book's layout is surprisingly pleasing and easy to read. Small snippets of information titled Fun Facts add depth to the records, while images depicting various items of Actual Size add a level of heightened intrigue to the pictures provided. Annotations furnish interesting facts, while exclusive interviews with the likes of celebrities such as Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe will surely delight any fan of the rich and famous.

Each chapter is color-coded, making it simple to return to a particular entry or to find exactly what you're looking for with ease. The book is divided into sections, ranging from Planet Earth, a chapter that deals with Deserts, Rivers and Lakes, Seas and Oceans and the Weather, to Arts & Media, which focuses on entertainment in all its various wonderful forms. Other chapters highlight records pertaining to the Human Body, Human Achievements, Life on Earth, Society, Science & Technology, Engineering and Sports & Games.

The records themselves are just as fascinating as you'd expect from the book of Guinness World Records. For example, did you know that the Most Expensive Toast is a 'toasted sandwich said to bear an image of the Virgin Mary sold for $28,000 on eBay in November, 2004'? Or that 'Paula Mairer ran a half marathon backwards in a time of 2 hr 49 min 48 sec in Austria on October 10, 2004', making her the holder of the record for Fastest Backwards-Run Half Marathon (Women)?

This latest edition of the Guinness World Records book is even better than previous publications. The font is easy to read, and the pictures add tremendous flair to a book already filled with a myriad of interesting items. And yes, there really are free trading cards within the book's pages, and they're sure to delight fans of bizarre records. One of the trading cards in my issue shows the holder of the Most Tennis Balls Held in the Mouth record. Rest easy, this unusual record is held by a dog.

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